The Wine Curmudgeon

Texas wine, Ming Tsai and John Besh

The Wine Curmudgeon, ever vigilant, fully expected to write one of those "Well, what do you expect posts?" when I saw Ming Tsai cook with John Besh on the former's PBS show a couple of weeks ago. Both men, and Besh in particular, are ardent supporters of the local food movement, but I don't know that either has really been associated with or embraced local wine.

So I didn't expect them to pair a Texas wine with their meals, prepared at Luke, Besh's new restaurant in San Antonio. Imagine my shock -- and pleasure -- when Besh poured a Texas cabernet sauvignon to drink with his country fried quail and Tsai's pan roasted chicken. He didn't say whose cabernet it was, but the restaurant wine lists includes the Becker Vineyards Iconoclast.

How happy was I? Enough to overlook the fact that cabernet is not what we do best in Texas, and that a tempranillo would have paired better and been more representative of Texas wine. Also, Besh said Texas sells grapes to other parts of the country. Which we don't, because we don't have enough for Texas winemakers to use.

It was enough to see two big-time, celebrity chefs drinking local wine on national television. What better way to get ready for DLW 2013 in Baktimore, featuring Maryland wine, in six weeks?

The Dallas Morning News and TexSom Wine Competition 2013

Midway during the second day of judging at this year’s event, one of the other judges smiled at me and said, “This must make you feel good.”

And it did. My panel was judging red wines from the United States made in places that weren’t California, Oregon, and Washington. And they had been – dare I say? – spectacular. We gave five silvers and a gold; the day before, we had awarded gold medals to chardonnays from Idaho's Pend d'Oreille and Michigan.

The other judge, Paul Lukacs of Baltimore, knew about my work with DrinkLocalWine and my enthusiasm for regional producers. And, as someone who judges regularly, he also knew the quality of these wines can be uneven. And while we had some clunkers during the two-day event (we judged all regional wine), the overall quality was as good – if not better – than at any competition I have judged. There was even a nifty red from South Dakota's Belle Joli made with the marquette grape. More, after the jump:

Has regional wine entered the mainstream?

This tweet, from last week’s monthly Texas wine Twitter event, says it all:  “Hey @DeniseClarke and @VintageTexas [two of the event’s organizers] -- who knew we'd do #TxWine at a national retailer like @WholeFoods?”

Certainly not me. When we started DrinkLocalWine five years ago, the idea that one of the leading grocers in the country would participate in a regularly scheduled regional wine event – and offer free samples -- was not even worth thinking about. We had enough problems convincing consumers wine was made in states other than California, Washington and Oregon, let alone marketers with multi-million dollar budgets.

But there we were, sipping and tweeting, on a cold and rainy Tuesday night at several Whole Foods across the state, as well as a variety of wine bars, restaurants and retailers that served Texas wine. And then, about 45 minutes into the event, the evening’s hashtag, #TxWine, was trending at No. 1 on Twitter. Which, even for a Twitter neophyte like me, means something. #TxWine ain’t no Kardashians.

Hence the headline for this post. Is regional wine finally more than a novelty? Is it an accepted part of the U.S. wine business. The answer, I’m happy to say, is yes. Companies like Whole Foods don’t do events like this out of the goodness of their corporate hearts; they do it to make money. And nothing speaks mainstream acceptance like getting it from a company with almost $13 billion in sales.

This doesn’t mean there still isn’t work to do, and I saw that Tuesday night. We had a couple of people at my Whole Foods who brought their regional wine attitude with them -- arms crossed, eyes squinting, and minds less than open about wine that wasn’t made in a real wine region. But that’s OK – we know how much the Wine Curmudgeon enjoys a challenge.

The 2016 presidential election

From a wine perspective, of course – and regional wine at that. What else would you expect from the Wine Curmudgeon? Certainly not politics.

