Another Bottle Down

We're continuing to interview Texas winemakers who are innovating and raising the bar in celebration of October being Texas Wine Month.  Doug Lewis of Lewis Wines is certainly positioned in the vanguard and has his finger on the pulse of what is really going both in the Hill Country and the High Plains.  I always enjoy chatting with Doug, and I'm sure you're enjoy listening!

Continuing to feature Texas wineries during Texas Wine Month, we welcome on Jennifer McInnis, general manager of Bending Branch Winery.  We have a great conversation about some of the varieties that Bending Branch champions, Tannat and Picpoul at the top of the list.  They also use some innovative winemaking techniques, such as Cryo-maceration and Flash Detente.  Check out what it's all about!

As continued coverage of Texas Wine Month, we catch up with Ben Calais at his winery in the Hill Country.  This was a great conversation about this year's harvest, his focus on the Bordeaux varieties, how Ben is coaxing the most flavor out of his grapes, and so much more!  Ben has a cool thing going on in his underground cellar, selling only direct to consumer, and cultivating a strong following!  Santé!

We kick off our coverage of October as Texas Wine Month with January Wiese, Executive Director of the Hill Country Wineries Association.  Then, we hear from Lewis Dickson, and how he is producing some magical 100% Estate wines from his vineyard in Canyon Lake, just west of New Braunfels.  Lewis is a staunch proponent of natural or "hands off" winemaking, never adding yeast, sulfites, enzymes, or anything.  We learn about the path he's taken to focusing on the two Texas hybrid grapes, Blanc du Bois and Black Spanish, and how wine should be the whole film, not just a snapshot. 

Noah Ullman, owner of Vino Z Czech (pronounced “vee-nos check”), comes on the show to talk about Czech wine and the business of importing and promoting in the US.  I learned a ton from this conversation: how there is a long history of winemaking in what is today's Czech Republic, how the south facing slopes of South Moravia are special for winemaking, and how diverse the wine culture is there with many unique grapes (Cabernet Moravia, Blauer Portugueser, and Pálava).  To quote Noah, quoting someone else, "somewhere between Austria and Alsace."

Kevin O'Brien, GM of Expression Wines and Prime Solum, tells the story of how Bill Hill plants vineyards that become super famous, such as Gaps Crown and Zena Crown.  We dig into the Sonoma Coast, the "Deep End" of Anderson Valley, and the Eola Amity Hills of Oregon.  Steve Alley from the Sorting Table chimes in to describe these wines and how the Texas Market has been receiving them.  Also, we hear about Broken Rock Ranch in Napa and so much more!  Pinot meets TX tacos, what could be better!

Kelly Meyer, owner of New Braunfels Brewing Co., brewer Nathan Rice, and beer expert Justin Chamberlain, come on the show to talk about their beers that blur the border of beer and wine.  Their Sur Lie program, beers that they age over different sorts of wine yeast, has captured the attention of collectors and aficionados, and we taste 6 different releases aged over different wine lees.  These guys are pushing the bar of what beer can do in terms of food pairings, complexity, and bringing beer to a broader wine-loving community.  Proust!

Texas Wine Journal Panelists, Jon Gerber, Shawn Croft, and Julia Dixon come on the show to talk about Chardonnay from Texas and around the world.  They tasted 6 chardonnay blind and this is their commentary before they knew which was which.  You can see the lineup below, but overall, great discussion around the most famous and infamous white grape out there.  Plus, I think the consensus was that TX did show strong.  Guest appearance from Daniel Kelada at the end to give insight on the producers and regions!

Membership drive is in full swing!  This is an amazing radio station that allows this podcast, I'd love the support!  On this show, we have other programmers and KOOP personalities come on the show to taste and talk about what are the best wines to have ON ICE!   Feel the KOOP love and the diversity of community radio!

Julia Dixon gives us her recap of Texsom, the Sommelier conference that wrapped up last week, from the volunteer's perspective.  She talks about some of the seminars that made an impression as well as some special wines tasted off-program.  She reads her wine description that won the Guildsom Social Media contest for "Best Tasting Note."  Plus, she has many other projects coming down the pike in the next couple months! On the second half of the show, Jeremy Wilson talks about the TX Wine Lover web page and how it serves to present tons of information and to advocate for the TX wine industry.  There are interactive maps of wineries and vineyards as well as one of the best blogs in the industry and podcast.  Jeremy is a great advocate for TX wine!