Dallas Wine Chick

Love Affairs, Piropos and Free Wine

In honor of Valentine’s Day and putting poetry into action, I have teamed up with Tapeña wines.  It’s time to be creative and talk about your love affair – this time with the grape. 

The most creative Piropo will win a four-pack of wines, a Spanish-themed cookbook and some other fun material.  What is a Piropo you may ask?  Translated literally it is a “flirtatious or poetic compliment to a woman.”  Things like, “If beauty were a sin, you’d never be forgiven” or “So many curves, and me without brakes” (shudder).  But, that’s been so done.  I want to see how clever and unique you can voice your appreciation for wine.

Tapeña—the wine with the little fork on the label—is a blend of tradition, camaraderie and gathering close friends.  I had the chance to partner with them a few years ago on an event so if you want to know more about the  wine.

For more info about Tapeña, check out their website, Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/tapenawines or Twitter @tapenawine.  They also have a reward program, for those of you who become fans, where you can get more free stuff.

 The fine print – you must be 21 years or older to enter, and that by entering you verify you are over 21.  The contest will close on January 31 and you can enter here.  Looking forward to seeing your poetry in motion.

Nine Walks, Craggy Range, Casillero del Diablo & Montecillo Reviews

When you have a blog that is your passion and a job that is your paycheck, it is no surprise which one becomes the priority.  Since the end of August through October, I have been traveling to Stockholm, which didn’t leave me much time to try some of the review wine that was sent my way.

When some friends, Peter and Jen, invited us over for a night of cards, great food and wine, I knew there would be a group of wine lovers who would be able to give me lots of good feedback on wines from a number of regions.  Thus, we popped open the corks and began to taste.

We first tried the Nine Walks Sauvignon Blanc.  It had tropical and citrus notes combined with some herbalness.  It was a very crisp wine and at $11 a bottle, tasted much more expensive than its list price.

We then tried several wines from New Zealand’s Craggy Range, a vineyard that I was already familiar with for its Te Kahu label.  The first wine was the 2010 Te Muna Road Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.  Lots of green in this wine — but complexity came from hints of vanilla.  The 2010 Kidnappers Vineyard Chardonnay, which was made in an Old-World style without lots of oak, had notes of lemon, almond and some depth. Hands down the favorite was the 09 Te Kahu Gimblett Gravels Vineyard.  A Bordeaux blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and malbec, it was a great red with notes of blackberry, deep fruit, sandalwood and tobacco. 

We then moved to Chilean wines and tried the full line from Casillero del Diablo, the flagship line of wines from Concha y Toro. The story behind these wines is fun.  At the end of the 19^th century Don Melchor de Concha y Toro, a successful businessman and vineyard owner, discovered his wines had been stolen from the “casillero” (cellar) under his house.  To keep folks from stealing more, he created a rumor that his cellar was haunted by the devil.  These wines are also affordably priced at $12.  We tried several including the 10 chardonnay, 10 pinot noir, 09 syrah, 10 merlot, 10 carmenere and 10 malbec.  The group favorites were the more traditional Chilean wines including the carmenere with its notes of plum, chocolate, oak and spiciness and the malbec with blackberry and mocha notes.

We then delved into Spanish wine.  The first one was the 07 Montecillo Crianza Tinto. This was nice with notes of dark blackberry, vanilla and smoke.  The second wine was the 03 Montecillo Rioja Reserva.  This was a rich cherry, spice, vanilla and dark fruit that I really enjoyed.

After dinner, the wine shipping boxes became the most coveted thing with the under 7 group proving that imagination can still win over iPads, Play Stations, iTouch and all the other latest technology.  Seemed an appropriate nod from the kiddos — especially with many of the wines tried made from an Old World-style.

Tara Winery: A Southern Respite in East Texas

We had an opportunity to spend a weekend with our dear friends, Doug and Alyce, at their Lake house in East Texas last month.  While there I had the chance to spend some time with Patrick and Susan Pierce, the winemakers and owners of  Tara Vineyard & Winery the oldest winery in Henderson County.

