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

2010 Fairhaven Vineyards Chambourcin

You often hear about Texas wines in the Hill Country. You occasionally even hear a bit about how most of the grapes grown in Texas are actually in the High Plains near Lubbock. But you rarely hear about the other pockets of the state that produce wine. There’s the Bluebonnet Wine Trail near Brenham, the Munson Wine Trail near Forth Worth and there’s also a wine trail in The Piney Woods of East Texas, which is where this month’s wine of the month comes from.

Out near Hawkins—about 20 miles from Tyler—Fairhaven Vineyards has made a name for itself specializing in French-American and American hybrid grapes for wine. (Without getting too geeky, there are well known European native grapes “vitis vinifera” such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, and American native grapes “vitis labrusca,” such as Concord or Norton.)

Fairhaven’s owner and winemaker R.L. Winters emphasizes a focus on native American grapes for his wines. Almost all of the grapes used for his wines are sourced directly from almost a dozen acres of his own vineyard and are produced to make European styles of wine. Fairhaven also propagates and sells a variety of root stocks for individuals looking to start their own vineyard along with a complete vineyards installation service to help get things started.

Since the winery opened in 2004, it has received numerous awards for its heritage grapes including the 2009 Lomanto, the first American Hybrid grape to wine an international award since 1873, and the  2010 Chambourcin, which won a gold medal in the 2011 Lone Star International Competition and is this month’s Texas Wine of the Month.

The Chambourcin grape is a French-American hybrid that Winters has found does unbelievably well in warm climates such as Texas and has a high resistance to fungal disease. And though you won’t find a lot of it in Texas, you can find it throughout the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. in states such as New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Drew Hendricks, MS

This month’s wine of the month Comes from one of Texas’s seven Master Sommeliers, Drew Hendricks, the director of wine and beverage education for Pappas Restaurants. Hendricks’ career on both the distribution and service side of wine demenotrates not only his extensive knowledge of the world of wine, but his passion for sharing it with other people. Perhaps his greatest effort in sharing wine with others is through the 9th Annual Texas Sommeliers Conference (TEXSOM), which Hendricks co-founded in 2005 with fellow Master Sommelier James Tidwell of the Four Seasons Los Colinas.

“I really like what Fairhaven is doing with their wines,” says Hendricks who carries this wine at both Pappas Bros Steakhouses in Dallas and Houston. “This Chambourcin is juicy, jammy and delicious. It shows that sometimes it pays to pay attention to these [grape] varieties that are outside the norm.”

The wine also has racy acidity and a little tartness as well. It’s fruity, but has a great earthiness to it as well, which is evidence of Winters’ drive towards a European style of wine. This is a wonderful food wine that would be fantastic with a juicy ribeye—perhaps why Pappas has it on their wine list—but it would also be delicious with a couple nibbles of dark chocolate after dinner.

Attendees to TEXSOM will likely have a chance to sample the Chambourcin during one the nine conference seminars. It’s one devoted strictly to wines from single vineyards throughout Texas and will be led by Texas native and wine expert Christy Canterbury and Houston-based Master Sommelier Guy Stout. Hendricks helped select the wines for this particular seminar and the Chambourcin was high on his list.

Though the final list NOT official, some of the candidates include:

2009 Sandstone Cellars VII - A rich, fruity and medium-bodied Portuguese-inspired red wine made from Touriga Naciaonal grown exclusively in Mason, TX.

2010 McPherson Cellars Roussane Reserve – A previous Texas wine of the Month that has citrus, ripe peach and tropical fruit on the nose with a balanced, dry finish on the palate.

2011 Duchman Family Vineyards Vermentino – An Italian varietal and perhaps the best version this winery has released to date—though previous vintages have been stellar as well—with notes of pear and lemon and crisp, dry finish.

2010 Texas Hills Vineyard Cabernet Franc – A smooth red with blackberries and a hint of spice made from a classic French Bordeaux and Loire varietal.

2009 Pedernales Cellars Kuhlken Family Reserve (red wine blend) – A full-bodied red made primarily from Tempranillo and Merlot.

And while Hendricks is excited to see how well received this single-vineyard Texas wines are received, he’s also excited to see the panels on Cabernet Franc as well as the special vertical tasting of Leonetti Cellars.

