This year kicks off with a Tempranillo for Texas Wine of the Month. By now, you should be fairly familiar with the prevalence of this grape. It’s turning heads in Texas blends  (McPherson Cellars La Herencia) as well as in single-varietal wines (Inwood Estates Vineyards “Cornelius” Tempranillo). This month, we celebrate a wine devoted solely to Tempranillo grapes—most of which were grown in the Hill Country. It’s an elegant representation of just how great this grape can be in Texas. In fact, it was one of the top 10 Texas Monthly Wines of 2012. And it comes from a winery in Stonewall that continues to make strides in the emerging Texas wine industry.

The Wine: Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo Reserve 2010 

Who Likes It: This wine was selected in conjunction with Adam Danielson, wine director for Parkside, Olive & June and The Backspace in Austin. Danielson has been in the restaurant business since he was 15 and his ongoing love for wine led him to take on restaurant wine programs by the age of 25. He even spent six years in Santa Barbara getting his hands dirty in vineyards and wineries to further his knowledge.

Why He Likes It: “This wine has bright red and dark fruits with a touch of spice on the nose,” says Danielson. “There’s also cedar and earth on the back end giving this wine great structure and complexity. It’s medium-bodied and well balanced.”

Suggested Pairings: “The structure of this Tempranillo would pair perfectly with the rustic gamey qualities of rabbit such as the rabbit risotto at Olive & June.

On Down the Road: “I think that Texas wine is right where it needs to be right now,” says Danielson. “There are some great producers who are focusing on warm climate varietals from Spain, Portugal and Italy. As winemakers and growers continue to learn from each other and tinker with better farming practices that are Texas-specific I think that the quality and consistency needed to make an impact on the domestic and global market will continue to increase.”

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Adam Danielson, Jessica Dupuy, Olive & June, Parkside, Pedernales Cellars, Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo Reserve 2010, The Backspace

Jeret Peña at The Brooklynite (Photo Courtesy The Brooklynite)

On heels of the San Antonio Cocktail Conference—a national four-day conference modeled after the likes of the New Orleans’ Tales of the Cocktail event that brings together bartenders from around the country to learn, taste, and talk everything cocktail—I had a chance to catch up with local craft bartender extraordinaire Jeret Peña to talk about the conference, cocktails and Texas spirits. He even shared a couple of his latest recipes.

The ambitious Peña has been an integral part of the food and drink renaissance San Antonio has experienced in recent years. He even brought national attention here when he nabbed a James Beard nomination for Best Bar Program in 2012 at the historic Esquire Tavern where he held the role of Bar Manager. He has since opened his very own bar, The Brooklynite, midway between downtown and The Pearl. And if you ask this Alamo City native, we can expect great things from this town in the near future.

TM: How did you get into bar tending?

Peña: I think any bartender you ask has the same answer: by chance. I was working at Pesca at the Watermark Hotel and my general manager asked me to host a tequila seminar for guests. He gave me a month to study and prepare. I ended up learning so much that I fell in love with it.

That’s where it started. It wasn’t long before I went to Houston to meet Bobby Heugel. It was three weeks after Anvil Bar & Refuge opened and I didn’t know much about cocktails then. But meeting Bobby Heugel changed my life. Getting to know him and later, other Texas people like Bill Norris and David Alan in Austin kept pushing me in this direction.

TM: So how did you get involved with Esquire Tavern when it was renovated and brought back in 2011?

Peña: The owner of the Esquire, Chris Hill found me while I was working at a small San Antonio bar called Le Midi. That’s a place where I really came into my own. And when he saw what I was doing, shortly after, he asked me to run his program and I ran with it. We went around to different parts of the country to look at different bars like the Rickhouse, Agricole, and Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco. And began working on putting an amazing crew together.

TM: But in October 2012, you opened your own bar? That was pretty fast.

Peña: I told Chris when I met him that I’ve always wanted to own and operate my own bar. I had some contacts who had talked to me about investing in something together. We had been looking for months when this dirty, nasty nightclub came available. It was the perfect turnkey opportunity because the owners wanted out of it, but they had all the nuts and bolts in place and even had a liquor license they could turn over. All we had to do was change the aesthetics to make it look the way we wanted. So we jumped on it and turned it around in 35 days. It happened a lot faster than I thought it would, but it was fast. It’s on Brooklyn Avenue, so we named it after a classic cocktail, The Brooklynite.

TM: How do you go about choosing the spirits you want to use for your cocktails when there are so many out there?

Peña: You have to understand spirits. How they’re made. Where they come from. And you have to know the different flavor profiles between things like highland tequila or a lowland tequila. There is a lot out there, but it’s still possible to understand the flavor profiles. When you start to build a cocktail, it’s always going to be the base spirit—like gin, Scotch or rum—that will be the back backbone of the drink. I choose the actual spirit based on what works best for my style.

TM: Are you familiar with many of the Texas Spirits on the market right now?