As you drive up to the grounds, a stately 1880’s antebellum house once owned by former Dallas Cowboy Owner Clint Murchison, looks over the vines and made me think of Scarlett O’Hara’s house in Gone with the Wind.  The house was relocated from downtown Athens and serves as a respite as the Tara Inn.  The winery is also adjacent to the Cellar Door restaurant, which I did not try, but heard great reviews.  

Susan Holding “The Hill of Tara“

I loved the story about how Tara came to be.  It was the name of Patrick and Susan’s sailboat.  The name comes from Irish folklore and stands for “a view from afar”.  The name originally came from a book discovered in a used book store in Berkeley, The Hill of Tara. 

While Tara makes 14 wines, we only tried a few produced in East Texas on the 7-acre estate while my six-year old and her friends played the drums, danced and sang “California Girls”.  It was quite the musical revue.   My favorite Tara wine was one that I had tried before from my friend, James.  It is a white blend of Texas grapes, the Texas Blanc de Bois.  It’s a fruity wine with tropical notes and vanilla on the end and is priced under $18.  The Stagecoach Red, priced at $18.50, was termed “barbeque wine” and I see how it would be a good match.

If you are visiting East Texas, Tara is definitely worth a trip – for the food, the wines, the conversation and the live music events.  I think this is a good winery to watch with lots of future potential.

Wine Quest: Decent Wine at a Chain Search Continues at Olive Garden

I fully admit that I had some trepidation going back into an Olive Garden Restaurant, especially to taste wine.  But, I had willingly committed to doing a series about the possibility of finding a decent wine by the glass at a chain.  So, I grabbed my friend, Jennifer, and off we went.

Danny and Jeff

We were met by General Manager, Danny Gabaldon, and Certified Wine Trainer and a guy you want to work for you, Jeff Kidd, and seated in the bar area.  The restaurant had recently been remodeled with a Tuscan influence and was not the dark wood, dark place that I remembered from about 15 years ago.  We were presented with the wine list, which had 38 wines total with 35 offered by the glass at all price ranges.  The wines ranged from the house Cabit to the more interesting Italian wines.  Master Sommelier Andrea Immer Robinson helped create the wine training program for the Olive Garden and you can definitely see her influence.   So I’m sure you wondering which three bottles aren’t available by the glass – Zonin Prosecco , Bertani Amarone Della Valpolicella ($100) and Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montacino ($65).

Danny pointed out the featured wines list, which changes every six weeks, is matched with seasonal food items.  The wines are 6 oz pours or for another $2.50, they will pour 9 ozs.  The restaurant puts a sticker on each bottle that indicates the day the bottle was opened and when it is no longer consumable.  In addition, air is pumped from each open bottle nightly.  They brought us some bruschetta, Italian cheese and some individual sized desserts and we began to taste. 

We tried the following wines:

• Rocca delle Macie Sasyr 07, a blend of Sangiovese and Syrah.  This is a very fruity, tangy and easy to drink wine that pairs well with Italian flood.  This was our favorite red wine.
• Feudo Arancio Nero d’Avola Sicilia IGT 09, cranberry, berry and lots of fruit.
• Mandra Rossa Fiano 09, nice nose with lots of pear notes with tropical fruit and citrus.  This would be a great pool wine.
• Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie Sartori di Verona 10, a very typical Pinot Grigio that would pair well with Italian food.

We also sampled the Moscato and the Roscotto, a sweet red made only for Olive Garden, with the desserts.  I think I’m going to stick with my dessert wines favs, but it’s nice to know that these are around when Great Aunt Stella is ready to have some vino.

I must say that I’m impressed with the effort that Danny, Jeff and Darden Restaurants are putting effort into making sure diners have the option for a good glass of wine with their meal.  At least at Olive Garden, you can get a decent glass of wine at a chain.  Bravo!

Chain Reaction: WineQuest Begins – Decent Wine at A Chain?

