Tag Archives: Texas wine

Regional wine labels: Is a wine where it says it’s from?

When is a wine made by a winery in your state not from your state? More often than you think.

This is the great conundrum of the regional wine business. The best way for local wineries to market their product is to proclaim its local-ness. But, given the way the wine business works, their wine may not be made with local grapes, but with grapes or juice imported from California or even Europe. Confused? It gets worse. Federal law allows wineries to be appropriately vague about whether the wine is made with local grapes.

All in all, regional wine labeling is a maze that consumers (many of whom are baffled by wine labels to begin with) don’t know they have to negotiate. After the jump — how labeling laws work, what to look for on a regional wine label, and why so many wineries take advantage of this gray area.

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Wine review: McPherson Cellars Roussanne 2010

The on-going debate in the Texas wine business is about whether to make wine from grapes that consumers recognize, or to make wine from grapes that are suited to the Texas terroir. It's a debate that has pitted winemakers against winemakers, growers against winemakers, and critics against winemakers.

The first group argues that consumers won't buy wine from a Texas winery unless it says chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, or merlot on the label — and that if they have to buy grapes from California to make those wines, so be it. Otherwise, there would be no Texas wine industry.

The second group, to which the Wine Curmudgeon belongs, disagrees. Our approach: What's the point of making Texas wine that tastes like California wine? Texas wine (or New York or Virginia or other regional wine, for that matter) should reflect the state's unique characteristics — the soil, the climate, and the like.

I'm going to write more about this next week, and specifically the labeling controversy in the regional wine business — how too many regional wineries try to convince consumers that wine made with California grapes came from their state. Today, though, it's enough to note that this roussanne ($14, sample) is a white wine that firmly, boldly and unequivocally makes the argument for terroir-driven wines. More, after the jump:

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Lone Star International Wine Competition 2011

The Wine Curmudgeon endures much criticism because he doesn't really care for merlot and because he wishes California producers weren't so obsessed with high alcohol wines.

So what were two of my favorite wines in this week's Lone Star competition, the 28th annual? A merlot and a high alcohol viognier from California. Which, as I am constantly reminded, is why one should taste the wine before one judges it. And, not to be overlooked, we tasted the infamous blue wine pictured on the left. The rest of my judging panel liked it a lot more than I did.

More, after the jump:

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Virginia wine business to Texas: Drop dead

Russ Kane at the Vintage Texas blog has the details — the Virginia wine business has called out the Texas wine business, and the latter is nowhere to be seen. The Virginia agriculture secretary doesn’t mince words:

Two of our closest competitors in the U.S., New York State and Texas, are actually cutting their wine marketing and education budgets and cutting back the things they are doing to support their industry. It doesn ?t make any sense to us but we ?re not arguing. If they want to take those steps backwards, that ?s all for the better of Virginia. We are committed to growing this industry.

There is even video (courtesy of the great Todd Godbout at VirginiaWineTV). Frankly, if this challenge doesn’t move the Texas Legislature to restore marketing and research funding for the Texas wine industry, what will? I’ve tried being reasonable, and I’ve tried being funny. Neither, apparently, made much difference.

Now, the Virginia agriculture secretary is questioning their manhood. It’s High Noon, fellows, Frank Miller is getting off the train, and Grace Kelly isn’t around to help. (Video courtesy of TheWesternReview via YouTube.)

Donald Trump likes wine; why not the Texas Legislature?

image from i.telegraph.co.uk The Texas Legislature, despite my thoughtful and incisive analysis, seems hell-bent on destroying the Texas wine business. Everyone I've talked to over the past six weeks says the Legislature will almost certainly eliminate the $4.3 million in state funding for wine marketing and research to plug Texas' $27 billion budget gap.

The Wine Curmudgeon has no one to blame for this but himself. I didn't heed the wisdom of the late and much missed Molly Ivins, and treated the members of the Legislature like responsible adults. I will not let that happen again. Hence four reasons why the Legislature should restore the wine money, in terms its members will understand.

1. Famous people who aren't French like wine. Donald Trump just bought a winery in Virginia. And boasted about what a good deal he got.

2. New York cut its budget, but restored state wine funding. Yes, New York, home of painted women, godless intellectuals, and the New York Times. If New York — the source of all evil for so many Texans — can do this, why can't Texas?

3. Football players like wine. Joe Montana has made wine. So has Charles Woodson. Granted, neither are Dallas Cowboys, but if that's what it takes, I'll try to put something together. I know Drew Pearson slightly, and Roger Staubach's marketing person has returned my phone calls.

4. Rock stars like wine. I realize most members of the legislature don't know Lady Gaga from Baba O'Reily, but their kids do. And what parent doesn't want to be a hero to their kids? So how about Dave Matthews? Or Tool?

Texas wine, the Legislature, and the state’s budget crisis

This Texas industry is recognized around the country as a leader and innovator, providing thousands of jobs and adding more than a billion dollars to the state's economy. Yet the Texas Legislature is about to strangle this industry by cutting off its seed money and eliminating the work it does to market and research its product.

If this industry was oil and gas, or even wind (in which Texas leads the country in production), would the Legislature be so eager to eliminate its funding? Of course not. But because the industry is wine, the Legislature is poised to cut its $4.3 million in state funding.

This is a huge mistake, and not just because I write about wine. The Texas wine industry is an important part of the state's economy, and the money it receives from the state has played a key role in the wine industry's growth. In this, Texas wine is not some effete pastime enjoyed by a bunch of outsiders who don't like to drink Lone Star and eat chicken fried, but big business. Or, as we like to say here, Big Bidness.

Texas wine sales increased six percent in 2010, with consumers buying almost 240,000 cases of Texas wine from retailers that Nielsen surveys (which doesn't include Walmart-owned stores or restaurants). That, by the way, compared to a five percent or so increase for all wine sales in the U.S. Even more impressive: Texas wine outsold Argentine and Chilean wine — combined — in the state in 2010. The cost of this success? That $4.3 million in seed money, paid every two years. That comes out to less than $6 a Texan, or $3 a year. After the jump, how that $3 a person investment has paid off.

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When local wine isn’t appropriate for a local food event

The Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, in its 26 years of existence, has done epic work in bringing Texas wine to the people. At one time, it was about the only major wine festival in the state that paid attention to Texas wine, and its efforts have played a key role in improving the quality of Texas wine.

So why, for this weekend's Wine and Swine Culinary event, which is one of the festival's major fundraisers, are no Texas wines being served? There are Texas chefs. But the wines are from Australia, California and South Africa. I have an email in to the event organizers, and if I hear anything, I'll update this. Maybe there's a good reason, like no Texas winery wanted to participate. Yes, I'm being facetious.

Update: Erika White, the festival's executive director, replied to my email: "Peregrine Hill will be there and they are from Texas. We continue to support Texas wineries of course and are working on a few Texas Wine Signature events during the Festival."

Which is all well and good, of course, though it would have been be nice to see Peregrine Hill listed in the publicity. But it still doesn't address the question of why a major Texas food event is skimping on Texas wines.