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

The 23rd La Dolce Vita Food & Wine Festival that sponsors the AMOA-Arthouse will take place tonight from 6-9 p.m. at Laguna Gloria.

Food will be served from several Austin restaurants including East Side Showroom, Foreign & Domestic, Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill, Olive & June, Parkside, Ranch 616, and Trace. Famed Austin restaurateur Larry McGuire of Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, Perla’s, Elizabeth Street Café, and Jeffrey’s Restaurant has been chosen as the honorary chef for the evening.

“As a native Austinite, I’ve enjoyed Laguna Gloria, La Dolce Vita, and the museum my entire life, so to be asked to serve as the 2012 Honorary Chef is a real privilege,” Larry McGuire said in a press release. “Not only am I excited about helping AMOA-Arthouse raise funds for its education programs, but I feel that this event stands out from all the other food events in town.”

Cocktails will be prepared by Tipsy Texan’s David Alan and local wineries and distillers including Becker Vineyards, Inwood Estates Vineyards, Llano Estacado Winery, and Pedernales Cellars will be present as well. For more information about the event, check out this link.

Tagged: AMOA-Arthouse, David Alan, East Side Show Room, Foreign & Domestic, Inwood Estates Vineyards, La Dolce Vita Food & Wine Festival, Lamberts Downto, Larry McGuire, Layne Lynch, llano estacado winery, Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill, Olive & June, Parkside, Pedernales Cellars, perla's, Ranch 616, Tipsy Texan, TRACE

Despite our most valiant efforts, we cannot predict the life events that await us around the corner. Before May of last year, Daniel Curtis – former food and beverage director of The Carillon – had every intention of continuing his work in the evolving Austin culinary scene. But when a diving accident on Memorial Day Weekend of last year left Curtis with a severe spinal cord injury, all of his prior life plans were derailed. His focus was no longer on cuisine; Curtis wanted to regain his mobility.

Daniel Curtis and Josh Watkins

After the tragic event, Curtis quickly realized the road to recovery would be long, hard, and certainly not cheap. Despite having insurance, Curtis’ medical bills were significant. Lucky for Curtis, though, he had some loyal friends, loving family members, and faithful coworkers that were looking out for him. A group of individuals, including Curtis’ best friend, Josh Watkins – executive chef of the The Carillon – rallied together with the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation and created a fundraiser on Curtis’ behalf. In the end, the event raised an estimated $70,000 that helped cover some of Curtis’ medical expenses.

Now over a year later, Curtis has made some significant progress in his recovery, but he still has a lot of work ahead of him. His goal is to walk again, but his recovery is still very much a work in progress. All the same, Curtis is steadfast in his commitment  to push forward and pay it forward. In fact, Curtis is repaying the life-altering gift that was given to him last year and has helped put together the Pay It Forward With Daniel Curtis Event that takes place tonight.

The fundraising event will help raise awareness and funds for individuals who, like Curtis, have suffered spinal cord injuries. Tonight from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the AT&T Executive Center, The Lone Star Paralysis Foundation hosts a night of silent auctions, live music from Kat Edmonson, and delicious cocktails and cuisine from some of Austin’s most talented culinary minds, including Josh Watkins of The Carillon, John Bates of The Noble Pig, David Bull of Congress, Shawn Cirkiel of Parkside, Callie Speer of Swift’s Attic, Philip Speer of Uchi and Uchiko, David Alan of Tipsy Texan, and several more.

To purchase tickets to this charitable event, see this link. Tickets can also be purchased at the door!

Tagged: austin, Callie Speer, Congress, Daniel Curtis, David Alan, David Bull, John Bates, Josh Watkins, Layne Lynch, Parkside, Pay It Forward, Philip Speer, Shawn Ciriel, Swift's Attic, the Carillon, The Noble Pig, Tipsy Texan, uchi, uchiko

Not bad at all: Texas captured four of seventeen finalist slots in Food & Wine’s new “People’s Best New Pastry Chef” competition.” That’s really impressive, considering that the Texans are up against chefs from Chicago and New Orleans, among other cities (we are in Central, one of three competition areas). So go vote for somebody from here, y’all. We can’t let our folks down.

But now, while I’ve got your attention, let me say that I’m completely baffled that there are no finalists from Dallas, San Antonio, or Fort Worth, and that three of Texas’s four are from Austin and only one from Houston, a much, much larger city. If that seems crazy to you, I strongly suggest you contact the Food & Wine folks.  The more they hear from readers about the geographical imbalance of the competition the more likely they are to take steps to fix the next one–that’s my opinion, anyway, for what it’s worth.

