Write Off the Vine: Texas Wine News – September 25, 2009

Write Off the Vine: Texas Wine News – September 25, 2009

Make a Go TEXAN date to dine out!
Sept. 28 – Oct. 2, 2009

Enjoy Texas cuisine while helping neighbors in need. Come celebrate the menus of the Lone Star State and help kick off Texas Wine Month!

For the Restaurant Round-Up, participating members of the Texas Department of Agriculture’s GO TEXAN Restaurant Program will be serving special Texas menu items. Many will also contribute a portion of the day’s proceeds to food banks across the state.

Events will be held all around the state of Texas. Find the events near you. For a compelte list of events, go to:

http://www.gotexan.org/restaurantroundup/participate.html

South Texas Wine & Herb Festival

The Rockport Rose & Herb Study Group and other wine & herb aficionados will offer different seminars & demonstrations on the half hour in the Rose Pavilion, 8545 S. Staples Street. Partnering with the Texas Department of Agriculture’s ‘Go Texan’ program, there will be wine tastings, cooking demos using Texas seafood, and vendors on site with potted herbs and other herb or wine-related merchandise. Home Grown editor Judy Barrett will be on site for a program and signing of her new book, What Can I do with my Herbs?

Date: Friday, October 9, 2009
Time: 9:30am – 3:30pm
Location: South Texas Botanical Gardens & Nature Center
Street: 8545 S. Staples
City/Town: Corpus Christi, TX

More at: http://www.hs.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144760868640&index=1

Farm to Table” Wine Fair at Fall Creek Vineyards

The Sunday “Farm to Table Wine Fair”, featuring all things locally grown, hosted at Fall Creek Vineyards, Tow, Texas, at $15/person advance sale ($17.50 day of event), 12noon to 4:00pm, will be an entertaining finale to the spectacular wine and food offered during this weekend’s events.  “Beefin’ it up with Chef Paul Peterson” will treat guests to a lively time, hootin’ and hollerin’ with Chef Paul Peterson, Rick’s  Chop House/Mc Kinney, Texas, as he demonstrates grilling techniques. Tiffany Collins of the Texas Beef Council and “Miss Jane” Nickles, of the Texas Culinary Academy,  will join in on the fun and provide entertaining education on the art of wine & food pairing.  Fair goers will peruse the big tent of vendors presenting for purchase their locally grown/produced olive oils, meats, produce, chocolates, breads, and all things fresh, complimented by the best Texas wines, available by the taste, glass or bottles.  The $15 advance gate fee ($17.50/person on day of event) includes a Texas Department of Agriculture tasting glass, 10 taste tickets for wine, and Chef Peterson’s “Beefin’ it Up” demo.  Additionally, Tiffany Collins and “Miss Jane” Nickles will educate and entertain attendees with “Umami 2Mami”, a wine and food class not to be missed, $5/person.

A complete weekend pass to all events is available for only $140/person, or tickets may be purchased for individual events. For more information on the weekend pass and individual event ticket sales, please visit www.texasfallfest.com or call the Texas Wine & Grape Growers Association at 817-424-0570 or faxing 817-251-4329. BOOK NOW!!

Vino e Cucina Italia: A Super Tuscan Made in…Texas?
by Neil Duarte

Today, even novice lovers of Italian wines are familiar with the tern “Super Tuscans,” a blend of wines originating in Tuscany that generally (although not always) combines the area’s most prevalent grape, Sangiovese, with Italian-grown French varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Cabernet Franc. The renown accorded these wines has allowed some of them to be sold at extremely high prices. As author Jay McInerny said in his book, Bacchus & Me, referring to Super Tuscans, “…if it ends in aia, it’s bound to be good.” He should have added the words “and expensive.”

The growing popularity of Sangiovese wines in the U. S. has induced American wine growers to add this hardy grape to their domestic production. These additions have included vineyards in the Southwest, particularly Texas and New Mexico. Intrigued by the somewhat recent addition of Sangiovese wines to the offerings of the growing Texas wine industry, I recently visited what I believe to be a rising star of wineries in the area.

More at: http://www.wineloverspage.com/duarte/grapecreek0909.phtml

It’s a dog’s life: Wine Fest 2009, Kemah, Texas
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Driving to work I saw the billboard, “WINE FEST”. I promptly snatched up my cell phone. “Hey honey, they are having a wine fest on September 19th. Wanna go?” (I’ve been known to drop my Ts and Gs.)

“Need you ask?”

“Alrighty, done and done”.

$35 per person later that day I was the proud owner of 2 tickets to the 1st annual Kemah Wine Fest. I couldn’t even pronounce the name of the town. Still can’t for that matter. But, after enough wine does it really matter? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

For our first time at the Boardwalk the weather cooperated by not being wretchedly hot and sticky. We arrived plenty early because we had heard that the parking was almost non-existent. Turns out it wasn’t that bad. From all accounts the Boardwalk was pretty much decimated from hurricane Ike so when they built it back up they must have added more parking.

More at: http://michele-dogslife.blogspot.com/2009/09/wine-fest-2009-kemah-texas.html

Video: Wine Grape Production Presentation

The Texas wine industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, creating increased demand for wine grapes. Grape production can be well-suited to small acreage operations, but is technically demanding, labor-intensive, and involves significant economic risk. This presentation will provide a general overview of the requirements for successful establishment and operation of a small-acreage vineyard. Topics will include vineyard economics, equipment and labor needs, risk, vineyard site selection, and vineyard management.

For the video and more information, go to: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/smallacreage/presentations/winegrape.html