Spicy Meat-a-Balls and a Splash of Duchman’s 2010 Vermentino
Last week I received an email from Jeremy Parzen with a cryptic reference to meatballs. It was basically something like this… Russ, I know that your wife love’s meatballs. Let’s meet at Coppa Ristorante on Washington Avenue in Houston. They have the best in town! By the way, you can taste a few of the Duchman Family Wineries wines and meet Drs. Stan and Lisa Duchman (on left in above photo). Such was the start of a beautiful evening.
Jeremy was right, the meatballs were spot on good (something that my wife still remembers). But, what I remember from that night (other than the Duchmans being gracious hosts) was that the 2010 Vermentino from Duchman Family Vineyards was better than I expected.
To make an understatement is to say that the 2009 Duchman Vermentino was a good wine and that it received some notoriety. Actually, it racked in praises from nearly everyone that tasted it in Texas and many from the far corners of the planet. Even top of the line Aussie wine writer and critic, Oz Clarke, gave it his praise as an example of where Texas should seek its future in the global wine club. Well, how do you beat that, particularly after the winery sold out of its limited 2009 Vermentino production!
Well, from my first taste of the 2010 Duchman Vermentino, I can say that it’s not a mere home run. No, it’s the wine equivalent of a grand slam. It simply had more to give than the 2009: more aroma and flavor, richer on the palate and longer finish. The lights were dim that night in the restaurant, but I might take a bet that the color was even more intense. I hope to check on this tomorrow when I stop by the winery for a second taste.
I hope to see you there, if not this time, maybe next. Enjoy! See what Duchman Winery’s winemaker, Dave Reilly had to say about this wine (click here).
P.S. What about the meatballs at Coppa Ristorante? Well, all I have to show for it other than a meatball burp, or two, is this slightly out of focus photo to show you:
You’ll just have to try them (and the Duchman 2010 Vermentino) for yourselves.
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