by Andrew Chalk
Texas is a rapidly improving but young wine region. Just about everything is an experiment. One of the outcomes is an ever-rotating supply of interesting wines. This week two wineries, both of whom use only Texas grapes, sent me some interesting examples of their recent work.
Wedding Oak Winery is located in the pecan capital of Texas, San Saba. The location, in the northern Hill Country, provides grapes for the Texas Sangiovese shown on the left, above. The nose on this wine is redolent of cherries, strawberries and black pepper. In the mouth there is forward, ripe fruit of cherries balancing the medium plus acid levels. The firm tannins would make this wine a good match with your first attempt at cooking a Tuscan Bistecca alla Fiorentina, albeit from Texan grass-fed cattle.
The wine on the right is also made from the Italian Sangiovese grape but they came from the Texas High Plains (the area around Lubbock). Winemaker Penny Adams’ tasting notes find ‘Nice cherry color with big aromas of cherry with hints of chocolate and black tea splashed with cinnamon;medium bodied with soft to medium tannins on the mouth.’
I enjoyed both of these wines. They indicate that one of the experiments in Texas wine, Sangiovese, continues to turn in positive results. Both these wines are best ordered online, or on a day trip to the Hill Country. San Saba is three hours from Dallas.
The next wine comes in as totally in a space-time continuum of its own. 2013 Lewis Wines ‘Swim Spot’ Texas White Wine is the closest thing to the Vinho Verde style that I have seen from this state. Vinho Verde is a distinctive style of Portuguese wine characterized by: low alcohol, slight spritzyness (people with large vocabularies and initials after their names call it petillance), youth, and a lack of complication. The Lewis wine checks all those boxes, and additionally offers ripe citrus flavors, making it an ideal pool-side wine as warm weather approaches. Order from the winery or pick up at the winery located in Hye on the 290 Wine Road that runs from Fredericksburg to Johnson City.
Disclosure and procedures: Some wines sent by vendor(s) at no cost to reviewer. If a local reseller is named after a price quote it is the one who, on wine-searcher.com, had the lowest price. Wines sent by vendors may not be reviewed and will not be returned.
Great look at what the Texas Terroir can do.