That said, do vote for a Texan. The contendahs are as follows:

Steven Cak, Parkside, Austin, who is well-known for his classy s’mores (pictured) with cinnamon marshmallow, dark chocolate ganache, cinnamon foam, and white chocolate cream.

Vanarin Kuch, Tiny Boxwood’s, Houston, famous for Anjou pear tart tatin with crystalized ginger caramel on puff pastry with a crispy apple chip.

Josh Matlock, Paggi House, Austin, known for deconstructed goat’s milk cheesecake with fresh blueberries, graham cracker crumbs, and snickerdoodle.

Laura Sawicki, La Condesa, Austin, famous for her crema cocida, consisting of vanilla-bean panna cotta with watermelon, agave, queso fresco, pickled watermelon rind, and roasted pepitas.

Tagged: Food & Wine, Josh Matlock, la condesa, Laura Sawicki, Paggi House, Parkside, People's Best New Pastry Chef, Steven Cak, Tiny Boxwood's, Vanarin Kuch

Ever been to a “cupping?” Despite what may come to mind, the term “cupping” has nothing to do with either gender’s undergarments. (So get your brain out of the gutter!) Much like wine tasting, cupping is the sort of ritual that coffee tasters go through to evaluate coffee. For coffee roasters, especially small-batch artisan roasters, it’s the primary way they maintain quality and consistency. Just as most of us begin our day with a nice cup of Joe, latte, soy macchiato, or otherwise, Mike McKim, founder and CEO of Cuvée Coffee, begins each day with a morning cupping from his “boutique” operation in Spicewood. (Just outside of Austin.)

Mike McKim of Cuvée Coffee

And if you’ve ever tasted a cup of freshly brewed Cuvée Coffee, you’ll soon understand why. This is not your average scoop of brown ground from a vacuum-sealed tin can. This is more like the Cadillac of coffee. And where most office-style drip coffee grows stale and cloyingly bitter—regardless of any attempt to make it taste better with powdered creamer, fancy syrups, or little pink packets—Cuvée is bold and full-flavored with essences of fruits, nuts, and earth. It tastes like silk. Like butter. Like good coffee.

The secret is in the beans. And in the relationships McKim has built with small-production farmers throughout the countries from which he purchases including Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Burrundi. (While most of us have seen a trend in the term “fair trade” coffee where farmers join a sort of co-op to receive a fair price for their crop, McKim operates his coffee buying on a “direct trade” model, which means he meets and works directly with individual farmers to insure they get the most of the bottom dollar once exporting, importing, and every other cost to sell coffee is factored out. This, unfortunately, is not always the case with “fair trade.”)

For McKim, taste and quality are top priority but so is the manner in which the beans from another country make it in to your morning brew.

“This is a key point of differentiation for us,” says McKim. “Lots of roasters claim to have relationships and ‘direct trade’ but that’s not always true. We actually have personal relationships with every farmer we purchase from. We also base our pricing structure to allow every person in the chain to profit. Good environmental practices lead to a sustainable model…our direct trade model.”

Cuvée also uses quality (i.e. cupping scores) as the foundation for taste in the final product. It’s a time consuming process as each morning McKim and his team taste at least 5 to 8 different batches of roasted beans, but it’s how Cuvée has made a national name for itself competing with the likes of Chicago’s Intelligentsia coffee and North Carolina’s Counter Culture coffee. It’s a structure that only allows for made-to-order coffee production. All of the coffee roasted each day is directly distributed to restaurants and coffee shops. Nothing is left on the Cuvée shelves by the end of the day.

So how does a cupping work?

The typical set up for a morning cupping at Cuvée

Every morning McKim and his team roast a selection of different beans and pulls a sample from each batch. This includes a variety of beans from his farmers in Central/South America and Africa. Each sample of roasted beans is ground and smelled. (Much like you would a glass of wine after it is first poured.) The grounds from each batch are placed in a small glass and hot water is poured over them to steep for 4 minutes. Each glass is then arranged on a round table next to a plate of the sample beans and a small glass of water.

When “cupping,” you simply walk up to each sample with a regular tablespoon in hand and follow these steps.

1. Smell the aroma of the coffee while it’s steeping.

2. Take the spoon and break the crust formed from the grounds that have risen to the top of the glass. Smell the vapor released from the steam. “Sometimes it just smells like coffee,” says McKim. “Other times you’ll get something that smells like sugar cookies baking or something more specific like that.”

3. Let the grounds settle and skim the film on the coffee. Be sure not to stir the grounds up, it will disrupt the flavor of the coffee.

