Many of you know that I was asked to participate in Taste Texas Tweet Up with bloggers from across the nation to taste Mandola Estate, an up-and-coming Texas winery’s offerings. Even though I am the Dallas Wine Chick, I find that most of the wines that I stock in my cellar come from California, Oregon, Australia, New Zealand or Europe (Spain, Italy, and France). But, I did go on a tour of Dallas’ wineries last year and found some Texas discoveries that I did purchase, so I was hopeful when we gathered a crew together and began to taste the wines.
Texas still has a long way to go to remain competitive with my “go to” wine regions. We tried four wines and the favorite wine of the group was the 08 Mandola Estate Dolcetto. It was a simple dry wine with dark fruit that I’d pair with pizza. But at $26, I’d have a hard time justifying purchasing this wine over my usual suspects.
Others included a Rose, Sangiovese, and the very sweet Canto Felice. The reality is consumers will buy local if the quality of the wines is similar. Otherwise, it isn’t fair for wineries to ask. I am hopeful that Texas wineries will make the wines that are best suited for the growing conditions of the state and the evolution will be a tasty one.
