Wine Life - Houston

As originally seen in the December edition of  Galveston Monthly magazine on pages 37-38:

As originally seen In Galveston Monthly Magazine.  

Last Thursday was the second annual International Tempranillo Day. This is primarily a social media event that allows wine lovers to taste wine made from the Tempranillo grape and then tweet their thoughts to other worldwide participants using the hashtag #TempranilloDay. Tempranillo is a black grape which is native to Spain but is now grown in many other parts of the world. It typically produces medium to full bodied red wine with red berry aromas and flavors, medium acidity and medium tannins. However, depending on the clone and the climate conditions, it may display more black fruit character. Due to the grape's resistance to oxidation, it is often aged for extended periods in oak barrels which add vanilla and incense nuances. All of the wines I tasted were provided to me as media samples. They all come from Spain and are part of the Freixenet portfolio. 2010 Tapeña (100% Tempranillo) approximately $10 Clear, medium ruby color with clean, medium+ int...

Crush Wine Lounge asked me to host a Champagne Day event for them on Friday, October 26. Attendees tried four of Crush's top-selling Champagnes served with paired hor d'oeuvres while learning about Champagne- the region, the method and the wines. Early arrivers started with an alternate sparkling made in a different way so as to be prepared to compare when the tasting began. The line up for the evening included: NV Henriot Blanc served with mini crab cakes 2006 Louis Roederer Brut Ros é served with seared tuna NV Bollinger “Special Cuvee” served with roasted chicken and chutney 2004 Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque Fleur served with grilled shrimp Of particular interest to this group: Champagne's long history to protect the ownership of its name- Since 1887. The cellars made from old Roman chalk quarries under the cities of Epernay and Reims. The rumors of scandal surrounding Dom Perignon. The riddling process as developed by Nicole Bar...

My husband had been away on a business trip for a few days. As his flight was not due in until later in the evening and it was going to be a day of planes, trains and automobiles for him to get back home, I decided to have a nice dinner waiting for his return. I went to look over my wine options. The king was returning to the castle so I decided to open "the king of wines", a bottle of Barolo to serve with grilled dry-aged rib eye steaks and mushroom risotto. We had been holding this 1996 Paolo Scavino Rocche dell'Annunziata Barolo Riserva for awhile now and I decided that morning at 8:00 A.M. that its time was up so I popped the cork, poured myself a little taste, decanted it, and set the decanter in an ice bucket with cool water to keep it at cellar temperature. I was surprised to see that the wine had not really thrown any sediment at all, considering its 16 years of age, I expected more. Morning Tasting note: Deep garnet color with a brick...

As originally seen in Galveston Monthly Magazine, October 2012 Edition

As originally seen in Galveston Monthly Magazine, September 2012    

  I attended a Morellino di Scansano wine tasting and seminar hosted by the Texas Wine School along with members of the Consorzio for the region last Wednesday evening. Morellino is the name of the Sangiovese clone in this southern Tuscan appellation. This DOCG is set back from the coast in the hilly area of Maremma where the grapes achieve a high level of ripeness resulting in a rounder and sometimes more savory style of Sangiovese than in the big Tuscan appellations to the north. The wines of Scansanso can also be very fruity and easy drinking. This crowd pleasing quality means that much of it is consumed locally and not a huge amount has made it into the Houston market yet. The wines must contain a minimum of 85% Sangiovese and is produced in three different styles: a fresh, fruity style that can be released March 1 after harvest, First Selection which has been elevated in wood for a minimum of 4 1/2 months and Riserva which has been aged for at least two year...

