Ahh, Texas wines. Produced in the nation’s second largest state and fifth largest in wine production, Texas wines are some of the finest around made using the best grapes availa… Well, kinda.
Now, I know that the prices of our wines are quite good, and most of them are under $10, but a greater-than-what-I-would-like-to-know amount of the juice in those wines isn’t even from Texas at all. If I can get a wine from California for under $10, why is my $10 merlot from a Texas producer not Texas juice? Yeah, I know that a lot of people import grapes from other areas of their state, but to import grapes from other states or other countries is kinda phoning it in. How can you make Texas wine without using Texas grapes? They should just put those wines in the junk, er… bulk wine section. (*throwing arms back, raising eyebrows* ) – Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I just would like the Texas wine section at your local wine department of choice to carry true Texas wines. I will give Texas winemakers some leeway though…
We have one of the most difficult growing regions in the northern hemisphere. Texas grape growers have to put up with very hot summers, potentially very cold winters, hail, tornadoes, hurricanes, high winds, and hail. Most climates only have a one or a few of these challenges to deal with. Why then do growers and wine makers try to produce wines from grapes that aren’t hearty enough to survive our rough climate? We need to be planting grapes with thicker skins and the ability to hold up to a very hot growing season (primarily). Syrah, Grenache, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, all do well in the Texas hill country and high plains, but they’re a smaller percentage of what is available from Texas. If you want some better Texas wines stick with wines that are from the grapes previously mentioned, or mention the use of Spanish or Rhone or even some Italian varietals.
Probably the other biggest challenge for Texas winemakers is the market. Texas is able to get a lot of fantastic, highly allocated wines of the world. Naturally, these wines can be quite expensive, and still hard to find. As awesome as they are, most people prefer a smooth, fruity, and sweet to off dry finish to their everyday wine. The demand for Texas wines to appeal to the majority of Texans is only natural. Fine, go ahead and make the stuff. Making wine for the masses is a sound business practice. The Robert Mondavi winery makes wine in the entire spectrum of quality and prices. Surely they make the most money from their lower end wines allowing them to make their good stuff and keep the price (mostly) reasonable. Folie a Deaux does the same, making Menage a Trois, enabling them to make 90 point wines at a decent price. But they use locally grown grapes, from their own state. It’s do-able, so why can’t we do it, too? If you’re gonna make the cheap stuff and call it Texas wine, at least use Texas Juice – and then make some good wine for the rest of us!
photo is from Dallasnews.com
If more people read this, it would make more sense for me to say this, but I am challenging our wineries to make wines that are truly from Texas and to be made with grapes that will thrive in this state. That’s it!
Y’all come back now, ya hear!
~ the Hungry Wino
Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word.
~ John Steinbeck
No comments:
Post a Comment