4. Take a small amount of coffee into the spoon and quickly suck it into your mouth making a loud slurping sound. (Like you’re slurping soup.) This gets air into the coffee as it hits your palate and allows you to really taste the flavors from the beans. (Experienced cuppers will suck the coffee in and breathe through their nose at the same time to get all of the notes and flavors.)

Breaking the crust made by the fresh-roasted grounds for a cupping

Repeat this quickly for each sample around the table. And once you’re finished, go through the selections again. As the temperature of the coffee changes to room temperature, so do the flavors.

“As coffee cools down, that’s when the nuances come out,” says McKim. “It’s one of those fallacies people don’t realize. People buy these boiling hot coffees from a coffee shop, but they’re missing the best part about coffee—the taste.”

Something to consider the next time you find yourself in line waiting to make your daily coffee order. Speaking of which, the next time you do, consider giving the handcrafted taste of Cuvée a try. You won’t be disappointed.

Where can you find Cuvée?

Austin: Caffé Medici, Once Over, Thunderbird Coffee, La Condesa, Parkside, Bess Bistro, Walton’s Fancy and Staple,

Dallas: Eno’s Pizza Tavern, Oddfellows

San Antonio: Local

Houston: Down House, which will be opening later this month.

Tagged: Bess Bistro, Caffé Medici, Cuvée Coffee, Direct Trade coffee, Eno’s Pizza Tavern, Jessica Dupuy, la condesa, Local, Mike McKim, Oddfellows, Once Over, Parkside, Stir Coffee, The Pearl Cup, Thunderbird Coffee, Walton’s Fancy and Staple

In recent years, it seems the typical request for the house Chardonnay has been overshadowed by the spritzy and clean Pinot Grigio and the sometimes-citrusy, sometimes-grassy Sauvignon Blanc. It’s no real surprise with the overpowering buttery qualities a number of low- to mid-range Chardonnays have taken on; often as a result of too much time in oak barrels. With the average Chardonnay’s lack of vibrance and character, the Sauvignon Blanc in particular began piquing the interest of white wine drinkers for its variety of flavor based on origin.

Sauvignon Blancs from California, for instance, can range with citrus-y to melon-y fruit tones; traditional Loire Valley styles exhibit spicy, floral, and mineral nuances; and in New Zealand, this little green grape takes on everything from tropical and herbaceous characters to grassy, asparagus flavors depending on where the grapes derive along the narrow South Island. Bottom line, there’s a wide variety of adventure in the world’s selection of Sauvignon Blanc. And while you still risk the chance of getting a flat note here and there, the range of styles from this clean, crisp, and fresh white grape have earned it a respectable seat at the table.

So how do they fare in Texas? Not too bad actually. A number of wineries have been successful with this relatively versatile grape producing wines with floral, citrus-y, and even mild honeysuckle undertones. In fact, one Texas winery in particular has done so well with it that it has earned this month’s Texas Wine of the Month: Spicewood Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc, 2008.

According to Ashley Gaas, sommelier for Austin’s upscale 6^th Street gastro pub, Parkside, this Sauvignon Blanc rates as one of her top picks among Texas wines for its clean, crisp acidity. “It has a nice mineral structure bonded with citrus and hazelnut flavors and just a touch of honeydew melon,” says Gaas. “Its round creamy finish really sets it apart from most Sauvignon Blancs.”

Aged in stainless steel for 6 months, the 2008 is a blend of 93.5% Sauvignon Blanc and 6.5% Semillon, all from Spicewood Vineyards, which is located near Marble Falls in southern Burnet County. Inspired by Parkside’s acclaimed fresh seafood raw bar, Gaas suggests reaching for this light-on-the-palate wine with pan-seared scallops or an iced tin of fresh oysters. “It has wonderful honey and grapefruit aromas and is perfect for hot summer days,” says Gaas.

Founded by Ed and Madeleine Manigold in the early 1990s, Spicewood Vineyards turned a lot of heads with its Sauvignon Blanc in 1998 when it earned a prestigious Silver Medal from the Los Angeles County Fair as well as a Silver Medal in the International Eastern Wine Competition. In 2007, the winery changed hands and is now run by Ron Yates who is currently harvesting a bumper crop of 2010 grapes. “We’re really excited for what our entire crop is looking like this year,” says Yates. “We’ll have a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc ready to go fairly quickly and I’m anxious to see how it will stand up to the 2008.”

Unfortunately, you’ll have to visit the tasting room to nab one of these bottles, but for about $18, it’s a fantastic treat to round out a day in this Texas heat.

Winery: Spicewood Vineyards

Retail Price: $17.99

Availability: Winery Tasting Room

Tagged: Ashley Gaas, Parkside, Ron Yates, Spicewood Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Texas Monthly Texas Wine of the Month