Wine Life - Houston

I recently had the opportunity to taste The Lodi Native Project wines after an old vines tour of the area. In 2012, the Lodi Wine Grape Commission asked winemakers to make a more naked style of 100% Zinfandel wine from designated vineyard areas. These vintners were asked to create low intervention wines made with native yeasts, no new oak barrels, no fining or filtering and no adding acid or water to the wines. The goal was to give a true reflection of these special terroirs . Wegat Vineyard  sits on the west side of the Mokelumne River AVA. The vines were field grafted onto St Augustine rootstock in 1958. This wine is made by Chad Joseph of Maley Brothers . The vines here produce loose clusters with an intense fruit character. This wine had a fruity blueberry/blackberry flavor with an earthy touch of mushroom. Stampede Vineyard   is on the east side in the Clements Hills AVA. The vines are on their own rootstock in sandy loam soil and range from about 80-100 years...

The Livermore Valley AVA is situated in northern California’s Alameda County and has 3,400 vineyard acres. Terroir features include well-drained gravel-based soils and wide diurnal swings. These temperature shifts are created from both the early morning fog and the evening breezes that come in from San Francisco Bay which is located only 35 miles away. The valley is also distinctly oriented laying from west to east instead of the more typical north to south. This unique placement enables it to fully enjoy these daily maritime climatic advantages. The AVA gets its name from Charles Livermore who planted the first grapevines for commercial production in the area in the 1840's. Recognition for the region would follow when Cresta Blanca Winery, owned by Secretary of the California Viticulture Commision, Charles Wetmore, won the grand prize at the 1889 Paris Exposition. This wine was the first from California to win in a tasting competition in France. Long before the Judgment of ...

As Originally Seen in the August issue of Galveston Monthly magazine

One of the most important white wine grape varieties in Spain is Albariño. It makes a light to medium body wine that is fresh, crisp and elegant. The wines are  typically a pale gold or lemon-yellow color. They are dry and aromatic and loaded with sweet fruit flavors including ripe peach, apricot, melon, pineapple and mango. They often have a floral honeysuckle element as well. They all share good natural acidity and may have a light mineral note. They are easy drinking with a light to medium body and moderate alcohol.  The most important region for Albariño is Rias Baixas (pronounced Re-ass By-shass) which is located up in the northwestern corner of Spain near Portugal. The area is known as “Green Spain” . The climate is generally cooler than much of the country with plenty of rainfall. The Albariño variety does well in this terroir. The climate and soil are heavily influenced by the Atlantic as the vineyards lie along the  long coastal plains of Galicia...

I was very excited to receive some Moldovan wine samples. Though I had never tasted any wines from the country, I had heard from numerous people "in the know" that these were going to be wines of interest. Moldova is located in southeastern Europe between Romania and Ukraine in the Black Sea Basin. It has a compelling story in the world of wine history. Ancient artifacts discovered in the area prove that wine has been made in the region for over 5,000 years. Over the many centuries, a sophisticated wine industry developed including designated micro-zones for wine production by the early 1800's. Though the region was well-known throughout Europe as a source for premium wine, its history and reputation were not respected by everyone. Moldova lost numerous vineyards during Mikhail Gorbachev's anti-alcohol crusade before declaring its independence from the USSR in 1991. For the last 25 years, Moldovan winemakers have been hard at work rebuilding and revitalizing the i...

Jon-David Headrick was at Camerata Houston on Tuesday to educate local wine professionals on Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley and to participate in Houston's Loire Fest which is taking place all this month at local wine bars around town. He has a portfolio of wines called Jon-David Headrick Selections of which a portion were tasted during the lecture. Most of his wines are organic or biodynamic. All of the grapes used in these wines were hand-harvested which Headrick says is less common in the Loire Valley than one might think. He chooses wines that have no oak treatment or were aged in neutral oak for an added textural component rather than as a major part of the flavor. He spoke of the massive diversity in the soil types of the region and how this diversity is particularly reflected in the single varietal wines. The Loire Valley stretches from the Atlantic almost to Burgundy and the vineyards lie near the Loire River. Chenin Blanc is indigenous to the Loire Valley and is...

Lucio Matricardi, the  winemaker for  Stemmari , was in Houston at Coppa Osteria last month to introduce the Stemmari line of wines to a group of Houston writers. He spoke passionately about the many changes that have been taking place in Sicily regarding winemaking. He explained how the generations before him focused on the easily exportable Marsala cooking wine while younger generations on the island are now focusing on making higher quality dry wines.  He believes the climate and terroir lend themselves to more natural and sustainable vineyard practices. He says he is interested in making wines that he, himself, wants to drink.  Enjoying wine with meals is part of Sicily’s culture, it is part of “the art living Sicilianly”, according to Matricardi, and he wants his wine to be at the same quality level as the produce he would choose for his meals.  Across the region, growers and winemakers are committed to using the most modern winemaking technique...