Peña: I think Chip Tate at Balcones Distilling does a really good job. His True Blue blue corn whisky is something I’ve used in Cocktails. There’s also a new gin that’s coming on the market from Austin called Genius Gin and it’s pretty great. I think it will be the first top notch craft gin. Because I focus more on mixing drinks, I need to be able to get quality spirit at a price point that’s not going to force me to gauge my customers when they order a drink. Many of the Texas spirits on the market are just priced too high, which means I have to turn around and charge $20 for a cocktail, and no one is going to pay for that.

TM: Can you share a couple of Texas cocktails with us? Can you

Peña: One of cocktails I’m most proud of right now is called the Tobin Hill. It’s a spin on a neo-classic cocktail that called the Red Hook that was created about ten years ago. I named it after the Tobin Hill historic district here in San Antonio. It may not include a Texas spirit, but its name was inspired by Texas heritage. You have to be careful about the gin you use in this. Ransom Old Tom Gin is what you need. I’ve made it with Hayman’s Old Tom Gin and it’s completely different. I also use spicy pecan vinegar in this. I love using vinegar because it has both sweetness and acidity. It really brings balance to a drink.

The other cocktail does use the Balcones Distilling True Blue whisky. It’s called the Boots and Heels. It’s named after I found two people getting it on in the bathroom stall of my bar. All I saw were boots and heels.

The Tobin Hill

1 1/2 ounces Ransom Old Tom Gin

1/2 ounce Carpano Antica

1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur

Bar spoon of spicy pecan vinegar (Can be found at Gaucho Gourmet in San Antonio.)

2 dashes of orange bitters

Stir together on ice and serve up in a coupe glass.

Boots and Heels

1 1/2 ounces Balcones True Blue whisky

3/4 ounce of Punt e Mes (An Italian fortified wine similar to vermouth.)

1/2 ounce Averna

3 dashes of lavender bitters

Stir together and pour over rocks and serve in a tumbler with orange peel on top.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Anvil Bar & Refuge, Bobby Heugel, Esquire Tavern, Jeret Pena, Jessica Dupuy, The Brooklynite

If there’s anything the first few years at San Antonio’s The Pearl has shown us, it’s that giving a fresh new face to an iconic Texas landmark really can revive a once dilapidated part of town, if not a whole city. This 23-acre sight along the north side of the San Antonio River was originally established in the 1880s as the Pearl Brewing Company and endured a storied history lasting more than a century. But in recent years, it’s undergone a complete renovation. We’ve seen the Culinary Institute of America plant one of its satellite locations here with a Latin-inspired curriculum and NAO, its very own restaurant featuring a rotation of resident chefs under Executive Chef Geronimo Lopez who cover a whole perspective of Latin-American flavors. The Pearl hosts a handful of local retailers as well as a sprawling weekend farmers’ market and a slew of seasonal festivals. And perhaps most appetizing are the handful of San Antonio-based chefs who have opened such celebrated restaurants as Il Sogno and Sandbar, from Chef Andrew

Chicken Mole Sopa at La Gloria Ice House

Weissman, and La Gloria Ice House, from Chef Johnny Hernandez. And now there’s a whole second phase of flavors to try. Last Thursday night, the Pearl hosted a special media tasting of some of the development’s newest additions. (And we happened to indulge in a few nearby excursions as well.)

The Granary  — A counter-service BBQ joint by day, but a brew pub and full service restaurant serving composed barbcue-inspired plates by night. (Think Szechuan duck leg and Moroccan lamb shoulder.) This turn-of-the-century home at The Pearl is where, no matter the time of day, you can be sure that brothers/owners TIm and Alex Rattray will be smoking

House-made Pastrami at The Granary

some type of meat—whether a whole butchered grass-fed cow from Sabinal, or a thick hunk of Niman Ranch pork. The day I visited, they shared a steaming morsel of freshly-smoked pastrami that was so good it almost made me cry. You’ll also find an assortment of sides including crispy grit fritters (yum) and the brothers’ own version of Texas Toast griddled with a smear of beef tallow and served with a side of butter infused with beef drippings straight from the smoker. (Side of Lipitor recommended.) And the beers are pretty good as well—especially the Belgian style Rye Saison and the dark and stormy Brown Ale. But I really wouldn’t leave here without swirling a mug of homemade root beer made with pure cane sugar and sarsaparilla.

Boiler House — A self-proclaimed Texas Grill and Wine Garden, the Boiler House is every bit as Texas-sized in flavor as it is in its expansive two-story, 6,000 square-foot space. (Most of its significant architectural features have been preserved from its original function as the boiler house of the Pearl Brewery.) From the owners of Max’s Wine Dive, we wouldn’t expect anything less. Chef

Boiler House Executive Chef James Moore demonstrating a steak preparation

James Moore is a San Antonio native who has found his true home at the helm of this ranch-style restaurant. You’ll find wild game, Gulf seafood and myriad local ingredients, but their specialty, as you might expect, is steak. As if the grilled-to-perfection Prime grade beef isn’t enough to whet your appetite, Moore also serves up an assortment of compound butters including a bone marrow-infused version that he maintains adds “just a bit of unctuousness.”