This is the official launch of a series of columns meant to answer a very important question: can you get a decent glass of wine at a chain restaurant?  As the mom of a five and a half year old, I am always looking for a dinner place that balances my desire to eat something healthy with Morgan’s desire to get food that she wants.  I’m lucky because she loves salmon sashimi, but that comes with a price tag and isn’t something we can have daily.  And if I find a place with good food, fair prices and I can get a decent glass of wine, you have my complete attention and loyalty.

Enter Cafe-Express.  I know, I know – this isn’t truly a chain - but it does have 18 locations and I wanted to begin this series on a high note.  I sat down recently with Greg Martin, the food and beverage manager, who talked about the wine program and I’ll let you in on a secret.  You can get a ¼ bottle pour of a selection of wines not seen on your grocery store aisle for $6.  Yes, $6 and it goes down to $5 during happy hour.  The wine by the glass a great deal and there was a nice range of wines - Chalone Cabernet, The Next Riesling, Sterling Sauvignon Blanc, Monstrall Cabernet and Acrobat Pinot Gris - on my visit.  And, you can buy the bottle and take it home.

Throw in the fact that Café Express’ menu is centered around fresh and good food for everyday dining using quality products and tested recipes, and you’ve got a great option for a meal with wine that won’t break the bank.

Party Like A Rock Star: A Night With Charles Smith

So, if you had a huge opening of your new wine tasting room and world headquarters scheduled the next day in Walla Walla complete with lots of pre-event hype and only had one hour to get from the airport to the ribbon cutting, would you risk attending a party in Dallas the night prior?  Charles Smith would.  Why?  Because he made a promise to his friend, Pioneer Wine Company Owner Greg Kassanoff, and he doesn’t break promises. 

My first encounter with Charles and his breath-taking wife, Ginevra Casa, the maker of Secco sparkling, happened during last year’s Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla.  A group of bloggers were invited to his pre-party, which was held at the site of his new wine tasting room in a former auto shop.  As we walked in the door, we were handed plastic cups of his Boom Boom Syrah and were greeted by the sight of Burlesque dancers.  Did I mention they were wearing flaming pasties?  Yup, not exactly what I expected for Walla Walla.  I actually turned 41 that night and credit Charles for throwing me one hell of a birthday party.

Charles is a controversial guy with a rock star manager background who is one talented winemaker.  He’s non-conventional, from the Sammy Hagar flowing locks to the “no holds barred way” that he does business to the way that he markets his wines taking cues from how the music industry markets.  He told me that he’s about staying true to his brand.  He’s the largest wine maker/business owner in Washington and just wants to make wines that reflect his rocker sensibility.  In his words, “It’s just booze.  Drink it.” 

I had the chance to try the K Vintners 06 Guido, which was an 80/20 blend of Sangiovese and Syrah.  It was smooth with some earthiness, tobacco, cherry and leather.  We were then in for a big treat – the unveiling (and sorry folks you can’t get it in Texas yet) of the Charles Smith Cabernet 08, the first Cab bottling from the Stone Ridge Vineyard site.  It was big and concentrated with hints of cedar, cherry, bramble, mocha and spice.  We then moved to the K Vintners El Jefe Chamberlin 08, which was a 75/25 tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon blend with lots of spice, blackberry and smoke.  

I’m glad to report that Charles did make it to his grand opening and naturally it was a rocking success.

Deep in the Heart of Texas’ Wine Country

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I recently was invited to attend an event in Fort Worth for the Texas Hill Country Wineries at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.  The session began with a panelist seminar of winemakers that included John Rivenbaugh from Bending Branch Winery, Gill Bledsoe from Pillar Bluff Vineyard and David Kuhlken from Pedernales Cellars who discussed a variety of subjects as related to producing wine in Texas.

I learned a few things:

• The Texas wine and grape industry is fifth in the U.S. for wine production with over 2 million gallons produced annually.  The 2,700 acres of vineyard and 200 plus wineries contribute $1.35 billion to Texas’ economy.  Wow.
• And, the proposed budget cuts at a state and federal level will absolutely level the gains made in Texas wine production.

