Wine Life - Houston

Located in a small industrial warehouse district, 3 miles south of downtown Paso Robles, is an easily walkable zone of contemporary industrial-style tin buildings called Tin City which is home to an innovative beverage scene. Tin City has several small-production wineries such as Anarchy Wine Co., Benom, Cordant Winery, and Giornata along with somewhat larger producers like Field Recordings . It is not unusual to be greeted by the winemakers in these modern tasting rooms and find them ready to share both their wines and their stories with their guests. Superfly Zinfandel blended with Cabernet and Petite Sirah At Anarchy Wine Co , expect to find a wide range of wines which includes a Bordeaux-Style Blend, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Mourvèdre, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, a Red Rhône-Style Blend, Syrah, Tempranillo, and Zinfandel all deliciously served with a rebel yell in a rock and roll environment. Les Deux Freres means The Two Brothers and is unique

Welcome to Wine Country - Baggage Claim at the airport. I am looking forward to more wine travel this year. My first trip for 2023 is to Paso Robles, California. Before I share my favorites from this foray, I have compiled posts where I shared some of my favorite past experiences in this dynamic region. I will be seeing a few of the same winemakers again along with tastings planned at several new for me wineries. Paso Robles has been experiencing some unusual weather lately. They had snowfall and enough rainfall to move them out of their drought. I am interested to hear how this might affect the 2023 vintage. I will be posting heavily on Paso Robles as soon as I return to Houston. In the meantime, catch up on all my previous Paso Robles adventures here: Visiting Paso Robles - Ancient Peaks Winery and the Santa Margarita Ranch AVA Visiting Paso Robles - Halter Ranch Vineyard Visiting Paso Robles - Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery Visiting Paso Robles - J. Lohr Vineyards Visiting Paso

Jean Trimbach at The Texas Wine School Originally established in 1626, the Trimbach family is now on their 13th generation of ownership in Alsace. Twelfth generation Jean Trimbach, who runs the winery Maison Trimbach with his brother Pierre, was in Houston last week to taste with local wine professionals in the Houston Sommelier Association at the Art of Cellaring/Texas Wine School. Although, Trimbach is not the largest producer in Alsace, they produce under 100,000 cases a year, it has lead the region in cases sold to the United States since 1978. A very early adopter of sustainability, Maison Trimbach stopped all chemical use in both the vineyard and the winery in 1972. The Reserves, Gold label, Grand Crus, and Prestige wines are all produced organically. Forty percent of the Trimbach production is Riesling. Jean Trimbach shared that the family vision for their wines has always been "purist". He stated that the Trimbach style is characterized as dry with no malolactic ferme

 As seen in the March 2023 issue of Galveston Monthly magazine. This month, I recommend wines that are bottled under screw cap that can be found on the island right now to make this month's spring festivities easier to enjoy.

Steve Matthiasson talks terroir at Texas Wine School. Steve Matthiasson of Matthiasson Wines was the speaker at the Houston Sommelier Association  on Wednesday at Art of Cellaring . He brought five single vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon barrel samples from the 2021 vintage to taste and discuss with Houston wine professionals. "There's a lot of mystery in terroir," stated Matthiasson, "but it's not random, it's the differences in the land." Napa Valley's proximity to the cold Pacific Ocean allows for many vineyard areas to enjoy the moderating affects of cool breezes and fog coming through which lower temperatures, some areas are heavily influenced by this terroir aspect, Steve explained, while others are not.  The majority of the year, water temperatures stay in the lower 50s (degree Fahrenheit) cooling the surrounding air which pushes into the Napa Valley through the Carneros AVA in the south. This is caused by the Great Pacific Upwelling

Starting with the house vermouth in The Lounge March, Goodnight Hospitality's tasting menu restaurant, is marching into the new season with Greece as  their latest culinary inspiration. March is one of my favorite restaurants in Houston for a fine dining experience. Though we do not have Michelin starred restaurants in Texas, this is certainly an establishment that would deserve their top ranking.  The latest rendition of the March Martini. I went on opening night to taste the 9 course Exploration menu with the 9 course Classic drink pairings. The Classic drinks menu features mostly wines from Greece while the pricier Premier menu features wines from around the world. I was more interested in trying the Greek wine selections with this new menu. The Lounge Snacks served on a Portuguese Surrealejos tile. A friend and I arrived at 5:30 to enjoy some time at The Lounge before beginning our gastronomical adventure. All guests to The Lounge receive a pour of the house Vermouth (which cha