Rodeo uncorks wine seminars, champion juice
One can attend the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and not receive any actual lessons on how to ride a bucking horse or bull. One, however, can go to the NRG grounds to learn about wine, which makes a good bit of sense when one considers that the rodeo’s founding in the 1930s came about in large part to support kids’ agricultural pursuits.
The International Wine Competition winning wines for 2020
Grand Champion Best of Show: PiperHeidsieck Brut
Reserve Grand Champion: 2015 Cavaliere d’Oro Bellezza Gran Selezione DOCG Top White Wine: 2018 Chateau Ste. Michelle Dry Riesling, Columbia Valley
Top Red Wine: 2015 Revelry Vinters D11 Cabernet Sauvignon, Dionysus Vineyard, Columbia Valley Top Sparkling Wine: Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut, Spain, NV
Top Region Wine: 2015 Mi Terruño Mayacaba Malbec, Mendoza
Top Dessert Wine: 2017 Inniskillin Gold Vidal Icewine, Niagara Peninsula VQA Top Value Wine: 2017 Raywood Merlot,
Central Coast Top All-Around Winery: Wilson Family
Winery Top Region Wine Company: MundoVino Top Wine Company: E&J Gallo Winery
Top Texas Winery: Becker Family Vineyards
And what is wine-growing if not farming?
It should stand to reason then that the world’s largest and one of the most prestigious rodeos has come to feature one of the largest and most prestigious wine competitions, too, with a record 3,500 entries coming in from 19 countries for last fall’s 16th annual judging. The Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne was chosen as the Grand Champion Best of Show and, like the other top picks and category winners (listed below), will be featured in multiple ways, starting with Rodeo Uncorked Best Bites chow-down at NRG Center on Feb. 23, when more than a hundred local restaurants vie for their own championship with 5,000 guests attending to sip and nosh.
The Rodeo Grand Champion Wine Auction follows on March 1, and several hundred thousand dollars will be raised for scholarships as special 9-liter bottles of the category champion wines going up for bid. When the rodeo kicks off March 3, the Champion Wine Garden in Carruth Plaza will open for business, instantly becoming what’s probably the largest wine bar in the world.
Casual sippers can enjoy wines by the bottle or the glass and also sign up for weekday wine seminars from 6:30 to 8 p.m. (rain or shine), as follows:
March 3 & 4: Texas Steak and Red Wine, presented by Robert Gilroy. $75
March 4 & March 16: Gourmet Cheese and Fine Wine, presented by Bill Atkins and Chris Merkle. $55
March 5: It’s a Texas Thing: Wines and Barbeque, presented by “Texas Wineslinger” Dr. Russell Cain. $55
March 6: Decadent Chocolate and Wine, presented by Nice Winery’s Ryan Levy. $55
March 9: Chairman’s Wine Selection, presented by Master Sommelier Guy Stout. $75 March 10: Wine and Dine Argentina Style with Levy speaking about this year’s featured region, Argentina’s Mendoza. $65 March 11: Pop the Bubbly with Robert Gilroy. $55
March 12: Taste Bud Boot Camp with Levy, a primer for learning how to taste wines. $55
March 17: Discovering the Riedel glass with Marie Beth Baumberger. $95 (includes a set of four Riedel glasses, which will be used for all seminar tastings)
March 19: Pinot Noir tasting with Jason Ruth. $65
March 20: Wine, pizza and movie trivia with Monique Studak. $55
All will be held in the wine garden, hours for which are 4-11 p.m. MondayThursday, 4 p.m.-midnight Friday, 11 a.m.midnight Saturday and 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday. There will be live music daily, and some 70 wines will be offered by the glass. A new amenity this year is an interactive app designed to help find a favorite wine. It utilizes sliding bars on the screen to narrow one’s choices by taste and prices preferences.
For more information, visit rodeohouston.com/wine.