The Lost Pines Wine Fest, benefitting Bastrop County Boys & Girls club, not only had a beautiful day and weather, but also brought out a good turnout. We were pleased that we could make this event and had a very pleasant time tasting wines from places we have not visited yet.

Back during Easter weekend, we were visiting my in-laws and decided to venture to downtown Bastrop to check out what was new and to check out the Bastrop Brewhouse to get a feel for where this event would soon be held. At that time we enjoyed a great view and experience on the outdoor patio looking down to a walking trail next to the Colorado River, with the new springtime green color of the trees and grass around the river. With a bowl of chips and two dipping appetizers, along with some Texas brewed beer, we were very much looking forward to the event.

Knowing that the proceeds would be going to a good cause, this was a great weekend no brainer decision for us to attend. Our day started at 8:45 with a mad dash from far North Dallas to Bastrop, TX in just under 4 hours in order to make the event. We were very excited to be on this weekend road trip. With the fear of possible rain in the forecast it could not have turned out better. Sunny with just a few puffy clouds floating in the air and a nice breeze bringing cool air off the flowing Colorado river. You could not ask for a better day for outdoor wine tasting.

The winery’s show casing a selection of their wines was:

Bertapelle Cellars  Out of California

Dionisio Winery Texas

Fiesta Winery Texas

Perrine Winery Texas

Pilot Knob Vineyard Texas

Rancho Ponte Texas

Texas Legato Texas

Wedding Oak Winery Texas

The tickets were available online and is the best way to make sure you get yours. The cost for each ticket was $25 and I will describe below what you get.

After checking in at the front we were given our tickets and our arm band. We preceded to another booth where we were presented a bag containing our tasting glass for the event, a tasting sheet with the winery names and spaces to write the name of the wine and some small notes. In addition we received a 4-bottle reusable carrier bag for wine that we might be interested in purchasing when we were done tasting, along with some flyers of local business and restaurants with a 10% off coupon.

We met up with some of our wine tasting friends and added special guests: my mother and father in-law. We also were able to meet up with our friend and fellow blogger Jeff Cope and his better half, Gloria, along with our new friends Lee and Barb Parmeter. Jeff and Gloria got there early and did their first round of tasting while the rest of us started by grabbing some food at the Bastrop Brewhouse before tasting. I would highly recommend eating a good meal for obvious reasons.

After having lunch we proceeded down the long wooden stairs that lead down to the grassy area just above the walking trail and river to the event area. All the wineries presenting had a table and tent with portable water for rinsing your tasting glasses between the red and white wines along with dumping buckets.

Near the bottom the Bastrop Brewhouse has a nice stage for bands and music. Being in the bottom of the area the acoustics were pretty good and the music playing was a nice treat. We received 6 tasting tickets and you could purchase more tickets for $1.00 each. In the very back a place was set up for you to purchase wine by the glass or bottle for consumption at the event or to buy a bottle of your favorites to take home.

One of the really big things that I like about Texas wine festivals is the fact that most are family friendly. I saw several children that appeared to be having a great day out with their families and enjoying the weather and music. Since we usually also have a little one hanging out with us, this always is a good thing for us and makes us happy to see a family friendly atmosphere. That is also why almost every winery I have visited is family oriented. To me Texas wine is about life, family, friends and fellow ship. It’s the extended family that grows and really it’s all about living life and making a network of friends.

Support your local business Support the Texas Wine industry.

Go, Eat, Drink Texan.

By:Dave Potter

It was a normal night at home. Dinner was over and kid in bed and it was parents down time. The never ending question is which bottle to open. We have been drinking lately wines we purchased back in 2011 from our past yearly pilgrimages to the Texas Hill country. As a random pull from the wine rack I pulled the 2010 Duchman GSM. We always take notes on the wines we drink and in my normal tradition I stage my spot free glass and the bottle for a mini photo shoot.  

The GSM produced a very nice clean dark garnet color and with a few swirls of our glasses the nose produced a pleasant aroma of pepper, dark plum, vanilla with a nice scent of tanned leather. This was one of a few wines I have smelled that in the back of my mind would make a nice candle scent.                                        

On the palate this wine produced a very soft taste with a supple mouth feel that was robust full body. The dark cherries, plum, currants and cranberry hints gave a nice balance do black pepper, spice and once again soft leather with a slight hint of tobacco.

This wine is composed of 62% Grenache, 18% Syrah, and 20% Mourvèdre and all are 100% Texas fruit.

