Dinner in the Vines – Lost Oak Winery

Lost Oak Winery in Burleson held their first ever wine club member exclusive Dinner in the Vines Friday night. This event intrigued me when I saw the posting and I was very excited to purchase our tickets so Shelly and I could attend. The menu sounded wonderful, the venue I knew to be perfection, and the weather truly cooperated in the end. We arrived at the winery a little early, so we stopped by the tasting room and I purchased a glass of Shiraz that I love and Shelly purchased a glass of Mosaic. We made our way to the vineyard where the tables had been set up between the rows of Black Spanish grapes. A table of cheeses and meat had been prepared for us to nibble on as we arrived and the wonderfully talented musician, Dave Lincoln, was set up and began to play.

A birthday party had purchased about half of the 30 tickets so they sat at one end of the tables while the rest of us sat on the other end and Gene and Judy were seated in the middle. That was a perfect arrangement as the party could continue as they wanted and we could visit with each other and not intrude.

Ashley Babatov, the events coordinator and “hostess” for this event, made the introductions of Gene and Judy Estes and the evening began with the salad course. The salad was mixed greens and sliced avocados with a refreshing orange vinaigrette dressing. This was paired perfectly with the newly released Sauvignon Blanc. This vintage is actually my first experience with Sauvignon Blanc. I was able to participate in the harvest back in July or August and it was gorgeous fruit, tight and full on the clusters. Gene gave a brief introduction of the wine and explained that it came from Burning Daylight Vineyard not very far from the winery. I really didn’t find the flavor to be overly characteristically grassy like I’ve heard Sauvignon Blanc can be. It was refreshingly and delightfully crisp and did not compete with the orange vinaigrette at all.

The next course was a wine braised brisket with cheddar polenta and roasted broccoli. The brisket had a fantastic flavor and was exquisitely tender. The cheddar polenta was a unique and delicious change of pace from the normal and typical mashed potatoes and I just love broccoli any way it comes. This was paired with the current vintage of estate Shiraz, which is the wine that I had began my evening with and I still had a little bit in my glass. Gene let us know that this vintage of the estate Shiraz was from a very successful harvest.

Before we were served dessert, we were given a very special treat. We all were able to be the first to try the not-yet-released High Plains Texas grown Bingham Family Vineyards 2014 Viognier. The current release is the 2013 Viognier made with California fruit as that was a treacherous year for Texas grapes due to numerous post-bud-break freezes and hail storms that decimated harvests across the state. We were all very excited to be given the opportunity to try this new wine and pleased with how it is tasting.

It was at this time that the sunset became the most beautiful and the colors so vivid. The temperature was very comfortable in the low 70s when we arrived, but as the sun set it did begin to lower into the up 60s. I was glad I wore a sweater and brought a vest. Luckily the winds remained light, with only gentle breezes.

         

The final dish to arrive was a flourless chocolate cake with warm black cherry sauce. This was paired with the ever popular Dark Obsession port-style wine. The ooos and aaahhs up and down the table as we each put the first bites into our mouths was almost comical.

Throughout the evening Dave Lincoln entertained us with his beautiful guitar playing skills. He had played in the cellar room a few months ago and we really enjoyed him then and we were thrilled to see that he had been included in this evening as well. A guest joined him and sang a few songs as we finished up the event. We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening eating delicious food, drinking fabulous wines, visiting with new friends around us, and listening to Gene and Judy regale us with the adventures of being in the wine business.

It was a great first event and I’ve already told Ashley to put us down for the next one!!

The caterer for this event was Fort Worth based All In Good Taste Catering.

Ashley’s very wonderful servers for the evening were Lindsay Walraven, Madison Goodwin, Tyrel McCory, and Mitchell McDowell.

 

Battle of the Texas Tempranillos

November 8, 2014…Houston, Texas

Battle? Smack down? War? Beating?

The third Texas Wine Lover’s “Battle of the Texas Wine” was determined back in May to be the Battle of the Texas Tempranillos. Wineries across Texas were invited to participate in this event which would pit Texas Tempranillo against Texas Tempranillo. Twenty-eight wineries across the state eagerly accepted and offered their finest bottle. The requirements for this smack down were simple: the wine had to be at least 75% Texas Tempranillo and had to be readily or soon to be readily available. Several other wineries would love to have participated, but they did not have a wine readily available at this time. In order to participate, one even winery pulled a couple of cases of their wine out of their library hold to make available. Now that is dedication to this event!

While the wines were being accumulated, the decision for who would be judges was determined. I like how Jeff invites a variety of levels of participation. In the mix of 15 judges were winery owners, winemakers, blog writers, sommeliers, grape growers, and wine enthusiasts. The date was finalized for November 8 and the location would be at the NICE Winery in Houston where the Battle of the Texas Roussannes was held last July. This is a great venue with enough room to hold everybody and not be tight or crowded.

