Wichita Sweet Red – NV; Wichita Falls Vineyards & Winery; Iowa Park, Texas

This award winning semi-sweet wine is a nice treat after a long day. It’s a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet, and Sangiovese with a deep purple hue. This lovely blend is a lighter bodied wine with both herbal and berry notes to it, with just a hint of spice on the finish.  Chilled, this wine makes a good warm afternoon treat, but not so sweet that you couldn’t enjoy it with a meal as well. It's a pleasant blend that is sure to please most palates so get a bottle and sip away!

www.wichitafallsvineyardsandwinery.com

The Gracious Gift Cabernet Sauvignon – 2011; Oak Ridge Winery; Lodi, California

Now here’s an interesting twist on wine.  Wine for a good cause! Cindy Sebek created the Gift Wine Company to help fight hunger.  Partnering with Oak Ridge Winery, three wines were made for this good cause: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Old Vine Red.  For every bottle purchased, 10 pounds of food was donated to the food banks serving southwest Texas.   This help provided meals for many families in need.  This particular cabernet is a great one to try. The grapes are from the Lodi area of California, so you know your quality expectations have risen ten-fold!   It has a big berry aroma to help work up you sensory appetite. The flavors of rich dense fruit really permeate the palate initially followed by subtle peppery notes.  It has a good balance and finishes smooth and nice.  So, yes… it does taste really good.  Grill up your favorite meaty dish and throw in some freshly picked veggies for this one.  This is a wine to enjoy and savor while you delight in the fact that you are also supporting a great cause.  Feed the World and Enjoy!

www.oakridgewinery.com

Majek Vineyard & Winery – Schulenburg, Texas

Located out along the countryside of Schulenburg and Moravia, this winery is a good place to kick back and enjoy some wine, friends, and music, plus art.  This friendly establishment by Randy and Lynne Majek started out with vines planted in 2013. Lynne is a graduate of the Texas Tech Viticulture certificate program (2013) and has applied her new found expertise to the Texas grape growing industry.  This family land had once grown many different types of crops in the past and now Randy and Lynne are embarking on growing grapes on this rich fertile soil.  They have about 1.5 acres of Blanc du Bois and Black Spanish vines planted on the estate and hope to have their estate wines made from the 2015 harvest in the coming months. Randy is getting his expert training thru Tech’s enology certification program, as well.  They opened their tasting room in March of 2014. The folks at Texas Custom Wine Works have helped them out with their initial releases of Texas wines.  Currently, the Majek’s have nine wines to sniff and sip from along with their own unique large shot-like wine glass, which also look reminiscent of juice glasses.  There is both a dry and semi-sweet Blanc du Bois that are both quite nice, but the special treat is the Sparkling Blanc du Bois. It is a nice sparkling that's dry and quite refreshing.  Dry red wine lovers will be pleased with the Black Spanish (Lenoir) wine.  It has all that expected tastes and flavors of a good dry red wine.  Their port-style Lenoir can pack quite a punch in both flavor and aroma.  Sip this one lightly. The Cardinal’s Kiss is something you may not expect but don't miss it as you will love it.  It’s a mix of Riesling and Black Spanish that has turned out to be a delightfully sweet and unique combo. There is also a Tempranillo (dry & sweet) on the list, a sweet Orange Muscat and a dry rose (Cardinal’s Perch – Merlot/Tempranillo/Black Spanish blend) to try, as well.  While you’re enjoying the tasting room and your sipping, do take the time to check out the paintings on the walls from local artists.  You’ll enjoy the country friendly atmosphere and the views of this place from the tasting room that has a wall of large open windows that give just the right light and scenic backdrop.  Majek is now on the Texas Independence Wine Trail, too.  It’s good to see quality viticulture and enology owners at work as they add their mark to the Texas wine industry.  Enjoy and have fun!

www.majekvineyard.com

Assyrtiko-Athiri – 2014; Domaine Sigalas Winery; Santorini, Greece

From one of the most beautiful Greek islands of the Aegean Sea, this white wine is a special treat from the old world.  Produced from 50+ year old vines, this Assyrtiko (75%) / Athiri (25%) blend is a great combination of two of Santorini island's grapes.  It is a dry white wine with ripe citrus and smoky aromas. This pale white wine is smooth with soft buttery notes and citrus fruit flavors that greet you followed by bold minerality and slight peppery notes on the finish. There is a very subtle effervescence and unique earthy notes characteristic of the Santorinian viticultural region.  Just imagine yourself sipping this wine with the lovely backdrop of a beautiful deep blue sea in the distance. This is simply a wonderful gem wine that you’ll want to keep and share with friends. It is a wonderful summer sipping wine on its own, but also pairs nicely with light and creamy cheeses, seafood, chicken and vegetarian dishes. If you haven't tried Greek wines yet, we encourage you to give this one a swirl, as it provides the opportunity to  see how lovely Greek whites are. Cheers or "στην υγειά σας!"

www.sigalas-wine.com