I posted a photo in the Texas Wine drinkers group on Facebook like others do in the group. It is nice to share experiences and get others take on the taste of the wines. After posting a comment came across from David Reilly winemaker for Duchman winery that read “You are drinking one of the last bottles in existence. Cheers”! Good gosh this can’t be true. With a short list of Texas blends that I personally like my delightful happiness turned to I do not have another to savor again.

It just so happens that our Goody Goody up the road had 9 bottles left. I went the following day to purchase them. As I looked around the area where they were I noticed a few cases below and one with the box label turned around. Jackpot I found a full case. Now with the last known bottles of GSM I am set for a while. I will for sure use the rule of 6 on wines I really and truly like. You should always have three in reserve three on backup. If by sure chance you find a bottle snag it quickly because you will surely not be disappointed in this wine when you do open it.

Here are some great articles for more info on Duchman Family Winery

Russel Kane Vintage Texas 

Jeff Cope Texas Wine Lover

What has not been said about the Blue Ostrich Winery & Vineyard that has not been said? Not much so if you have not made the trip up to Saint Jo, Texas you’re missing out on a hidden gem of a winery. If you live in the North Texas area you really have not one excuse to not take a road trip and check the Blue Ostrich out.

I texted my wife letting her know I was on my way home from work Friday night and asked If I needed to stop at the store for anything. She responds “Nope just come home to enjoy our weekend”. That said I arrived to the smell of dinner and the cast iron skillet was out. For me the sight of a cast iron skillet only means something good was about to be ingested. You cannot go wrong with dinner made in a skillet.

A new uncharted dish of Polish sausage with caramelized onions and cabbage was on the family menu. My wife’s dilemma was what wine to pair up with such a dish? For me any dish made and served up with a Texas wine it’s a win either way. Her choice was a recently purchased 2011 Roussanne from the Blue Ostrich. With the plate in front of me and a nicely chilled Roussanne beside that I was set out to compare and contrast the two meals in front of me.

First off the visual of the wine in the glass gave off a beautiful sunny yellow color that was bright and clean. After a swirl or two the nose of the wine let way with pears and melon such as honeydew with a crisp honey apples smell. With the initial taste of the Roussanne gave off a full palate of melon, pears, apples and a slight herbal note lending the way to some thyme and dried basil in addition rounds out the finish of the wine. This Texas white finishes dry with a hint of oak. This particular wine would also go with chicken tarragon or even grilled snapper.

This wine is a must have for your Texas wine collection and at $18.95 I personally feel you will not be disappointed by any means.  Where we visit winery’s across Texas and do enjoy the wines we will pick just a few we both really like and agree on.  The Blue Ostrich was one of a few we really had a hard time deciding.  So when it was all tasted, said and done we ended up with a case or two to bring home.  OK disclaimer I think we ended up purchasing just about every wine they had to offer.  That said you have several more post on the wines we purchased from them.

Here is a link to where you can purchase their wines. Where to buy.

My good friend and fellow Texas wine Blogger Jeff Cope has a great review of the winery and other info here at Txwinelover.com.

We have had several Lost Oak wines over the years and we were excited to finally pop open this Lost Oak Dry Riesling. My wife has always been a dry wine drinker and for me its been a long road till a couple of years ago. I have stated to many people how much more I enjoy drinking dry wines for the fact for me it seems to bring more flavors that I feel tend to be covered up with the sweetness and oaks.

Lost Oak produced 178 cases of this wine. The fruit is 100% Riesling and was grown in the Texas High Plains AVA from Diamante Doble Vineyards by Jet and Gay Wilmeth in Tokio, Texas.

From the glass this Riesling showed a clear, clean golden yellow color. The nose gave off grapefruit, apricot and mineral notes.

The wine produced on the taste soft and fruity right up front with honey, tangerines, grapefruit with a hint of sweet honeysuckle nectar and pear. This wine was dry and a very nice change from our typical whites. We both liked it for the reason it was not overly floral like some can be, with no Muscat like nature. The fruit flavors, medium body and supple texture make this a great alternative to varietals such as Viognier which we both really enjoy. With a nice price of $16.95 I think we made a good choice in purchasing this wine.

When we saw this wine in the local grocery store we were a bit skeptical about purchasing it. However, after getting it home and chilling it for a few minutes we soon cut the foil, popped the cork, and found it to be a really nice, easy, everyday drinking wine. At just under $9, you will not go wrong with this Texas Chardonnay.

We poured into our stems and gave it a swirl, and with the clink of the glasses we gave it a whirl. With a light straw color it was a nice and clear wine. In the nose there is a aromatic aroma filled with tropical fruits like papaya, mango and hints of banana and nut.

