Barbecue and Wine: Texas Wine update!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Texas Wine update!

A Couple of Texas Wineries You Should Follow!

Gale and I went to the Sigel’s Texas Tasting and had a great time. I did not realize how many great vodkas, whiskeys, tequilas and rums are being made Texas. We won’t even get into how many beers and Ales are brewed in Texas. Needless to say you really never need to leave our great state to find some wonderful brews and spirits.

Now for the real purpose of our adventure out in the rain…Texas Wines. There were four wineries represented and two deserve comment.

Lone Oak Wines

The Lone Oak Winery in Burleson had both Tempranillo and Viognier wines available to taste and both were quite nice. Tempranillo is the Spanish grape that I think all Texas wineries should consider. They do well in Texas and make excellent wines that are bold, full bodied red wines with flavors of berries, plums, herbs and vanilla. Tempranillos are ruby red wines that also have the flavors of tobacco and leather which are always interesting in wines. These wines are very food friendly and go especially well with grilled pork. And Lone Oaks Tempranillo was well worth our time!

Lone Oak’s Viognier was also very nice. This is increasingly becoming my Texas white wine of choice. Viognier is a French grape that can produce complex wines, noted for its floral flavors with spice and citrus. They are also known for their fruit forward flavors of apricot, peach and apple. Because they are highly aromatic and fruit forward they go well with spicy food…hello Texas!

Duchman Family Wines

Duchman Family Winery in Driftwood also had two very noteworthy wines. The Duchman Winery uses 100% Texas grown grapes and their Sangiovese was very nice. The Duchman also makes all of their wines in the Italian style, and Sangiovese is an Italian grape that appears to be adapting very well in Texas. Sangiovese wines are red wines that tend to have light color with high acidity. They can have moderate to high tannins, and because of their high acidity they pair well with food, especially Tuscan style meals. And I personally like them with almost anything grilled!

The other Duchman wine was a Vermentino, which is an Italian white wine grape that makes dry, light and crisp wines that are herbal, with citrus leaf, basil and pine nut aromas. They are rich medium body wines that have a tinge of pale straw color, often with pronounced minerals and flavors of green apples and lime. They go well with seafood, oysters, calamari, white fish and grilled vegetables. However, I also felt the Duchman Vermentino would go well as a standalone wine to have with friends.

Unfortunately at tastings like the one Sigel’s had Saturday you really do not get enough of any wine to determine its complexity and how it would really taste as a glass of wine or with food. However I did get enough to know that these two wineries are worth watching to see where they go with their wines. And if I am ever in the Burleson or Driftwood area, you can rest assured I will visit the wineries for a more in-depth taste!