With all these details set, we waited for the event to come up next on our calendar. When it did, The Boy got to have his gramma/grampa visit and Shelly and I loaded the car and headed south to Houston. We arrived in plenty of time to enjoy lunch in the vicinity of NICE Winery and relax for a bit before we got down to business.

The winery is located in an industrial business park and seems to be an odd site, but when you open the door and step inside you are transported to what feels like someone’s luscious home. Bookcases flank a large stone fireplace on one wall where large couches and a coffee table would normally be arranged in front of it. A wet bar is at the back of the room and a hall takes you to the restrooms and the bedrooms, I mean offices. The kitchen area is located on the other side of the bar down another hall. Overall, it easily offers the illusion of someone’s home.

As we entered we saw some of the other judges had already begun arriving and were visiting with each other. Of course Jeff Cope and Gloria Schlanser, original Texas Wine Lover bloggers; Jeremy Wilson, Texas Wine Lover correspondent and Sommelier; and Rebecca Marmaduke, new Texas Wine Lover correspondent and also a Sommelier, and her husband Ben were all busy putting on various finishing touches. Ryan Levy, owner/winemaker of NICE Winery was also putting on finishing touches for a wine dinner that was to be held after we were finished. I also saw Mike Batek, owner of Hye Meadow Winery in Hye, and Bob Landon, owner and winemaker at Landon Winery in McKinney and Garland. Not being one to pass up a hug, I approached both gentlemen and greeted them and got wonderful hugs! I LOVE this industry!!! Soon Bill and Gail Day, grape growers with Buena Suerte Vineyards in the High Plains, arrived followed by Sergio Cuadra, winemaker at Fall Creek Vineyards in Tow, then Marta Lastowska winemaker at Haak Vineyards and Winery in Santa Fe. Jerry and Gail Levy, Ryan’s parents and fellow wine lovers and wine industry supporters, and Jarrett Buffington and James Watkins, Houston area Sommeliers, rounded out the field of judges.

Photo courtesy Jeff Cope, http://www.txwinelover.com

Since Ryan had a wine dinner almost immediately following our Tempranillo tasting, he and Jeremy began pouring the first flight of three wines as we continued assembling and greeting each other.

All of the bottles had been painstakingly wrapped in brown paper bags so as to hide any and all identifiers.

We found out at that time that there would be 28 wines tasted in flights of threes. Scoring sheets and pens were provided along with blank paper for personal notes.

The scoring would be similar to the Battle of Texas Roussannes that we attended last July. Each wine would be scored with a number grade. There was also a block where notes were encouraged. Each flight would last 5 minutes, an opaque cup was provided to spit and dump, and pairings of crackers, meats, and cheeses were available to cleanse our palettes as needed. Discussion during the flights was discouraged, but that’s ok because there wasn’t much time to talk, taste, and spit anyway. Everyone took the task at hand very seriously.

As I began tasting and spitting the first couple of flights it became clear to me that I was not getting the “whole” picture. I was finding that by spitting out the wine that was in my mouth I was lacking the finish that I enjoyed so much in a good Tempranillo. I decided that I would go ahead and swallow the taste, but not drink what was poured in my glass. I was there to judge the wines, but I was going to enjoy doing it as well! After that I was able to give more honest opinions about the wines. I find it very interesting that while there were 28 wines made from the same grape by 28 different people each and every one was different. Some were very different. Some were fruit forward, some were smoky, and some were spicy. Some I liked. Some I liked a lot! Some I didn’t like at all. I wish I had kept better personal notes so I would know which ones to go add to my collection.

These are all 28 contenders…

      

These are the top three…

Photo courtesy Jeff Cope, http://www.txwinelover.com

1st: Lost Draw Cellars, Tempranillo 2012, Texas High Plains, $36

2nd: Brushy Creek Vineyards and Winery, Tempranillo 2012, Rush Creek Vineyards, $34.99

3rd: Bending Branch Winery, Tempranillo 2011, Newsom Vineyards, $40

I’m not going to repeat information that you can get better from the gang at Texas Wine Lover, but I hope I could convey the process that we went through to arrive at the conclusion. It was a privilege and an honor to be invited and included in such a prestigious group of judges.

Photo courtesy Jeff Cope, http://www.txwinelover.com

 

 

6 Reasons to Join a Wine Club

“Membership has its privileges.” Who doesn’t remember this slogan from the 1990’s? Who doesn’t like being a member of a club? It makes you feel like you are part of an exclusive group. Maybe you already belong to a group where you have something in common? There are many different clubs you can join…car clubs, country clubs, service clubs, book clubs, wine clubs…wait, wine clubs? My husband and I are members of a couple of wine clubs: Lost Oak Winery (Burleson, TX), Blue Ostrich Vineyard (Saint Jo, TX), and Wedding Oak Winery (San Saba, TX). There have been a few other ones I’d like to join, but my husband has said three is enough for now! We’ll just have to cycle through the clubs and see what we can do.

