Wine Life - Houston

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 brickish rim, medium intense f

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 years with a minim