While the much anticipated TEXSOM is sold out, and sure to be a wine-filled fiesta of oenophiles and wine amateurs alike, it’s growth in the national sphere of wine professionals is evidence to the entire country of just how serious Texans are about their wine.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Chambourcin 2010, Drew Hendricks, Duchman Family Vineyards, Fairhaven Vineyards, Jessica Dupuy, McPherson Cellars, Pedernales Cellars, sandstone cellars, Texas Hills Vineyard, TexSom

A Few Texas Wine Facts:

Texas is the 5th largest wine producing state in the country.

Texas is the 4th largest wine consuming state in the country.

Texas has more than 3,500 acres of vineyards planted throughout the state.

Texas has more than 180 wineries across the state, a few of which are producing award-winning wines that are standing up against California, French, and Spanish wines.

Last weekend Texas winemakers, grape growers, sommeliers and food and wine writers met in Dallas for two important conferences, The Go Texan Drink Local Wine Conference and the 2009 Texas Sommelier Conference. For four days the world revolved around wine, wine, and more wine.

Texas Wine: Eat Local, Drink Local

The Go Texan Drink Local Wine Conference commenced Friday evening with a festive winemaker’s dinner at Le Cordon Bleu and continued Saturday with a few panelist seminars focusing on how to get more people to drink Texas wine.

You may not know it, but Texas winemakers are winning gold and silver medals in wine competitions nationwide. In recent years, Texas wine quality has significantly improved as winemakers have started to move from growing the Bordeaux and California basic three (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Merlot) and have experimented with grapes that are less well known, but better in the Texas soils. Grapes such as Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Malbec, and a handful of other Rhone, Italian, and Spanish varietals.

“Texas makes the best Texas wine in the world,” says conference panelist Greg Bruni, executive wine maker for Llano Estacado Winery, which has been at the forefront of growing Texas-friendly grapes in the state. “But you have to go in with the game plan to grow what works best here.”

But how do you change the perception that Texas doesn’t know how to make good wine? Yes the French have been doing it for centuries, but many forget that in the 1960s, Robert Mondavi was trucking around with his bottles of wine begging people to just take a taste. It wasn’t until the 1973 that a little Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena and a robust Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag’s Leap blew the minds of the French when they won a very highly publicized blind tasting.

Of course, gaining national recognition is secondary to simply getting Texans to drink their own wine.

You don’t go to Italy to taste Spanish Rioja and you certainly don’t go to France to drink Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It simply makes sense to drink to local product. But while we’re proudly savoring our Texas-grown vegetables, artisanal cheeses, and grass-fed meats that restaurants are so fervently serving, it would be great if restaurants were supporting their local wine-producing farmers as well with a few Texas bottles on the wine list.

Texas Twitter Taste-Off

Having discussed these challenges for Texas wines for the better part of the day, the next step was to actually taste a few of them. Well ok, more than a few. There were 45 of them. And just to add a little spice to the festivity, the tasting was presented as the first-ever “Texas Twitter Taste-Off,” which had more than 50 conference panelists, writers and bloggers, and wine enthusiasts tasting and “Tweeting” their way through the Texas-sized list of featured wines. Of course, the “Tweets” got more and more interesting as the one-and-a-half hour event went on. The taste-off winners included:

Best White Wine – Dry Division: Flat Creek Estate, Pinot Blanc, 2008

Best White Wine – Sweet Division: Haak Vineyards & Winery, Madeira Blanc du Bois, 2006

Best Red Wine – Dry Division: 
 Inwood Estate Vineyards Tempranillo-Cabernet, 2005

Best Red Wine – Sweet Division: 
 Sandstone Cellars IV Red Port-style wine, 2006

Texas Sommelier Conference 2009

On Sunday, the conference shifted from local to global with the kick off of the 5th Annual Texas Sommelier’s Conference at the Four Seasons Las Colinas in Irving Texas. Here, more than 150 sommeliers and wine aficionados from around the state convened for a series of tastings and informative seminars on everything ranging from Spanish Riojas and Austrian Grüner Veltliners to the increasingly popular rice wine, Sake and yes, even Texas wines had a special preview.

While the conference was taking place, there were also 21 Texas sommeliers competing in a blind tasting for the award of Texas’ Best Sommelier. The prize includes round-trip tickets, tuition, and a scholarship for a Court of Master Sommeliers certification program.

The winners: John Honefenger of Tony’s restaurant in Houston won 3rd place, Anibal Calcagno of Brenner’s Steakhouse in Houston took 2nd place, and June-Ann Rodil of Uchi in Austin stole the show with first place.

Tagged: brenner's steakhouse, flat creek, haak vineyards, inwood estate, llano estacado winery, sandstone cellars