Texas Wines Take Top Honors at Dallas Wine
This week, the winners for the 28th Annual Dallas Morning News and TexSom Wine Competition were announced revealing 64 Texas wines who took home either a gold, silver or bronze medal. Of the 3,200 hundred entries from all over the world, I’d say that’s pretty good! Out of the 25 states and 17 foreign countries represented in this nationally-renowned competition, Texas faired well among the total 114 entries with 8 Gold Medals awarded to:
Haak Vineyards & Winery, Texas, Madeira, Blanc du Bois 2008
Kiepersol Estates, Texas, No Oak, Stainless, Syrah 2010
Kiepersol Estates, Texas, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Pedernales Cellars, Texas, Tempranillo 2009
Duchman Family Winery, Texas, Bingham Family Vineyard, Vermentino 2010
Cap Rock Winery, Texas High Plains, Bingham Family Vineyards, Roussanne 2010
McPherson Cellars, Texas, Bingham Vineyards, Reserve, Roussanne 2010
Duchman Family Winery, Texas, Bingham Family Vineyards, Viognier 2010
The reputation of The Dallas Morning News Wine Competition has steadily grown through the years and with the added addition of TexSom as a partner, it’s grown even stronger. The 15 judging panels were comprised of wine critics, distributors, importers, sommeliers, master sommeliers, and masters of wine, including 11 Master Sommeliers and 11 Masters of Wine, more than any other U.S. wine competition. (Click here for a complete list of winners.) You can sample award winning wines from the competition at the Dallas Wine and Food Festival, May 2-6.
This week also brought the official conference lineup for TexSom, formally known as the Texas Sommelier Conference. Among the many educational and informative and palate-inspiring listings on tap will be seminars on Bordeaux, Riesling, Oregon, New Zealand, Beer, and, yes, Texas.
While many in the general public may find the name a little intimidating, TexSom is not just a conference for sommeliers—though they will certainly be there in numbers. It’s a one-of-a-kind opportunity for wine experts and novices alike to learn about the many regions of wine throughout the world, and taste benchmark wines from each of them. Almost every seminar includes tastings of eight wines from each region, which means, if you’re not careful, you’ll be on your way to a long, toasty nap by the end of an afternoon. But if you’re serious about learning more about wine—and know that it is appropriate to spit—then TexSom is something worth checking out.
“We want as many people to come from outside the business as we can,” says Master Sommelier Drew Hendricks of Pappas Bros. and co-founder of TexSom. “As educated as a lot of consumers are these days, a lot of them may know more than people in the industry are. In addition to the seminars, the Monday night Grand Tasting is definitely something any and everyone can enjoy with a whole variety of wines from all over the world that you can taste in one evening.”
In it’s eighth year, the conference has steadily drawn national recognition among wine industry professionals as THE event for wine enthusiasts with speakers among the “who’s who” list of the nation’s top wine professionals: Master Sommeliers (MS), Certified Wine Educators (CWE), Masters of Wine (MW) and other highly respected wine educators. The event was originally founded in 2005, when Texas was able to claim only one Master Sommelier among its ranks. Today, there are seven: Guy Stout, Barbara Werley, Drew Hendricks, James Tidwell, Devon Broglie, Craig Collins and Melissa Monosoff.
The conference isn’t until August, so you have plenty of time to plan. But keep in mind, the event has sold out from year to year, so don’t wait too long! (A full list of the conference schedule can be found here.)
