TEXAS WINES AND VALENTINE’S DAY
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it pays to make plans ahead of time. Restaurants are welcoming patrons with arms opened wide to host you for this special day for lovers. Although Valentine’s Day is on Monday, February 14th, please consider to visit your favorite restaurants. Honor Café in historic downtown Conroe will be hosting a special Dinner on Sunday evening. Yes, they do serve Texas wines. Another alternative is to plan a weekend event to visit a winery or several wineries. Bernhardt Winery is hosting special tastings with foods during the weekend of February 12th. B. E. Winery at 400 Bryant Road is hosting a Winemaker’s Valentine’s Dinner on Saturday evening, February 12th. Enjoy a Saturday evening or Sunday noon meal overlooking the vineyards at Messina Hof Winery in Bryan at their Vintage House Restaurant. Perhaps spend a night at their Villa Bed and Breakfast on the winery grounds. One very important thing to remember is the very important task of making a reservation since these venues are sure to fill up.
Make a long weekend of it from Friday thru Sunday the 13th in Fredericksburg or Kerrville while having the opportunity to visit several of the almost 100 wineries in that locale and dining at the Cabernet Grill in Fredericksburg with a huge wine menu of only Texas Wines. You can easily see why WINE SPECTATOR gave the Cabernet Grill high marks! Do some exploring with your lover in the Texas Hill Country named consistently as one of the top FIVE wine destinations in the USA. Make plans to stay at one of the local Hill Country Bed and Breakfasts by getting your reservation in now! Make the trip a planned excursion with stops along the way and not rushing things since the trip should be focused on that “most important person in your life.” I suggest bringing home wines that you would not normally encounter at your local wine shop.
I am planning several quiet, at-home events pairing it with Texas wines that we both enjoy. Perhaps, we will resurrect that epic of lovers called Love Story which sipping on a Llano Estacado Chardonnay or Brennan Viognier or Kerrville Hills Semillon. If the weather is nice on Monday the 14th, I plan to grill some steaks outside along with loaded baked potatoes and a crisp green salad with dining outside on the back veranda sipping on some Bending Branch Tannat or Becker Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah Blend or Messina Hof Cabernet Franc. Dessert has to be chocolate with either Fall Creek Meritus or Kiepersol Barrel 33.
Whatever your celebration, it does pay to plan ahead! The most important ingredient for this little soiree should be the most important person in your life. Better yet, make this celebration of LOVE an everyday event in your home! Isn’t that the way that love should be? A celebration on each of the 364 days of the year? Have a great day, making it even better with a bottle of Texas Wine!