Upon the tasting we both found that it was well balanced in acidity with a light creaminess. We tasted crisp apples and tropical fruit flavors such as pineapple, banana, guava and mango. This wine is a medium-bodied white and is layered; giving way to a finish that is soft and smooth

After a few hours of researching this wine and asking some questions of my fellow Texas wine friends and bloggers, we determined that the grapes are likely grown somewhere either in the Fort Stockton area or the High Plains. This wine is “cellared and bottled” in Ft Stockton under the name 5 Point Winery, but further research came up with no information about a tasting room or winery by this name. Nothing on the bottle gives mention to where the grapes actually originated or specific winery information. The bottle does state it is a Texas appellation on the label.

We have also tried the 1836 Chardonnay, which also claims to be “cellared and bottled” in Ft Stockton, TX on the label. It is our belief after trying both wines that they come from the same winemaker, from the same winery, and possibly the same vineyard.

The 1836 Chardonnay produced an extremely similar signature to us, with the same tropical fruits and smooth finish as the 5 Point Chardonnay, and it is also medium-bodied. This one possibly could have been lightly oaked. We tried both wines one night apart, which might have influenced our perceptions about the similarities of the two wines.

To get a Texas wine in the range of $9.00, we think we found a hidden value. Both the 5 Point Chardonnay, and the 1836 Chardonnay, are very nice, easy sipping patio wines for everyday drinking wine in our opinion.

One of the exciting things about blogging and tasting Texas wines is the travel around the state; it’s the back roads, the missed turns, the bad GPS data and finally reaching your final destination. Luckily we celebrated my birthday without all that extra frustration and happily ended up with more than I expected.

We visited 96° West Winery in Wylie, Texas of all places. This small town has a really nice downtown street front area filled with shops, food and boutique places that reminded me of several small Texas towns still full of life with a small town feel. Wylie is one of those places that have that welcoming feel even though it’s located in the midst of a booming metro area.

We were welcomed as soon as we walked in and felt at home up until we left and I will say David & Kari Hunt owners of the winery did a very good job bringing the vintage old style architecture and feel of the downtown into the winery. The twists of modern concrete stained floors and almost art-deco ceiling fans, coupled with the historic stained glass the pop out windows made this place feel we just needed to walking in and sit down for a nice glass of wine. The place has a completely first class layout and a friendly, knowledgeable staff that makes sure your experience at the winery is a memorable experience.

The wine list consists of 10 wines from sweet to dry and white to reds. Not being sweet wine drinkers, there were two, maybe three, that were not on our personal list; however, we tried them all and found many we preferred. Their is a fee for tastings $10 for 5 tastes or a paired food plate for $15. They do have glasses for purchase with the winery’s logo for around $6.00.

By the end of the night we wound up purchasing 6 out of the 10 wines available and purchased a second bottle we both agreed upon, which is what this post is about. I personally have not experienced enough Texas Syrah to compare among other Texas Syrah. However, this varietal caught my taste buds from the first swirl and sniff  of the wonderful fruit I was about to ingest. Since it was my birthday and I had not planned on taking notes so for the life of me I cannot remember were the grapes were from. I do know that they were from the Lubbock area

The color was of deep dark ruby to almost garnet red. The nose gave off hints of smoke, vanilla and cherry. After swirling and taking in the aromas of the nose, the taste produced earthy soil, dark black cherry, and dark plum with pepper and smoky oak. The wine is rounded out with a nice hint of baking spices.

This particular wine was aged around 3 years in American Oak. This is a bold and complex wine with an earthy presence up front and a very nice smooth cherry finish. If you’re looking for a nice wine to sip by a fire with a nice cigar then this is a wine for you. You cannot go wrong with this wine even if you do not smoke cigars. I found this wine to be complex yet well balanced with just the right acidity and tannins and think this bottle could be laid down for a few years and a nice Texas Wine to enjoy a few years down the road. So with that said, buy a few to drink now and a few to pop open down the road. Truly a great tasting Texas wine! Cheers y’all!

The saying “big things come in small packages” fits this well. The small, quaint French style winery was filled with some exciting red and white wines. It was hard to choose which ones to bring home to add to the cellar. After a few hours we ended up with a case and a smile.

This past year we have been on a red wine kick. Not just reds, but really bold, fruity style Texas wines – Cabernet, Merlot and everything in between; however, one varietal stood out in 2011 for us and that was a Texas Tempranillo and there’s no better way to start off 2013 than with more of it.