Arcade Midtown Kitchen — Set to open in early 2013, make no mistake that this approachable-yet-sophisticated American kitchen concept is named for the architectural feature of a succession of arches along the exterior of a building. (In other words, if you’re thinking this is the place to bring your pre-teen for a maze of loud and obnoxious video games, you’re out of luck.) San Antonio native—by way of Atlanta, Santa Fe and Los Angeles—Chef/Owner Jesse

Lobster Sweet Potato Taco from Arcade Midtown Kitchen

Perez offered a walk-through of his unfinished restaurant interior and also gave a tasty preview of his menu. From the two helpings I had of lobster and sweet potato tacos wrapped in herb-masa crepes with corn-chile-citrus sauce, I’d say we’re in for a sensational treat when Perez officially opens the breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot at the end of January.

Bakery Lorraine  - Just a few clicks down the road from The Pearl is the new Bakery Lorraine, perhaps the only traditional French-style bakery in San Antonio. (At least that I’ve been able to find.) It’s the product of two former Napa Valley Bouchon Bakeryalums-turned-Rackspace software company employees who just couldn’t shake their love of baking. As co-owner Anne Ng says, “Once you’re bitten by the baking bug, that’s

Sweet treats from Bakery Lorraine

it.” Here you’ll find ‘the real deal’ in croissants, eclairs, macarons and tarts as well as an assortment of muffins cookies and focaccia sandwiches. From the smiles Ng and baker/co-owner Jeremy Mandrell beam from their petite little kitchen in this cheerful grey-hued craftsman-style home on East Grayson, it’s clear these two don’t miss their software gigs one little bit.

The Brooklynite  - Also, a short distance away, this sleek pre-Prohibition style craft cocktail bar popped up with little warning. Yet its word-of-mouth buzz from the loyal fans of craft bartender Jeret Peña (a James Beard nominee) has quickly made the Brooklynite the place for the see-and-be-seen crowd. Though happy hour is hopping with the post-work crowd, it‘s the late night crowd that brings an alluring verve to this place. You’ll find everything from Old Fashions and Vieux Carrés to the goulish sounding Corpse Revivers and Blood and Sands, but having recently returned from a trip to Ireland, I opted for the boozy Tipperary with Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth and green chartreuse. Reservations strongly recommended.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Arcade Midtown Kitchen, Bakery Lorraine, Boiler House, Il Sogno, James Moore, Jeret Pena, Jesse Perez, Jessica Dupuy, La Gloria Ice House, Sandbar, The Brooklynite, The Granary, The Pearl, Tim and Alex Rattray

From October 27-28, the Texas Book Festival will take place at the State Capitol in Austin. A number of talented, award-winning culinary authors will be attending the literary gathering, including Naomi Duguid – contributing editor of Saveur magazine and author of the recently released “Burma: Rivers of Flavor.”

Duguid spent many years traveling to remote regions in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and China and has won the Cookbook of the Year Award twice for “Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia” and “Flatbreads and Flavors: A Baker’s Atlas” from the James Beard Foundation. ”Burma: Rivers of Flavor” focuses on stories, flavors, ingredients, and recipes from all throughout Burma – also known as Myanmar. Duguid spoke with TEXAS MONTHLY about her newest cookbook and the cultural and culinary dynamics of Burma.

Tell me about writing Burma: Rivers of Flavor. What are some of the requirements and difficulties of writing about a genre of cuisine that is so far away from where you live?

The most important thing is to understand how people in Burma view the food they make and eat. What do they love about it? What is essential? Then, I need to figure out how to make it in a North American kitchen and figure out what dishes are most likely to appeal to North Americans.

I know that this book chronicles many years of traveling to and from Burma. Tell me how you’ve seen Burma’s cuisine evolve through the years.

I always see myself as a beginner rather than an insider, so I can’t say much about how the cuisine has evolved. It’s true, however, that as the country develops there will be more prepared foods and fewer women cooking traditional big lunchtime meals for their families.

Every country and state and has a unique relationship with food. In Texas, I’d say foods like barbecue and Tex-Mex serve as a sense of pride. How does Burma’s food reflect or represent the culture and lives of the Burmese people?

People in Burma vary enormously, in their economic situation and also in their culinary culture. There are central Burmese, Shan, Kachin, and other peoples – all of whom have their own cuisine. For central Burmese, I’d say tea leaf salad, laphet thoke, and a wonderful everyday noodle dish called mohinga have a national status. But everyday Burmese who have the choice [usually] eat a main meal at lunch that is centered on rice and is full of diverse and wonderful dishes. For me, that should be the thing Burmese people take the most pride in.

Burma is ethnically diverse, so there is naturally going to be a lot of diversity in the food. What are some of the main culinary threads you see throughout Burma, however?

There is a huge emphasis on fresh vegetables, used as a condiment, relish, and also as a simple snack in the midst of the main noontime rice meal. There’s also a lovely flexibility and light-handed approach to salads.

