Weekend Wine

A few regular readers sent notes asking why I didn’t include Texas Cabernets last week. Given how many wonderful dark red wines made in Texas, they have a point. There is one small concern.

Despite the fact that the Texas wine industry has created some magnificent Cabs, a lot of small wineries buy juice from elsewhere (often California and Washington) and stay mum about the fact.

Some of Texas's top grape farmers. Neal and Janice Newsom, Betty and Cliff Binham, and Texas wine éminence grise Bobby Cox (Photo Courtesy of Emily Marshall)

So in order to recommend Texas’s great bunch of dark red wines, we have to discuss a strategy that is very important to understand. First, turn the bottle around and see if there is a statement about the wine only being for sale in Texas. That means it doesn’t comply with federal rules, even though the Texas ag people seem to not mind the stratagem of burying the source of the grapes in small print. While a few good winemakers have made high quality wines from these out-of-state sources, they should tell you what you are getting. It’s been a while since I’ve tasted a bottle of Texas wine that loudly proclaims it is from California, though a few honest winemakers have tried.

If you want to get a quality red wine that is made in Texas, be on the lookout for wine labels that list the family that owns the vineyards. I highly recommend wines made from the grapes grown by Neal Newsom, Cliff Bingham, Alfonse Dotson, or the Canada Family. I could name a dozen others that are worth searching for, but you know that year in and year out, these four families will always produce excellent grapes, plus, they are all careful about who they sell their grapes to. These hard working farmers trust that a winery like Becker or Llano Estacado will make good wine from their grapes.

Making great Cab in Texas still costs money, so a Becker Canada Family Vineyards wine will run about $40 and be hard to find. It will also fill you with Texas pride. But here is a good question to ask if you are in front of a salesperson or at a winery tasting room: Unless the label says Estate in big letters (that means they grew the grapes on their property and made their own wines), ask which farmer grew the grapes and why their name isn’t on the label. The grower is just as important as the winemaker, and some would say even more so. Adding this strategy to your wine consumption will allow you to know which confluence of farmer, winemaker, and winery makes you the happiest.

photo Courtesy of the Winery