Houston Rodeo Uncorked Wine Auction Sets Records
The Houston Rodeo has started this week with last Sunday seeing another RECORD set in the books for the Houston Rodeo Uncorked Wine Dinner and Auction. The Live Auction saw the Grand Champion Wine, Le Chemin du Roi Brut, Champagne AOC, NV, garnering $325,000, beating the old record of $250,000. This generous bid by J. Alan Kent Development – Julie and Alan Kent, Randa and Ray Gilliam, Andrea and Bruce Bryant, and John M. Cotterell made Napa’s World Famous Wine Auction seem very small. Their highest bid of $2,800 on a bottle of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is dwarfed by what the Houston Rodeo Uncorked Wine Auction does. The Reserve Grand Champion Wine for Houston Rodeo Uncorked was for the second year in a row a local Houston Winery. The 2023 Reserve Grand Champion Best of Show, Bernhardt Winery Antiquity Chardonnay Reserve, Danube Plain, 2020, was purchased by Sire Spirits and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson for $165,000. The average wine in the Houston Rodeo Uncorked Wine Auction average well into the thousands, if not tens of thousands. The Napa Wine auction averages under $300 per bottle.
At the recent San Francisco Wine Competition, Texas wines had twelve wines named BEST of Show and also earned 22 Double Gold Medals and 46 Gold Medals. This special recognition by the panels of California wine judges parallels the conclusions of those French wine judges in 1976. This recognition is outstanding, especially in light that Texas’ first winery since the end of Prohibition started in 1976 when the Judgement of Paris occurred. California wineries immediately re-started in 1933 when Prohibition ended providing California with 43 years to get it right for the 1976 Judgment of Paris. California, like France did in 1976, will need to realize that there is a new wine region in the world! It is called Texas!
Getting back to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the rodeo and wine events continue to run thru March 19th with record crowds anticipated to attend the rodeo. The Carruth Wine Garden sponsored by Frost Bank will be running concurrently during the rodeo events. The Carruth Wine Garden hasTables along with tents to host 150 for your wine pleasure. Enjoy the award-winning wines including Texas wines and live music. Several Texas wineries will be pouring their wines during this daily wine garden venue with live music paired for your enjoyment. There will be fourteen wine seminars to showcase wines, wine pairings and Texas’ booming wine industry. Each seminar last 90 minutes with wine provided during most of these seminars. About 1,500 should be attending this daily wine function in the Carruth Wine Garden, making a total participation of 40,000 during the Houston Rodeo Uncorked Wine Events, making this one of the largest wine events in the world
Texas Restaurants Serving Texas Wines
Schilleci’s New Orleans Kitchen serve up authentic Cajun recipes paired with several Texas wines. These Texas wines include Texoir Roussanne and Carnignan along with Southold Farm and Cellar “Don’t Forget to Soar” white blend. Support those Texas restaurants that support our Texas wines!
