On a recent trip to Arkansas, we took a short detour off of IH 30 and found a pleasant stop at Red Road Vineyard & Winery in Naples, Texas. 

Located just south of the railroad tracks parallel to Main Street (US 67), Red Road Vineyard & Winery officially opened in December 2007 by father-daughter owners Bradley and Merrill Grove.  Red Road Vineyard grows Cynthiana, Lenoir, and Blanc du Bois grapes (all Pierce’s Disease resistant varietals) on its grounds and imports additional varietals from other vineyards in Texas.  Despite being northern California natives, the winemaker has chosen Gaelic names for the majority of Red Road’s wines to celebrate the family’s Scottish roots.

Though Red Road is new to the Texas wine scene, the winery is already producing over a dozen wines.  The focus seems to be on blending wines for food pairing.  Some favorites from this trip’s visit include the Riesling style Solas, a fruity crisp white with a floral bouquet that is a sure match for a meal at a BYOB Thai place, the Chardonnay blend Sedoga with oaky overtones and apple and melon flavors that would match perfectly with a seafood chowder, a crisp but not too acidic Texas Chenin Blanc, and a well balanced Texas Merlot with soft plum flavors that would be perfect with that roast duck from First Chinese BBQ.  Also sampled was the not yet released Cabernet Sauvignon, which started out chocolately smooth with berry flavors and ended with a nice slow burn at the back of the throat.  Hope I get a chance to return when that Cab is bottled and labeled!

Red Road wines are not yet available at any DFW package stores but are available at select stores in east Texas (Pittsburg, Tyler, Marshall, etc).  While I look forward to local retailers carrying Red Road selections in the future, the two-hour drive to the tasting room in Naples makes for a lovely day trip from Dallas.

Red Road Vineyard & Winery
105 W Front St
Naples, TX 75568

Windy Hill Winery only sold three different types of wines when I first visited them three years ago.  Today, though the general look of the winery has stayed the same, that wine list has grown to almost a dozen offerings.  The growth is paralled by the general trend of Texas wine industry, which has doubled its number of wineries over the same period of time.

So what makes the Windy Hill growth a standout?  Owners August and Linda Meitzen have a noble goal to promote wines made from Texas grapes, specifically grapes grown in Washington County, where their winery resides.  That’s not an easy goal, considering the challenges of Pierce’s Disease, Cotton Root Rot, and Black Rot in the region.  So the Meitzens are experimenting with varietals that have proven higher survival rates against these diseases.  They grow Blanc du Bois, Le Noir (Black Spanish), Champanel, Cynthiana, and Muscadine grapes.

The end products of this noble goal are rewarding.  Windy Hill makes a Tejas Port made 100% from the Black Spanish grape that has rich berry tones not found in traditional ports.  The Yellow Rose is a sweet Blanc du Bois blend with a beautiful initial nose that is somewhere between a Riesling and an ice dessert wine.  The Brazos Red and Independence Red are made from the Chambourcin grape, a hybrid originally planted in France to blend with Cabs and Merlots.  So if you’re in the mood for something different than the Cabs and Merlots of the world, Windy Hill can provide just the right fix.  On the traditional side, Windy Hill’s smokey, spicy Red Sunset (a Ruby Cab blend) and fruity, semi-dry Sauvignon Blanc can excite the tastebuds, too.

Windy Hill Winery
4232 Clover Rd
Brenham, TX 77833

The next day, I returned to that place where my fascination with wine first started three years ago, Sonoma Valley.  In order to maximize the number of wineries we could visit (as my wish list was rather long), we opted for the private car option.  Driving out of downtown San Francisco, the astonishing beauty of the region comes at you quicker than a slap in the face with the varied landscape of green mountains, meandering creeks, and, approaching Sonoma on Highway 12, endless perfectly lined rows of vines stretching as far as the eye can see.  My heart skipped a beat as my vision blurred with the passing of each cluster of grape vines.  Whoa baby, we’re in wine country.

We worked our way north along Highway 12, starting with two wineries owned by the same family directly across the highway from each other, Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards, entering Cline’s front door as soon as they opened at 10:00 am.

Things were chaotic at Cline Cellars this morning, despite the fact that we were the only visitors this bright and early (two other groups came through in the middle of our tasting).  Boxes were being passed back and forth between those behind the the tasting bar and those in the storefront area.  The staff was clearly distracted, passing us between two different pourers between passing the boxes of wine, and somehow managed to pass up Cline’s highly regarded zinfandels in our tasting sequence.  Of the reds that we did sample, all had alluringly fragrant noses and gorgeous deep hues, but upon taste, all needed more bottle aging (all reds we tasted were 2006 and younger).  They just weren’t quite there yet.  We ended up grabbing a bottle of 2003 Ancient Vines Carignane from the clearance bin (as it turns out, the passing of the boxes was the final step in cleaning out inventory for the year) for the sheer sake of having an inexpensive souvenir bottle.  Ironically, when we finally opened the bottle for a rosemary rotisserie chicken dinner back home in Texas, the woody and slightly spicy tones of the 2003 Ancient Vines Carignane put us in awe.  A little cedar, a little nutmeg, it tasted like Christmas.  Maybe we should have bought a couple bottles of the 2006 (which we found chalky at the tasting) and let them sit for year or two, maybe. 