There are many reasons to join a wine club and these are just a few membership privileges:

1. Advance release and exclusive release of wines. Many wineries make early release or limited releases of their wines available to wine club members before they make them available to the general public in the tasting room or their website. Westcave Cellars, whose wine club members are known as the Cellar Dwellers, is located in Round Mountain in the Hill Country. They offer to their members access to special releases of wine not available to the public. Spicewood Vineyards is located about 35 miles northwest of Austin near the community of Spicewood. They offer the ability to purchase exclusive wines available only to wine club members.

Westcave Cellars from the patio deck.

Spicewood Vineyards

2. Wine Club release events. Pick up events are usually scheduled around wine club release times where members come and drink the wines being released with special food pairings. Friends of Pedernales Cellars, the wine club for Pedernales Cellars in Stonewall, are invited to exclusive club release events including special passes to Pedernales Cellars’ celebration of Texas Independence Day with cooking demos, wine classes, and more. The Flock, Hilmy Cellars’ wine club located on US Highway 290 between Stonewall and Fredericksburg, are encouraged to pick-up their wine allocations on the date or weekend they are released in order to enjoy the celebrations surrounding each release.

 

Pedernales Cellars

Hilmy Cellars

3. Special Events. Many wineries offer member only special events like special pairings, wine pairing dinners at local restaurants, or even wine blending parties. Singing Water Vineyards is located outside of Comfort and their wine club is referred to as the Vintage Wine Club. Among other things they also offer special VIP invitation to special events throughout the year. Driftwood Estate Winery is located in Driftwood and offers discounted event tickets and exclusive Member Only events.

Singing Water Vineyards

Overlooking Driftwood Estate Vineyards

4. Discounts and special pricing. How does 10-20% on average off of wines, merchandise, and event tickets sound?? William Chris Wines is located in Hye and offers four levels of membership ranging from 2 bottles and 10% savings to 12 bottles and 25% savings. Bar Z Winery in Canyon offers 15% discount on wine and merchandise purchases.

William Chris Wines

Bar Z Winery

5. Free tours and tastings. You and some of your friends can join in for free tastings and tours of the winery and vineyards. Blue Ostrich Winery and Vineyard located in Saint Jo offers complementary tastings and scheduled barrel tastings. Some wineries like Texas Legato in Lampasas offer free barrel and tank tastings with the wine maker with advance notice.

Blue Ostrich Winery and Vineyard

Aerial shot of Texas Legato from Keith George’s drone

6. Free newsletter subscriptions. Current information is offered on what’s going on in the winery and occasionally recipe and pairing suggestions. Woodrose Winery in Stonewall offers intimate tasting notes from the winemakers and gourmet Woodrose Winery recipes to pair with their wines. Lost Oak Winery in Burleson shares a copy of their From the Vine newsletter that includes winery notes from President, Gene Estes, and winemaker, Jim Evans, and a recipe is shared with each shipment.

Woodrose Winery

Lost Oak Winery

I’m sure there are many other reasons to join, but these are the most common I found. Almost every winery offers wine club membership and is able to ship your wines to you, but you will still need to visit the winery in order to take full advantage of your wine club benefits.

Enoteca–Flat Creek arrives IN Marble Falls

Enoteca (EnoTECa)…literally means “wine repository.” It has been used more recently to mean a wine bar giving visitors the opportunity to taste a variety of wines. Flat Creek Estate Winery is doing this at their new wine bar/tasting room and light fare restaurant in Marble Falls called simply The Enoteca. Located just at the bridge on 281 crossing the Colorado River in a building they renovated for this venture, you can find a tasting room with a fine select variety of Flat Creek wines to sample, a wide variety of Flat Creek wines in the bottle to purchase, and…surprise…a nice group of import wines from Italy to purchase!

I have been anxiously watching the progress of Enoteca on Facebook as the construction has taken shape. We definitely made it a place to stop as we were planning our annual trek to visit the Hill Country wineries over Memorial Day to meet up with friends from different corners of Texas. When we arrived at the bistro we were warmly greeted at the door by Jessie and he offered us a complementary tasting of Blanco Brio as he explained how the concept works. He said it will be “go at your own pace” where you can step up to the tasting bar and enjoy a wine flight tasting, place your food order, place your wine order, and take your selections back to any number of seating arrangements inside or outside on the good sized patio that looks toward the river. He explained the wines available at the tasting bar will change weekly in order to keep the variety fresh. The wines are ordered by tasting flight of either dry red, dry white, or sweet; by bottle; or by full glass or by half glass.

