VintageTexas.com – More Topics to Explore, Now From Texas AND Beyond
My relocation and settlement is complete and things are starting to feel natural again. Originally, my plan was to convert this VintageTexas blog to a searchable historical archive. However, on second (and third) thought, I’ve decided to do two things: (1) go ahead with the archive, but also (2) keep on writing new stories perhaps with a somewhat expanded scope.
As many of the regular VintageTexas readers know, I have a deep interested in discovering and tell the stories of local wines, and the growers and winemakers that make them possible. For the past 18+ years, VintageTexas has been focused on telling the stories associated with Texas wines with a slight augmentation to include select wines from other locales that Texans liked to enjoy.
Many also know that I typically cast a wide net around the definition of “local wines”. As it happens, where ever I tend to be in Texas or on many of my worldwide travels, I try to experience the wines local to that region. When focused on California, I’m interested in California wines; but also, when in Missouri, Virginia, southern France, or even Japan, you got it… I focus on wines from these regions. Sometimes my interests are in pure education or what I call “Palate Recalibration”, and at other times, it is to learn more about the heritage of the grape varieties in the new wine lexicon that Texas has pioneered.
Now, in Georgia, I’ve retained my interests in both Texas wines and the people that grow and make them. But you know what, I’ve found that many of the same grapes explored and now cultivated in the modern Texas wine industry are also being pioneered in Georgia and near by states, too. These are grapes like Tempranillo, Mourvèdre, Tannat, Roussanne, and Viognier to name a few. However, I’d be remiss if I did not include one of the most successful new white wine grapes in Texas, Blanc Du Bois… It’s here on the east coast, too. Blanc Du Bois is now found in the Carolines, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. So, these are all still fair game for my wine writings while in Georgia.
I’m so excited about the future of Blanc Du Bois that I’ve signed on as a co-author with Fran Pontasch and Justin Scheiner to write a new book that we feel will be the seminal tome on the pedigree, growing and winemaking of this grape that is now the most planted white wine grape in Texas. Yep, you read it right… Blanc Du Bois from its rebirth on the Texas Post Oak Savannah has become number one in Texas and its reputation is spreading across the southern states.
Lastly, but definitely not least, I still have my wine writing radar up to find new wines (and rediscover some old ones with new vintages) particularly if there are new stories to be told. Some of the stories in my new directive “From Texas and Beyond” will include notable trends like
(1) lower alcohol wines,
(2) Decreasing wine sales in both youth and older populations,
(3) eastern U.S. wineries are finding opportunities to establish unique identities as major west coast producers face challenges,
(4) under-appreciated wines from very notable wine regions around the world that often bring unexpected quality and value, and
(5) grape varieties that are making a new name for themselves as they spread into new (or old) wine regions around the world.
So, get on your horse and follow this Wineslinger to the upcoming wine roundups from Texas to the vast territory beyond.
Cheers,
Russ Kane
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