I always like to ask authors about the stories behind writing a book. Would you tell me a story behind one of the recipes in the book?

I learned the magic rice balls from a friend of a friend in Rangoon. I spent a noontime meal at her house, and we cooked together and made a number of dishes. The magic rice balls, which are made of a rice dough wrapped around small chunks of palm sugar, were amazing. We also made a light bean soup with vegetable tendrils in it. She took me out into the garden and I picked off the growing tendrils of a number of vines and plants and added them to the soup. It made me realize that there is a lot more to the vegetable kingdom than we are aware of in the Western world.

I’m interested in any book or cookbook projects you have at the back of your mind. Is there a book you have yet to write that you plan on doing in the near future?

I am still so entangled with Burma and all that is going on there, so I have not yet imagined myself engaged elsewhere. Ill let you know when I have found my next project!

If you’re interested in taking a cooking class with Duguid, she will be hosting a “Seasonal Supper” cooking class at Central Market’s Houston Cooking School on October 25 and Central Market’s Austin Cooking School on October 28.

(Other culinary authors included in the Texas Book Festival lineup are Jane Morgan, Jesse Griffiths, Scott Roberts and Jessica Dupuy, Robb Walsh, Bill and Claire Wurtzel, Hugo Ortega, Bruce Aidells, and Liz Gutman and Jen King.)

Tagged: Bill Wurtzel, Bruce Aidells, Burma: Rivers of Flavor, Central Market, Central Market Cooking School, Claire Wurtzel, Hot Sour Salty Sweet and Flatbreads and Flavors: A Baker’s Atlas, Hugo Ortega, Jane Morgan, Jen King, Jesse Griffiths, Jessica Dupuy, Layne Lynch, Liz Gutman, Naomi Duguid, Robb Walsh, Scott Roberts, Texas Book Festival, The Salt Lick

It’s October in Texas, which among other things means football, Halloween costumes, and hopefully, cooler weather. October is also Texas Wine Month, where Texans can dedicate a whole month raising a glass to Texas wine.

While you’ll definitely find a whole host of ways to celebrate in the Hill Country, we’ve tried to put together a list of events all over the state. Be sure to take note of special rates wineries may be offering throughout the state. For instance, Duchman Family Winery is offering deep discounts on cases of their 2009 Zinfandel and Orange Muscat. A number of wineries such as Flat Creek Estate are offering special wine dinners as well. And if you can’t make it to one this month, don’t worry—every day’s a good day to toast Texas wine!

Texas Hill Country Wine Trail

A Month of Sundays – This is a special tasting series divided among 17 wineries who will host a very special wine tasting from their barrel rooms and cellars. It’s one thing to taste wine bought from a bottle on the shelves. It’s something completely different when you get to taste it as it’s developing in the barrel. You’ll also get to taste a petite food pairing with the wines while you spend time getting to know winemakers from each winery. Each ticket holder will receive a gift bag from Texas Hill Country Wineries with special gifts and offers from some of our Hill Country partners.  You will designate which winery you choose to pick up your bag at time of purchase.

Space is very limited. Click here for pricing and details.

Here’s a quick run down of the hosting wineries:

October 7 and 21

Becker Vineyards

Bending Branch Winery

Dry Comal Creek Vineyards

Kerrville Hills Winery

Pedernales Cellars

Singing Water Vineyards

William Chris Vineyards

October 14 and 28

Alamosa Cellars

Bell Springs

Driftwood Estate Winery

Fall Creek Vineyards

Flat Creek Estate

Pillar Bluff Vineyards

Solaro Estate Winery

Spicewood Vineyards

Stone House Vineyards

Texas Legato

Texas Wine Month Trail – It’s no secret that you usually have to pay a small fee to try wines in winery tasting rooms. This month you can take advantage of a one-stop pass that allows you up to 3 tastings at each of 32 wineries throughout the Hill Country for only $20 a ticket. That’s a lot of wine to sample. But don’t worry, you have the whole month of October to take advantage of it. So get your pass and get tasting! (Note: The pass also allows you a 15% discount on 3-bottle purchases at each winery.)

Texas Winemaker Vintner Dinner Series – October 18: Join one of the Hill Countries newest additions, 4.0 Cellars as their collaboration of winemakers from McPherson Cellars, Brennan Vineyards and Lost Oak Winery show off a few of their best wines expertly paired with a Texas-style dinner from celebrated Hill Country Chef Ross Burtwell at the Cabernet Grill. You’ll also get a chance to meet Notable Texas Wine expert Dr. Russ Kane whose book The Wineslinger Chronicles was released this year. (Grab a signed copy while your there!) Seating is limited. Get your reservation here.

Fredericksburg Food & Wine Fest – October 27: In its 22nd year, this festive weekend not only celebrates Texas wine, but the rich culture of Hill Country cuisine as well. The Marktplatz of downtown Fredericksburg will be abuzz with food, wine, music, and crafts.

