Wine Life - Houston

I recently went on a Grappa tour that ended in the town of Asti which is located in the Piemonte region in northern Italy. The area is famous for Asti Spumante, a sweet, aromatic sparkler, that is often enjoyed at celebrations due to its easy drinking characteristics. Our group set out to enjoy   a sparkling finish to our tour with 5th generation winemaker, Stefano Ricagno at  Cuvage .   He led us through the winemaking area where they are producing both Asti DOCG wines as well as Metodo Classico wines. Traditionally, the sparkling wines of the region have been made in the Martinotti method which is also known as Charmat. Federico Martinotti was a native of Piemonte so the local winemakers prefer  to acknowledge and pay respect to him. He actually invented the method for making sparkling wine in a closed vat in 1895 while French winemaker, Eugene Charmat, would apply the concept on a more industrial level a little over a decade later and his name would become more well known.

As originally seen in the October issue of Galveston Monthly magazine

Last week, I had the opportunity to taste some current releases from Fall Creek Vineyards at a media event in Houston with owners, Ed and Susan Auler, Director of Winemaking, Sergio Cuadra, and Director of Operations, Ame Brewster. The big news they wanted to share is the release of a new premium line called Ex Terra which translates to "From the Earth". The three single varietal, single vineyard wines will be sold primarily through their tasting rooms but will also have some placement on higher end restaurant lists. All three wines in the line are sourced from the Salt Lick Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country in Driftwood. Ed Auler was quick to comment, "We have to give so much credit to Salt Lick for growing these grapes and so much credit to Sergio for making these wines." Salt Creek Vineyards was originally planted in 2005. It is a unique growing area due to the fact that it sits at a bend near Onion Creek. This creek meanders all around the Hill Country bef