We had better luck across the street at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards, that’s Jacuzzi as in the family who invented the Jacuzzi Whirpool Bath in 1937.  We found a lot to like about Jacuzzi’s friendly and knowledgeable pourers and their Italian styled wines, including the crisp and not too sweet Moscato Blanco, the chocolatey smooth Lagrein, and the fruity Barbera with a big bite.  Jacuzzi’s tasting room shares a building with the tasting bar of Sonoma Valley’s first olive oil producer, The Olive Press.  Word on the foodie street is that olive oil is the next big thing from California (old news to Californians, news to the rest of us), and it’s easy to see why after tasting a few varietals from The Olive Press.  Favorites from the tasting included the grassy and slightly sweet Sevillano and the fruity and pungent Koroneiki.  Needless to say, with all that we found to like, we left Jacuzzi Family Vineyards/The Olive Press with an enormous cardboard box of wines and olive oils, happily buzzed from the wine tastings and completely ignoring the logistics of flying back to Texas with so many glass bottled liquids.

We proceeded north on Highway 12 to Glen Ellen, stopping at Imagery Estate Winery. 

Imagery Estate Winery is housed in a modern-funk, industrial-hippie space with an air distinctly different from the traditional charm of Cline Cellars and the Tuscan villa feel of Jacuzzi Family Vineyards.  Though attached to the larger Benziger Family Wineries on the business front, Imagery is a small operation, selling wines only at its winery and online.  Each bottle’s label features a piece from a local artist displayed at Imagery’s gallery, giving both the bottles and the winery tasting room an artsy edge.  When we first introduced ourselves to the pourer and mentioned that we were from Texas, she immediately poured us two of Imagery’s sweeter wines, the Rose and the Moscato Di Canelli, and the syrupy sweetness from both shocked our tastebuds.  After explaining to the pourer that we preferred bold red wines (and after the confused daze on the pourer’s face relaxed away), we moved onto Imagery’s impressive list of reds, including the fruity, light Mourvedre with a slight oaky aftertaste, the smooth and lightly tart Malbec, a Tempranillo that reminded me of Inwood’s only less chalky (this one made my mouth water for food immediately), the peppery and dark hued Petite Sirah, and the Pallas Estate, a Cab/Malbec blend produced 100% biodynamically and aged in French Oak for 18 months.  The Pallas Estate was easily the most memorable wine we tried on this trip, with a long smooth finish with all sorts of flavors dancing on the tastebuds, cherry, cocoa, the bittersweet earth…  Of course, by the end of this tasting, logic kicked in and we realized the impossibility of manually carrying home multiple cases of wine.  So we marked down our favorites on a tasting sheet for a future online order, purchasing only the Tempranillo on this visit with the intent of a comparison tasting with the Inwood Tempranillo.

The Imagery Tempranillo got my mind on food, which meant we needed to have lunch ASAP before hangriness (so hungry that we’re angry) kicked in.  Tasting over a dozen wines on an empty stomach is rough, so we worked our way north to Kenwood and stopped at Cafe Citti (9049 Sonoma Hwy, Kenwood) for lunch.  Cafe Citti is just one of the gazillion examples of why Bay area residents are so darn lucky when it comes to food.  These casual, relatively inexpensive establishments with carefully prepared food and great wine atmospheres are so common in northern California yet nonexistent in Dallas.  Cafe Citti is a counter-service restaurant with an Italian menu of sandwiches, pizzas, create-your-own pasta plates, rotisserie chicken plates, and specialties like ravioli and gnocchi.  Plates range from $7 (sandwiches) to $14 (specialty pastas).  The roadside cottage is small but lively with a completely packed dining room, each table with at least one bottle of wine and loads of laughter and chattering accompanying the meal.  The festive atmosphere is contagious.  I left the hangriness behind me in line and shuffled up to the cash register with a huge grin when it was finally my turn to order lunch.

Even though the four of us each ordered our own lunch plate, it quickly became a family style affair with everyone digging into everyone else’s food.  I guess I’m not the only curious eater in the family.  Lunch entrees included delightfully tart and briny linguini in a creamy white wine clam sauce,

a chalk board special of porcini mushrooms and penne pasta in a creamy garlic sauce (an earthy dish in great contrast to the sharp flavors of the white clam sauce of the previous dish),

slightly undercooked tortellini salad accompanying a golden juicy half rotisserie chicken stuffed with garlic and fresh herbs,

and my choice, a ridiculously rich tuna-egg-mayo salad on housemade foccacia bread with a side of crunchy cabbage salad. 