8th Annual Texas Fall Fest – November 16-18: Technically this doesn’t fall within Texas Wine Month, but Fall Fest has always been a strong part of celebrating Texas wine and food. This year, the event will be hosted at the Horseshoe Bay Yacht Club and Resort near Marble Falls and will showcase myriad Texas wines, Central Texas chefs, live music and a few other festive events throughout the three-day festival.

Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail – Bryan/College Station

Texas Reds Festival – Celebrating its fifth year, Texas Reds is an ode to two things Texans love most: red meat and red wine. Downtown Bryan closes its main streets for a sampling of more than 20 Texas wineries and a full-blown ribeye steak cook-off. Of course, you’ll find a whole lot more at the Texas Reds Festival including a whole host arts, crafts and gift booths and a fantastic line up of live music from The Texas Tornadoes, Johnny Lee and the Urban Cowboys and Roger Creager.

The High Plains – Lubbock

19th Annual Grape Day at Llano Estacado Winery – October 27: A celebration of the year’s harvest, Grape Day is Llano Estacado’s way of showcasing some of the best of what the High Plains of Texas has to offer. Sip special wines while listening to live music, playing with the kids or watching the Texas Tech football game, which will, of course, be broadcast from large television screens. Entry is $5 and includes a complimentary glass of wine—including the wine glass itself as a souvenir.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: A Month of Sundays, Cabernet Grill, Duchman Family Winery, Flat Creek Estate, Jessica Dupuy, Llano Estacado, Texas Hill Country Wine Trail, Texas Wine Month

Flat Creek Estate Super Texan 2010 (photo courtesy Flat Creek Estate)

Any time you put the word “Super” in front of a name, it has to be good, right? At least that’s the approach the Italians took in the 1980s when they branded a new version of red wine that took the average Chianti, made primarily with the Sangiovese grape, to a blend of Sangiovese with other Bordeaux varietals such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon for a bigger wine with a little more backbone. (Really it was a way to re-market Chianti, which was suffering in sales at the time.) These new blends quickly became branded as “Super Tuscans” and Americans went wild for them. Today, the wines still capture a fair share of both the Italian domestic and foreign markets with names like Piero Antinori’s “Tignanello” serving as one of the original kings of the red blend.

This month we celebrate the king of a Texas take on this blend, and the winery that shrewdly nabbed the rights to market this big Texas red wine. This month’s Texas Wine of the Month is the Flat Creek Estate “Super Texan,” 2010.

It’s a top pick by Jason Harrelson, chef and general manager at the Double Horn Brewing Company  in Marble Falls who loves pairing this wine with of the bold Texas-style dishes that come from his kitchen. “This wine is perfect for classic Italian dishes, wild game and steaks,” says Harrelson who helped to open the restaurant in 2011 with owner Dusty Knight and head brewer Eric Casey. “It’s full-bodied and rich with a light spice on the end and vanilla notes tickle the nose. It’s a great stepping stone for Texas

Unlike many new restaurants throughout the state, the Double Horn originally opened with a Texas-only wine list in an effort to stay authentic to its primarily locally-sourced menu. Today, you’ll find a more diverse selection with wines from around the world, but you’ll still find picks from wineries near Marble Falls including Perissos Vineyards and, of course, the Super Texan from Flat Creek Estate.

The Super Texan first made its debut with the 2003 vintage, which soared to national attention when it won a Double Gold from the heralded San Francisco International Wine Competition in 2005. The blend has been the winery’s flagship wine every since.

Jason Harrelson of Double Horn Brewing Company

Each year, the specific blend changes for this wine. In 2003, it was a blend Sangiovese and Primitivo (another term for Zinfandel). This 2010 vintage is about 75 percent Sangiovese, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, and Petite Syrah.

“It’s always Sangiovese-based,” says winemaker Tim Drake. “But the rest of the blend is variable from vintage to vintage. The goal is to always have a food-friendly ‘Super Tuscan’ style of wine.”

Just like the Double Horn, Drake is a newcomer to the Hill Country. Originally from Washington with winemaking experience at Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest, his first vintage with Flat Creek Estate was 2011. Among one of the top priorities for Drake when taking on the wine program was to make wine that was from Texas grapes. About 50 percent of the grapes Flat Creek uses comes from the Hill Country. The remainder primarily comes from the High Plains from growers including the Bingham Family Vineyards and Newsom Vineyards.

Drake’s first blend was the 2010 Super Texan. “I want this wine to have some subtlety and earthiness; something that evolves as you drink through the bottle and will give you something new with every taste you have. It shouldn’t be over-the-top with jammy fruit like a lot of ‘new world’ wines, but I also don’t want it to taste like barnyard like you get with some ‘old world’ wines. The 2010 has a nice smokey flavor to it with a few herbal components. You can pick up a little sage, maybe green peppercorn. It has strawberry and cherry but also some of the darker fruits like plumb and blueberry.”

