Cooling Weather Beckons Red Wines
Summer has officially passed with the beginning of various schools for the Fall. Labor Day weekend is the last “hurrah” for the Summer. The hot days of Summer demand lighter foods and light, white clothing for the heat. People don’t feel comfortable in consuming heavy foods and drink when the weather is hot. Fashion dictates lighter clothing and in many cases less clothing since less is better in the heat! Fashion has dictated lighter clothing between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Many are transitioning to darker clothing with the coming Fall. This is the normal trend in the North, but in the hotter, humid South, this trend is delayed by days and in the Houston area by weeks due to normal temperature trends across our Country. With the theoretical passing of Summer to Fall, eating and drinking trends along with clothing fashion will revert to heavier, more hardy food and drink menus. Food menus will go from chicken and fish to red meats, sausages, and heavy sauces. Wines will also change from the light chilled white wines and chilled Roses’ to big red varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Sagrantino and red blends.
Texans are in luck since local red meats pair wonderfully with local red wines. Red wines to try from local stores like HEB include:
• Bending Branch Texas Tannat and Texas Red
• Becker Vineyards Iconclast Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah Blend
• Llano Estacado Signature Red Blend and Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Messina Hof Barrel Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Sagrantino (only at the winery)
• William Chris Skelton Key Cabernet Sauvignon
• McPherson Windblow Red Blend
• Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo
There are lot of Texas red wines to choose from. HEB has outstanding wine stewards that are glad to assist you to make your selection. One of the things to remember is the more marbling you have in your red meat, the more intense the tannins in the red wine should be. The British put cream in their heavily brewed teas since their teas are so tannic and cream has fat. When the tannins and fats “marry” in your mouth, it neutralizes the taste of the fat and the harshness of the wine’s tannins. The more marbling in your Texas meat, the higher the tannin content should be. Tannat has more tannins than Cabernet Sauvignon, but the Italian grape varietal called Sagrantino has the highest tannin content of any Texas grown grape.
Wine and Food Week in the Woodlands Resumes in the Fall
Two outstanding wine events continue this Falls in The Woodlands with the first on September 19th. This Friday evening events runs from 5 to 9 pm at Bayway Cadillac. Expect outstanding wines since this event is titled “Platinum Wine Vault Luxury Tasting.” This is a great event to expose your palette to a large variety of different wines and possibly introduce new wines into your drinking repertoire. There will be finger foods to sample with the luscious wines to be poured at this event.
The Wine Walk will be moving from Market Street to The Woodlands Resort on Saturday October 4th from 4 pm to 7pm. This is a stroll, sip, and savor event. The event has moved from the heat of June to a cool afternoon of diverse wine tasting. Gather friends and Family to enjoy these two world-class events. Limited tickets are available for both events online by Googling Wine and Food Week! I hope to see you there!
Next week we will again focus on the incoming harvest of Texas grapes in the $27+ Billion Dollars Wine Industry employing over 77,000!