2010 ~ No. 1     

Texas Wine

For many winemakers, getting their bottles into restaurants and retail stores in New York City is among their top goals for their creations. (“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere…”) It is an enormous challenge, particularly for smaller producers and lesser-known regions.

So Texas winemakers reverse that strategy. Instead of sending wine to the city, they want to bring the city to the wine.

Counterintuitive though it seems, the state’s efforts to drive visitors to their wineries have paid off, according to Robert Champion, Jr., coordinator for wine marketing for the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Texas is the second largest wine tourism destination in the US (behind Napa/Sonoma), which has undoubtedly helped fuel industry growth. “When I started [this job] in 2003, there were 42 wineries in Texas. Now there are more than 180,” he notes.

Several other factors also played roles in boosting the industry, including passage of a 2005 law that allowed in-state shipping of wine, and Proposition 11, which in 2007 allowed wineries in dry counties to provide samples of wine in their tasting room.

But perhaps none of this could have happened without a wine marketing program, which was started in 2001 with monies from the Texas legislature - $500,000 every two years to promote the state’s wine industry.

Despite this modest sum, Champion notes that the program, which used collateral and wine events to promote the wineries, got a $14 return on every dollar spent.

By 2005, the government took note of the success and the economic impact of the industry and decided to up the ante – to the tune of $4 million. “We had to elevate what we did,” Champion says, only partially joking.

Efforts were divided into three focus areas: the university system, wine education targeted to consumers, and industry education.

“What’s cool about the industry,” Champion explains, “is that [winemakers and growers] are not afraid to share information. [They are] a nice collection of folks who want to see the state succeed, and there has been a lot of experimentation.”

With a relatively brief wine history, this cooperation is essential. The state’s winemakers and growers are still trying to work out what grapes grow best in Texas’ various climates and soils.

Among the best varietals suited to the Texas terroir are tempranillo and viognier, though several hybrid grapes like blanc du bois also do well.

A wide variety of other grapes grow in the state’s vineyards, including malbec, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, sangiovese, chardonnay, pinot grigio, riesling, chenin blanc, gewürztraminer and semillon. Champion calls this diversity “a real plus” that helps wineries thrive throughout the state.

Fully 95% of the state’s wine is consumed in Texas, and most of it is sold in wineries, not on retail shelves. With that in mind, consumer outreach focused on getting visitors to the wineries.

“We can’t keep the Texas Wineries Guide around,” says Champion of the brochure that describes the appellations and wineries, and offers maps and food pairing advice. In addition, the department developed a Texas Winery Passport (photo) that allows visitors to get prizes for every four wineries they visit.

“In one year, we generated 32,000 visits to wineries,” Champion says of the program’s success. Part of the appeal, he notes, is the personal touch. “When you go, there’s a good chance you’ll meet the winemaker,” he explains. “You get the whole experience. There’s a story in each bottle and the winemaker is willing to share it!”

How does the wine stack up? A recent Twitter Taste Off comparing Texas wines to counterparts from better-established wine regions showed that sometimes, the other wine wins. Yet, all the Texas wines were favorably received. (Here is a blog post about the event.)

Without a doubt, Texas has a reason to take its wine seriously: it’s the fastest-growing sector of the state’s agricultural industry. It currently supports over 9,000 jobs and contributes over $1.3 billion to the economy. The state has eight approved Viticultural Areas (AVAs) ranging from the High Plains to Hill Country and wineries stretching from El Paso to – really! – the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport.

This makes it really easy to stop by next time you’re passing through. Hmmm. No wonder their plan is such a succss!

Siduri Wines

In the late 1980s, when Adam Lee was a junior at university in San Antonio, he was dating a senior. [Disclosure: Adam and I went to the same school, but he graduated the year I started, so paths never crossed.] After graduation, she took a summer job in California and Adam followed. The pair spent the next three months tasting wine before Adam came back to Texas.

“It became more of a passion than I ever imagined,” Adam says. He became a regular at special customer tasting events hosted by a wine store in Austin. “The owner was always late, and I’m always prompt, so I wound up helping him set up for the event,” Adam describes. It eventually led to a full time gig.

“In late 1988 or so, I began working as the assistant manager [of the store], then manager and finally I was president of the company, managing three stores. It was the place for fine wine in Austin. It was incredible to meet winemakers at dinners, trade lunches and so forth…but I had no interest in making wine!”

Eventually Adam left the store to work on the wholesale side of the business but hated it. Instead, he found happiness as the wine buyer for Nieman Marcus in Dallas, where he met another woman who would change his life.