The great news is, you can find this wine for about $20 at Whole Foods Market, Central Market, and Spec’s among other specialty wine stores.

Winery: Flat Creek Estate

Price: ~$20

Availability: Whole Foods Market, Central Market, Spec’s

Tagged: Double Horn Brewing Company, Flat Creek Estate, Jason Harrelson, Jessica Dupuy, Super Texan 2010, Tim Drake

Kim McPherson

What do you do when one of the best winemakers in the state invites you to make wine with him and his daughter? You say, yes! Which is exactly what I did when Kim McPherson of McPherson Cellars suggested I join him and his daughter, Kassandra for a his first ever attempt at bottling a dry Chenin Blanc.

Truth be told, Chenin Blanc is more of a cool climate grape. World class wines are made with it in the Loire Valley of France. (You’ll also find beautiful examples of it from South Africa.) And while it’s origin in the rather cool, Maritime/Continental climate of the Loire Valley would make it an odd fit for Texas—particularly in the dry, red clays of the High Plains—for some strange reason, it grows almost like a weed here.

“It’s been like this since the first day Chenin was planted in Texas soil,” says McPherson. “It’s never failed.”

Chenin Blanc wines are more commonly associated as being slightly sweet with aromas of ripe pear, apricot and sometimes honey as is common with Vouvray wines from the Loire Valley of France. But the grape can also make beautiful, crisp, dry wines as you’ll find in Savennières wines from the Loire. And if you’re looking for a demi-sec (sweet) Texas version of Chenin Blanc, you’ll find a great example from Fall Creek Vineyards (~$7). But McPherson had his mind set on making a dry Chenin, one that would stack up well against his other award-winning lineup of white wines including the Les Copains white blend, Roussanne, Viognier and Albariño, which won a coveted double gold medal from the San Francisco International Wine Competition this year.

Kassandra McPherson

“The unfortunate thing is that Chenin has a bad rap,” says McPherson. “Somehow the public just doesn’t really like it. Which is sad because it just makes really nice white wine. Everyone makes it sweet, but in Texas, I think it should be more like a Provence-style white wine that’s dry and refreshing and BOOM—great!”

McPherson knows a grape grower in the High Plains, Joe Vasquez, who has a small plot of 28 year-old Chenin Blanc vines. In the past McPherson has used these grapes for blending with some of this other wines including his white sparkling wine made from 85 percent Chenin Blanc and 15 percent Muscat Canelli for a scoach of sweetness on the finish. But McPherson has always wanted to make a dry Chenin, and this year, the time was right.

So, I trekked up to Lubbock a couple of weeks ago to check out some of the madness that is grape harvest season in the High Plains and to try my hand at making wine. (Don’t worry, the reality is, I just watched and asked a lot of questions. Kim and Kassandra—a recent masters grad of the esteemed oenology program at University of California at Davis to match her father’s—did all the real work.)

I soon found that making wine is a lot more of a “hurry up and wait” process than you might think. First of all, you have to wait for the grapes to get to their optimum sugar levels, or “degrees brix,” the measurement commonly used in America. Once the grapes are ready to pick, you’ve got to line up a harvester and delivery time. In our case, the grapes were ready to pick, but the actual picking and delivery time changed three times over the course of three days for these grapes.

Chenin Blanc grapes after harvest

To put it mildly, it was a mess. In fact, we didn’t actually get the grapes in the tank until my final day. McPherson sped me to the nearby airport to catch my plane with just minutes to spare.

It was nearly 3 p.m. by the time the grapes hit the crush pad, and boy did they look baked and toasty in that hot metal bin that had been trucked more than half an hour from their vineyard in the hot August sun. But McPherson wasn’t worried. After more than 30 years in as a winemaker, most of which has been in Texas, he’s seen his fair share of ups and downs in harvesting. And despite the setbacks with the more than 6.4 tons this year’s Chenin Blanc harvest yielded, he was ready to roll his sleeves up and do what he does best: make really good wine.

Without getting into the piddly details, here’s how the process went. The grapes were all poured into a large outdoor tank and fed up a conveyor belt into the “crusher/destemmer,” which does exactly what you might think: crush the grapes, take out the stems and leaves. The grapes are then pressed to separate the juice from the grape skins and voila, you have wine!

Well, not exactly. First, you have to let it has to ferment. And before that can happen, we had to separate any left over solids in the juice that weren’t caught in the pressing process. To do this, usually winemakers have to let the juice sit in a cold tank to let the solids separate.

Grapes in the crusher

Imagine a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. When you let it sit for a few minutes, you notice a foam start to separate and rise to the top of the glass. Or when a pint of Irish Guinness is poured, you watch as the creamy head begins to rise to the top. That’s what happens during the “cold soak” of grape juice for winemaking.

This process usually takes a few days. But not for McPherson. This year, he let technology do the work for him with an Italian designed “Ecoflot” from Della Toffola. This little pump enables the solids to clarify from the juice very rapidly. Like in less than an hour rather than a few days. With this year’s massive harvest, the Ecoflot allowed McPherson to save days of time in pressing and racking his wines to allow for more tank space with each new delivery of grapes. In short, he maximized his efficiency.

