The Fableist house spotlight
Sommelier Kevin McGuire visits The Fableist estate in Paso Robles, the Templeton home of winemakers Andrew Jones and Curt Schalchlin.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2025 The Fableist 426 Albarino Central Coast across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $14.56 and the average is $19.86. Our slash is $15.00.
2025 The Fableist 426 Albarino Central Coast, USA
Andrew Jones and Curt Schalchlin's stainless Albariño, honeysuckle and sea spray, a flicker of spritz at nineteen dollars.
Whole-cluster pressing and 100 percent stainless steel keep this Central Coast Albariño bright, saline, and immediate. Green papaya and yellow peach ride a lively acid line, now $15.
A stainless-steel white that actually tastes like the coast
Jones and Schalchlin keep this Albariño cold from press to bottle so the spritz stays. Honeysuckle, ginger, green papaya, and sea spray are the point. The Fox and the Stork is on the label. Hospitality is in the glass.
The house
Andrew Jones of Field Recordings and Curt Schalchlin of Sans Liege built The Fableist so each bottle carries an Aesop fable and a Central Coast wine.
The wine
Whole-cluster pressed, cold-crashed, racked off heavy solids, fermented and aged in stainless. Natural dissolved CO2 gives a delicate spritz.
The fable
Fable 426 is the Fox and the Stork: serve the welcome you would want to receive. The wine is floral, saline, and made for passing across a table.
The drinker
Serve well chilled. Snapper crudo or Lao papaya salad. Open just before the first plate.
Lifted florals, crisp fruit, a coastal flicker
This is a light-footed Albariño whose aromas, salinity, acid line, and gentle spritz all point in the same refreshing direction.
A current, cold-kept white. Drink now, well chilled, while the spritz is still lively.
Bright honeysuckle and fresh ginger lead, followed by green papaya and yellow peach.
Sea spray rounds the mid-palate while bright acidity and natural dissolved CO2 keep the wine light and gently spritzy.
Serve well chilled and open just before pouring so the final glasses keep the delicate effervescence.
Built cold and clean for brightness
The Fableist protects freshness at every step: whole-cluster pressing, cold settling, then stainless-steel fermentation and aging. No oak speech. The coast stays in the glass.
The grapes went directly to press. The juice moved into tank and was cold-crashed, then racked away from heavy solids so clarity and a fresh profile stayed in front.
Fermentation and aging took place entirely in stainless steel. Keeping the wine cold preserved natural dissolved CO2, which is the delicate spritz on the 2025 Albariño.
Fable 426 puts hospitality in the glass
The Fox and the Stork turns a sly dinner invitation into a reminder to extend the welcome you would want to receive.
The Fableist is Andrew Jones and Curt Schalchlin, two Paso winemakers who built a brand so each bottle starts with a story. Artwork from Aesop turns a table ritual into a prompt to pause and share.
Fable 426 follows the Fox and the Stork: one serves soup in a shallow bowl, the other answers with a tall vessel. Each host enjoys what the guest cannot, and the joke lands as a lesson in empathy.
That moral fits this Albariño. The label's fox may be sly, but the wine is generous: floral, saline, lightly spritzy, and made for a table where different tastes can meet.
Two bright plates for a bright coastal white
Raw fish, citrus, chile, and crunchy green papaya meet the wine on shared ground: freshness, salt, and clean acidity.
Keep the menu cold, crisp, and quick. One pristine fish plate. One crunchy salad. No heavy sauce.
Serve well chilled. No decant. Open just before the first plate to keep the natural spritz lively.
Snapper Crudo with Chiles and Sesame
Thin slices of sashimi-grade snapper get citrus, chile, herbs, sesame, and sea salt.
Why it works: Citrus and chile meet the acid and ginger. Sesame, sea salt, and raw snapper draw out the saline mid-palate.
View Recipe for Snapper Crudo with Chiles and Sesame (opens in a new tab)
Lao Papaya Salad, Thum Mak Hoong
Green papaya, tomato, lime, chile, tamarind, and savory fermented seasonings build a crunchy salad.
Why it works: Green papaya mirrors the fruit. Acidity and spritz reset the palate after each spicy, savory bite.
View Recipe for Lao Papaya Salad, Thum Mak Hoong (opens in a new tab)Pour the Fox and the Stork tonight
Jones and Schalchlin, stainless Albariño, honeysuckle and sea spray. Nineteen dollars.
Put it in the cart. Let the fox start the story, then let the bottle disappear into the conversation.
