Ep 299: Texas Wine Country with the Wineries of Texas Fine Wine
Texas is one of the oldest winegrowing states in the US, with vines predating California by 100+ years. The first vineyard in North America was by Franciscan priests circa 1660 in Texas and the industry grew throughout the 1800s. Texas is important in another way, as horticulturist Thomas Munson contributed greatly to finding the solution to the phylloxera epidemic, which effectively saved the European wine industry from total ruin. After Prohibition decimated the industry in the 1920s, Texas jump started it's wine industry in the 1970s and today it's roaring back. Texas has 400 producers and it is growing and growing.
Jennifer McEnnis, General Manager of Bending Branch and Ron Yates, the owner and President of Spicewood Vineyards, are part of a marketing consortium representing five of Texas’ most distinguished wineries: Bending Branch Winery, Brennan Vineyards, Duchman Family Winery, Pedernales Cellars and Spicewood Vineyards. Member wineries produce wines from Texas grapes, that try to express the terroir of Texas Hill County and the Texas High Plains.
Here are the show notes:
We start off talking about Texas, an area I admittedly (used to) know very little about. We cover:
The breadth and depth of areas. Specifically What are the different areas/are there discreet AVAs? Where are they vis a vis the cities? We talk specifically about Texas Hill Country and the High Plains, which create premium wine in the state. We discuss the role of elevation and the similarities to other growing regions around the world (specifically the Duero in Spain, which Texas High Plains resembles). We talk extensively about climate – how it’s extremely erratic and how growing conditions here are unlike anywhere else with extreme heat, thunderstorms, hail, and unpredictable weather events that change each vintage and make winemaking a true challenge. We talk about the grapes that grow here and how over the last 5-10 years, grapes like Tannat, Tempranillo, and southern Italian varietals that are heat tolerant have thrived. We talk about why many growers in the past bought grapes from Washington State or California. We discuss some of the challenges that Texas has faced with the anti-alcohol lobby and how that has been overcome.
Then we discuss the 5 wineries of Texas Fine Wine and their goals of making excellent wine that is known outside of just Texas. Jennifer discusses Bending Branch(if you’re curious, here’s info on cryomaceration (extreme version of cold maceration)and flash détente, that she references!) Ron talks about Spicewoodand then we discuss Duchman,Brennan, and Pedernalesand their styles.
We wrap by talking about the bright future of Texas wine!
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Comanche County Texas
Comanche County TX is a wonderful place to live and work. It has great historical significance and the quality of life is amazing. Visit comanchecmc.org
Produced by 828media.com
Comanche TX, Family on the 4th, 2010
Comanche's Family on the Fourth has become one of the preeminent Texas events west of Fort Worth. Created to honor veterans, there is Texas music (this year, Tommy Alverson, Amos Staggs and others), great food, and an amazing fireworks display. Thanks to Kiwanis, Lion's Club, Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, Comanche ISD, the police and fire departments, Chamber volunteer John Reid and the City of Comanche Public Works!
Texansunited.com Presents Alamosa Wine Cellars, Bend. Texas
Nestled in the beautiful rolling hills just outside of Bend, Texas, Alamosa Wine Cellars is truly a sight to behold. Be sure to visit on your next WOW Road Trip.
Texansunited.com Presents Bend, Texas
Tiny Bend, Texas is located just down the road from the Alamosa Wine Cellars. Be sure to stop by to grab a burger or just to visit with Bob!
Texansunited.com Presents Barking Rocks Winery, Granbury, Texas
Located just outside historic Granbury, Texas, Barking Rocks Winery maintains the country flavor of days gone by. It is a must stop for WOW Road Trippers.
Texansunited.com Presents Granbury, Texas' Historic Square
What a great place to visit on your next WOW Road Trip!
Texansunited.com Presents Rising Star Vineyards at Richland Springs
In tiny little Richland Springs, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city, is a beautiful piece of country living and a wonderful place to sit and enjoy a glass of wine. Visit the Rising Star Vineyards in their RS location on the July 2-4 WOW Road Trip.
Fess Parker - Ballad of Davy Crockett (1955)
Theme Song. Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. (August 16, 1924 -- March 18, 2010) was an 6'6 American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in Walt Disney 1955-56 TV mini-series and as TV's Daniel Boone from 1964-70. He was also known as a wine maker and resort owner-operator.
Auburn Coach Wife Kristi Malzahn Agrees with Match & eHarmony: Men are Jerks
My advice is this: Settle! That's right. Don't worry about passion or intense connection. Don't nix a guy based on his annoying habit of yelling Bravo! in movie theaters. Overlook his halitosis or abysmal sense of aesthetics. Because if you want to have the infrastructure in place to have a family, settling is the way to go. Based on my observations, in fact, settling will probably make you happier in the long run, since many of those who marry with great expectations become more disillusioned with each passing year. (It's hard to maintain that level of zing when the conversation morphs into discussions about who's changing the diapers or balancing the checkbook.)
Obviously, I wasn't always an advocate of settling. In fact, it took not settling to make me realize that settling is the better option, and even though settling is a rampant phenomenon, talking about it in a positive light makes people profoundly uncomfortable. Whenever I make the case for settling, people look at me with creased brows of disapproval or frowns of disappointment, the way a child might look at an older sibling who just informed her that Jerry's Kids aren't going to walk, even if you send them money. It's not only politically incorrect to get behind settling, it's downright un-American. Our culture tells us to keep our eyes on the prize (while our mothers, who know better, tell us not to be so picky), and the theme of holding out for true love (whatever that is—look at the divorce rate) permeates our collective mentality.
Even situation comedies, starting in the 1970s with The Mary Tyler Moore Show and going all the way to Friends, feature endearing single women in the dating trenches, and there's supposed to be something romantic and even heroic about their search for true love. Of course, the crucial difference is that, whereas the earlier series begins after Mary has been jilted by her fiancé, the more modern-day Friends opens as Rachel Green leaves her nice-guy orthodontist fiancé at the altar simply because she isn't feeling it. But either way, in episode after episode, as both women continue to be unlucky in love, settling starts to look pretty darn appealing. Mary is supposed to be contentedly independent and fulfilled by her newsroom family, but in fact her life seems lonely. Are we to assume that at the end of the series, Mary, by then in her late 30s, found her soul mate after the lights in the newsroom went out and her work family was disbanded? If her experience was anything like mine or that of my single friends, it's unlikely.
And while Rachel and her supposed soul mate, Ross, finally get together (for the umpteenth time) in the finale of Friends, do we feel confident that she'll be happier with Ross than she would have been had she settled down with Barry, the orthodontist, 10 years earlier? She and Ross have passion but have never had long-term stability, and the fireworks she experiences with him but not with Barry might actually turn out to be a liability, given how many times their relationship has already gone up in flames. It's equally questionable whether Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw, who cheated on her kindhearted and generous boyfriend, Aidan, only to end up with the more exciting but self-absorbed Mr. Big, will be better off in the framework of marriage and family. (Some time after the breakup, when Carrie ran into Aidan on the street, he was carrying his infant in a Baby Björn. Can anyone imagine Mr. Big walking around with a Björn?)