The wines of Texas are just like the state: Big, bold and intriguing
There are a handful of places in the United States that, at the mere mention of their names, conjure up clear images of what they are all about. We have seen these images and heard these stereotypes across various forms of pop culture for decades. We believe them to be true.
When you see or hear the word “Texas,” you know what comes to mind. For many of us, wine is not one of the images we associate with the Lone Star State.
Yet a modern commercial wine industry has been in place to some degree in Texas since the late 1970s. Today, with more than 400 wineries and 5,000 acres of vineyards, Texas sits solidly in the top 10 list of highest-producing wine states.
The state produces a variety of food-friendly wines made largely from Mediterranean grape varieties. After decades of experimentation, these are the grapes that Texas winemakers have found to be most successful in their climate. And although there are several wine regions in Texas, the majority of Texas wines come from just two of them.
The Texas High Plains AVA (American Viticultural Area) surrounds the city of Lubbock and hugs the state’s western border with New Mexico. About 80 percent of the state’s grapes come from this region, which is the second-largest in Texas. Many of the vineyards sit between 3,000 and 4,000 feet elevation, resulting in warm, sunny days and cool nights — a generally ideal situation for even ripening and the retention of the acidity in wine grapes.
The state’s largest region, the Texas Hill Country AVA, lies west of Austin in Central Texas, where vineyards reach as high as 2,100 feet among the rolling hills. That elevation is important considering that Austin lies south of both New Mexico’s and Arizona’s borders with Mexico — were it not for its elevation, this southerly region would be too hot for the grapes.
I recently tasted through a selection of wines from Texas and found many of them to be a lot like Texas itself— big and bold. A few of the bigger reds would certainly stand up well to some nice, juicy cuts of Texas beef.
But as I was tasting through the whites I could imagine some of them matching well with Thai cuisine and seafood — two things I don’t really associate with Texas. After tasting through those whites, some of those old, universal Texas images began to fade, or at least blur, and I looked at that proud and sunbaked place in a slightly different way.
Wine has an air of sophistication, but when it comes down to it, the people who produce these gorgeous products are essentially farmers. So why not Texas? If I ever were to live there, or visit, I would have no problem keeping a supply of local wines on hand.
In my quest to seek out wines from a wide variety of locales, and explore wine’s ever-increasing hold on Americans, I have been pleasantly surprised by Texas wines. They’re not easy to find if you don’t live in Texas, but many are worth seeking out. Maybe you will live to see the day when they are more widely available, and of even higher quality. If you’re intrigued, now is the time to start looking into them.
Below are notes from a recent tasting of Texas wines. They are listed by style, whites followed by reds, and in ascending order according to price.
Whites
2016 Pedernales Cellars Viognier. Fresh apricot and tropical fruits mingle with a lemony streak of acidity and honey on the finish, plus 13.8 percent alcohol. $16 2016 Brennan Vineyards Lily Roussanne. A 100 percent varietal using the Rhone grape, roussanne, this wine offers floral notes and honey, plus apricot, nuts and a pronounced softness. $18 2016 Duchman Family Winery Vermentino. Citrus, spice, Meyer lemon and tropical notes are wrapped in tangy acidity despite the wine’s round mouthfeel. $20 2017 William Chris Vineyards Mary Ruth. This aromatic blend, which features the malvasia bianca grape, bursts with juicy peach and ripe pear, leading to a crisp, clean finish. $28
Reds
2016 Pedernales Ripe dark Cellars berries, Tempranillo. dark cherry, feature supple vanilla, tannins cola and and leather 13 percent alcohol. $20 2015 Brennan Vineyards Tempranillo. This wine offers dark fruits, black cherry, vanilla, baking spices, minerality and spicy black pepper on the finish. $28 2014 Bending Branch Winery Tannat. Full of ripe plum, fresh raspberry and vanilla; silky, with a streak of cranberry tang. $30 2014 Duchman Family Winery Aglianico. Ripe dark fruit, incense, cedar, leather, black pepper and grippy tannins are all present here. $30 William Chris Vineyards Skeleton Key IV. This lip-smacking nonvintage syrah-tempranillo blend is full of blueberry pie, plum, vanilla, mocha, incense, tobacco and white pepper. $34 2014 Spicewood Vineyards The Good Guy. Stewed fruit, blackberry, sassafras, leather, smoke and chewy tannins leads to a touch of black pepper in this tempranillo-merlot-cabernet sauvignon-graciano blend. $40