Texas Wine Month Continues...

In celebration of Texas Wine Month, we're filling the month of October with a selection of lesser seen wine from the Lone Star State - in a series I have subtitled "Weird and Wonderful". For those not following the Texas wine scene closely, it has a been a remarkable place to be these past 10 years or so. The arrival of many young producers, along with a passion to find varieties and styles that really suit our climate, and a willingness to seek and embrace our own terroir - rather than hiding it behind over-manipulation or efforts to mimic other domestic styles - has really pushed Texas winemaking in a fantastic new direction (or many directions, depending on how you look at it).

Easing you in a bit further, the weirdest thing about this week's "Weird" wine is that it was first introduced to me with a marketing pitch that it was low-calorie and low-alcohol... a "skinny" wine. Now there are fewer ways to turn me more off a wine than with what sounds like a trendy gimmick. But I dutifully tasted the 2019 Fall Creek - Lescalo Chenin Blanc, because I like the folks who make it... and this is good wine. I honestly wish the promotional blurb would just say that it's good wine, but I'm just a wine guy - I don't know nothin' about marketin' no products... or something like that...  This is a clean, simple, bright Chenin Blanc that it ideally suited to Texas' climate. It's made from grapes picked a little early, which keeps the acid level up and the sugar levels (and thus alcohol %) under control.  It works great in the heat, by the pool and it's an ideal thing to sip when almost anything else sounds too heavy.

Once again, our “Wonderful” wine is not exactly straight up the middle conventional either.  Rae Wilson (of Wine For the People) teamed up with Andrew Sides (of Lost Draw Cellars) to produce the thoughtfully made Grower Project wines from carefully sourced grapes (she's a sommelier and winemaker, not a grape grower) on her own terms, with her own philosophy - which values mindfulness (for lack of a better term...) of the origins of the fruit, the process, and the consequences of all of it (and not just the consequences in the bottle).  I don't think she would ever try to market you a skinny wine... but the Sangiovese is quite wonderful, in that (not unlike the Chenin above) it is very much styled to suit our climate. This is a lighter, softer, subtler style of Sangiovese - which is precisely the sort of red wine I want to reach for when I just don't think a white wine is up to the task, but it's also 100 degrees outside.

If you missed our previous episode, Texas Wine Month No. 1, you can still catch it here.

Cheers, y'all.

As with all of our wines and spirits, you can order these right here on our web site,
 or we'd love to talk with you at 713-524-3397.

Tired of long waits for curbside and delivery?
We can usually get your order finished in less than an hour.

Store hours for curbside pick up are from 10AM- 6PM Monday through Saturday,
or wines can be delivered to your home as well!