The Wine Curmudgeon

Kerrville Wine & Music Festival 2012

This is the fifth year that I've done the Kerrville Wine & Music Festival, and it always reminds me how passionate ordinary wine drinkers are about local wine. Which is a good thing, because even I sometimes need a reminder.

This year's audience asked the usual sort of intelligent questions (and they always want to know the price, of course), and we got a very favorable response when I asked them to contact their local legislator to help restore state funding for grape research. The Texas legislature convenes next year -- God save us.

After the jump, some highlights:

Lone Star International Wine Competition 2012

The first day of judging in the 29th annual event, which focuses on Texas but includes wines from other regional states, California, and the world, was not much fun. The quality of the wine was uneven at best, and many of the judges I talked to wondered if the 2011 competition, perhaps the best ever, had been a fluke.

Not to worry. The second day, when we judged best of class, reaffirmed my faith in the quality of Texas wine. In many ways, it was a landmark for the state’s producers. The wines that earned top honors were distinctive and reflected Texas’ terroir, demonstrating that wineries here finally seem to have figured out that they should not make chardonnay and merlot, but wines better suited for our climate and soil.

More, after the jump:

Judge to Gruet: Pay $4 million

The final tally -- as well as some incredibly juicy details -- is in, and the soap opera that was New Mexico's Gruet Winery's attempt to buy Texas' bankrupt Cap*Rock Winery is apparently over. Regular visitors here will recall that Laurent Gruet, whose family owns the New Mexico sparkling wine producer, bid $6.5 million that he didn't have for Cap*Rock at a bankruptcy sale. When Gruet couldn't come up with the money, he was sued by the bankrupcty trustee. 

The details are in the Lubbuck newspaper; some highlights after the jump:

Book review: The Wineslinger Chronicles: Texas on the Vine

Russ Kane knows more about Texas wine than all but a handful of people, and that knowledge is more than evident in his new book, "The Wineslinger Chronicles: Texas on the Vine" ($29.95, Texas Tech University Press). Equally as important, the book is a snapshot of the modern Texas wine industry at one of the most important times in its history -- as it makes the transition from first to second generation of growers and producers, as it changes from wine made with traditional grapes to a more terroir-based approach, and as it tries to find ways to cope without state-sponsored research and marketing.

Few are as qualifed as Kane to do this. He is the proprietor of the Texas Vintage wine blog, which is one of the oldest and most well-read in the state. And, like so many in the industry he loves, Kane comes to wine from a first career; he was a technical writer before discovering Texas wine. More, after the jump:

Mini-reviews 29: Stag's Leap, Flat Creek, Le Grand Nor, De Bortoli

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

• Stag's Leap Merlot 2004 ($35, sample): Cleaning out the wine cellar, and found this gorgeous, beautiful wine. Tastes like Napa, with deep, luscious black fruit, but with other qualities that make for a wonderful wine, including a long chalky finish and a full, rich middle.

• Flat Creek Estate Pinot Grigio 2010 ($18, purchased): Texas white wine that sits between tonic Italian pinot grigio (has more lemon) and fruit forward Oregon pinot gris. There was something odd in the back that bothered me, but may not bother anyone else. And it would be a better value at $14 or $15.

• Le Grand Noir Chardonnay 2009 ($8, purchased): French white with too much badly done fake oak and without enough fruit to cover up the oak. Not very interesting one way or the other.

• De Bortoli Sauvignon Blanc Emeri NV ($11, sample): Very odd, but intriguing, Australian bubbly made with sauvignon blanc. Sweet tropical fruit but not as much citrus as one would expect. Less tight and bubbly than cava, but not as soft as some Italian sparklers. Keep in mind for the holidays.

Texas wine: What's worth drinking?

Texas wine can be confusing, given the hundreds of different wines and their reliance on grapes many wine drinkers have never heard of. Blanc du bois, after all, is not something that comes trippingly to the tongue, even for wine experts. There is also, as with so many regional wines, the quality question. Yes, quality has improved markedly, but as Dave McIntyre, my partner in locapour, always warns: There is still too much wine out there made by people who aren't quite sure what they're doing.

Given that, here are my suggestions about what's worth drinking. This is far from a complete list; there are 219 Texas wineries, and hard as I try, I can't hit all of them. Many smaller and newer producers make fine wine, but I haven't gotten to them or tasted them often enough to include them (like Red Caboose, Sunset, Lone Oak, and Inwood Estates).

Know, too, that the state's biggest producers -- Llano Estacado, Fall Creek, Messina Hof and Becker -- make professional wine that compares favorably to anything made in California at similar prices. If you want to try something and are overwhelmed by the selection, they will be fine.

The wines I drink -- and buy -- after the jump:

Wine of the week: McPherson Cellars La Herencia 2009

The key to success for regional wine is not so much about quality or even pricing. It's about producing wine that reflects the place where it is made. Regional wine will never be successful if it's nothing more than a knockoff of what's being done elsewhere -- and where it's being done better, as well.

That's why the best regional wine has a sense of terroir, whether it's a New York riesling, a Missouri norton, or a Virginia viognier. The top producers in those states know they have to compete with California, but they have also realized they don't have to do it on California's terms. They can do it on their terms.

That's what we've finally figured out in Texas. There has been a revolution in the past five years, with growers and winemakers embracing warm climate grapes in a way I never thought possible. Today, we have quality wines made with tempranillo, roussanne, syrah, sangiovese, blanc du bois, black Spanish, and viognier -- grapes better suited for the Texas terroir than the traditional French varietals. Even the state's biggest producers, who can sell (and need to sell) chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon because they're in grocery stores, are using these new varietals to produce fascinating wines.

One of the best examples of the revolution is McPherson's La Herencia ($14, sample), a tempranillo blend that has the Spanish grape's varietal characteristics yet retains a Texas quality. It's richer and more full than a Rioja, the best-known tempranillo from Spain, with more red fruit. But it's not too fruity or too tannic or too alcoholic, like so many California wines.

Serve this with barbecue, almost any main course with rice (like jambalaya), and even some roast or grilled chicken dishes. Availability will be limited outside of Texas.