There is a woodfired pizza oven, the tasting bar, gift shop items, and a back patio. The pizza oven definitely turned out some fine pizzas. We ordered the Margherita Pizza and the La Banderia Pizza. They also have beautiful sandwiches (I saw a patron eating one and it looked great) and salads in addition to cheese trays and simple dessert options. The chef that oversees the Bistro at the winery also oversees the menu at Enoteca so it is definitely up to his exacting standards.

We decided on sharing the dry red flight consisting of the 2012 Super Texan (a bold Sangiovese), the 2010 Tempranillo, and the Trooper Red. The Trooper ends up being the Super Texan just not aged as long and available “on tap.”

I also ordered a half glass of the Tempranillo to drink as I finished my half of the pizzas.

While we were enjoying our pizzas and wines we looked up as the front door opened and in walked Rick Naber, owner of Flat Creek Estate Winery and now this Enoteca Tasting Room. After quick hugs he asked how we were enjoying our experience? We assured him that it was very enjoyable and Jessie was doing a great job taking care of us and keeping us happy. Rick let us know they had their “soft opening” starting last Sunday so they could iron out any kinks before the Memorial Day Holiday hopefully brought in more people. I’ll be watching to see if they have their Grand Opening and hopefully we can make a quick run down for it.

Come for lunch, come for happy hour, come to sit and rest a bit with your friends. Come on your way through as you visit either end of the Hill Country wineries.

Crawfish Boil…Texas Legato-style

Several months ago, back in the spring, Shelly and I bought tickets for Texas Legato’s Crawfish Boil while we were at the winery helping owners Bill and Sulynn Bledsoe take care of some spring chores, including putting up hardware mesh to try and deter the swallows from nesting under the eaves of their new covered winery patio addition. I also made reservations at The Inn at Lampasas for that night so now it was just a matter of turning the pages of the calendar.

Usually on the Friday before we go to the Hill Country, we head down to my parent’s place just outside of Brownwood so we can drop off our 16 yo son. Saturday morning we get up, have a great breakfast made by my daddy, then Shelly and I load up and head south towards wine country. This was finally the weekend to go down the road to Lampasas to Texas Legato, one of our very favorite wineries, for their Crawfish Boil.

Texas Legato

We arrived early in the day so we could lend a hand helping in getting whatever else needed to be done…well…done. We found Bill and Sulynn’s daughter, Rebecca Petty, and Sulynn’s sister-in-law, Kenna Elliott, setting up the wine-a-rita machine and outside wine sales counter. After greetings and quick hugs we jumped in and got busy helping out where needed. Shelly helped Bill set up awnings and tents while I grabbed a rag and began wiping down tables and chairs. Much of the big work had been done the day before, but we did help with the finishing touches. This was the first event to be held on the winery’s new covered patio addition.

Texas Legato covered patio addition- photo by Keith George

When we were there two weeks ago I walked down some of the rows of grapevines as the leaves were just beginning to break. It was a glorious sight!

Malbec at Texas Legato

I walked the same rows this trip and was amazed at the rate of growth. The cool part was seeing the tiny clusters of grapes already set. I found myself praying for their safety as I walked up and down the rows.

Malbec at Texas Legato

Pretty soon it was time to head to the hotel to check in and get changed for the Crawfish Boil.

When we returned other guests were beginning to arrive and the party was ready to start. We checked in and got our wristbands, a blue band  for crawfish for Shelly and a yellow band for pork roast for me, and our drink tickets. We made our way over to where Rebecca had the outside wine sales set up and we got our first of two ticketed drinks.

Aerial shot of Texas Legato-photo courtesy of  Keith George’s drone

The band Dr. Zog, a fantastic Zydeco party band out of Austin, was setting up at the end of the new patio and soon they were playing and had everybody’s toes tapping and people dancing!

Dr Zog at Texas Legato-photo courtesy of Keith George

The first dump of crawfish was made on the table and there was my husband in with the first wave. I made myself comfortable in a rocking chair on the patio and enjoyed people watching. Soon Mrs. Bledsoe, Bill’s mother, brought her dinner plate and sat in the matching rocking chair and we chatted about what a good time everyone was having. The pork roast was delicious. There was one kind stuffed with a mushroom mixture and another one stuffed with jalapenos and cream cheese. I had the jalapeno one with some white rice. For dessert Sulynn had made bread pudding with and without raisins and with and without a luscious whiskey sauce!

Texas Legato guests enjoying the first dump of crawfish-photo courtesy of Keith George

The bluebonnets were plentiful and people were taking their pictures in the blanket of blue. There were groups playing horseshoes, some playing washers, and some playing redneck golf when the wind wasn’t blowing the balls off course. The band had people dancing and there was lots of talking and laughter. All the tables were full of happy diners and people milling around drinking their wine and wine-a-ritas and visiting with friends new and old. More buckets of crawfish, corn on the cob, potatoes, and sausage were dumped on the table throughout the evening. After a while the pile didn’t dwindle down as fast as it had earlier in the evening.