If any tuna salad can be classified as mind-blowing, this one would have to be it.  As I shamelessly shoved the mayonnaise delight down my throat, I thought of my best friend from college who accompanied me on my first trip to Sonoma/Napa and was absent on this trip.  Beyond the fact that we have quirky personalities that somehow fit together without too much friction, I think it was our mutual appreciation of tuna sandwiches that really cemented the friendship.  Hmmm.  I was lost in my own semi-intoxicated thoughts about planning the next girls’ trip to wine country so we could all enjoy this awesome tuna sandwich together when a surprise showed up on the table.

A complimentary cannoli for the birthday girl!  A member of the waitstaff must have overheard our discussions about my birthday and thoughtfully prepared this delicious surprise.  I love when a restaurant pays attention to the details, especially at a counter service place where attentive service is not the standard but a great bonus.

My better half licked the chocolate sauce off of the cannoli plate, marking the end of lunch.  We headed next door to VJB Vineyards & Cellars’ tasting room where, for the first time on this day, our tastings were poured by one of the owners of the winery.  A winemaker’s enthusiasm for his own products inevitably surpasses that of the most zealous and passionate employee, guaranteeing a memorable experience for the visitor.  Highlights of the tasting included the barely oaked, light style Chardonnay (rare considering the usual butteriness of California Chards), the full bodied Rosso (a Zinfandel/Shiraz blend with 3% Chardonnay added for an interesting initial nose), the fruity and tart Dante (a Cabernet/Sangiovese blend with a big kick), the earthy Estate Cab, and a barrel tasting of the 2006 Primitivo, a grape whose roots are closely related to that of Zinfandel.  VJB also makes two ports, one red and one white, but I found both to lack the complexity of a true port.

If my tasting notes seem to be getting shorter, it’s because of the growing wine buzz clouding my brain and my tastebuds.

Turning off of the main highway onto Adobe Canyon Road, our next stop was Kaz Vineyard and Winery, the smallest production winery in Sonoma county to sell to the public.  Owned by winemaker Richard Kasmier (also known as Kaz) and ran by a crew of his own family, Kaz Winery has that intimate feel that one finds so often at Texas wineries.  With uniquely funky labels (example artwork can be seen on Kaz’s website), strange wine names like Hooligans and Dudes, and a decidedly hippie feel, it’s no wonder visitors come to Kaz again and again for that escapist atmosphere (escapist for former flower children, anyway).  Standouts at Kaz Winery included the smooth 2003 Mary Tauge (oh how punny), a Cab/Petite Verdot blend and the 2005 Dudes, a mouthwatering Petit Sirah with a surprising kick.  On the whole, I found Kaz’s red wines a little on the tart side and yearned for a more smooth finish on all of them (with the exception of the Mary Tauge).

By the time we had circled our way onto picturesque and windy Bennett Valley Road, I was, in short, out of it.  We arrived at Matanzas Creek Winery, where, upon the opening of the car door, the distinct smell of lavender rushed to awaken my drunken senses.  Well, sort of.  The smell kept me awake, but didn’t do anything to sober me up.  Knowing that I was approaching the limit of my alcohol tolerance (for daytime anyway), I stayed out of the tasting room, opting to stop and smell the lavender instead.

Endless rows of lavender bushes lined the hillside acreage of Matanzas Creek.  If I were a romantic, I could go on and on about how the potent fragrance of the lavender added to my intoxicated state as I stood in awe, admiring the natural beauty of the landscape.  Though some of that may be true, I was mostly just a drunk woman turning a quarter of a century in a giant bowl of potpourri, concentrating with all my willpower to be graceful and not throw up on myself.  Glamorous, eh?

My better half braved the front and charged into the tasting room for one more round (I guess that also makes him the more alcoholic half?)  The following report is based off of his tasting notes.  In general, he found Matanzas Creek’s red wines to be a bit on the light and tart side, with the exception of the tobacco-ey 2002 Merlot and the earthy Syrah.  Matanzas Creek also makes an interesting Sauvignon Blanc that has a crisp start but a slightly sweet finish due to its blend of 13% Sauvignon Musque.

Needless to say, I slept through most of the drive back to our hotel that afternoon. 

Back at the hotel, I skipped the complimentary evening wine happy hour (the last thing I needed was more wine), downed a half a gallon of iced water and took a power nap.  My tastebuds needed a break before dinner.  I awoke an hour later, feeling fresher than I expected to, and dashed out the door to make our 8:00pm reservation at Bar Crudo (603 Bush Street at Stockton, San Francisco).

