The Texas Terroir Lineup at TexSom

For anyone wondering how Texas wines fare among experts in the wine industry, the proof was in this year’s 2012 TexSom conference. In it’s eighth year, TexSom—short for Texas Sommelier’s Conference—reserved one of their nine wine sessions for an hour completely devoted to Texas Terroir.

A few hundred sommeliers and industry retail and restaurant professionals were in the room as part of the sold out two-day conference, which was held at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Las Colinas outside of Dallas. The session was led by the Guy Stout, a Master Sommelier who manages the wine education program at Glazer’s, and Christy Canterbury, a Master of Wine, wine educator and writer, and native Texan who helped judge the 2012 Dallas Morning News/TEXSOM International Wine Competition earlier this year.

The two opened with a few comments on the state of the Texas industry showing numbers on just how big Texas wine has become. In 2001, there were only 46 wineries producing only about 600,000 cases of wine. By 2009, there were more than 220 wineries producing more than 1.2 million cases. And the growth has only increased in more recent years.

Among the top points Stout drove home was the fact that Texas winemakers have finally honed in on warm climate grapes to produce the best wines within the state. Among the lineup included many examples of these varietals such as Italian Vermentino, Viognier from the Rhone Valley of France, and Touriga Nacional from Portugal.

Of the eight wines showcased for the tasting, all were “single vineyard” wines, meaning each one was made from grapes that came from a specific Texas vineyard.

“We really wanted to show the terroir of Texas for this seminar,” says Drew Hendricks, TexSom co-founder and director of wine and beverage education for Pappas Restaurants. “It is possible to make wine that has a sense of place in Texas and these wines show that.”

Below is the list of Texas wines tasted, with a comment or two from Stout and other audience members in between…

 2010 Duchman Family Vineyards Vermentino (Bingham Family Vineyards)

“The typicity of this wine is outstanding,” said Stout. “It tastes exactly like Vermentino should taste.

2010 McPherson Cellars Reserve Roussanne (Bingham Family Vineyards)

“This shows what we can do with Rhone varieties,” said Stout. “McPherson is one of the greatest winemakers in the state of Texas and this wine is an example of why.”

“This wine is outstanding,” added Marcy Jimenez of Houston Wine Merchant. “It’s brilliant and so exciting that this is happening here in Texas.”

2010 CapRock Winery Viognier (Reddy Vineyards)

“This wine tastes like the variety should taste,” said Canterbury. “It’s floral with apricots and orange peel. It’s beautiful.”

 2009 Sandstone Cellars VII (Mason County)

“This wine has iron and spice like you would find with Touriga,” says Canterbury, but it is also very savory. It’s not fruit forward, but restrained and European in style.”

“Don Pullum is the winemaker for Sandstone and I’d say he’s one of the best winemakers in the state and this Touriga blend is an example of the great job he’s doing,” added food and wine journalist Andrew Chalk of D Magazine.

2009 Pedernales Cellars Kuhlken Vineyards Reserve Blend

“Pedernales Cellars aged this wine in both American and French oak. It’s a lovely wine that will definitely hold for a while if you age it,” said Stout. “The blend has Tempranillo and Merlot and shows a more European footprint than a lot of Californian wines.”

2010 Fairhaven Vineyards Chambourcin

“We really wanted to show this wine because it’s from someone who really believes in American hybrid grapes,” said Stout about the red Chamburcin grape, which is a French-American hybrid between that has shown to be resistant to fungal diseases . “R.L. Winters hangs his hat on these varieties and this is one of the best representations he has of why.”

2010 Vineyard at Florence “Veritas” Cabernet Sauvignon

“This isn’t a warm variety grape, but this wine shows really well with black currant, eucalyptus and a little sweet vanilla from the oak,” said Canterbury. “It’s really nice.”

2010 Haak Vineyards “Madeira” Blanc du Bois

“I think Blanc du Bois is one of the most exciting white wine varieties in Texas,” said Stout. “It’s an American hybrid that took five generations to get correct, but Raymond Haak at Haak Vineyards is doing it right. It has orange blossom and orange water on the nose and palate. Beautiful.”