Texas Legato-photo courtesy of Keith George

Texas Legato Crawfish Boil-photo courtesy of Keith George

The weather was very cooperative for a spring day and evening in the northern part of the Texas Hill Country and Bill and Sulynn could not have scripted a more perfect event!

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend next year’s event…April 18, 2015!!! Hope to see you then!

www.texaslegatowinery.net

Huge thanks to Keith George for allowing me access to his portfolio of beautiful pictures. He also has some fantastic videos from his drone!! To see more Texas Legato Crawfish Boil photos please visit my source:

“http://keithgeorge.smugmug.com/TexasVineyardsandWineries/Texas-Legato-Crawfish-Boil-201/

Saying Good-Bye

John Fredrick, Jr.

Yesterday we said good-bye to a true gentleman, in every sense and meaning of the word, I had the privilege of only just getting to know. The first time we met John Fredrick, Jr. was on our yearly Thanksgiving wine tour in 2012. On Facebook I had been watching the progress of the pergola being built and other things going on at Blue Ostrich Winery and I knew it was a winery we HAD to visit! We dropped the kid off at Gramma and Grampa’s, packed a picnic of bread, cheeses, and meats and we headed north. We drove…and drove…and DROVE!! It wasn’t so bad, just a couple of hours…NORTH of I-20!

We arrived and pulled into the parking lot noticing the pens of ostriches and the winery that was a gorgeous whitewashed barn. We stepped inside and were greeted by a couple of lovely ladies behind the bar, who turned out to be Julie Whitehead (one of the owners and who is married to the winemaker and another owner Patrick Whitehead) and Danna Fredrick (who is married to the vineyard manager and other co owner). They kind of tag-teamed between us and another couple at the bar easily keeping track of where we were on the tasting list and what we’d like to try next. We thoroughly enjoyed the wines we tasted and the visit with the ladies. We chose a Zinfandel for our picnic wine and took the bottle out to the patio and enjoyed a chilly fall afternoon under the pergola overlooking the vineyard as it swept across and down into the valley. After we completed our wine and picnic a tall lanky gentleman strode up from the vineyard and introduced himself to us as John Fredrick, vineyard manager and asked how we were enjoying the wine and did we have any questions. We assured him we enjoyed it very much and began talking to him about the ostriches, the vines, the grapes…he patiently, graciously, and thoroughly answered our questions and offered general funny comments and stories. He told us of his foray from cattle rancher to ostrich rancher (farmer?) to grape grower. We totally enjoyed his stories, his candor, his humor, and the way he talked to us like he’d known us for years. What a wonderful ambassador he was for Blue Ostrich Vineyards and the Texas wine industry as a whole. We left that day knowing we had made friends and that we would definitely return.

We joined their wine club on a subsequent visit and we now had an excuse to make the trip to Saint Jo regularly to visit our friends at Blue Ostrich and drink their wines. We’ve been several more times to pick up our wine club, to help with crush and bottling, and to just visit for a little bit and hang out. More often than not if John wasn’t in the vineyard tending to his precious “babies” he would be hanging around the tasting room and patio making his way around to the various groups visiting and answering the same questions over and over, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to his answers. He had a way about him that made you feel like yours was the most important question he’d answer that day.

Yesterday I made the trip to Saint Jo to join with several hundred of his family and friends to say our final good-byes to John.  As members of his family bravely stood before us and recounted funny and touching stories about John from his childhood and younger years to more recent times I listened and laughed and was reminded that John was a man who was easy to like, he enjoyed his family and friends, and he would help anyone with any problem of any kind. We heard stories of hunting trips, raising quality cattle, herding ostriches, and making sure the lines in the vineyard were straight. He loved life. I know that is cliché, but John packed a whole lot of life in his 53 short years and he loved every minute of it! He adored his wife, Danna, and their 4 boys. He was busy working on spoiling their grandson, much to his son’s dismay (and amusement!).

After the church service we made our way to the cemetery just down the road past Blue Ostrich Winery. I think I was about car #30 in a line of at least 50. As we passed cars on the little country road, they respectfully pulled to the side, but instead of like in the cities now these drivers waited until the whole line of cars had passed before they pulled back out to be on their way. I made a mental note to slow myself down and do the same the next time I encountered a funeral procession. We gathered around the graveside and more beautiful words were spoken, the Bois d’Arcs sang, then Patrick stepped up to say some final words and read a poem about Texas wine. Several of us had been asked to pass out cups and pour a taste of wine so we could offer a toast. As a group we raised our glasses and said, “To John!”

I realize now that much of my sadness comes from the fact that I will not get to know the man better that was described to me yesterday. Yes, that is selfish, but often times our sadness is just that. A selfish act of wanting something for ourselves that we cannot have. I will enjoy the memories of John that I do have, but I would love to have learned more from him about the fine art of growing grapes as he was enjoying learning about it and sharing what he’d learned.

