Wine Life - Houston

This or that?  That was the question last night at Café Rabelais in Rice Village for their “The Great Wine Choice” wine dinner. Guests had the opportunity to pick their preference of wines with each course. This was an interesting spin on the typical wine dinner.  The restaurant sold out the event.  The style of the dinner was for guests to have their own private group tables with an introduction of each of the wines to be considered with each course made to the full room. Owner, Christophe Paul was the master of ceremonies for the evening. The dinner was excellent and the wine comparison and conversation was quite interesting. Café Rabelais has been a Houston tradition for French cuisine since 2000. The laid back atmosphere and extensive French wine list has made it city favorite for almost a quarter of a century.  To be informed of upcoming wine events at Café Rabelais, join their mailing list. Sign up found in the Stay in Touch section of their website, caferabelais.com .

  Last month, I participated in a Master the World wine tasting and seminar with Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein featuring Alentejano wines. The Master the Wine tasting classes are available to wine lovers who want to learn more about wine, tasting kits can be purchased individually for a specific region of interest or a series of tasting classes can be purchased as well. This specific tasting was set up by Creative Palate Communications for trade and media in the wine industry.   An Alentejano wine is the correct way to refer to wines that come from Portugal's Alentejo wine region. Portugal is 11th in total world production of wine. Despite only being 575 miles by 138 miles in size, the country's acres under vine in the 4th largest amount in Europe and it is 8th in the world. Alentejo represents 13% of the total acres under vine in Portugal and is responsible for 18% of the country's total production. Alentejo translates to "beyond the Rio Tejo" which is known as

 For the January 2024 issue of Galveston Monthly magazine, I wrote about the fortified wines of the iconic Portuguese region, the island of Madeira, sharing the rich history and making some wine recommendations with some food pairing ideas.