Vinotology Wine Blog

Review: Big as Texas - 2007 Messina Hof Cabernet Franc

This review is another wine produced in Texas that is not truly a "Texas" wine, which is to say that it isn't made from the 75% Texas fruit that is required to be classified as a Texas Appellation wine.  Messina Hof is one of the largest producers of wine in Texas, and they have a mix of "Texas" wines and those labeled "For Sale in Texas Only".  This 2007 Messina Hof Cabernet Franc is one of the "For Sale in Texas Only" wines.

This wine weighs in at 13% alcohol and I paid about $9 for the bottle.

The nose of this wine is big and dark, with notes of blackberry and generally dark fruit and spices.  I also get a lot of oak and vanilla on this wine.  This is a full bodied wine, that is velvet smooth, but has some really big tannins.  On the palate I get more great blackberry flavors, some wild berries, and quite a bit of vanilla.

What can I say, this is a really enjoyable wine that only cost me $9.  I think that this is a good wine to use to introduce someone to Cab Franc.  It is certainly a good value, and I think that a lot of people will really enjoy it.  I say this is a definitely one to give a try.

Final Grade (1-5) 

Legend -   Skip it   Meh   Worth a Try   Give it a Go   Run Get Some

What Could Possibly Pair Better Than Baseball and Wine?

Ahh, Spring.  The birds singing, the grass turning green, and of course there's Spring Training.  Just the thought of baseball returning makes me feel all warm inside.  This year, I'm looking forward to playing some fantasy baseball with some fellow winos in the 1st Annual Major Wino Baseball League.  We ended up with 13 teams participating in the league, from all corners of the globe..., or at least the country.  The league will use rotisserie scoring, and we will be having our auction this Saturday afternoon.  Several of the participants are fellow bloggers, and I plan on running some owner profiles throughout the season.  Without further ado, here are the teams -

Pinch Vintners - Steve Paulo - Notes from the Cellar

Corked Batsmen - Rick Searing

The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers - Joshua Sweeney - Wine(Explored)

Russian River Cork Soakers - Josh Hermsmeyer - Pinot Blogger and Generalissimo of Capozzi Winery

Howell Mountain 45's - Kevin Whitaker - WineDudeOnline

Rhone Rangers - Lisa Dinsmore - Daily Wine Dispatch

Tannic Tigers - Mike Fifer - The Wine Monologues

Zach and Miri Make a Morneau - Chad Hilliard

Bottle Shocks - Shannon Casey - Michigan by the Bottle

New Jersey Brix Shithouse - Joe Janish - Opici Import Company

Brix Cheer - Ed Thralls - Wine Tonite

Michigan Winers - Dave Lambert

Oeno Slaughterers - Yours Truly - You are already on my blog

I'm looking forward to playing ball with these great peeps, and wish everyone luck during the upcoming season.

BTW - If I missed anyone's blog that needs to be listed above, just let me know.

What is Right and Wrong With the Texas Wine Industry?

There is a great guest post on the VintageTexas website written by Dan Gatlin of Inwood Estates Winery.  Mr. Gatlin has been in the Texas wine industry for 30 years, and has been involved in the wine business even longer.  He offers a unique perspective into grape and wine production in the state. 

Gatlin points out the great potential that Texas wine has to create old world style, terroir-driven wines.  He says,  "Like our European counterparts, our high-calcium soils yield earthier wines that develop their complexity over time, and we will never be known for the fat, round, fruit-bomb styles of the 'New World' that typify California and Australia."  I have to admit that I get excited thinking of Texas growing into a wine region known for producing a more "old world" wine here in the new world.

One of the many great points in this article has to do with the creation of wines that are true Texas wines, rather than California wines being produced in Texas.  Here's a section of the article that really jumped out at me -

The ultimate vision shared by industry insiders and our fans in the public is that Texas will someday ascend to an authentic, peer-recognized, first-tier wine region similar to the other famous regions we all know and love. 