Several times during the service it was mentioned that John’s favorite Bible verse was Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” But as I sat there and listened to all the wonderful things his family and friends were saying about him I couldn’t help but think about Matthew 25:21 “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” I can certainly see John in charge of the heavenly vineyards growing some awesome grapes in nothing less than perfectly straight lines!!

TXWine Passport App

Once upon a time, back in about 2008, the Texas Department of Agriculture launched a program to promote wine tourism in Texas with the Go Texan Texas Winery Passport.

This paper passport allowed winery customers to travel to wineries across the state and have their Passport stamped. After as few as four stamps they could be redeemed for something simple like a wine journal where personal notes could be taken or with multiple passport stamps rewards could be as elaborate as a wine tasting, wine pairing dinner, or even a stay at a winery’s bed and breakfast. At the time this was a great way to get travelers interested and excited in the Texas wine industry. However, in October 2011 funding for the program was cancelled and TDA ended the passport program.

Do you remember this program? Did you participate? My husband and I did. We would get the passport stamped, if I remembered, then move to the next winery and get it stamped there as well. The problem was when we would get home I would forget to enter the information in the website provided. That didn’t do me any good! Out of all the dozens of stamps we got the most reward we received was the wine journal. I kept my notes in my own spiral notebook so that journal didn’t do me much good.

In September 2013 the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association (TWGGA), an organization whose mission is to promote the production and appreciation of premium grapes and fine wines from Texas, launched the mobile TXWine Passport App for smartphones (iPhone and Android formats). The concept is the same as the paper version: visit Texas wineries, get stamps, and redeem for a reward. This time the reward process is simple. Get your passport virtually stamped 10 times at participating wineries and you receive a coupon code for $10 off a non-alcoholic purchase at any participating winery! See? Pretty simple! The app shows which wineries participate in the program. When you visit those wineries you “check in” using the app and enter a code provided by the winery. The app keeps track of which wineries you visit and how many stamps you have accumulated. Once you reach 10 stamps you can redeem them for $10 off a non-wine purchase, for example $10 off an item in the gift shop of any participating winery.

Right now I have two codes for $10 off a non-wine purchase and I’m working on my third. Unfortunately, they cannot be combined to make a $20 coupon. I have my eye on a beautiful cheese tray at my local winery, I just need to make the decision that is what I want and make my purchase. I also like the wine bling t-shirts. Well, I do have two coupons…

The app has some fun options as well. Once you stamp your passport you have the option of personalizing and sharing a post in Facebook, Twitter, or email to friends.

You can also use the Photo/Postcard option to take a picture with your smartphone or use one from your photo album and customize and share it to social media, email it, or save it.

I recommend when you download the app you visit your nearest participating winery and play with the various features, after you stamp it of course! Also “like” the app’s Facebook page and Twitter to learn what is happening at the wineries around the state.

Enjoy and Happy Stamping!!!

Thanksgiving Wine Trip 2013 – Day 2

We stayed the first night at Best Western in Willis, Texas. All I will say is…DON’T!!

We got up Sunday morning and moved on down the road. Our first stop was Saddlehorn Winery outside of Burton. This was our second time to visit Saddlehorn. I didn’t take pictures this time so I will show pictures from our previous visit. We arrived shortly after they opened and the guy behind the bar was ready and got us started on the whites that were on the list. Now, remember we don’t care for Blanc du Bois. BUT…I try them wherever we go. I’m glad I do. We liked and bought a Semi-Sweet Blanc du Bois the day before from Caney Creek and when I tried the Semi-Sweet Blanc du Bois at Saddlehorn, it too received a special mark on the tasting sheet. My notes said “not overly floral as it hit my nose; could get syrupy, but starts out easy!” This one too went home with us. As we moved onto the reds, we tasted the Cabernet Sauvignon and this one got a star in my notes. They had two more reds, Barn Red, a blend, and a Tempranillo, but they didn’t have labels so we’ll have to return to taste them. We enjoyed our visit with the tasting guide and he was very informative of the grapes used, the wines made, and the Texas wine industry as a whole. We had miles to travel and more stops to make so we made our selections, thanked him, and said goodbye.

Our next stop down the road was Rosemary’s Vineyard and Winery. The signs on the highway are a little confusing, but we found it on Hwy 71 about 5 miles east of La Grange. We interrupted Emmett Schulze, owner and winemaker, from watching his football game. He informed us there is a fee of $5 to taste all 8 wines available and he poured them in a very small tasting glass. We enjoyed our conversation, but as his wife Beatrice arrived and took over, Emmett took leave to finish watching the football game. She let us know that the winery was named for her sister that had passed away. She also told us that the winery has been open about 7 years and the grapes had been planted about 10 years ago.