Bar Crudo ranks up there as one of the coolest restaurants I’ve ever been to.  Ok, I know that’s a lame description, I’m not trying to compare this restaurant to some fashion trend or fun new technology.  The tiny establishment (seats less than 20 including bar seating) gives a visitor, an outsider, the distinct feeling of running into a true local gem, a place that locals, specifically, locals who know their food, come for a unique dinner prepared with the utmost care.  I think the only other restaurant I’ve ever been to that gave me this unmistakable feeling of “you’re completely in the right place, come and play voyeur to our local culture” was Straivaigin in Glasgow.  Bar Crudo is ranked by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of Bay Area’s Top 100 Restaurants, but just under the radar enough to avoid significant outsider traffic.  It’s not the signature go-to restaurant for foodie visitors (that honor belongs to The French Laundry or perhaps even Chez Panisse or Zuni Cafe, all fantastic establishments with much higher profiles), nor is the food focused on some trite stereotype (come get yer clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl!)  The simply decorated small space is just a place for locals-in-the-know to linger over great small bites and a fantastic selection of beers.

Let’s talk crudo.  What is it?  It’s basically sashimi, western style.  Now that basic Japanese foods have become mainstream, chefs are looking to put their own spin on raw fish at every opportunity.  Crudo is on the menu of just about every upscale New American, New Italian, New-any nationality, and New-something-fusion restaurant, typically available as appetizers/starters.  Bar Crudo serves small bites, with crudo making up about half of its menu ”of cooked, chilled, or raw, fresh seafood paired with wine and an extensive selection of Belgian beer.”

We started with the crudo sampler.

It’s hard to imagine food this aesthetically beautiful in a completely unpretentious space, but such was the case at itsy-bitsy Bar Crudo.  Clockwise from top left, tuna with soy and sriracha (ok, so I didn’t make good on my promise to not eat soy sauce for a week but it was delicious, so much so that I forgot to get a close-up photo), Rhode Island fluke with tomato tapenade and black caviar,

scallops with chickpea puree, orange, and microgreens,

and my favorite crudo of the night, arctic char with creamy horseradish, wasabi tobiko, and dill.

Did someone mention beer?  Yes, the waitstaff will happily recommend something off of the extensive Belgian beer list to go with your choice of food.  For me, a bottle of fruity yeasty Saison Dupont, and for the guy across the tiny table, the bitter and caramely St. Bernardus Abt 12.  Considering that four years ago on my 21st birthday, my beer of choice was Coors Light, I think I’ve made a little progress. 

Moving on from the crudo, an order of the colorful lobster & beet salad.

This is the dish whose taste lingered in my mouth long after I came back to Texas, whose taste I can still relive on my tastebuds as I write this post.  Tender chunks perfectly cooked Maine lobster (not rubbery, not slimey, just meaty hunks of goodness) atop various roasted beets and creamy burrata cheese, topped with mildly sweet mache (lamb’s lettuce) and dressed with pistachio oil.  Lobster meat has never tasted this delicate and sweet, beets have never seemed juicier, and what can I say about burrata cheese, except… where can I get cheese like this in Dallas?

Moving on from cold dishes to hot, we shared a bowl of buttery rich seafood chowder of fish, mussels, shrimp, squid, potatoes and applewood smoked bacon

and an order of mussels with garlic, chile, artichokes, and bacon in a white wine sauce.  This dish was perhaps the only slight misstep of the night.  The broth was tasty but needed a tad more acid and tartness for balance.

Bar Crudo will without a doubt be one of the most memorable restaurants of the year for me.  It presented seafood in many varied forms with distinctly different tastes and textures.  Through the course of the meal, we slowly worked our way from clean, fresh, discrete flavors to richly married, complex, hearty flavors, always highlighting the seafood ingredient(s) in each dish.  Bar Crudo served up almost flawless food in an unassuming setting, and I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday dinner.

My “now I can rent a car and be a primary driver” birthday ended on a high note.  One more day of foodie fun before returning to the Big D.

Onto Day 3

Back to Day 1

Needing a break between all the BBQ eating during the Central Texas BBQ pilgrimage tour, the group stopped at Three Dudes Winery in San Marcos for a little tasting.

Found in 2005 by three friends (Terry Alford, Jeff Felderhoff, and Ron Poitiff), Three Dudes Winery’s theme is all about fun.  What can you expect from a winery whose inception idea came from these three dudes sitting around playing dominoes?  In fact, construction of a covered patio and deck over the banks of the San Marcos River is in the plans, so you will be able to reach Three Dudes Winery by foot, by car, or by tube.  Now I know you can’t say that about too many other wineries, and it looks like I have something to add to my annual river float trip itinerary.