This will never happen as long as so much California wine is being sold by Texas wineries under less than open and honest pretenses.  This practice undercuts the very foundation of what a wine region is: a place where grapes are grown and wine is made.  A regional industry riddled with lack of authenticity results in a public reputation that it is phony and contrived, like a tourist-trap.  The authenticity question underlies 400 years of winemaking tradition and is the basis for the famous “Appellation” systems that people respect.  We will simply never graduate to peer acceptance in the larger wine industry without authenticity.

 
I think that this point is exactly right.  Gatlin goes on to suggest that a good solution to the problem would be to emulate the model of second-label wines that you find all over Europe.  The primary label would feature all Texas Appellation wines, while secondary labels would be made from excess fruit, or from fruit sourced out of state.  There are already a few wineries who are employing this method with their wines.  This solution would eliminate the confusion that the current system encourages, which is a topic that I plan to explore in more detail in a future post.  Ultimately, Texas cannot develop a unique wine identity if the majority of the wines produced here are made from out of state fruit.  This issue needs to be addressed, and hopefully sooner rather than later.  Quality producers like Inwood are the key to the future of the Texas wine industry.

Gatlin talks about a number of other really interesting topics in the post, so I recommend that you read the whole thing if you have time.

My SauvBlanc Recap (After I've Whined about Twitter Tasting Burnout)

Okay, so my timing for this post is a little weird, given that I was just talking about Twitter Tasting Fatigue in the wake of the #SauvBlanc event.  I really did have a fun time at the event, and met some really interesting people around the world, from locations ranging from here in the US to Germany to New Zealand.  It was really interesting to see so many people tweeting about a single varietal, and to realize that all of these people had been brought together online by a unique grassroots effort.

I selected two different wines for the event.  The first was an American wine from LangeTwins Winery from Lodi California, and the second was a New Zealand wine from Villa Maria from Marlborough.  I started the tasting with the LangeTwins Sauvignon Blanc.

 
The 2008 LangeTwins Sauvignon Blanc runs $13, and about $10 for club members.  The alcohol comes in at 13.1%.  This wine was provided as a sample by the good folks at LangeTwins Winery.

The nose on this wine gives aromas of peach, a little coconut and tropical fruits, and some lemon and grapefruit.  On the palate, I get some sharp acidity, and a touch of alcohol coming through.  There are some hints of minerality and a bit of a green herbal flavor.  The finish is long lasting.

Overall, I found this to be a decent Sauvignon Blanc, but I found the palate to be a bit too sharp, and slightly hot.  This does seem to be a well made wine, and it does seem to improve with a little air.  I really think that this is a wine that needs a little food to cut through the acidity.  At $13, I certainly wouldn't have a problem purchasing this wine, and I think that it would be a great wine to pick up for a dinner party.

Final Grade (1-5) 

Legend -   Skip it   Meh   Worth a Try   Give it a Go   Run Get Some

 
The 2009 Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc cost me $15 at a local liquor store.  This wine comes in right at 13% alcohol.

The nose on the Villa Maria is an intriguing mix of staw, hints of bell pepper, and I was even getting some asparagus, just a slight bit of the cat pee aroma that you can sometimes find in Sauv Blanc.  On the palate, I find this to be an extremely balanced wine, with nice acidity.  I get some grapefruit, as well as some tropical flavors, and something that I can't really identify.  The tasting notes mention gooseberry, which I have never had before, so maybe that's what I'm picking up.

The defining characteristic of this wine for me is the balance that it shows.  I really enjoyed this wine, and found it to be a complex Sauvignon Blanc.  I am a big fan of New Zealand Sauv Blans, and this is certainly a new one that I will be adding to my repertoire.  I will definitely buy this wine again, and I find it to be a great value at $15.

Final Grade (1-5) 

Legend -   Skip it   Meh   Worth a Try   Give it a Go   Run Get Some

Is Twitter Taste Burnout Coming?