[sidenote: at this writing the link to the website does not work, so please call and verify their availability prior to making a trip to their winery, (979) 249-2109.]

We left Rosemary’s Vineyard and Winery and made our way to San Marcus to visit our final winery of the day Three Dudes Winery. We found them on the edge of a plowed field beside a RV park. We pulled in and parked and followed the signs around to the tasting room. We noticed an employee making his way from another building and we stepped inside and looked around the room at the merchandise for sale while we waited for him to arrive in the tasting room. He let us know that the tasting fee was 4 tastes for $5, then $1 after that. As there were 7 wines to taste we shared and tried them all, as we usually do. The tasting guide was a student at the local Texas State University in San Marcus and as he wasn’t old enough to legally taste the wines he was serving he did know an awful lot about them and the methods used to make them. He said he enjoyed working with the winemakers and was learning their ways. After our tasting was completed we thanked him and headed out on our way.

We needed to find a place to spend the night and I looked online at several places, but did not find a vacancy or a hotel within our price range. Knowing we would go to some wineries on Hwy 290 the next day we decided we would head over to Dripping Springs. I knew there was a new Sleep Inn & Suites in Dripping Springs so I got on their website and looked it up. Everything looked great so I made reservations for the night. When we arrived the desk clerk was ready for us and had us checked in our room within minutes. The only delay getting us to our room was because we were having a good time laughing and joking with her. We had a big late lunch in Round Top so we were needing something light for dinner. We decided on a sandwich shop beside HEB so we could pick up a dessert from their bakery as well and we could take it back to our room to kick our shoes off and get comfortable.

The next morning we were dazed, amazed, and incredibly pleased with the breakfast offering. The only breakfast we have had any better than this one was at an Embassy Suites and it’s a “cook to order” breakfast. I will usually have a waffle just as tummy filler, but there were so many wonderfully delicious options that I didn’t have room for a waffle.

I cannot wait to come back to the area just so we can stay here again!!!

Stay tuned for Day 3…

Thanksgiving Wine Trip 2013 – Day 1

Shelly and I have a Thanksgiving week tradition we started several years ago. Since the boys are out of school the week of Thanksgiving we load them up and take them to Gramma and Grampa’s house then we head out and find some wineries to visit.

We have visited wineries in the Lubbock area, the Saint Jo area, and up and down the Hwy 290 area. This year we chose to head south and east and visit some wineries in east Texas. We started the trip Saturday morning as a vicious winter storm was threatening to engulf the north Texas metroplex the next day. As we took off down the country roads in the rain we were afraid we had missed the beautiful fall colors we’d been hearing about, but that fear was unwarranted! The trees were showing off their colors in rare form. The reds, oranges, browns, yellows, and almost every shade of green imaginable were absolutely beautiful. While we headed south we also noticed that more and more of the ponds and stock tanks were mostly full. I enjoy watching for hawks and other birds perching in trees or on power lines on the side of the road and I was not disappointed, but I did get tickled that they were not the large hawks that we see in central to west Texas, but they were smaller birds and looked like they might have been more of a sparrow hawk. Most were very fluffy as they perched in the damp and cold.

Our first stop was Maydelle Country Wines and we found them on Hwy 84 that runs between Palestine and Rusk. They do have a blue Texas Highway Department sign announcing their winery, but at their drive way they also have a number of signs also showing you are at the right place. We made the turn into the driveway and crossed the railroad tracks, winding our way around to the winery.

One word truly does describe this place – Country! Good country folk making country wines. We were greeted by a rather large goat on the front porch and a very exuberant basset hound bounding around our feet. A gentleman came out on the front porch to sweep the goat’s droppings out of our way and he invited us in stating the hound could come inside, but the goat had to stay outside…she wasn’t house trained! As we came in out of the cold he apologized that it would not be toasty warm inside due to a heater malfunction that morning. The thermocouple had gone out of their furnace in that building. We found a gas heater doing a good job taking the chill out of the air. Steven Harper, owner and winemaker, is a “train nut” and there are lots of references to that lifelong love distributed around the tasting room.

Daisy, part of the welcoming committee.

Steven explained that he doesn’t usually do the tastings, but he would get us started hoping his wife would be along shortly from being set up at a local farmer’s market. He began by telling us that “No grapes were harmed in the making of these wines.” I believe it!! He started by pouring their Lemon Wine, then the Lime Wine, and he had just poured the next one, a Peach Wine, as the basset hound started going nuts whining and bouncing at the door. Pretty soon a woman bundled up against the elements came inside and our tasting was put on a quick hold as she unloaded her packages and they switched places, she taking over our tasting and Steven unloading the wine cases out of the vehicle. After the Peach Wine we also tasted Blackberry, Elderberry, and Grapefruit wines. The only grape wines available were sweet and dry Lenoir wines they named Lenore, due to the fact Steven thought that was how the grape was pronounced when he first saw it written. Because of this, they have different stanzas from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” printed on each vintage’s label. There was also a white zinfandel called Gavyn Blush. During our conversation, we found out that all of the wines are unoaked. We also discussed various books and authors and quoted lines from Mel Brooks movies. We had a wonderful visit and we wish them continued success!