Calais, with his unfiltered wine making, produced this dark deep ruby color Tempranillo with very concentrated color. After a nice swirl and getting our noses deep into the glass we were hit with dark cherries and blackberries. Kelli stated she got a subtle hint of cedar and graphite. Graphite has a distinctive smell but it’s something that is hard to describe.

After setting our senses up with the swirl and sniff it was time to bring it all together with the taste. This Tempranillo hits home with a big body showcasing black plums, black cherries, and black berries with currants, pepper and light hints of spices such as cinnamon and mild curry. Kelli summed it up with this – “Delicious and Jammy”!

From the Calais website this wine runs $35.10 per bottle. Calais aged this wine for two years in French oak barrels. He stated they we are rewarded for being patient with this varietal. We agree it was well worth the wait. As a single vineyard release, these grapes are from Newsome Vineyards up in the Plains, TX area. This wine is “unfiltered”; however, we got very little, if any sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

We opened this on the third year of the vintage, give or take a few months. This bottle could easily be laid down for a few more years in the bottle and would age nicely. Had I known just how well this wine tasted I would have purchased another bottle as only 75 cases were made.

Jeff Cope from Txwinelover has a great write up from September 2011 about the winery and Jeff and I  hooked up together at Txsome  last year at the winery. French style with a Texas twist.

As I have stated several times to people my taste have changed over the past several years as I have moved over to the “Dry side” of wine. I have really expanded in drinking more red wine these days and, even better, drinking more wines along the dry+bold red spectrum. If you knew me 3 or even 4 years ago you would most likely say “Not Dave Potter”. Well, it’s true and it is really hard when doing tastings at a winery not to turn the nose up to that sweet tasting wine of my past. I find that I even tease my friends, like Jeff Cope from TxWinelover, about their drinking sweet wine; even Jeff’s taste has changed.

This week I saw a post from my friend, Russell Kane from VintageTexas, that he was drinking a “Sweet Tempranillo” from Cap Rock Winery. Surely that was not Russ talking! This is the man and the reason that started my blogging about Texas wine and really learning as much as I can about Texas wine, and wine in general. So I decided on my New Year’s vacation week to make another trip into town to find this wine of which he spoke. I was staying at my in-law’s house about 20+ min outside of Bastrop, TX. Luckily they have a Spec’s in town with a fairly good wine selection and a fairly good Texas wine selection. While making a few runs around town for my mother in law and wife I stopped at Spec’s for the second time this week and there on the shelf was the last bottle of Cap Rock Sweet Tempranillo. Yes! The spot light beamed down from above and zeroed in on the very LAST bottle. As I grabbed the bottle from the shelf the manager walked over and said that is a good tasting wine, we can’t keep it on the shelf. OK Russ you win on round one!

After getting home from our trip at last, tonight we started off our first Texas wine blog of 2013 with the Cap Rock 2011 Sweet Tempranillo. I was on a Tempranillo kick last year and looks like I am starting off where I left off. As I poured the three ounces to start off our tasting of the wine we found the color was of good clarity giving off a nice dark ruby color. Off the top on the nose we got the aroma of dark cherries, raspberry and plums. From the taste we got ripe dark fruits, berries and current along with hints of floral like rose.

The wine comes across jammy and not earthy at all. This Tempranillo is a contrast to typical Tempranillo’s we have tried and this wine is far from the name Sweet Tempranillo. In reality we found this version to be rather fruit forward where a traditional Tempranillo is more on the earthy side with less fruit forwardness. This is an easy drinking wine that would satisfy wine lovers on both ends of the sweet-dry spectrum. This wine is a great purchase at under $11.

My New Year goals for 2013 are to explore more Texas wine and to write about our experiences and wine finds. Texas grows each year with more wine and varietals along with some outstanding blends giving us a wide range of styles and tastes to sample. We have found this year with our wine friends that the more places you go, and the more you drink Texas wines, the more your tastes can change. For example take Saddlehorn Winery this past Sunday; my friend Laurie who does not like “Black Spanish” found a bottle she liked on this trip. It was great that she was able to keep trying with all the options in Texas wineries, did not give up, and found one that fit her wine style.

I look at wine tasting like a hunt for that just right antique that you cannot live without. You look all over and rummage thru the shelves and then you find that one thing you fall in love with. Wine works a lot the same way; you must keep searching.

I would like to personally thank this year my friend Randy who has helped me develop a better understanding of wine over all. He has introduced me to varietals I would not think about trying and he has been a big asset in learning more about wines around the world and how they differ.