The two days of wine-filled education featured eight other seminars including some particularly eye-opening (and delicious) sessions on Riesling, Cabernet Franc and perhaps my favorite, Oregon wines. TexSom ended Monday evening with a festive Grand Tasting featuring more than 150 wines from all over the world. And of course, Texas was there to represent with wines from CapRock Winery, Duchman Family Winery, Inwood Estates, Pedernales Cellars, and Sandstone Cellars which brought along an intriguing Tempranillo from a new Mason County Vineyard, Pontotoc Vineyard.

Winners of the Texas Best Sommelier competition at TexSom, David Keck (2nd place), Ryan Tedder (1st place), Steve Murphey (3rd place)

The highlight of the evening was the announcement of Texas’ Best Sommelier, Ryan Tedder of FT33 Restaurant in Dallas. Tedder was one of 23 competitors in the annual Texas Best Sommelier competition which is run behind-the-scenes at TexSom and proctored by a number of Master Sommeliers from the Court of Master Sommeliers. An integral part of TexSom, the competition was designed to help give aspiring sommeliers scholarship funding to help further their wine studies. (Tedder received $2,500 for his top honor.)

David Keck of Uchi Houston was the second runner up and Steve Murphey of Mid-Stage Wine & Liquor in Plano received third place. Additionally, the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, California will offer scholarships to all three to placers.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Andrew Chalk, CapRock Winery, Christy Canterbury, David Keck, Drew Hendricks, Duchman Family Winery, Fairhaven Vineyards, Guy Stout, Inwood Estates, Jessica Dupuy, Marcy Jimenez, McPherson Cellars, Pedernales Cellars, Ryan Tedder, sandstone cellars, Steve Murphey, TexSom, The Vineyard ar Florence

The stars were bright in the Capital City on Friday night where fans of Texas’ bountiful foods and wines celebrated not only the “locavore,” but the “loca-pour” in us all. Edible Texas Wine & Food Match, presented by Edible Austin and The Texas Food and Wine Gourmet was the first-ever culinary competition of its kind in the state of Texas. The event challenged chefs from Central Texas to create a menu using regional foods to pair with appellation wines of Texas. The goal: to bring out the best in both.

Held at the AT&T Conference Center in Austin, the dinner was offered as an official event of the 2011 International Association of Culinary Professionals’ national conference.

Though attendees were each given a ballot to cast a “Peoples’ Choice” vote, the evening was guided by a panel of guest judges including Jacques Pépin, world-renowned chef, television celebrity, author and culinary educator; Francois Dionot, founder and director of L’Academie de Cuisine; John Besh, chef, restaurateur, author and television personality; Michael Bauer, executive food and wine editor for the San Francisco Chronicle; and Paula Lambert, cookbook author and founder of the Mozzarella Company.

From a field of several dozen competitors, a committee of food and wine experts, including our own Pat Sharpe, selected their top five chefs to compete for the final event including Kelly Casey, executive chef at Hudson’s on the Bend restaurant, Austin; Patrick James Edwards, sous chef  at Bin 555 and Wine Bar, San Antonio; David Garrido, owner and executive chef at Garrido’s Restaurant, Austin; Josh Raymer, owner and executive chef at Navajo Grill, Fredericksburg; Peter Smith, executive chef at JW Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa, San Antonio. Each competing chef vied for the perfect pairing reflecting Texas terroir using regional foods and a selection of Texas wines.

Fifteen Texas appellation vintages from eight Texas wineries were paired in the event including Becker Vineyards, Flat Creek Estate Winery, Fall Creek Vineyards, Inwood Estates Vineyards, Messina Hof Winery & Resort, Perissos Vineyard, Sister Creek Vineyards, and Stone House Vineyards.

The chef finalists offered an array of beautiful dishes including a local market salad with roasted beets, pickled peaches, and goat cheese from Chef Josh Raymer paired with a refreshing pear and floral 2010 Perissos Vineyards Viognier, a roasted lamb loin with a tongue-teasing porcini-raspberry soil from Chef Patrick James Edwards paired with Becker Vineyards 2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, and a fluffy cloud of aerated goat cheese with blackberry-persimmon paper, and an emulsion of fennel pollen and honey from Chef Peter Smith paired with a light and aromatic 2010 Flat Creek Estate Moscato.

