TEXAS Is In The House: A Texas Wine Tasting - Episode #484

June 12, 2008

Texas is known for many things including awesome High School football but today Gary Vaynerchuk tests some of their wines and sees what he thinks.

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Comments on this episode(210) Leave a comment ›

  • “Too bad you couldn’t have other options from those wineries.
    In my op…” by sergiomic
  • “Great show!!! QOTD, definitely Virginia. First up, Linden’s Late Har…” by Jessica Kirby
  • View all 210 ›

Wines tasted in this episode:

2006 Texas Hills Due Blanc play review at cork'd
2006 Becker Viognier play review at cork'd
2005 Texas Hills Sangiovese play review at cork'd
2005 Becker Claret play review at cork'd

210 Responses

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  1. about 3 weeks ago

    sergiomic

    Too bad you couldn’t have other options from those wineries.
    In my opinion from Texas Hills Vineyards you should try the “Kick butt cab” and the pinot grigio… two very good efforts.
    and from Becker you should taste the 100% malbec, or the Cabernet, or a great cab-syrah blend they have.

  2. about a month ago

    Jessica Kirby

    Great show!!! QOTD, definitely Virginia. First up, Linden’s Late Harvest Vidal. Second, the Doukenie Winery (formerly Wyndham Winery) Hope’s Legacy (formerly Hope’s Raspberry Merlot). Lastly, Gray Ghost Vineyards Adieu, late harvest vidal blanc.

    Link it up Mott!

  3. about a month ago

    Brian Kirby

    Great show Gary! I love the episodes focused on the “other” states. QOTD, the Doukenie Winery Hope’s Legacy (formery Hope’s Raspberry Merlot) in Northern Virginia. Second runner up, Georgia’s Tiger Mountain Cabernet Franc.

  4. about a month ago

    MattUD

    I have had a few wines made in Southern Delaware, but it has been a while and they deserve to be drank and evaluated again.

  5. about a month ago

    thefanjestic

    Texas A&m class of 2003 Baby! Aggies shout it out!

  6. about a month ago

    ChiroGuyDC

    QOTD: Some of the wines from Newport Vineyards in RI are pretty good for a small company. Their sauvignon blanc is tasty!

  7. about a month ago

    kjdion

    I live in Lousiana, and there’s only a few I’ve tried locally and nothing to mention.

  8. about a month ago

    Brandon

    As a proud Texan and wine enthusiast I can say that red wine in Texas has absolutely nothing going at this point. Although, as you noticed, there are some Texas wineries doing some nice things with white wine. Viognier seems to do particularly well in the Texas heat. McPherson Cellars does a fantastic Viognier.

  9. about 2 months ago

    Dan-o

    Agree with your comments on TX sports teams, none of them bring any excitement to me.
    I lived in NC for a while and I used to like a couple of Bordeaux style blends from Ray-Len in the Yadkin Valley AVA (in Davie County, NC near Winston-Salem). They were Carolinius and Category 5 (named after the hurricane and the number of grapes in the blend).

  10. about 2 months ago

    Luis Felipe

    QOTD: Long Island wine sporting 5 grape varieties. From Martha Clara vineyards, the O-Five (looks just like 05 on the bottle). It has an interesting poop/barnyard, dark cherries and cayenne pepper smell with a nice mouth feel and a great finish.

  11. about 2 months ago

    yowens

    QOTD: Sakonnet vidal blanc, RI

  12. about 2 months ago

    Ron Saikowski

    G-man,

    Next time you do a wine show on Texas, you need to try Fall Creek’s Meritus, Patrick Brennan’s Viogyner (Brennan Winery), Bernhardt Winery Port, Llano Estacado Cab, and the other good ones. Dr. Becker has one problem with his wines….he sells them too fast and does not have the opportunity to age them to better them. Texans want Texas wines, BUT we just can’t produce them fast enough. As a result, there are too few Texas wines outside of Texas. See you back in Texas!

  13. about 2 months ago

    Big Sig

    QOTD - My favorite non CA, NY, WA, OR wine is a wine called Retriever from Silver Decoy Winery in NJ. Note that I liked last years offering much better than this years. Nice Cabernet Blend style that had a unique amber quality.

  14. about 2 months ago

    Rob C.

    Giving a quick piece of love for Virginia wine….some hidden gems include Pollak, Gadino(even though they were ripped on an earlier episode)and Kluge…check them out…there is really good viognier and petit verdot being made out here.

  15. about 2 months ago

    Ed

    I’d check Missouri wines. HUGe state-funded wine program. Fits into the question of the day. My favorites are Stone Hill’s Steinberg White. On red side, I love their full bodied Norton.

