by Andrew Chalk
Leanne Holley, editor of Texas Wine and Trail Magazine saw my piece about Go Texan wines being 0% Texas fruit and sent me this picture, taken by wine enthusiast James Freeman, of a billboard next to I-635 in Dallas. According to what it says, Go Texan fruit and vegetables have to be grown in Texas. Why doesn’t the Go Texan program have the same 100% rule for Texas wine? Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Chalk
by Andrew Chalk
In the Hill Country, 36 wineries will be participating. Pay $25 for a minimum of one and up to three tastings at any of these wineries. Sign up here. Plan to reserve your accommodation right away at the J.W. Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. To commemorate the 31 days of celebrating Texas Wines, they will offer a wine pairing dinner menu with Texas wines in 18 Oaks Restaurant nightly during the month of October.
Their press release read “Carefully selected by the chef, the finest meats, seafood and local produce will be complemented by the Texas Wine region’s best vintages”. I checked with their PR and all of the wines to be served are Texas wines: Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Chalk
by Andrew Chalk
This Wednesday, the Texas Wine and Grape Grower’s Association (TWGGA) meets in Austin to hold their ‘Legislative Forum’. It’s a meeting to discuss all things legislative relating to the Texas wine industry. By a remarkable coincidence, I had a dream the other night in which Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, appeared and proceeded to replace the TWGGA President’s opening address with a speech of his own. I reached into the back of his rental car and glimpsed this text.
“Fellow Texas grape growers and winemakers. This year, the Texas wine industry stands at a crossroads. We know that we have regions that can grow grapes as well as anywhere in the world. We know that we have viticulturalists as expert as those in other regions. We know that we can make world class wines from those grapes, witness the success of TWGGA member wineries in the prestigious San Francisco International Wine Competition (a competition that is, in the view of many informed observers, the most competitive in the United States). Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Chalk, Wine
by Andrew Chalk
That is what Sabrina Houser has heard on “good authority”. She is with Dry Comal Creek Vineyards and Winery which I used as example when I wrote about non-Texas wine in the Texas wine section of a new Whole Foods Market in the Dallas area. If her source is correct, Whole Foods may be implementing a policy change whereby the Texas wine section will be populated only by Texas wines. California wine sold by Texas wineries will be moved elsewhere. This actually opens up the tantalising possibility of Whole Foods sourcing more Texas wines from more wineries (they could use the winners of our Viognier tasting or our Tempranillo tasting as a crib sheet to start off). Furthermore, it makes Whole Foods a leader in Truth In Labelling regarding Texas wines. Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Chalk, Rumors, Texas, TexSom, Whole Foods, Whole Foods Market, Wine
by Andrew Chalk
Russ Kane, a Texas wine blogger who has been discussing Texas wine longer than me (and has even written a book about the industry) has a deep commitment to Texas wine. He is appalled to see a few wineries sell non-Texas wine with labels rich in Texas symbology through a legal loophole called ‘For Sale In Texas Only’. He had a novel idea to reduce the use of this misleading practice. Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Chalk
by Andrew Chalk
After recently going into a Dallas wine store and finding a California wine displaying the Texas Department of Agriculture’s (TDA) legally protected ‘Go Texan’ mark on the front label I proposed that the TDA raise the standards for Go Texan wines to stipulate 75% of the grapes in the bottle come from Texas. I chose 75% because that is the minimum that the Federal (not state) rules require for a wine to use a designated place of origin. Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Chalk