Back up Highway 84 towards Palestine, we went to Texas Vineyard and Smokehaus. We found out pretty quickly that the owner and winemaker, Rafael Hernandez, had just been released from the hospital Thursday after having open heart surgery!! AND he was in the back room still offering direction and suggestions as the tasting progressed. We tasted 10 wines, dries and sweets, whites and reds. Mr. Hernandez leases 100 acres in north Texas. He and a partner bought the property in 2005, opened the winery in 2008, and he bought out his partner in 2011. Shelly learned that the Smokehaus is available for groups of 10 or more.

Texas Vineyard and Smokehaus

Our final wine destination for the day was Caney Creek Winery outside of Grapeland off of Hwy 287. We had contacted the winery ahead of time to confirm hours of operation and found Rebecca Gayle in the tasting room waiting for us. We are in the same Facebook wine group, Texas Wine Drinkers, and have seen each other’s comments on various posts so it was great to finally meet in person. I knew that they had three wines, all from the same grape…Blanc du Bois. Disclaimer: I do not like Blanc du Bois!! However, I always believe that somewhere, somehow, some winemaker is going to do something with that grape that I’m going to like. With that, I opened my mind and jumped into the tasting. The first one was dry with lots of floral notes on the nose. I’ve about decided that it’s the floral-ness that I generally don’t like. The next wine was the semi-sweet…this one’s tasting notes mentioned bananas. I don’t know if it was the “power of suggestion,” or the actual flavor, but I liked the first taste so much I went back for another. I liked the second taste so much we bought a bottle to have for Thanksgiving Dinner. The third Blanc du Bois wine was the Portejas, a dessert version and it was too sweet for us, and at 22% alcohol it will never be sold in a grocery store! Rebecca’s final wine to taste was a Lenoir Portejas dessert wine, also 22% alcohol. I did not know they had this Lenoir vintage. Even though she only had the four wines to taste, when we looked at our watch as we were gathering to leave we noticed we had been there for TWO hours chatting and having a great visit! Rebecca really enjoyed telling us about their plans for the winery and how they were looking forward to expanding the tasting room, the operations, and the vineyards. We could hear the excitement and the passion for what she and her husband were doing in the wine industry. We are looking forward to following their progress as they grow.

Caney Creek Winery

Rebecca Gayle, Caney Creek Winery

Will Work For Wine

“Free Labor”

My husband, Shelly, and I have enjoyed drinking Texas wines for quite some time now. We’ve followed the stories of how the wines are made, where the grapes are grown, and how they get to the winery. We “get” the basics and we’ve often talked about participating in the various steps of getting the grapes from the vineyard into our glass.

Earlier this summer we had the opportunity to spend a day with fellow wine friends Dave and Kelli Potter at Blue Ostrich Winery and Vineyard near Saint Jo, Texas, as they received Tempranillo grapes from Adam Bishop’s vineyard in Childress, Texas, and Dr. Bobby Smith’s vineyards just down the road in Springtown.

We stepped in and helped shovel grapes, stems and all, into the hopper as the auger took them into the crusher de-stemmer.

Loading the destemmer

The only problem with that process came when the grape clusters were so tight that the berries were holding on too tight to the stems! There was no room for the grapes to slip inside the holes of the barrel to be pulled off and then be dropped into the bin, while the stems are dropped into another bin for composting.

Watching to see if the grapes make it off the stem

With these tight clusters, too many grapes were being left on the stems and the whole cluster was being dropped into the compost bin. This was not good at all! So we were taking these clusters by the double handfuls and dropping them back into the de-stemmer. As they were rolled back around and grapes were still left on the stems we reached in and started pulling the grapes off the stems by hand!!

After purple fingers and sunburned necks and legs we got all the bins processed and into the cellar to start the fermentation process. Several groups of people came out and watched as the grapes began their transformation from vine to wine.

Visitors coming to watch destemming process

Both Dave and Shelly assisted Patrick Whitehead, the winemaker, in doing pH analysis and brix readings as well as creating the yeast culture that would be used to inoculate the just crushed grapes. Other additions to the “must” included pectin enzymes, and untoasted oak dust to aid in color extraction.

Dave wants to have his own vineyard and winery one day so he was paying particular attention to the process and asking questions of Patrick and John, the vineyard manager.

While Patrick, Presley, and other employees cleaned up the equipment, Shelly and I along with the Potters went to the front porch and enjoyed the picnic lunch we brought ….and some Texas wine, of course!

Perfect picnic spot

It was very interesting to see the beginning process of how the grapes become wine!!