Food & Wine magazine names local winemaker an innovator of the year
Jason Haas of Tablas Creek
List highlights leaders ‘who are changing the way we drink for the better’
– Food & Wine Magazine this week named its 2022 Drinks Innovators of the Year. It recognizes eight people “who are making positive change in the way we drink, from developing a remarkably delicious non-alcoholic beer by rethinking the brewing process to creating a fund to help Black entrepreneurs succeed in the beverage industry,” the magazine says. The list includes Paso Robles winemaker Jason Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyard.
“Tablas Creek is the first winery in the U.S. to earn Regenerative Organic Certified status,” the magazine says. “The program looks at every aspect of a farm: soil health, carbon capture, biodiversity, animal welfare, and… farmworker fairness.”
Hunter Lewis, the magazine’s editor in chief, says, “There are so many exciting things happening in the drinks space right now, and we’re honored to celebrate the change-makers who are moving the industry forward in new ways, featuring everything from wine, beer and whiskey to agave spirits and liqueurs. With inspired creations and clever ideas, these innovators are not only making our world better but our happy hours so much more interesting.”
Food & Wine Drinks Innovators of the Year 2022
- Jason Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyard
- Graciela Ángeles Carreño of Real Minero
- Morgan McLachlan of Amass
- Dan Petroski of Massican
- Bill Shufelt of Athletic Brewing Co.
- Jackie Summers of Sorel
- Fawn Weaver & Victoria Eady Butler of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey
“I could not be more honored to receive this award from one of the country’s leading food and wine magazines,” Haas tells Paso Robles Daily News.
“I feel like this is a recognition of our team as a whole; our achievements here at Tablas Creek are the result of many hands and many years. We’ve always tried to lead in making grapegrowing and winemaking have as many positive impacts and as few negative impacts as possible to our land, people, and community. friendlier to the environment.
“The most recent piece of this has been our work becoming the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified vineyard. Regenerative agriculture is the attempt to make farming a part of the solution to big-picture challenges we know we’ll be facing as a community and society, including resource scarcity, climate change, inequality, and animal welfare. If this award gets more people to consider farming regeneratively, it’s a win for all of us.”
Standout products worth trying from each of these innovators and their companies are highlighted in the magazine and in the feature online. Food & Wine Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle spearheaded this inaugural Drinks Innovators of the Year report, with contributions from across the magazine’s editorial team. The magazine is owned by Dotdash Meredith, a digital media company.
The 2022 Drinks Innovators of the Year are featured now at https://www.foodandwine.com/drinks/drinks-innovators-of-the-year and in the April issue of Food & Wine, on newsstands Friday. The list was sponsored by Santa Teresa 1796 rum.
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