Category Archives: Wine

by Steven Doyle | August 5, 2013 · 9:29 am

Texas Tempranillo Wines Tested

No fewer than 23 wines were involved in our taste-off

by Andrew Chalk photos by Robert Bostick

There is general agreement that Tempranillo is the red grape that has done best in Texas thus far. I decided it was time to do a comparative tasting in order to get an idea of how good Texas Tempranillo has become, and who is doing the best job with the grape. I put out an APB to every winery in Texas for their currently available Texas Tempranillos and received no fewer than 23 different wines from fifteen wineries in response. As with our earlier comparison of Texas Viognier, the tasting would be blind and the tasters would be volunteers from the Dallas sommelier community.

Seven sommeliers, plus myself, assembled at WinePoste.com in the Dallas Design District over several hours to sip and slurp our way through the wines. I excluded my scores from the results below as I was involved in the packaging of the wines into their numbered brown bags. Continue reading →

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Filed under Andrew Chalk, Wine

Tagged as Dallas, MOAT2, Sommeliers, Tempranillo, Texas, Texas Viognier, wine

by Steven Doyle | July 29, 2013 · 9:04 am

Go Texan Is Meaningless When Applied To Wine

by Andrew Chalk

Crave readers will recognize the above symbol as the distinctive, protected, mark of the Texas Department of Agriculture’s (TDA) “Go Texan” campaign. The campaign even has its own web site, GoTexan.org. According to that site, the aims of the campaign are to promote Texas agricultural products. Under “Rules and Guildlines” the Department says firmly “Maintaining the integrity of the GO TEXAN mark is the key to preserving the powerful brand positioning GO TEXAN members enjoy. These guidelines are provided to ensure proper use of the GO TEXAN mark. If you have any questions Continue reading →

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Tagged as Go Texan, Texas, Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas wine, wine

by Steven Doyle | July 25, 2013 · 10:15 am

2013 Texas Grape Harvest Is A Tale Of Two Worlds

by Andrew Chalk

High Plains Devastated – Central Texas Sees Good Harvest

The 2013 Texas grape harvest is a story of contrasts . The High Plains, the most important wine grape area, was hit by no fewer than five frosts in the spring, leading to a 90% decrease in grape output compared with last year. The frosts were, as consultant Bobby Cox wrote “timed to do maximum damage”. The Hill Country, Gulf Coast, and north east of the state saw much better, sometimes very good, conditions.

I posed six questions about the harvest thus far to every winery in Texas. Below I reproduce a selection of the responses that represent the overall picture. It is early days yet, as virtually every respondent remarked, so this report is preliminary. I will have another report around the end of the year. Continue reading →

Two Wine Finds With A Quirky Name

by Andrew Chalk

What do you do if the rest of the world calls you a frog and thinks that you are arrogant just because you have the best shrug? If you are French winemaker Jean-Claude Mas you turn the joke back to them with a wine that displays a refined idiosyncrasy and calls itself The Arrogant Frog.

The importer just delivered bottles of their 2011 vintage. The red, a ”Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot” blend with 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Chardonnay. Both come from France’s beautiful Languedoc region on the Mediterranean and both come in screw cap bottles. These are unprepossessing wines in name and packaging but surprisingly refined in taste. Good winemaking makes a good value wine for $10. Continue reading →

The Generous Pour Is a Great Way to Learn About Wine

by Andrew Chalk

If you have an interest in wine and asked yourself “What do the main grape types taste like?” I have a recommendation for you. Slip down to The Capital Grille in Dallas, Fort Worth or Plano and take part in The Generous Pour. It is essentially a matching flight of wines to go with the food you choose from the menu. However, it is cleverly chosen to be both informative and unpretentious to newcomers to wine. There are seven wines in total, divided into a flight of three whites and one of four reds. You start with the whites. Your waiter or waitress gives you a good-sized taste of each wine. If you want more of one that you especially like they are easygoing about that. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Cabernet Sauvignon, Capital Grille, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pinot Noir, Plano

by Steven Doyle | July 20, 2013 · 4:27 pm

What I am Drinking Now — Is In Whole Foods, Addison

by Andrew Chalk

If you really want to laugh at my palate, or lack thereof, there has never been a better time. Whole Foods Addison (the new one that does not yet have Whole Parking Lot) is sticking my recommendation by bottles of wine using a selling device called ‘shelf talkers’. That means a short paragraph describing the wine and what I think commends it to you. I submitted about eight recommendations but only saw three there last weekend. The Gruet sparkling wine from New Mexico is a bargain summer sparkler. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Addison Whole Foods, Dallas, wine, Wine Geeks

by Steven Doyle | July 20, 2013 · 1:45 pm

Dear Whole Foods Market, Please Remove Non-Texas Wine From Your Texas Wine Display

by Andrew Chalk

Walking around the new Whole Foods Market in Addison this weekend I came across a whole pallet of Texas wines. Or so it seemed. One of them was the wine below. It is the Dry Comal Creek Vineyard ‘Comal Red XI’ Red Wine. The front label points out that the winery is in New Braunfels, so you might think that this is a Texas wine. On the bottom right of the label is a star decal which says ‘featuring Texas-Style wines’. That also appears to indicate that this is a Texas wine. Continue reading →

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Filed under Andrew Chalk, Go Texan, Wine

Tagged as Addison, Go Texan, Texas wine, Whole Foods, wine

by Steven Doyle | July 19, 2013 · 1:19 pm

Edna Valley Vineyard Tasting Notes

by Andrew Chalk

2012 Edna Valley Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Central Coast, California

Tasting Notes: Easy going Sauvignon Blanc. Very likable. The nose exhibits mild herbaciousness, nettles, lime and stone fruit (but not ripe stone fruit); In the mouth the wine has medium body, mineral flavors and herbacousness dominate. The finish is a little short.

Score: 80/100 MSRP $15 ($11.69 at Goody Goody) Continue reading →