The winery is a side venture for all three dudes, who are otherwise gainfully employed.  But fun doesn’t guarantee good wine, thus the winery receives direction from prominent Texas wine consultant Benedicte Rhyne.  The winery’s raw materials all come from Texas, for the moment that means grapes from St. Genevieve and Llano Estacado’s vineyards in the high plains region.  Though the grapes are all Texan, one of the three dudes, Ron, has a degree in culinary arts from New Orleans School of Cooking and blends the Three Dudes Texas White with spicy Cajun cuisine in mind.

The Texas White is by far the best seller at Three Dudes, but it is too sweet for my taste.  Three Dudes currently produces five wines, both reds (Cab and Merlot) are too light bodied for my taste.  My favorite of the bunch is actually… winos forgive what I’m about to say… the White Zinfandel.  This white zin is much drier and crisper than the cloyingly sweet Beringer standard we’ve all experienced (yeah admit it, you’ve drank some at some point).  The fruity wine has a distinct nose of melon and strawberry, and is crisp enough to pair with spicy foods.  Three Dudes White Zinfandel won a bronze medal at the 2007 Dallas Morning News Wine Competition.  However, for those who prefer dry whites, the light and refreshing Three Dudes’ Chenin Blanc may be a better option.

Three Dudes wines are currently only sold at the tasting room.  To get a taste of the fun loving trio (and their wines), you’ll need to drive or float by.

Three Dudes Winery
125 Old Martindale Rd
San Marcos, TX 78666

Inwood Estates winemaker Dan Gatlin has incredible patience and persistence.  He planted his first vineyard in Denton County in 1981 and didn’t release a wine commercially under the Inwood label until August 2006.  What was he doing in those 20-some odd years?  Research, first hand research by trial and error, by failed vineyards, by tiny steps towards perfection. 

To find out a little more about Inwood wines and the winemaker, we made a Saturday afternoon visit to the winery, located in the most unlikely place, a strip of industrial warehouse-type buildings in the Design District.  Inwood’s tasting room has just recently been open to the public for tastings (weekends 1:00-6:00pm only).

Glamorous?  Not at all, no Tuscan villa architecture or scenic hilltop view here.  In fact, Dan Gatlin was in the middle of rinsing out his barrels in the parking lot when we arrived.

Inside, the tasting bar is half wine bar half mad scientist’s laboratory.

Eccentric? Yes.  Cool? Very. 

A few minutes into our conversation and I’m already starting to grasp Dan’s philosophy behind winemaking.  It’s all about the soil.

So many Texas winemakers (and drinkers) judge Texas wines by comparing them to the “standards,” California, France, Spain, etc.  Particularly for those who love a fruity California Cab and wonder why Texas winemakers can’t recreate those same characteristics, Dan’s answer is soil.  Texas soil, with its high mineral content (particularly high in calcium), greatly influences the characteristics of the grape crop.  But the soil doesn’t have to be your enemy.  Dan’s take?  Forget masking the high minerality with more residual sugar, work with the high minerality to find what grapes can be at their best in this soil type.

And work he does.  For a complete discussion about the process behind finding the varietals which worked well with Texas soils, refer to Inwood’s History and Research page.  At the end of the long road of research, Dan chooses to work with the Tempranillo (grown in a vineyard in the High Plains outside of Lubbock), whose traits become more bright and complex with higher mineral content, and the Palomino (grown in a vineyard east of Dallas), a high yield crop used heavily in Spain for sherry production but Dan cuts back the crop density (from about 7500 pounds/acre to 1000 pounds/acre) for more intense flavors. 

Is this post starting to sound like an agriculture lesson yet?  Because my visit to Inwood was the most informative winery visit I’ve ever been on.  In a short hour, I had been briefed all about the suitability of Texas climate and soil for grape growing.  Different?  Yes.  Cool?  Very.

So what wines are good?  The answer is all of them because Inwood only makes three.  Still, my favorite is the Tempranillo-Cabernet blend (all grapes grown in the High Plains outside of Lubbock) for its balance of berry and oak flavors.  The Cabernet adds structure to the blend and extends its bottle life.  Did I mention all red wines at Inwood are oaked at least 30 months?  Dan Gatlin is a patient perfectionist.  Inwood also produces a 100% Tempranillo called “The Cornelius” which is softer than the blend, fruity, and has hints of vanilla.  Inwood’s Palomino-Chardonnay (70/30 blend) is a really unique wine.  It’s different than anything I’ve ever tasted so it’s hard to compare.  The wine picks up flavors of honey and melon from the dense Palomino and is thinned by the Chardonnay for complexity. 

Dan’s wines are arguably the best in Texas, but they don’t come cheap.  The reds retail $39.50/bottle and the 2006 Palomino-Chardonnay at $79.50/bottle.  Is it worth it?  I think so.  The reds are wines you can save up for a special occasion because they’ll only get better with age (within 7-8 years, according to the winemaker) and the Palomino-Chardonnay is truly one of a kind.  I’m not the only one who thinks so either, Inwood wines are served at over 50 fine dining restaurants in Texas. 

