Texas Wines Take Awards

Two interesting news items came in recently regarding Texas Tempranillo wines. If the grape doesn’t ring a bell, it’s the standard grape for Spanish Rioja wines and it is pronounced Temp-rah-NEE-yo.

The first news came from Solara Estate in Dripping Springs whose Solaro Estate Reserve Tempranillo 2012 won a Bronze medal at the New York International Wine Competition. This is a prestigious competition because they don’t give medals to everyone who enters (many competitions do) and because it is judged by commercial wine buyers who are looking for something they can sell at a restaurant or a wine shop. In other Solara news, their harvest and crush are planned for the weekends of August 10 and August 24, so if cutting grape clusters and transporting pails of fruit to be crushed sounds like an ideal way to spend an early Saturday morning, get more information here.

The other competition was operated by CraveDFW.com in Dallas and it involved just Texas wines that chose to enter. There are a few wineries that chose not to enter, and we do wonder how they would have fared; places like Fall Creek Vineyards, Salt Lick Vineyards, Solaro Estate, and Becker Vineyards? The competition was judged by sommeliers who awarded Stonewall’s Pedernales Cellars 2011 Tempranillo Reserve the top prize, and it is indeed a magnificent bottle of wine.

It was followed by Brennan Vineyards, Llano Estacado Winery, Brushy Creek Vineyards, and McPherson Cellars. Prices range from a low of $14 for the McPherson to a high of $50 for the Brushy Creek.

Congratulations to all.