 Last Thursday I participated in the Twitter #SauvBlanc tasting event.  The event was a lot of fun, with hundreds of people tweeting thousands of times about the Sauvignon Blanc wines that they were drinking that night.  This event had followed up the #CaliCabs event that Rick Bakas from St. Supery Winery had put together a month beforehand, and leads into follow-up events #ttmi (Tweet and Taste Michigan) and #WAMerlot, as well as a Twitter blends event coming up next month.  I think these events are a great way for people to get to talking about different types of wines, and I especially love the regionally focused events, but I've started wondering if people are going to start getting burned out on having a major Twitter campaign going at all times for the next tasting event.  I think this is especially a question when you have multiple events going at the same time.  It appears that Rick Bakas is planning to set up one event per month, at least for the immediate future, and I expect to see an increase in regionally themed events coming up as well, which all makes me wonder whether the kind of traffic that we have seen in the most recent events will be sustainable, or if we will start to see Twitter Taste Fatigue set in.

I think that there will always be room for Twitter tasting events, but I also think that we are likely to see a decrease in participation in these major events, at least if they continue to be held at the frequency that they are now.  That's not to say that the events wouldn't be a success if there was a decrease, just that I think one might be coming.  Did you participate in the #CaliCabs or #SauvBlanc tastings, and do you plan on participating in #ttmi or #WAMerlot?  Do you think that I'm totally wrong about the possibility of burnout with these types of events?  Really interested to know what everyone thinks.

Note: I know that the image above is extremely loose in it's relation to the topic of the post, but I found it funny, so I ran with it.

Shipping Laws: The Saga Continues - Maryland

There's a really interesting post up on Dr. Vino's blog right now about wine shipping laws in Maryland.  I'm always interested in this topic, so I enjoy reading about how my fellow Three Tier Refuges are doing around the country.  Sounds like Maryland's opportunity to escape from the clutches of the evil anti-consumer mafia is coming up soon, so let's all raise a glass to the good people of the state of Maryland.  Cheers!

Ein Klein Friday Musik: New York Dolls - Personality Crisis

Just thought I'd throw out a little music to get your weekend started to.  I give you, the New York Dolls -

March 5 - The Good the Bad and the Ugly

The Good

I like funny things.  I find this video to be somewhat funny, green screen issues, pushing for Wine Spectator, and minor inaccuracies not withstanding.  That is all.

The Bad

Everyone in the world is going on an effing vacation, except me.  First it was Shannon Casey from Michigan by the Bottle, then it was The Wine Whore, now it's Ed Thralls from Wine Tonite.  What about Ben, where is my vacation? 

Update - Oh great, now another one. As you can see in the comments below, my friend Kevin from WineDudeOnline is also heading out on vacation.  Nice. :)

The Ugly

This is both hella awesome, and ugly, as it is always ugly to watch society crumble right before your eyes.  This also has nothing whatsoever to do with wine, but it was brought to my attention by @RonMarks (via @theChive).  Here's a little "Then" and "Now" for you -

 

That's it for now, but I leave you with these words -

Drink well, drink often, and drink local.

Notes From the Wine Blobbing Underground

With all apologies to Fyodor Dostoyevsky for this bastardization of his great work in Notes From the Underground. The narrator in the story is an obnoxious person, so please don't take anything that I say personally -

 
I am an uncredentialed man... I am an insignificant man.  I am an undisciplined writer of oenological drivel.  I believe that I have a learning disability.  However, I know nothing at all about what that disability might be, and do not know for certain what makes my writing so bad.  I don't consult an expert about it, and never have, though I have great respect for wine writers and sommeliers. No, instead I leave disparaging comments on their blogs, and argue about my value to the wine world.  Of course, I can't explain exactly who I am trying to convince; I know better than anyone that all of my wine blogging friends will still agree with me after reading my comments, and that the wine press will still look down their noses at me.  I am perfectly aware that I am not "showing them" when I leave scathing messages on blogs and on Twitter.  I know this better than anyone, that I am only injuring myself and no one else.  Still, I won't consult an expert.  If my writing is bad, well--let it get worse!