This isn’t your typical Texas wine.  Dan Gatlin is not your typical winemaker.  And urban Dallas Inwood Estates is certainly not a typical winery. 

Inwood Estates Vineyards & Winery
1350 Manufacturing St. #209
Dallas, TX 75207

If my post on Tara Winery has piqued your interested in the Blanc du Bois grape, then it’s time to take a road trip to where some of the best Blanc du Bois wines are currently made.  Haak Winery in Santa Fe, Texas is home to the award winning semi-sweet Blanc Du Bois made from all Texas grapes (some from Haak’s vineyards). 

Haak is currently the only winery in Galveston County.  The grape growing conditions aren’t ideal there, but winemaker Raymond Haak and his wife Gladys both grew up in the area.  The winery itself is a Mediterranean style building unexpected in the semi-rural/semi-suburban residential surroundings.

The winemaker has put much effort into making this winery a travel destination by offering various live music, food, and other events.  Hence the large tasting room:

Haak also offers a grand covered patio with views onto its vines for those who prefer sipping with scenery. 

But back to the topic at hand, the wines.  Raymond Haak is one of the first winemakers in the world to cultivate the Blanc du Bois grape, a varietal developed by Dr. John Mortenson of the University of Florida in 1968 to resist Pierce’s Disease.  Raymond Haak started experimenting with Blanc du Bois as a single varietal wine in the 1970’s, long before his winery opened its doors to the public.  For a complete discussion on the history of the Blanc du Bois grape as well as wineries currently using the grape, refer to this Wine Compass article.  Though the semi-sweet Blanc du Bois ($12.95) is the best seller at Haak, I actually prefer the dry Blanc du Bois ($12.95) for its versatility with food pairings.  The wine has a crisp, clean mouthfeel much like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

At Haak Winery, the excitement doesn’t stop at the Blanc du Bois wines.  Raymond Haak is the first winemaker in Texas to make a Madeira-style fortified wine.  The difference between this Texas Madeira and the Portuguese native?  Haak’s 2003 vintage Madeira ($39.95, released in 2006) is made from 100% Jacquez (or Lenoir, another Pierce’s Disease resistant variety) grapes grown in the gulf coast region of Texas.  The fortifying process involves keeping the wine barrels in a heated cellar between 102 and 106 degrees Fahrenheit, creating a multi-international wine competition winner that is nutty, smokey, and caramel-ey (is that a word?).  Simply a wonderful after dinner drink.

While you’re in the tasting room, also check out Haak’s 2005 Malbec made from Texas grapes (a 2007 Dallas Morning News Wine Competition silver medal winner) and the toasty, oakey 2003 Zinfandel.

If a roadtrip to Galveston County isn’t in your future, you can check out Haak wines at select Tom Thumb stores in the DFW area (Coppell, Legacy at Coit in Plano, Parker at the Tollway in Plano, and Northwest Hwy at Central Expy in Dallas).  They don’t carry all the Haak wines but will at least have the semi-sweet Blanc du Bois.  If you do have a couple of hours while in the Houston area, I highly recommend stopping at Haak’s tasting room.  This is a Texas winery with the frontier spirit, where innovations and discoveries are made from years of hard work. 

Haak Vineyards and Winery
6310 Ave. T
Santa Fe, TX 77510

Visiting a newly opened winery is like a crapshoot.  It could be an awesome discovery or a painful experience, and the odds favor the latter.  Tara Winery in Athens is a lucky roll.  Despite being open for less than half a year, winemaker Patrick Pierce is already producing wines that will get him noticed on the Texas wine scene. 

Patrick, another graduate of the Grayson County College Viticulture and Enology program, makes his wines in a Spanish style and focuses on affordability (all wines are between $10 and $20).  Wines are aged in American oak barrels except the Chardonnay, which is aged in French oak.  The winemaker operates under the philosophy that when you taste a wine, you should be able to taste the subtleties and nuances of the parent grape(s).  Hence, the Tara Chardonnay is more like a fruity New Zealand Chardonnay than a buttery California Chardonnay.  It’s lightly oaked for a crisp, clean finish, and is one of my favorite Texas Chardonnays thus far.   

Like other winemakers in Texas who embrace the frontier attitude, Patrick wants to develop the grapes native to Texas (which are resistant to Pierce’s Disease).  He has two versions of the Blanc du Bois, dry and semi-sweet, both of which can hang with the best Blanc du Bois in Texas, the competition favorite from Haak Winery.  The winemakers from the two wineries are good friends, so perhaps this is no coincidence.  Patrick also makes a medium bodied Cynthiana with grapes native to East Texas.