The Democratic candidate? Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, who has been a tremendous advocate for Colorado wine. He came to the DrinkLocalWine media dinner in April, where he said all the right things and seemed genuinely interested in what we were doing. (There is even a picture of the governor and I floating around the Internet, which I have not yet been able to find. My Mom is not happy about this, so if anyone knows what happened to the picture, please let me know).

The Republican candidate? Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, whose efforts to help his state’s wine business shame almost every other governor in the country (including and especially Texas’ Rick Perry). Maureen McDonnell, the state’s first lady, has been an especially avid proponent – even visiting Virginia wineries.

DrinkLocalWine sets Regional Wine Week for Nov. 12-16

Which is the fifth annual, believe it or not. Who knew we’d get this far?

We’ll also announce the site and date for the annual DrinkLocalWine conference and give away two pairs of tickets in the process. That’s the fifth annual, too. Which is even harder to believe.

Last year’s wine week was one of the most successful in DLW history, linking to dozens of stories and blog posts about wine produced in more than half of the other 47 wine states.

Anyone can send us a link at DrinkLocalWine to their post, whether from a blog, a web site, Tumblr, Facebook or whatever. All we ask is that it be about a wine, winery, or region in The Other 47 – not California, Washington, or Oregon. We’ll aggregate them on the DLW web site, offering a one-stop snapshot of what’s going on in regional wine.

One personal note: This year, wine week coincides with the blog’s birthday week, so the blog will have even more posts than usual. Talk about a birthday week present for visitors, no?

The Winestream Media still doesn't understand regional wine

How far has regional come in the past couple of years? So far that it’s sometimes difficult even for those of us who believe in local wine to believe. Case in point: The wine list at Dallas’ highly-regarded Pyramid Room has all of the usual Napa heavy hitters. But what’s on the same page on the list with the Peter Michael Les Pavots, about as heavy a hitter as they come? Two Texas wines – a Becker cabernet sauvignon and a red blend from Llano Estacado. Five years ago, that would have been unthinkable.

What’s even more amazing is that local wine has made such progress with almost no help from the Winestream Media. Yes, there has been an occasional story or blog post, but the prevailing attitude is still that there are many, many more things more important. More, after the jump:

Wine writing yes, sports writing no

Northwestern? Ain't that in Oregon somewheres?

In one of his other lives, the Wine Curmudgeon was a sportswriter. At the time, it seemed like a good idea.

I mention this because my alma mater, Northwestern University, is enjoying an especially fine football season that the nation’s sportswriters could apparently care less about. The Wildcats, who started a record for hapless futility when I was in school in the late 1970s, are 5-0 and could win the Big Ten championship.

Yet the sportswriters who vote in the Associated Press’ college football poll apparently have little interest. They put Northwestern a grudging 24th this week, its first time in the top 25 this season despite its record and record-setting performances. Teams that have been in the top 25 include Baylor, which gave up 70 points last week, 1-4 Arkansas, and 2-2 Michigan.

In this, they remind me of all those wine writers who know everything there is to know about regional wine -- and they don’t have to taste it to know everything about it. Once, Northwestern’s football team was not very good, so the writers’ attitude is obvious: It’s Northwestern, so we can ignore it.

The difference between wine writing and sportswriting is that wine writers usually listen to reason. No doubt this is why so many fine wine writers, like Dan Berger and the late Joe Pollack, were once sportswriters. Pour a wine writer a glass of something, and they’ll almost always be fair about it. That’s why DrinkLocalWine has been such a huge success. Too many sportswriters, though, are a different story. The Winestream Media seems open-minded and humble in comparison.

So, if and when Northwestern wins the Big Ten, I’ll toast its victory with a bottle of Illinois wine – a chambourcin from Prairie State Winery, perhaps, or Lynfred Winery’s sevyal blanc. Know any sportswriters who might want to join me?

A personal note: The Northwestern alumni magazine recently did a story on graduates in the wine business and somehow managed not to include me (with a headline that never would have passed muster with the late, great Dick Hainey). Ordinarily, I let this stuff go by, but for some reason this slight really bothered me. I’d like to think my success represents the school well, but I’m probably just being sentimental.