I would also thank Jeff Cope, a fellow blogger, tech guy and all around good friend for encouraging me to keep in the loop during this long 2012 vacation from my blog. He kept me informed and we exchanged ideas and encouraged each other in keeping the motivation going and fresh.

I want to thank Russell Kane, whose blog I started reading his years back and who got me into Texas wine as a whole. Thanks Russ for all you have contributed to the Texas Wine industry and the experiences and the wine you exposed us to. In addition; thank you for encouraging me to continue my education on Texas Wine.

Last and best for good reason my lovely wife for getting me into Texas wine over 12 years now. Her love, support and most important her palate, that is the back bone of my blogs. Without you this would not be possible.

To bring a closing to 2012 and move into the next year, I challenge each of you to move outside your box and try something you would not normally try. Explore outside your area and integrate a new winery on your road trips. Try different wines you would normally not pick up because you had one or two that did not fit your taste. You never know until you try.

Happy 2013 to you and your family.  Cheers!  Dave Potter

Well Happy International Tempranillo DayNovember 8, 2012. I really did not time this post originally to go along with Tempranillo day however what better way to open it up than with some Texas Tempranillo!

Our last wine club pickup party for Landon Winery brought unexpected surprises. This round was a back-to-back Tempranillotasting from their 2010 and 2011 vintages. I was excited to make the drive up to McKinney for the weekend to get a chance to taste the two side by side. For most folks that really know me and my taste, it has been a long road for me to get to the dry bold wines in the Cab and even Merlot range, in addition to the dry red side of which I always refer as the “Dark Side” of wine. I think I threw off my wife by even saying that I think Tempranillo is a good enough varietal to play with the Cabernet grapes.

As always in classy fashion, Landon’s club pick up has food to pair with. Since my wife and I started a no carbohydrate / low carbohydrate diet  a little over a month ago and she cut out red meat this might be a challenge to get over. The food pairing menu was Salisbury steak with rice and some kind of angel food cake with a thick sweet cream sauce and diced fruit. Red meat and rice (aka starch) OH my!

Both the 2011 and the 2010 Tempranillo grapes are from the High Plains region of Texas from Bingham family vineyards.

Before we left for McKinney I posted in a group on FaceBook that I am a member of: “Texas Wine Drinkers”. If you are on FaceBook and are not a member I would suggest you get on the group. My statement was that I was looking forward to doing a comparison tasting between the two vintages from Landon. Russell Kane (aka WineSlinger and on twitter @VintageTexas) stated “My bet is that 2011 will be riper (heat) and more concentrated (drought) with better color and tannic structure from small berries and brown seeds. Let’s see if my viticulture/enology learning’s are right/wrong.” Well Russell, Yes and then some.

As this is the season my allergies are in full force and my nose and pallet were all out of whack, my wife pretty much had to be my pallet on this tasting and she is pretty much right on when we do tastings together. That said I will give full credit to this post and a shout out for Kelli Mallory.

Our first tasting was the 2010 Tempranillo: Spicy nose with a hint of smoke and raspberry hints. Boldly complex with black pepper, green peppers. The wine was not very full in the palate of fruit but rather contained hints of minerals; more earthy than fruity. With the food we paired with more of the fruit comes forward and the vegetable of the green pepper. Tempranillo 2010

With steak we got more of the dark fruits in the very front with the peppery finish. It does have a bite. We also tried it with spinach dip and that was the negative pairing.

Next up was the 2011 Tempranillo: This one is a little darker ruby red than the 2010. This wine had more fruit on the nose with the cherry and blackberry and a hint of smoke. This wine comes off drier than the 2010 and the taste is more fruit pronounced. It’s bold, almost all fruit, with more lingering pepper finish without as much acidity. This one seemed to be less fruit forward with the food pairing bringing earthiness and green pepper and the smoky hints. This one was creamier with the spinach dip and bread and seemed to blend better. It still isn’t the idea pairing but does blend better with the wine.

My good friend and fellow Texas wine blogger visited Landon Winery back in July of 2011. He has a good write up on the McKinney location along with some history on the winery. Here is the link TX Wine Lover. Feel free to browses his site for extensive post on Texas Winery’s and a few Texas tasting bars that proudly serve and sell Texas made wine.

Special thanks to Mandy Schroder Manager at McKinney for supplying the photos. We had both bottles and had good intentions of taking photos of them. However we opened the 2010 before thinking about it. Yes it was that good! So which will be your favorite? I guess it depends on whether you prefer a Tempranillo dark and fruity or spicy and down to earth. Either way you can’t lose!