“I met my wife-to-be [Dianna Novy] on the first day,” he says. “We often talked about California and we decided to move out there and get started in the wine business.”

Adam and Dianna Novy found work in the industry and eventually “we had $24,000 saved up and decided to try our hand at winemaking,” Adam says, confessing that most of the money was Dianna’s! “We worked the vineyard ourselves and didn’t know what we were doing. We just talked to some people,” he says of their education in winemaking.

The pair bought the grapes from a one-acre parcel of pinot noir growing in Anderson Valley, using it to make 107 cases of their first wine. They thought it was pretty good, so one night, when they heard that Robert Parker was staying at a nearby hotel, thought it would be a great idea to drop off a bottle for him to sample. “We were drunk,” Adam allows with a chuckle. “We took the bottle, dropped it off with the concierge and woke up the next morning wondering, ‘What did we do last night?!’”

Attempts to retrieve the bottle were futile: the concierge had already passed it on to the critic. Adam and Dianna took the potential for a lousy rating in stride. “We still had our day jobs and no mortgage and no kids,” Adam describes. “It wouldn’t be the end of the world to lose everything. It was a good time to take a chance.”

So imagine their surprise three weeks later when they had a message from Mr. Parker, saying that the wine was terrific but he had lost their tasting notes on the wine and could they please fax over another copy?

Needless to say, the wine was a hit (it scored 90 points) and success kept coming; Siduri pinot noirs are considered among the best from California and Oregon. The winery buys grapes from several vineyards along the west coast, trucking them to their facility in Santa Rosa, California.

It’s challenging to keep up with so many different locations, though it is essential to their goal of making top-notch, single vineyard pinot noir. They spend extensive time visiting each site – “up to twenty times a year” notes Adam – and get hands-on when managing the crop. Once picked, the grapes are quickly taken via refrigerated truck to the winery, where minimalist techniques are used so that the unique character of each vineyard comes through in each bottle.

“Our goal has always been to reflect place,” Adam says. “Although we’ve always believed that, what has changed over time is how we get each wine to that point.” For example, when Adam and Dianne first started making wine, the style was big and rich. It suits some vineyards such as Pisoni, notes Adam, but they soon learned that grapes from other sites – like Oregon’s Willamette Valley - needed a lighter touch.

The pair are continually learning and experimenting; they started Novy Wines in 1998 in part to let them try different things. But the bottom line for Adam and Dianne is simple: “We make wine that we like to drink. We can’t do well making wine for someone else.”

This Year's Resolution

Probably the worst thing people can do to a bottle of wine is stick it in a cellar…and forget about it. (Okay, there are exceptions, but let’s stay in the realm of generally affordable, every day wines, not first growth Bordeaux or other bottles meant to age.)

Virtually every cellar I go into has at least one such bottle: a 1998 Cline Zinfandel, or 1990 Markham Cabernet Sauvignon, or even a non vintage Champagne waiting for that “special occasion.”

This year, let us all say, that special occasion is today!

For if you leave those wines for too long, let me tell you what you will find once they are excavated. This little tasting comes courtesy of a client who, among his lovely collection of Bordeaux and Burgundy, had some rather old bottles he graciously donated to the cause.

First up, 2001 Bortoluzzi Pinot Grigio. This was perhaps the best of the bunch and, interestingly, was the only wine with a synthetic cork. Most white wines have a life span of 2-5 years, at which point they start to brown and oxidize. This wine was surprisingly clear though it was turning noticeably brown at the edges. There were a few floral notes still lurking under the vinegar. Drinkable if it’s your only option on a desert island.

Next, the 1993 Chateau Thivin en Beaujolais Brouilly. Made from the gamay grape, this wine is intended to be young and fruity, enjoyed within a few years of the vintage date. No surprise, then, that this wine was brown in color with absolutely no fruit character left, but lots of notes of vinegar.

A 1992 Mouton Cadet was the third bottle. Many Bordeaux wines can still taste quite lovely and sumptuous at this age…but not this one! There are no words, because I immediately had to spit it out.

Last up, the wine with the most hope: Sandeman Partner’s Port. There was no vintage, so its exact age is hard to pinpoint. Like the Brouilly, this wine had lost most of its floral notes, though it still had some of the nutty, carmelized flavors that make well-aged Port such a treat for the palate. Unfortunately, this one also had enough oxidation going on to also impart notes of your grandparent’s musty basement.

So please, look at your wines and dust off those bottles that are nearing the end of their drinking window. Then take them out and enjoy them. Don’t let me have tasted these wines in vain!

Happy New Year!