Skip to main content

Texas Fine Wine Dinner at Duchman Winery

The Texas Fine Wine Dinner was held at Duchman Family Winery in Driftwood, Texas on Friday evening. The group of four Hill Country wineries hosted this gathering to celebrate Texas Wine Month. The meal was served family-style with open seating and the atmosphere was festive. Guests were treated to a glass of the light and refreshing Duchman Trebbiano upon arrival which was served with passed baked gruyere cheese puffs while they mixed and mingled before choosing their seats.

 As each course was served, winery representatives shared the stories behind the wine being poured. Many of the guests were expecting to enjoy a full Texas culinary weekend with plans to attend the Fredricksburg Food and Wine Fest the following day. Table talk revolved around tales of Texas winery visits and comparisons on favorite Texas wines.

 The dinner:
  1. Lump crab salad with orange slices, crisp fennel and avocado served with the 2014 Brennan Vineyards Mourvedre Dry Rosé- lighter bodied, fruity strawberry aromas with a light tropical note.
  2. Seared king salmon on spaghetti squash with blistered tomato and mushroom in a butternut squash broth served with the 2012 Pedernales Texas Valhalla- a non-traditional blend of Tempranillo, Montepulciano and Aglianico- medium bodied, plum aromas and flavors with a peppery finish.
  3. Smoked crispy duck with dried cherry and peppers alongside meyer lemon grilled brussel sprouts served with the 2012 Duchman Aglianico- full bodied, good acidity, light floral aromas with black plum and baking spice.
  4. Braised pork shank with duck fat mascarpone mashed potatoes and maple carrots served with the 2012 Bending Branch Texas Tannat- full bodied, ripe tannins, good acidity with aromas and rich flavors of black cherry and tobacco.
After the dinner, guests took the opportunity to talk wine a bit more and photo-op with Duchman and
Bending Branch winemakers, Dave Reilly and John Rivenburgh. For dessert, attendees were given small boxes of assorted baked goodies to go. It was a fun evening of good food and wine enjoyed by everyone. Many events and dinners like this one have been happening all over the Hill Country, it is a highly recommended way to celebrate Texas Wine Month. The dinner was priced at $75.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for reading Wine Life - Houston.

Popular posts from this blog

Winemaker, Andrés Sánchez of Alcance

I was invited to a media and trade tasting lunch at Backstreet Cafe with Andrés Sánchez, the winemaker for Alcance, a Jackson Family winery. As guests arrived, we were greeted with a glass of lightly chilled Alcance Chardonnay 2016, a perfect start for a hot summer day in Houston. This rich and elegant Chardonnay is grown on granitic soils in a coastal mountain vineyard in the Valle de Itata. Despite my multiple wine classes, this was a growing area with which I was not familiar. This vineyard is located between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean about 12 miles from the coast which as Sánchez pointed out adds a nice sea influence to the wine. The Chardonnay was pleasantly fresh with light citrus notes and a touch of butterscotch with a distinct saline mineralty throughout the slightly creamy finish.  A mixed appetizer platter with Gulf Coast Beignets, duck spring rolss, asparagus and zuchini flatbread, and lump crab cakes on red pepper beurre blanc were br...
Post a Comment
Read more

Darioush Wine Tasting at Pappas Grill

I went to a  Darioush wine tasting last Friday. What a delight! I found every bottle we tasted to be exceptional. Darioush is well-known for their Bordeaux styled wines so I was already familiar with both the Darioush "Signature" and the Estate Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. They are both highly rated and consistently good. The Caravan is the lower priced of the two and is something that I keep in stock at home. The wines in the line up for the evening were all from Napa Valley and included: 2008 Signature Viognier, 2005 Signature Chardonnay, 2005 Signature Merlot, 2007 Signature Shiraz, 2007 Estate Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon, and both the 2006 & 2007 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2007 was opened by mistake which was a bonus to all who were present. The Viognier varietal has been hit and miss for me at tastings in the past but this offering was an absolute stand out. It was very fragrant with floral notes of jasmine and or...
Post a Comment
Read more

"The Zen of Zin" Tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks

On Friday evening, my husband and I attended the Zinfandel wine tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks. My husband gets totally pumped up for any and all things Zinfandel but what I found really intriguing in the line up of wines were the aged offerings. Brent Sloan, managing partner at Houston's premier wine storage facility Nos Caves Vin, had provided Fleming's with four 18 year old bottlings and one 17 year old bottling from his collection of some of his favorites. I found this interesting because 1. I don't believe that I have ever had an 18 year old Zinfandel before this evening and 2. From various wine classes, I had always heard that at best Zinfandel had very limited aging ability. So, I was definitely excited to give these wines a taste. There were also an additional five younger Zinfandel wines that are some of Fleming's best sellers. The entire tasting line up for the evening included: 2009 Orin Swift Saldo - California 2007 Schulz "Lampyridae...
5 comments
Read more