Wine Life - Houston

In addition to the Memorial Day festivities of the past weekend, we also start to celebrate my birthday week every year at this same time. This year we opted to start the "celebration of me" on Saturday with the 1999 Pascal Doquet Grand Cru Le Mesnil Sur Oger Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne . As I typed out the name, I was thinking that it was quite long for something affectionately known as "Farmer's Fizz". Within the long title, however, there is a wealth of information about this wine on its labels. Starting with 1999, this means that this bottle was produced exclusively from grapes grown and harvested in 1999. Champagne producers do not get to determine when they want to call a vintage, it is legally declared in what are expected to be the best years. 1999, as a vintage, has been met with mixed reviews as to its "greatness". This was due to heavy rains in September before harvest which can result in diluted flavors and low acidity. Some producers

Vine Connections and Pioneer Wine Company hosted a seminar and tasting event for Houston's wine trade and media at Backstreet Cafe yesterday. All but two of the wines were from the Salta Province of Argentina. Salta is the most northern wine region in Argentina lying close to the Bolivian border. The climate is very extreme due to the high altitude.  Plantings start at 5,000 feet above sea level and climb to 9,000 feet, making these vineyards the highest in the world. The intense sunlight the area receives helps to create grapes with more anthocyanins, these are the color pigments which result in softer tannins, lower astringency and more intense flavor. The wines produced are extremely pure, concentrated and terroir specific. Torrontes Riojano which is considered the best of the three Torrontes clones is the most widely planted grape with plantings of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat increasing. The seminar started with a tasting of four Torrontes wines, three from diff

Last Thursday night, I attended the Nice Winery dinner at the Strip House. While I have eaten dinner there a few times, this was the first wine event of theirs that I had enjoyed. Ryan Levy & Ian Eastveld, the winemakers and owners of the Nice Winery, were at the event to present each wine with each course and answer questions about the selections. They have an interesting history as they are both Le Cordon Bleu trained Chefs, Certified Sommeliers and, since their  initial harvest in Napa Valley in 2007, winemakers. This boutique winery is located in Houston and the wines are handcrafted from grapes sourced from premium vineyard locations. The 1st course was a vine ripened tomato salad with red onions, basil and balsamic reduction paired with the 2010 NICE Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is sourced from  a single vineyard in the Lujan de Cuyo area of Mendoza, Argentina. I really enjoyed the balance of this wine and it was excellent with the salad. It was crisp with a citrus blosso

When I received my invitation to the Wines of La Mancha event in Houston, I was excited because, despite a fairly serious effort to learn about wine, I still knew very little about this region. I had never even tasted any wines from La Mancha while taking classes from the ISG or the WSET. What I had been taught was: It is the largest D.O. in Spain. It has an extreme continental climate. Airen, one of the world's most widely planted white grapes (but I had never tasted it), is the main grape grown there. Tempranillo plantings and other international grape varieties are on the rise. It has long been considered more of a bulk wine region but after much investment, quality is on the rise and there is "good value for the money" wine to be found.  Much of their production is consumed locally. So, when the D.O. La Mancha Roadshow Spring 2012 arrived in Houston at the Parador on Thursday, I was there for the opening seminar before the tasting event. As with many of th

Spec's hosted a trade tasting featuring some of their top wines at Reef yesterday. The array of wines was interesting because the featured wines were in different price points and from many different places in the world, giving tasters the opportunity to compare a variety of styles side by side.   Upon my arrival, I quickly made the French Connection, starting with the line-up from Classified Wine and Spirits and their selection of wines from Burgundy. I started with an Aligote by Mikulski which was crisp, mineral driven and reasonably priced. It is a drink that could be enjoyed with simple seafood dishes all through our long hot summer. The more premium priced 2009 Fontaine Gagnard Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers was another favorite on this table- smooth, round and all that you would expect in a wine from this area but with more of a tropical fruit note. I was a little more focused on the whites just because of the time of year but there were several lovely red Burg

I enjoyed a fantastic dinner last night at Mockingbird Grill with my husband and some of his business associates. We sat upstairs in a separate dining area that has a balcony overlooking the main dining room. This restaurant has a great atmosphere (they call the decor "funky gothic"), impeccable service, a diverse wine list and delicious food. I had the Asparagus Soup of the Day to start my meal which was good, my husband had the Carmelized Onion Soup which was even better. Everyone snacked on the truffled pommes frites as the main courses arrived. Both of us had opted for off the menu specials. I chose the pan-seared snapper with corn risotto and broccolini and he got the filet of tenderloin with crabmeat served with asparagus and mashed potatoes. Perfectly-sized portions and scrumptious flavors. Our table went through a few bottles of Domaine Faiveley "Clos Des Myglands" 1er Cru Mercurey which I enjoyed from the soup through the dessert, a homemade raspberry

From Rioja , in north-central Spain, the classic style is a Tempanillo-based blend with Garnacha (aka Grenache) and small amounts of Graciano and Mazuelo with long aging often in American Oak barrels producing a wine with sweet vanilla flavors with less fruit character. Some producers are now experimenting with shorter aging periods in French Oak creating a more fruit forward wine. There are some single variety Tempranillo wines as well. 2006 Lan Rioja Crianza $13 Crianza means this wine was aged for 2 full years with 12 months spent in oak barrel. Clear, deep garnet color with clean, medium intense developing aromas of cherry, strawberry, plum and leather. Dry, medium body, tannins and alcohol, medium+ acidity with a medium length red fruit finish. Very good, pleasant and easy-drinking. Serve with hamburgers, pizza or non-seafood paella. 2005 Herderos del Marques de Riscal Rioja Reserva $18 Reserva means this wine was aged for 3 years with one in oak. Clear deep garnet col