Texas Wines Finally Getting Recognition
The Texas Wine Industry has evolved over the last 15 years with many new boutique wineries along with large wine producers evolving to the point of providing outstanding wines for your purchase at grocery stores and wine shops throughout Texas. In order to be considered for shelf space is grocery stores like HEB, Texas wineries must be able to provide thousands of cases of each wine type. Award-winning wines from William-Chris, Lost Draw, Messina Hof, Llano Estacado, Bending Branch, and other Texas wineries are showing up on store shelves to provide Texans with great local wines. It certainly helps Texas wines when those Texas-bred wines earn BEST of Show, Double Gold medals, and Gold Medals in large numbers. This happened recently in San Francisco where Texas wines walked away with TWELVE BEST of Show, TWENTY-TWO DOUBLE GOLD Medals, and a slew of GOLD Medals against the best of California wine under California Wine Judges. This event in January, 2023 parallels the wine world shocker when California wines bested the BEST of French wines in 1976 under French wine judges. This brought California wines world-wide recognition. This event in 1976 was titled the Judgment of Paris. I call this January, 2023 wine judging in San Francisco the “Judgment of San Francisco.” Texas wines have a lot to brag about with this recognition and great Texas wines available in store. In addition, wine classes are appearing that introduce students to many outstanding Texas wines. Fellow Wine Journalist, Russ Kane, teaches two courses on Texas Wines at the Texas Wine School providing course certifications. William Chris Winery near Fredericksburg is starting a wine school on Texas wines. Both locations have WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) accreditations. “What we are offering at this school are not just classes, but educational experiences designed to inspire,” said Director of Education Kelsey Kramer at William Chris Winery. “WSET courses are designed to inspire and empower anyone looking to develop their wine knowledge—regardless of prior experience, and from enthusiasts to professionals. So, we encourage anyone to sign up for our WSET courses no matter their current level of wine knowledge.” Their WSET Level 1 Award in Wines courses are in a vineyard setting, making it the only course of its kind in Texas to be a fully immersive among-the-vines experience. This course is recommended for those who are just starting in wine or wine tasting, and no prior knowledge is required for this certification class. Topics covered include: vineyard and winemaking choices, principal grape varieties and their characters, select regional styles of wine, and tasting. Classes are currently scheduled for April 15 and May 15 and are open for registration now.
Texas Restaurants Serving Texas Wines
Mastrantos Restaurant in the Heights area of Houston proudly serves Texas wines. Look on their wine menu and find Texoir Carignan. This wine has loads of plum, currant, and raspberry with herbal overtones. This is a great wine to pair with any of the myriad of International dishes that Mastrantos is famous for, including its made-in-the-restaurant pastas.