After using the handy little Ecoflot, a few adjustments had to be made to the juice including acidification and a little sulphur dioxide.

“I try to minimize these additions, but they’re just necessary to making wine,” says McPherson.

Note: Despite what some people may realize, the addition of sulphur dioxide and certain acids, such as tartaric acid, which is a naturally occurring acid in grapes, is a common practice in winemaking all over the world and has been for centuries. Sulphur Dioxide is actually a bi-product of fermentation from added yeasts. (Up to 5-7 parts per million.) It’s a topic to be discussed later down the line, but the big takeaway is, if you’ve been drinking any wine from your average grocery store shelf, it’s been adjusted with sulphur dioxide and some form or naturally-occurring acid.

Small beaker example of Ecoflot before the solids have separated

Five minutes after juice has been through the Ecoflot process

McPherson also added a few yeast nutrients to help spark fermentation with the addition of yeast. In this case, he added “Alchemy II,” a yeast blend from Scott Laboratories to formulated to work well with Chenin Blanc fermentation. From then, we just had to let the yeast and the juice do it’s work.

It’s been about three weeks since we set up our dry Chenin Blanc. After checking with McPherson yesterday, it turns out the fermentation is almost complete. From that point, he says he’ll probably let the yeasts “settle out” on their own and fall to the bottom of the tank. Over the next month he’ll stir these spent yeasts or “lees” to add a little creaminess and complexity to the wine before racking the wine, removing the yeast and fining the wine for clarity. By December, we’ll be ready to bottle and I’ll be back up to Lubbock to help make it happen.

To date, we’ve selected the bottle—a dead leaf green color like the kind you see with most Chardonnay wines—and we’ve decided to use the more efficient screw cap instead of a cork. We’ve even been able to determine a general $12/bottle price for the 400 cases we’ll be able to yield of this wine. The only thing left is to figure out a name for this Texas dry Chenin Blanc.

Any ideas?

We’ll continue with the final result in December…

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Chenin Blanc, Ecoflot, Jessica Dupuy, Kim McPherson, McPherson Cellars, texas wine

Scott Banks of Tony’s in Houston with Duchman Family Winery 2010 Vermentino (photo courtesy Tony’s)

By now it should be fairly apparent that the warm climate grapes of Spain, Southern France and even the warmer parts of Italy are taking a shine to Texas soils. One such Italian success story is the Vermentino grape, which is originally a shining star for the little island of Sardinia that sits west of Italy in the Mediterranean sea. It’s a grape Stan and Lisa Duchman took a chance on in 2004 when they first began Duchman Family Winery, devoting their entire wine production to Italian varietals. And in its few years on the Texas market, it’s been an investment that has paid off.

Sure, it may not be one of the more well known white wines we’re used to grabbing from the grocery shelf. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and even Pinot Grigio have dominated that column for some time now. But if you’ve any interest in deepening your breadth of white wine knowledge, especially when it comes to white wines from Texas, Vermentino should be at the top of your list.

Especially if it’s a Vermentino grown by Bingham Family Vineyards from Duchman Family Winery. The 2008 vintage nabbed the Texas Wine of the Month in May 2010 and this month the 2010 Duchman Family Winery Vermentino takes the same honor as Texas Wine of the Month for August. It should come as no surprise considering its gold medal status from the Dallas Morning News/TexSom International Wine Competition and a silver at the world-renowned San Francisco International Wine Competition.

This month’s selection comes at the suggestion of Scott Banks, wine director for the iconic Tony’s restaurant in Houston. Since 1965, Tony’s has long been regarded as one of the best dining experiences in Houston, if not all of Texas. Growing up it’s a place I remember my Houston-native grandparents sharing their stories of entertaining clients and friends for special dinners.

It wasn’t until recently that I enjoyed my first Tony’s experience and I have to say that whatever owner Tony Vallone did to attract sophisticated glitz and glamour in 1965, he’s still pulling it off today. Tony’s is special indeed, with every five-star dining frill you would expect from mussels steamed in tomatoes and white wine, to a meticulous table-side break down of a whole salted branzino served warm and aromatic with fresh herbs. A night at Tony’s is truly special, especially if you get a chance to sit down with the man himself over a glass of 2008 Galatrona Petrolo, a single vineyard Italian Merlot. That’s when the real stories come out.

The more than 1,100-bottle wine list features wines from the world’s greatest regions: from Barolo and Barbaresco (Piedmont) to Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany) as well as an unmatched collection of first-growth Bordeaux and Grand Cru Burgundy. With a number of rare and collectible bottles—stretching back to 1844—the wine cellar at Tony’s is almost more of an homage to the grand history of global wine as it is a holding room for top beverage selections. And this year, Banks added Duchman’s Vermentino to the list. (To date, the only Texas wine to hit Tony’s hallowed list.)