I wanted to know more about where the winemakers thought the ‘sweet spot’ was for Texas wine.  Not surprisingly, they talked about the potential for growth in Texas as only six percent of Texas wines are consumed by Texans.  When I was on the efactor panel in February, I heard the same from Dan Gatlin from Inwood Estates.  I was glad to hear that they all acknowledged planting the right kind of varietals for the crazy Texas weather is the key to success.  As someone who has palate skid marks from trying Texas wines in the 1990’s, I was heartened to hear this.  Bledsoe had my favorite quote of the night, “I want to show that we can dance – I’ll throw our wines up against anyone.”  The fact that 15 of 21 Texas wines that were awarded medals in the San Francisco International Wine Competition were from the Texas Hill Country shows he may have a point.

Naturally I asked about the challenges they face.  Texas weather and funding seemed to top the list.  If you’ve spent any time in Texas or watched the Big Game this year, you know temperatures can drop 50 degrees overnight.  There is also some research that is making gains in improving Texas wine – collaborations between Texas A&M and the program at Grayson County College – that could be severely impacted by budget cuts.

If you’ve been reading Dallas Wine Chick for the past year, you know that I’ve had some past struggles with Texas wine.  I’m sure your big question is what I thought about the wines.  I tasted 29 wines.  Some took me back to my experience in the 1990’s.  However, I had four that made me take notice.

• Duchman Family Winery, 09 Montepulciano, ($15) this was a red wine full of stone fruit, slight oak and a bit of spice at the finish.  It was a Texas wine that is actually possible to drink in August Texas weather.
• Duchman Family 09 Vermentino ($10), a Texas patio wine that is floral with hints of pear, but balanced with some minerality.  Lively and light for patio weather.
• Perdernales Tempranillo ($29.99), a little high priced for my threshold for a Texas wine, but with soft tannins, an earthiness and cherry notes that make it well matched for Texas game.  The highlight of my tasting note was simple – “Nice” with an exclamation point.
• Singing Water Vineyards Reserve Merlot/Cabernet Blend ($24.95), also priced on the high range, this was a deep red wine full of stone fruit, raspberry and vanilla.

Coincidentally, a group of Texas sommeliers blind tasted more than 100 Texas wines and both Duchman and Perdernales wines were on the winners list.  The Singing Water Vineyards has also won a number of awards for their reserve blend.

My takeaways from this event – I found wines that I liked that give me hope for the future of Texas wines.  I would keep an eye on Perdenales Cellars, Singing Water Vineyards and Duchman Family.  I expect good things.

Texas vs. New York Gridiron: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble

Earlier this month, with high hopes for a Ranger’s World Series win and the Cowboy’s at a pathetic 1 and 4; I was invited to attend the 2010 Grape & Gridiron Classic that was thrown by the “GO TEXAN” folks at the Texas Department of Agriculture.

I was excited to see two industry folks that I hadn’t met live yet,  Russ Kane and Jeff Siegel who were co-hosting the event on the Texas side.  Russ and I have been Twitter friends for a long time, so it was great to finally meet him live.  The premise was to do a taste off Texas vs. New York wines in conjunction with the Cowboys/Giants game that was scheduled that evening. Based on the Cowboy’s season at that time, I wasn’t surprised to see that the better competition was going to be in the room that night at El Centro (wine vs. the football game).

We started with ten whites, which we tasted blind.  Of all the whites, I found I preferred the 09 Llano Estacado Winery Unoaked Chardonnay. This was a good thing as Mark Hyman, president and CEO of Llano was sitting at our table. I am a huge fan of New York Finger Lakes Riesling wines. However, not one Finger Lakes wine was represented due to the archaic laws regarding shipping wines to Texas. Because of this, I feel like we were able to showcase the wines we wanted to in Texas, but the New York folks were sparring with one hand tied behind their backs.

We tasted ten reds and a dessert wine. I also found that the palate of my table mates – Mark Hyman, Ron Ruggles from Nation’s Restaurant News and Hunter Hammett from the Fairmont Hotel, were overall very similar. However, the palate of almost everyone else in the room was drastically different as choice after choice of ours lost the vote.

