A Morning in Houston with Drops of Golden Dew: Dotson-Cervantes Gotas de Oro

A Morning in Houston with Drops of Golden Dew: Dotson-Cervantes Gotas de Oro

It was 9:30 on a weekday morning when the door bell rang. I expected this as, the evening before, I received a call from Alphonse Dotson. He said that he and his wife Martha were  going to be in Houston visiting his Mother. They were on the verge of releasing their first wine and wanted to stop by to visit with my wife Delia and me.

Alphonse and Martha arrived at our home in central Houston on a sunny, dew-laden morning.  We leisurely sat in our living room as we tasted their new wine, the first under the Wines of Dotson-Cervantes label with the fascinating name “Gotas de Oro”. The name was a contribution by Martha which translates to “Drops of Gold” from her native Spanish.

As we relaxed and talked about friends, family and common acquaintances, I poured the wine that was well described by its name. The silky yellow liquid poured from the bottle with the color of golden drops of morning dew. The initial taste was pure tropical expression with sweet, very ripe pineapple with a follow-on of apricot and nectarine. Perfumed jasmine aromatics arose from the glass. The finish included a hint of musk. This was really one complex wine; quite an accomplishment for the couple’s first commercial release.

The mouth feel was silky soft filling every nook, cranny and crevice with pure sweet fruit nectar of Muscat Canelli. In juxtaposition, the wine finished crisp and clean which made the wine’s level of residual sweetness less apparent. The finish prompted the question….Whatelse was in the mix? To this Alphonse simply said, “Yes, the wine was a blend with another varietal from our vineyard…a ‘secret ingredient’ that brought a completely different quality to this wine that was most apparent in the finish”. The wine started sweet, but finished dry leaving my palate fresh and ready for more.

Not bad at all for a 9:30 am start to my wine day….

For more….See: The Wineslinger Chronicles: Texas on the Vine, a new book on the Texas wine experience by Russ Kane. More information and follow the progress to publication in Q1 2012, go to:

http://www.wineslinger.net/