  16. about 2 months ago

    danseng

    Southern Arizona is making some great wines. Callaghan Winery is by far the best of the bunch. They make a Petit Verdot Gary so try to track it down for the show. I’d send you some, but it’s 115 degrees today and I’m sure you don’t want to taste vinegar.

  17. about 2 months ago

    Andy

    I’ve visited some out-of-the-way wineries up here in the frozen hinterlands. Right off the top I cannot recommend enough, with all my heart, a wine that totally shocked me and made me a devotee is the 2005 Late Harvest Vignoles from Fenn Valley Winery in Fenn Valley Michigan. We are growing a ridiculous amount of grapes here on the Fourth Coast, and I know that people would really like the complex and delightful 2005 LHV. You can even have some fun with it because you can also taste the regular Vignoles as well, it’s a wonderful contrast.

    I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting a itty-bitty (maybe 100 acres) little burp of a winery in of all places, Minnesota. Morgan Creek Winery puts out some surprising product for what amounts to being a USDA Zone 2 to 3 growing region. Specifically their blend wine St. Winceslaus is a cherry jam fruit hydrogen bomb and their Relativity is a huge surprise. It’s a winery that exists for sheer willpower and science - there is a nasty vile little grape that grows throughout the entire region, all the way up into Manitoba - the University of Minnesota crossed this vile little monster (which can survive -40F) with it’s more cultured and tastier bretheren and they’ve got vines that for the most part can survive a Zone 2 winter. It’s no Napa Valley award-winner area, but if you like to explore and you are curious what a Zone 2 wine might taste like, you can’t beat it. Morgan Creek is a stones throw outside of New Ulm, Minnesota.

  18. about 2 months ago

    GR8wine

    GV,
    Tough QOTD. Because I’ve had a LOT of US wines outside of the big 4. I’ve probably had the most in VA, (although I’ve tried all the wines TX you tasted in this ep and most in MI). So here’s a puzzling one - probably not the BEST VA wine but I would probably rate it as my favorite — Seyval Blanc made by Jim Law at Linden Vineyards in Virginia.
    BTW, I agree with your TX sports analysis. Used to be a Cowboys fan (as a young boy) but grew up and grew smart and now root for anyone opposing the Cowboys. The Texas exception is the Spurs, who are near and dear to my heart.
    Go Spurs!

  19. about 2 months ago

    Palmer

    QOTD: had my first non-Cali/Oregon/Wash/NY wines this weekend in Wisconsin. most were not memorable, but the Lautenberg’s Orchard Country Winery Audrey Grace was very good. low in tannins but a nice spice and long smooth finish. Blend of Marechal Foch & Frontenac - cold weather varietals common in Wisconsin.

  20. about 2 months ago

    Achilles Mike

    Believe it or not, there is an emerging wine region and passion for the vine coming out of Elgin, an area about 40 miles southeast of Tucson, Arizona. Located above 4000 feet, the vineyards are producing some surprisingly good wines-especially those made by Callahagn. It’s still an area in its infancy,and next time you are in the area, Gary, you should check it ou. There a young wimne maker there, Keith Manning, 26 years old, who got his degree in wine making in Australia. Look for some serious wines from him at the Kief-Joshua Vineyards!

  21. about 2 months ago

    wayno da wino

    Yo Gee, Fuuun Episode!!! Ya are NOT gonna make too many Vayniaks outta
    da Texas “sports fans” though…… :)

    QOTD: i remember drinkin’ a Horton Viognier (Virginia, i think) looooong
    time ago dat was pretty YUUUUMMY !!!

  22. about 2 months ago

    Carlitos

    We toured the Texas Hills wine country earlier this year and it was pretty brutal. Almost as bad as when we did NC. Maybe in 20 from now as Gary said.

    QOTD. There was that New Mexico sparkler that was drinkable.

  23. about 2 months ago

    JIKvig

    QOTD; I’m sorry to say I have had 0. It’s hard enough to get any wines from the US thats not from California. “Impossible” outside the 4 you said. But I’m going over soon, then I will seek out some new stuff!

  24. about 2 months ago

    Zanne

    QOTD: Some of the North Carolina wines are really up and coming, particularly those from the Piedmont part of the state (although not those from Biltmore Estate which I find to be way over-priced for what they offer). I can’t remember any names unfortunately right now, but definitely worth looking into.

  25. about 2 months ago

    Kristen

    It’s great to hear about different wines from other, less traveled regions of the country.

    QOTD: The Vidal blanc, Estate Chard, Pinot Rose, the Sirius (late harvest Vidal), and the 2002 Port, all from Little Compton, RI.

    http://www.sakonnetwine.com/

    Newport Vineyards is also pretty good.

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