Texas won by a landslide – eight to three for a total of 11 flights. The “best of show” favorites were McPherson Cellars Rose’ of Syrah 2009 (Texas) and Dr. Konstantin Frank Semi-Dry Riesling 2009 (New York).  All in all, I found some good wines from New York and from Texas. I must commend Russ and Jeff for figuring out how to take very different wines, including different varietals, and pair them together in categories for tasting. I’m hoping that we’ll do it again next year … only let’s involve Lenn Thomas and tie it to the Rangers/Yankees play off games.

All photos are courtesy of  Jenny Gregorcyk.

A Return Visit to Fuqua: The Dallas Wine Experience

I had the chance to attend a tasting at Dallas-based Fuqua Wines in September.  Some of you may remember my surprise at the quality of the wines – especially the tempranillo — from my column in Black White and Read last November. 

Lee and his wife, Julia, started the winery a few years ago in the warehouse district in Dallas.  Fuqua’s motto is to distribute super ultra-premium wines using the best grapes from Texas, California, Oregon, Washington and Europe.  Lee and Julia would like to use more Texas grapes, but there is a huge shortfall of quality fruit, which is obviously a problem when your mission is to make premium wines.  We had the chance to meet Courtney Key, a wine making student about to start her apprenticeship in France, who was helping Lee and Julia with the most recent vintages.

Courtney and Lee with the Fuqua 08 Chardonnay

We arrived to a glass of Segura Vidas Cava from Spain – obviously not a Fuqua wine, but a favorite sparkling of theirs and good palate cleanser.  This is a great value sparkler and has always been on my list of preferred value wines.

We tried a number of wines — some made by Fuqua, some made by others – but I’m going to point out a few that were of note to me:    

Fuqua 09 Summer Cabernet ($17.95) – very light, fruit forward and Beaujolais style with currant, vanilla, cherry and strawberry notes.  This was the only Texas wine and certified by the Texas Department of Agriculture to have 100 percent grapes from the Texas High Plains.  My personal preference was for the bigger styles, but because it is the only 100 percent Texas wine, I thought I’d mention it.

Fuqua 06 Syrah ($19.95)- very dark, spicy, concentrated fruit, wood, liquorice and coffee. This was a wine that needed food or a little more time to open.  Very interesting flavor combination and I would have liked to try it again the following day.

Fuqua Malbec Barrel 09 ($27.95), my favorite with the exception of the tempranillo, which has also not been bottled yet.  Even right out of the barrel I tasted lots of big blackberry fruit with vanilla and complex flavors.  Looking forward to picking up my pre-ordered bottles when they are ready and putting them down to age.

Fuqua wines are available at Pogo’s, select Sigel’s and Red’s Seafood.

I’ll let you know in a few years if I was right about the Malbec and I continue to eagerly wait for this year’s release of the tempranillo.

Tapena Grab A Fork Tour Does Dallas

Tapena Wines asked me to be involved with a two-day “Grab a Fork Tour” on July 27 and 28 in Dallas, which just happened to coincide with the six-month anniversary of the launch of Dallas Wine Chick.  The word Tapeña is a combination of tapas (Spanish small plates) and peña (a group of close friends).  The wines are meant to be paired with food and are all made from Spanish varietals.  We tried a tempranillo, garnacha, verdejo and a rose that were paired with different small plates.  My favs were the tempranillo and verdejo and at a suggested retail price of $10, these were enjoyable, food-friendly wines that were a good bargain.

I first met, Simone Perez, the Tapeña ambassador over the weekend, and her enthusiasm for the wines and culture of Spain was contagious.  Our first event took place at Cafe Madrid and coincided with the Texas sky opening into a torrential downpour.  But Dallasites were ready to “represent” and more than 110 people came out to taste. 

Our next event was at WineTastic the following day and approximately 80 people showed. I had the opportunity to finally meet a number of Dallas Wine Chick fans, which was absolutely a blast.   You can click here to experience both events for yourself.