Patrick confesses that he himself prefers the big, bold reds.  Thus, the Tara wine he is most proud of is his Syrah.  As much as I enjoyed the well rounded Tara Syrah, my favorite red during this tasting was actually the American Zinfandel with its slightly spicy flavor. 

Currently, Tara wines are only available for purchase at the winery.  With so many promising products at such a young age, Tara Winery is definitely one to watch.  Soon enough, this winery will start garnering those coveted medals at wine competitions and making a well-deserved name for itself. 

Tara Vineyard & Winery
8603 CR 3914
Athens, TX 75752

“Highway 90 or I-10 to San Antonio?  Which road would be more fun in a Ferrari?”

So goes the conversation with Dave Stacy, owner and winemaker of Circle S Vineyards, on this lazy Saturday afternoon.  A fifth generation winemaker, Dave is passionate about good wines, fast cars, and strong opinions.  On this particular visit, we discuss the logistics of a short romantic getaway to San Antonio for him and his wife, Helen.  Dave is clearly in the mood for some roadside scenery and, of course, speed.

The winemakers of Texas are a diverse group.  But even within this mixed bag crosscut of the population, Dave stands out.  Former head of a Formula 1 racing car company, Dave loves his Italian race cars and vineyards.  Yes, the Stacys have family vineyards in both Tuscany, Italy, and Centerville, Texas.  But that doesn’t stop Dave from purchasing grapes from other vineyards.  His theory behind winemaking is that the best wines come from the best products, and he has relationships with 20 different vineyards to ensure he gets the best. 

You won’t be able to appreciate Dave Stacy’s, slightly cocky in a likable way, dedication to creating the best by looking at the exterior of the winery, located in a suburban strip mall in the bedroom community of Sugar Land.

Inside, the tasting room is a different matter.  There’s nothing bland about those passion red walls and ginormous tasting glasses (according to Dave, you could fit a whole bottle of wine in one glass.  But I haven’t tried to yet).  The wall behind the tasting bar displays the awards Circle S has garnered over the last ten or so years.

The awards list is simply too long to get into.  Let’s just say that Dave’s talent for picking the best products to make the best wines hasn’t gone unnoticed.  Generally, Circle S wines belong to two categories: lighter, unoaked, fruitier wines with a black cap and big, bold, oaky wines with a gold cap.  I prefer a traditional style red wine, so my favorites from Circle S are the Vintner’s Reserve style under the gold cap.  There isn’t a single gold cap wine that I don’t enjoy, but being that Circle S wines are on the upper end of the Texas wine price scale ($25 to $32 for Vintner’s Reserve), I end up having to make some difficult decisions at the end of the wine tasting as I would love to take them all home.  This past trip, we picked up the Ibello (Vintner’s Signature Blend) and a favorite from a previous visit, the 2003 Pinot Noir (Vintner’s Reserve).  The Ibello is a Bordeaux-style blend that has won a gold medal for every competition it has entered into, and according to Dave, “collected by connoisseurs on three continents.” 

If you’re a wine enthusiast and you find yourself in the Houston area, visiting the Circle S tasting room is a must, if for nothing else but to meet the fascinating man behind the wines.  I’ll never forget our first visit to Circle S when Dave went on a ten minute rant about how awful it was to have President Bush order cases of Circle S wine for a White House dinner.  Yes, you heard him right, it was awful.  The secret service had to check the wine by opening a bottle out of each case, taking a sip to ensure no poisonous elements were present, and disposing of the rest of the bottle.  According to Dave, the entire process was utter heartache.  The story is borderline comical, but when you taste Dave’s wines and hear him talk about those prized bottles, you’ll completely understand the pain.

Circle S Vineyards
9920 Hwy 90 A, #B-268
Sugar Land, TX 77478

Just a few miles north of Grayson Hills lies Texoma Winery, also in Whitewright.  Rick Magers, the owner of Grayson Hills, had called ahead to make sure Bob White, the owner and winemaker of Texoma Winery, kept the tasting room open since we dawdled at Grayson Hills a little late on this Sunday afternoon.  More than just friends by proximity, Rick and Bob were also classmates through Grayson County College’s Viticulture & Enology Program, one of the few degreed grape growing and winemaking programs in the country.  Bob enjoyed his education at Grayson so much that he now teaches a couple of courses there.

Texoma Winery sits on a plot of land that has been in Bob’s family for more than 100 years.  More than just a beautiful scene, the site of this winery has personal historic significance to Bob.

Inside the tasting room you’ll find lots of options.  Texoma Winery produces wines under several different labels.  The Texas Tasting label is a line of wines blended specifically for the Texas wine and beer drinker (logical inference says the emphasis is on the latter).  Other white wines not specially targeting the Texas taste (I’m still unsure what exactly constitutes the Texas taste) are under the Whispering Willow label and similarly, other reds under the Sublime Wine label.  Specialty and limited edition wines are bottled under Bob White’s Quail Tail label. 

