Is California the only American region producing great wine? In this episode of IntoWineTV, host Lisa Kolenda and wine experts Bartholomew Broadbent and Pamela Busch convene at San Francisco's CAV Wine Bar & Kitchen for the tasting and discussion of 25 different American wines NOT from California. On what was one of the hottest San Francisco days in recent memory (for those of you unfamiliar with the city, few places have air conditioning in San Francisco), Lisa, Bartholomew, and Pamela weathered the elements and tasted a variety of wines -sparklers, whites, reds, unique varietals, and sweet dessert wines- from Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Oregon.
Theme: Underdog Wines. In this tasting IntoWine is featuring wines from American producers found outside the state of California.
Wine: Dry Comal Creek White Black Spanish ($15.99)
Buy Dry Comal Creek Wines Now
Varietal: White Black Spanish grapes and French Colombard grapes from California
Region: Texas
Alcohol %: 12.5%
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Notes: This blush is made from estate Black Spanish grapes and French Colombard grapes from California. This is a most unusual blush wine – demi-sweet, fruity, smooth and drinkable any time with anything. One of Dry Comal Creek’s best selling wines for good reason – a terrific ‘Texas Style®’ wine. Silver Medal winner in 2008 San Antonio Wine Festival Competition.
Dry Comal Creek Vineyards was meant to be a retirement project for owners Franklin and Bonnie Houser, however 10 years later they are producing over 7500 cases annually and their wines are as unique as Texas. Like many Texas wineries they planted the typical wine making varietals (i.e. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc) with which to produce ‘Texas-Style” wines, but mother nature dealt a cruel blow, not once but twice by afflicting the vineyard with Pierce’s disease which wiped out everything. Essentially no grapes – no wine! Instead of folding up shop, the owners got creative and developed a series of core wines that no other Texas or California winery for that matter, is making. Oh yes, they still have vineyards, but they are growing Black Spanish, otherwise known as Lenoir, with such great success that they have become known as the ‘pioneers’ in Texas of Black Spanish wine. Other specialty varieties include French Colombard (Demi-Sweet and Bone Dry), Orange Muscat, White Black Spanish, Comal Red and 1096 Port – each of them spectacular in their own right and meant to be drinkable now.
The vineyard is located in a small protected valley nestled in the Texas Hill Country. The rich alluvial soil, laced with limestone, flint and shale chips, provides ideal growing conditions for our grapes.
Experts:
Bartholomew Broadbent, CEO of Broadbent Selections. Bartholomew was named as one of the "fifty most influential people in the wine world" by Decanter Magazine. He is also widely considered to be one of the world's foremost authorities on Port and Madeira. Learn more about Bartholomew Broadbent.
Pamela Busch, Co-Owner and Wine Director at CAV Wine Bar & Kitchen in San Francisco. Learn more about Pamela Busch.
