9-year Anniversary!

Time flies when you’re enjoying wine tastings, winery visits and vineyards! Our collection grows, the number of wineries to visit continues to grow that much longer, and the space required to store all those pictures continues to expand as well. Growth is a good thing, right?  We have had some great adventures and some lovely wines that have been featured this past year. It has been a fun adventure making wonderful wine friends along and way and developing sincere appreciation for our wine producing friends in the industry, from wine maker to vineyard worker, they all play such an important part along with Mother Nature in producing the product. As we look back across the years it has been sad to see some wineries we enjoyed, close for various reasons and others get sold so new owners could take the reins and begin carving out their space. All that and more is just leading up to our 10-year wine blog anniversary next year. Whew! We are pretty sure that will necessitate something big to do...find out more in the year ahead. Thank you for joining us and following us on this wonderful and amazing little journey through time and many wonderful wines and wineries. Cheers!!

Meritage – NV; Blue Ostrich Winery & Vineyard; Saint Jo, Texas

We got this non-vintage red blend back in July of 2012.  We’re happy to say that it has held up quite well over the years. It’s a blend of 65% Carmenere (New Mexico sourced) and 35% Merlot (Texas).  From the initial pour, you see its deep red color is still holding up nicely. The fruit forward blackberry aromas are still intact, though not as strong as they were when this vintage was younger. This wine packs a moderate tannin finish and still leaves some spice and raspberry flavors to savor.  Did we mention this was one of the winery’s first releases?  Not bad at all. Worth the trip to north Texas to visit and explore what they had on their wine list. Worth a repeat visit in the future!

www.blueostrich.net

Sangiovese – 2012; Perissos Vineyard and Winery; Burnet, Texas

Behold greatness!  If you love Sangiovese wines, then you must have this bottle! As you savor this wine with your favorite cheese treat, you cannot help but enjoy the moment. You will most certainly gaze into the light red colors and savor those enticing aromas of this beautifully aged Texas Sangiovese, sourced from Twin T Vineyards in the Texas High Plains AVA.  Mesmerized, yes… addicted…that comes later. However, as soon as you can finally avert your eyes from admiring your glass, the bouquet seduces you again. Hours later, if the bottle lasts that long, you still enjoy the scents of black cherries, vanilla and plums. Other fruit notes may still be present, but those are the “strongest survivors” in this wine.  This Texas Sangiovese has mellowed nicely over the last several years, yet still holds some lovely earthiness.  So, what are you waiting for?  Finish the bottle and have another.  You did buy a case, didn’t you?  Cheers!!

www.perissosvineyards.com

Cork House Winery – Waxahachie, Texas

In historic downtown Waxahachie, greatness has arrived in the form of … a winery! Owners Doug and Karla Gibson opened Cork House Winery about two years ago as a retirement project.  Since then, they have worked to create this great addition to the downtown Waxahachie scene.  They have really spruced up this site by adding their own décor themes while leaving the exposed bricks that still pay homage to the historic downtown area. You can still see the old tire and lube place name on the bricks by the tasting bar and front window area. Karla is no stranger to winemaking as she had previously been making “amateur” wines beforehand and has won a few awards.  Their Texas wines are sourced from Texas High Plains fruit near Brownfield. They currently have just over two dozen wines, so there should surely be something to suit everyone’s taste.  For the whites, we sampled the Cheek-to-Cheek. This Texas Roussanne has a lovely bouquet or apricots with peach and pear on the palate. The Midnight sun is an off-dry Rosé that is crisp with subtle and smooth strawberry notes. For the red wines, we had to try the Pinot Noir.  It was soft, very smooth and easy to drink.  The Rowdy Texas is their Malbec wine that features leather and coffee notes and it is a heavy one crafted for those who love robust reds. The Red Beard, a classic Bordeaux style red wine blend, featured Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc and won a Silver medal in the Houston livestock show. We found it to be very well balanced with light tannins and a fine lasting finish. It was our favorite among those we sampled. The GSM version is called Moonlight and has a touch of Cinsault added to the blend, with notes of plum and raspberry that stand out with a touch of smokiness. Finally, we ended off with Casanova - a Cabernet/Zinfandel blend that was aged in bourbon barrel that burst with vanilla and cameral flavors. We truly enjoyed this find and delight in seeing couples successfully shift into the winery business as they continue their journey and add to their story and life’s adventures.  This winery is a testament to their journey and a welcomed addition to Waxahachie. Cheers!

www.corkhousewinery.com

14-18h Rosé – 2014; Gaia Wines; Maroussi, Greece

Cast off that screw cap and pour yourself a glass of this elegant Greek Rosé.  Made from the Agiorgitiko grape, this dry Rosé has a very deep rose color with some fruit forward aromas. It’s cherry and strawberry flavors are quite enticing for this wine with medium acidity. There is some tanginess initially which smooths out towards the finish. The “14-18h” in the name refers to the number of hours the skin is in contact with the juice using cold maceration techniques.  Quite a lovely Rosé that should balance out any spicy dish.

www.gaiawines.gr