I suppose you can say Bob is an organized man.

In the tasting room, you can sample these different labels as well as a few wines from other Texas wineries under the Texas Select label. 

Even though Texoma Winery has only been in full operation since 2005, the wines have received recognition from Southwest Wine Competition and Lone Star International Wine Competition.  Furthermore, before Bob officially opened the winery, he had won medals at the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association Amateur Competition, the U.S. Amateur Winemaking Competition, and the Winemaker International Amateur Wine Competition.  All those awards were not just coincidences or sheer luck.  Bob White is a proud man for good reasons.

My favorite wine from Texoma is the Texas Tasting Three Step, a smooth Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Ruby Cabernet blend.  We actually took this wine to a BYO Greek restaurant and thought it complemented the lamb and beef gyros perfectly.  Perhaps Bob is blending his wines for the Texas taste, but I think this wine has international appeal. 

Check Texoma’s website for the active calendar of events.  Bob loves to teach people about wine and offers a series of Wine 101 (history and basics), 102 (varietals and unique characteristics), and 103 (food and wine pairing) classes in his tasting room.  He also conducts special seminars about the different wine regions of the world. 

Texoma Winery has a lot to offer the beginner wine enthusiast as well as more experienced drinkers.  It’s a short drive from Dallas for such a wealth of information.

Texoma Winery
9 Judge Carr Rd
Whitewright, TX 75491

Continuing our relaxing drive north, we headed for Grayson Hills Winery in Whitewright, 60 miles northeast of downtown Dallas (only 30 miles from McKinney).  If you follow the Google directions, you’ll get the pleasure of driving on the windy and picturesque Bub Hill Road.  I had no idea north Texas had hills like these.  The scenery is lined with corn field after corn field, no end in sight.

Less than an hour away from downtown, it’s a drastic contrast from the hustle and bustle of Dallas life.  The destination at the end of the scenic journey isn’t disappointing either.

A view of the Grayson Hills Winery production facility/tasting room and a few of the grapevines from Ball Road:

Closeup of the tasting room/production facility:

This is the kind of charming, small, red barn winery you were hoping to find in the Texas countryside, right?

The inside of the tasting room is adorable as well.

Owner/winemaker Rick Magers and his wife Connie run this place that Rick built by hand using scrap material wherever he could find it (many of the wooden structural beams are recycled from old Grayson County bridges).  The Grayson Hills slogan of “tending to your soul” is fitting because Rick has poured his soul into this place.  He’s a quiet, somewhat reserved guy when you first meet him.  But once you get him started on the things he’s passionate about, namely making wine and building this winery, he will tell you exactly what’s on his mind.  He’s proud of his handy work and will be more than happy to give you a tour of his winery.

After the tour, we sat down in the tasting room and tried a few of Rick’s wines (only three are currently in production, we were lucky enough to sample a “trial” blend as well).  Meanwhile, another visitor stopped by for a wine tasting while driving around in the area on an antique radio hunt.  Rick excused himself to the back, and returned with what else, but an antique radio!

And this moment is the essence of the charm of visiting a small winery.  Before I knew it I was in the middle of a conversation about antique radios, a topic that I know nothing about, while sipping on some estate Cabernet.  That’s right, I said estate Cabernet.  The word “estate” on the label means that the grapes were grown at the same vineyard/winery that the wine is made, bottled, and stored at.  That’s a label you won’t find too often on Texas wines, largely due to the scare of Pierce’s Disease.  In fact, I am only aware of two other estate Cabs produced in Texas.  Most Texas wineries use some of their own grapes along with grapes from growers around the state and imported grapes from other states (sometimes countries).  Some Texas wineries don’t have a vineyard component and all their grapes are brought in from outside sources.  But at the end of the day, no matter the grape source, what matters is the wine.  The Grayson Hills Estate Cab is dark, rich, full-bodied, complex, and yet smooth.  It is about as good of a non-vintage Cab as I’ve ever had.  If you’re a big Cab fan and have been turned off by the steretypical Texas Cab (light bodied to the point of being “watery”), give the Grayson Hills Estate Cab a try and you may just change your perception.

I also like the Grayson Hills Texas Twilight, a crisp, clean, and easy blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Traminette, and Muscat Canelli.  And I know I’m not the only one who’s enjoying these Grayson Hills wines because both the Estate Cab and the Twilight won bronze medals at the 2007 Lonestar International Wine Competition. 

Currently, Grayson Hills wines are not sold anywhere but at the winery.  So if you have a free Saturday or Sunday and want a half day getaway from the city noise, take the drive out to Whitewright and visit Grayson Hills Winery.  You’ll definitely love the scenic drive, and I’m sure you’ll like the wines, too.

Grayson Hills Vineyards & Winery
2815 Ball Rd
Whitewright, TX 75491