I have been going on like this for a long time now - okay, only three months.  I used to be a respected wine geek among my friends.  They would come to me for recommendations about what wine to drink with a certain food, or to ask what Cabernet to buy for less than $15.  Then I decided to start writing my vino adventures in a blog.  I may have been a poor writer, but I took no bribes (or junkets), you see, so I was bound to find a recompense at that, at least. (A poor joke, but I will edit it out on the blog.  I wrote it thinking it would sound witty; but now that I have seen myself that I only wanted to be snarky - Now I think I will not edit it on the blog on purpose!)  Why was I arguing and making snarky comments to Steve Heimoff, when he was clearly right that I had no education or certification to recommend myself to readers?  I was inwardly conscious with shame that I was not only an insignificant writer, possibly even possessing a faulty palate, but that I was really just posting my thoughts at random and amusing myself by it.  I might foam at the mouth about social media or Robert Parker, but bring me a free sample of wine and I would just as happily do a review of it.

I knew that I was just one man, in possession of a single palate.  Who was I to tell people what I thought of wines?  The thought of my Master Sommilier certification-lessness tormented me till I was ashamed to even share my opinion- it sickened me, oh how it sickened me.  Now, are not you thinking that I am expressing remorse for something now, that I am asking your forgiveness for something?  I am sure you are thinking that, however, I assure you that I do not care if you are....

I write this blog to amuse myself, and so much the better if it at all amuses you.  I said that I was ashamed to share my opinion, but I lied.  I have never claimed to have any certification or credentials, and I find myself no more or less suited to objectively comment on wine than Robert Parker is.  My friend Steve Paulo is right when he says that we are all a little full of fecal matter, and that includes the Wine Spectator, the Hosemaster, myself and anyone else who has ever tried to describe or rate wine.  It doesn't even matter if a score is included or not.  At some point, words fail to capture everything of true importance about wine, yet we talk about it anyway.  We talk because we love it.  To experience it, you must drink it.  I offer only my opinions and frail observations.  In addition, I offer no apology for what I am, or for what I am not.

Note: The question that I find myself asking after having read (and participated in) all of the back and forth about blogging, is "what's the point?"  Deep down I don't really care what Steve Heimoff or Robert Parker thinks about me, or about my blog, and I'm sure that they feel the same way about me and about other bloggers.  I write a wine blog because I have a passion for wine, love to write, and I enjoy the wine community that I've found online.  I don't need credentials for that, and I never told anyone that I had them.  I'm through with arguing in comments on Heimoff's blog, or trying to justify my existence as a wineblogger.  I'll not cast stones, and I'll not respond to stones cast at bloggers (as a general group, but I will always defend my friends).  It's like my grandfather used to say, "Never wrestle with a pig, you both just get dirty and the pig likes it."  I respect what wine writers do for a living, but I'm doing something different.  I'm not trying to be them.  I think there is room for all of us. 

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I can just blog.

Review: Are We In Italy or Texas? - 2008 McPherson Sangiovese

In honor of Texas Independence Day, I decided that it was my duty as a Texan to drink a little Texas wine last night.  It's not like I really ever need an excuse to drink Texas wine, but I'll take one anyway.  My selection is the 2008 McPherson Cellars Sangiovese.  This wine is no stranger to me, but I haven't reviewed it here yet, so I thought I'd take the opportunity now.

This wine is made in Lubbock, Texas.  The alcohol comes in at 13.1%, and runs somewhere in the neighborhood of $16.

The nose on this wine is full of spices, with black pepper and some slightly herbal notes.  I also get cherry, some raspberry and plums.  The palate is creamy, with more spice and dark fruits.  This wine has a very old world feel to it.  It is absolutely perfect when served with pizza or lasagna.  I'm drinking with some pizza, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be forced to finish the whole bottle.  Yum!

I saw that this wine was one of the wines selected for the Texas wine tasting in New York yesterday, and I can understand why.  The McPhersons were early adopters on Sangiovese as a grape that would grow well on the High Plains of Texas, and have been making quality wines from this varietal for a long time.  I'm not sure what percentage of the grapes in this wine are from Texas.  The label says "For Sale in Texas Only", so I know that it's less than the 75% required to be labeled a "Texas Wine".  Regardless, this wine drinks very well, and I find it to be a good value at $16.

Final Grade (1-5) 

Legend -   Skip it   Meh   Worth a Try   Give it a Go   Run Get Some