I got interested in doing a bit of a wines of Italy review because I was considering taking the Italian Specialist Exam. That class was cancelled so I won't be doing that but I did enjoy the process. My husband and I both really enjoyed the Tenuta Lodola Nuova Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2007 by Ruffino last night with dinner. It was a ruby red in the glass with primarily fruity aromas of ripe cherries, blackberries, plums with some dried leaves. It was medium+ body with smooth ripe medium tannins, medium+ acidity and alcohol. It had the same fruity flavors as the aromas with a black tea addition to the taste with a long fruity finish.  As we are trying to cut back a bit on our meat intake this week after overdoing it last weekend, I served it with a Caprese type salad, potato and onion soup and pepperoni pizza. It was fantastic with each course of our meal. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano must be made with at least 70% Sangiovese from the clone known as ...

2011 Ruffino Orvieto Classico approximately $11 Clear, pale straw color with a watery rim. Clean, fresh aromas of mixed herbs, natural almonds and pear. Dry, medium- body, mouth watering high acidity, medium alcohol with a pear flavor and a medium length lemon citrus finish. This wine comes from the historical growing zone around the medieval town of Orvieto in Umbria located in Central Italy. It is a blend based primarily on Grechetto and Trebbiano (aka Procanico). I served it with grilled sea bass and grilled zucchini, yellow squash and red bell peppers. I had weeded my herb garden shortly after I woke up that day and when I first opened the bottle that evening, I thought it smelled remarkably like my herb garden did in the early morning sunshine. Recommended. 2011 Barone Fini Valdadige Pinot Grigio approximately $13 Clear, pale straw color with a watery rim. Clean, fresh aroma of apple. Dry, light body, ...

Three weeks ago, we had the 2007 Two Hands "Zippy's Block" Roennfeldt Road Single Vineyard Marananga, Barossa Valley Shiraz with a ribe-eye steak dinner at home. I was flipping through my notebook of tasting notes that sits on my kitchen counter when I realized that I had forgotten to post on it. It had been a busy time: the Friday before labor day, school had just started and we had just gotten our kids and our nephew settled.  We had purchased a couple of bottles of this last Fall at The Tasting Room at Uptown Park after trying it at one of their tasings, I am not sure if it is still available there. I believe that is was priced around $75. After drinking lighter weight wines for most of the summer, this was our ode to the advent of Fall. As we are still having afternoon temperature in the low 90's here in Houston, it was more symbolic than having anything to do with an actual change in the weather. Anyway, we both really enjoyed it. It was big and bold an...

2011 Touraine Millesime Sauvignon Blanc from The Loire Valley by Alfed Pery Nose: Clean, medium intense aromas of lemongrass, melon, wetstone and celery. Palate: Dry, medium body, medium+ acidity, medium alcohol with flavors of grapefruit and melon with a medium length finish. Recommended. I served this before dinner out by the pool and it was very well recieved. Purchased at Whole Foods.         2011 Domaines Ott Cotes de Provence Nose: Clean, medium intense aromas of apricot and red fruit. Palate: Dry, medium body, medium+ acidity, medium alcohol with flavors mirroring the aromas with a medium length mineral tinged finish. Recommended. I have had this twice this month. I purchased a bottle at Top Shelf Wine and Spirits in Sugar Land for $22 to bring to a friend's Labor Day party on Galveston Island where it was a big hit. Then, my husband and I had it again last Friday at Aura French Restaurant in Missouri City with t...

I was a guest last month for the Clos du Bois Rouge launch at Cirque du Soleil-Kooza where I met Katie Lee , cook book author and ambassador for Clos du Bois Wines. In addition to talking about the show, our mutual love of Ros é wine in the summer and the new release of the 2010 Clos du Bois Rouge, she shared with me that she had paired some of her recipes with this new wine.     As I am always looking for something new to cook to change up our at-home dining, I was interested to hear that one of her favorite dishes with the wine was her BBQ chicken. If that wasn't intriguing enough, she also offered up a cookie recipe to go with the wine as well. As a native Texan, I am pretty sure that I know BBQ so I was curious to see what her recipe would be like as she is from West Virginia but now lives in The Hamptons. The marketing team was kind enough to send me a bottle of the wine and the dinner plan was on. I had most of the ingredients alre...