“Planting Vermentino was such a shrewd decision,” says Banks of Duchman Family Winery for staking their claim with this grape. “It’s a hearty grape with an almost irrepressible acidity that can handle a Texas summer. The acid balances out the almost exotic fruit nature of this wine giving you a beverage that is crisp and clean without being ‘one note.’”

With bright acidity and citrus characters of fresh lemon zest, Meyer lemon, a squeeze of grapefruit and even the tiniest hint of fresh cut grass, the Duchman Vermentino is available on shelves in most HEBs, Whole Foods Markets and Central Markets throughout the state for about $15. Considering we’re still in for a couple more months of Texas heat, it’s a very reasonably priced wine to stock up on and enjoy with grilled fish, seared scallops or even as a back porch sipper on its own.

“At Tony’s, we’re featuring a salad that involves finely shaved heart of palm, finished with Ricotta di Bufala, Fredericksburg peach and crispy prosciutto,” says Banks who loves to pair the Duchman Vermentino with this dish. “The peach jibes with the slight tropical notes of the wine, while the wine’s bright acidity cuts right in to the natural, delicate fat of the Ricotta and the prosciutto.”

And if you like the 2010 Vermentino, you’ll no doubt love the 2011 vintage that will likely be released later this year, if not in early 2013.

“I really think we’ve hit our stride with Texas Vermentino,” says Dave Reilly, head winemaker for Duchman Family Vineyards. “Cliff Bingham [who grows it for us in North Texas] is exceptional at consistently growing high quality grapes regardless of what the growing season throws at him. The 2011 has the same flavor and aroma profile as the 2010, only more intense with more citrus. I honestly think this wine gets better with every vintage.”

Winery: Duchman Family Winery

Price: ~$15

Availability: Most grocery stores or large-scale liquor stores in Texas including HEB, Whole Foods Market, Central Market

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Bingham Family Vineyards, Cliff Bingham, Dave Reilly, Duchman Family Winery 2010 Vermentino, Jessica Dupuy, Scott Banks, Tony's Houston

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

You can’t talk about great Texas barbecue without mentioning Driftwood’s most famous barbecue joint of all time – The Salt Lick Bar-B-Que. Through the years this Central Texas haunt has gained both fame and popularity for its delicious barbecue meats – well known for their preparation over an open pit. Come November, the restaurant will have its first cookbook, written by Jessica Dupuy, author of Uchi: The Cookbook, and Scott Roberts, owner of The Salt Lick Bar-B-Que. Roberts talked with TEXAS MONTHLY about The Salt Lick Cookbook, the history of the restaurant, and moving forward.

What made you guys decide it was time to do a book?

We’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I’ve always been proud of the fact that we’ve been around for so long and how we came be. I had been thinking about the book for ten or fifteen years, and about a year ago everything lined up. We realized we needed to stop thinking about it and start doing it, so we met up with Jessica. She and I spent a long time together talking about the stories, the history, and the recipes of The Salt Lick.

A lot cookbooks come out nowadays that are a balance between recipes and the story of a restaurant or chef. What was the story you wanted to tell in The Salt Lick Cookbook?

I wanted to tell the story of the family behind The Salt Lick. Like the story of how my great grandmother came to Texas in the 1880s, how the Roberts came in 1867, how they got here, the way they cooked then, and the way we cook today. That cooking technique has been handed down for generations. My father’s parents were significant in my life, and there was a whole lot of stuff that has happened through the years that I thought would be nice to share with people. The Salt Lick is tied to my family, so they were inevitably going to be mentioned in the cookbook. Jessica said the fact that my daughter is learning everything was a big deal, too, so we wanted to include the next generation in there as well.

Scott Roberts

Were there certain recipes or stories you really wanted to feature?

I wanted to include the fact that as a young child of about six or so I would watch my grandmother and her sisters grinding up meat and cooking these sausage links on a wood-fired stove. I can still remember the sound of the [meat] cooking and sizzling. My job then was to stay out of the way [laughs]. I had many stories like that one, and it was great to share them and honor the whole family.

What will be the recipe in here that readers will be excited to see? Were there any that were difficult to part with?

I’ll put it this way, we put all the recipes from the restaurant in the book except for the barbecue sauce. That’s going to remain a secret. I think people will really enjoy meats like the pork ribs and beef brisket. I think people will also really like my grandmother’s biscuits and her fried-chicken recipes. And one of the ones they are really going to love is my mother’s lemon meringue pie.

You guys have had a newfound notoriety recently with things like Top Chef Texas. How do you want to move forward into the future?

We want to continue to do what we’ve been doing, but add some new things along the way. We’re going to start concentrating on the wines and start working on a few new items like barbecue oysters. We want to continue to support local foods, so things like the barbecue oysters will be only Texas Gulf oysters. We want to keep doing what we’ve always been doing, but just add bits and pieces as we go.

Tagged: austin, barbecue, bbq, Driftwood, Jessica Dupuy, Layne Lynch, Texas Monthly BBQ Festival, The Salt Lick BBQ