But in the end, Chef David Garrido took first place with his famous crispy oysters with habenero honey aioli paired with the dry, yet slightly sweet Fall Creek Vineyards 2010 Chenin Blanc, a coffee-chipotle beef tenderloin paired with Fall Creek’s award-winning 2006 Meritus (Bordeaux blend), and a zucchini cake with lemon cream and candied pecan paired with Sister Creek 2010 Muscat Canelli—a special treat with a hint of honeysuckle effervescence.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the newly launched nonprofit Texas Center for Wine and Culinary Arts, a new nonprofit dedicated to promoting Texas food, wine, and agriculture through educational programming and hands-on experiences. Major sponsors of this event include AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, GO TEXAN, Whole Foods Market / Greenling Organic Delivery, Glazer’s, Trattoria Lisina / Salt Lick: The Driftwood Experience and Montesino Farm.

Hats off to Chef Garrido for his palate-pleasing efforts and a tip of the hat to the chefs and wineries featured in this momentous event. If you missed this year’s event, not to worry… This was the first of a 5-year program, which will travel around the state featuring regional chefs, foods, and wines.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Becker Vineyards, Bin 555, david garrido, Edible Austin, Edible Texas Food and Wine Match, Fall Creek Vineyards, Flat Creek Estate Winery, garrido's, hudson's on the bend, Inwood Estates, Jessica Dupuy, Josh Raymer, JW Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa, Kelly Casey, Messina Hof Winery & Resort, Navajo Grill, Patrick James Edwards, Perissos Vineyard, Peter Smith, Sister Creek Vineyards, Stone House Vineyards

As mentioned in previous Texas Wine Posts, you’ll soon become accustomed to hearing about Tempranillo in Texas. Originally a Spanish varietal, the Tempranillo grape is commonly used in Rioja and Ribera del Duero. (Primarily in Northern Spain.) But it also does particularly well in the Texas Hill Country. (No surprise as the climate and soils are very similar to that of Northern Spain.)

In 2010 we introduced two rather rich and full-bodied Tempranillos from Inwood Estates and Fall Creek Vineyards. This month we have another Tempranillo for you. It comes at the suggestion of Brian Phillips, beverage director and sommelier at Haddington’s in Austin a fairly new Rustic American Tavern serving upscale pub food and an array of hand-crafted cocktails and specialty beer and wine. Phillips recently served me a glass of this at the restaurant and I was amazed at its full, rounded flavor as well as its levity. (Almost like a Pinot Noir.) It stood on its own as a great sipping wine. This selection is very different than the other Tempranillos we’ve shared in the past, and it’s worth discovering for yourself.

This month’s Texas Wine of the Month is: Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo 2009. Pedernales Cellars is a small family vineyard and winery in Stonewall owned and operated by the Kuhlken Family. The grapes for this wine are hand-harvested from the family’s Kuhlken Vineyard just a few miles down the road and the wine is made in the same manner as “old world” Riojas of Spain. For those aficionados out there, the family uses the method of open-top fermentation with manual punch-downs. The wine is then aged 12-18 months in 50% French and 50% American oak.

Why does Phillips like it? “This Tempranillo is well balanced and has a bright and slightly tart finish because of its great acidity,” says Phillips. “That and the moderate alcohol balances the leathery, sweet tobacco and dark berry flavors commonly found in Tempranillos.”

And, it’s great balance makes it a very food friendly option that would go well with any grilled steak, game, or poultry.  This would also be a great way to sample a progression of Texas Tempranillos. Try all three–Inwood, Fall Creek, and Pedernales–and taste the difference. You won’t be disappointed.

Winery: Pedernales Cellars

Price: ~$30

Availability: Select retail shops and restaurants in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and New Braunfels and at the winery

Tagged: Brian Phillips, Fall Creek Vineyards, Haddington's Austin, Inwood Estates, Pedernales Cellars, Texas Tempranillo