I don't shop at Costco so I was not that familiar with the Cameron Hughes brand. Costco was the first major retailer to carry these wines. I just met Cameron last week at The Tasting Room at City Centre where they were hosting both a wine tasting and a wine dinner featuring his selections. Cameron grew up in California and worked for a short time as a cellar rat before deciding to go into the sales side of the business. His business strategy has been to buy up excess wine from well regarded wine regions and producers who have a surplus. He then bottles it as his own and sells it for a significantly reduced price. The key thing being that he does not disclose his sources only the vineyard location. He buys small high end lots that he numbers rather than names due to the often one-off buying opportunities. Two days after this event, I saw a display of his wine set up at my local Kroger grocery store. His wines are becoming more available as he is now moving...

The Wines of Germany and the Guild of Sommeliers hosted a Master Class at Pappas Bros Steakhouse taught by Master Sommeliers Matt Stamp and Laura Williamson.  I was excited to attend this class because I think this is probably my weakest area of knowledge when considering the major wine producing countries. I am happy to report that this was a fantastic class with a great tasting. The first flight was a grouping of wines made from the Sylvaner grape from Franken. Sylvaner is a natural cross between Traminer and Osterreichisch Weiss. Its higher acidity makes it a good food wine particularly with salty foods- cured meat, smoked cheese, fish and asparagus. Franken, in Bavaria, is called the spiritual home of Sylvaner. Franken Sylvaner typically has a fuller body with more texture and light floral and fruity aromas. The wines we tasted were: Juliusspital Kabinett Trocken 2010 - the softest of the three with more floral and saffron notes. Wirsching "D...

Bandol, one of Provence's oldest wine growing regions, is located near the Mediterranean Coast.  Driving through the region, you see medieval villages, terraced vineyards on the hillsides and glimpses of the sea. It can only be described as picturesque.  In general, the topsoil is gravel and stone dominated lying over clay, limestone and sandstone.  Mourvedre is the most important grape when thinking about Bandol Red and   Rosé wine.  The climate is Mediterranean and during my time there, the locals actually apologized for what they felt were unusally high temperatures but, of course, it was not even close to the brutal heat of Houston in August. While I was in Bandol, it was blue skies and sunshine with gentle breezes making for a most beautiful day. After a couple of extra spins through a roundabout, we finally made it to the Chateau Romassan estate of Domaines Ott. This estate lies at the foot of the village of Le Castellet in the ce...

During our recent vacation on the French Riviera, my husband and I decided to rent a car and drive to Bandol which is located about an hour down the coast from where we were staying in Cannes. Bandol is one of Provence's oldest wine growing regions and is considered by many to be the most important AOC in the area especially when looking at the Mourvedre-based red wines. The region is known for its terraced vineyards called restanques built from the local river stone. The climate is Mediterranean as the region lies close  to the sea with long sunlight hours. The Mistral winds and mountain breezes protect the grapes from rot and cool things down at night. I was interested in visiting Domaine La Suffrene as it is very available in the Houston market. Winemaker Cedric Gravier took over his grandfather's business in 1996 and when he heard that I was in town, he was kind enough to show up himself to taste with me and give me a tour of his winery and cellars...

My husband and I have recently returned from the French Riviera in Provence where we, of course, drank buckets of rose wine in between sight seeing, sun bathing and eating. We also sampled some of the local red and white. Despite all of my wine studies, I really had not had that many wines from Provence. It seems to be a somewhat overlooked region when it comes to the various wine classes and I admittedly had not sought out much of the wine on my own.  I was on vacation so I didn't spend my time writing up tasting notes but I did try to take pictures of the different bottles that we liked or make a note of what we drank. Originally, I was not intending on writing up this portion of my trip in regards to the wine. We did spend some time in Bandol and I will be writing that region up more in depth in my next posting. My husband is not one to get all geeked up at the thought of pink wine so it was interesting to see how quickly he got on board with all t...