The love part of the equation, of course, needs little explanation. It’s a convivial gathering of foodies and oenophiles seeking to discover and savor new flavors. But it’s the “new” component that I hate because most of the wines we get to taste don’t yet have a home in Houston. The wineries participate in hopes of finding importers and/or distributors.

One in particular wowed me, a pinot noir-carménère blend from Borgo la Caccia, located in the Trentino Garda region southeast of Lake Garda. Right, carménère. Who knew? Fact is, the grape we associate with Chile has long been a staple in Italy and even has its own DOC, Carmenere Colli Berici, in the province of Vicenza in the Veneto. But when we will see it for sale in Houston? Will we ever see it for sale in Houston? Hard to say. Oh well . . . 

I did, however, get to sample two satisfying Chiantis that will soon be sold at Spec’s – both for under $10. They’re from Refugio del Vescovo (the Bishop’s Refuge). A great find by Spec’s Italian wine-buyer Tom Dobson!

Federica Mascheroni Stianti

Speaking of Chianti, I also had the pleasure of meeting Federica Mascheroni Stianti of Castello di Volpaia when she hosted a dinner Thursday night at Roma. Federica’s visit was extra special because she was wrapping up her first international trip since the pandemic locked down Italy more than two years ago.

She had charmed us in a Zoom tasting in 2020, which she remembers only too well since she was holding court from the family’s castle at 3 in the morning while watching her virtual Houston audience chowing down.

“It made me so hungry,” Federica said, laughing.

Castello di Volpaia, which sits atop an 11th century fortified village between Florence and Sienna, is one of the highest-elevation wineries in the Chianti region with some of its vineyard land above 2,000 feet. The elegant 2019 Chianti Classico, always a favorite of the critics, sells for $25.99 at wine.com. Volpai’s outstanding higher-end wines are a little harder to find and cost a good deal more but offer plenty of value in their own right.

Federica’s grandfather Raffaello Stianti, one of Italy’s leading printers and bookbinders, purchased the estate in 1966 (Volpai mean’s “fox’s lair”), then subsequently gave to his daughter Giovannella and her husband Carlo Mascheroni as a wedding gift in 1972. Today the Stianti Mascheroni family owns close to two-thirds of the village including 114 acres of vineyards and 40 acres of olive trees. Federica is proud to say that, despite Italy’s patriarchal heritage, it’s her mother Giovannella who has always runs the show.

Tony Elsinga

I got to know Tony Elsinga not long after he moved to Houston from Seattle in 2006 when I became the Chronicle’s wine columnist. He was equal parts delightful and informative as one the first sommeliers at the Tasting Room in Uptown Park and our paths crossed frequently when he took gigs at other locales, all the while hoping to start his own import company. That dream became a reality when he launched Medallion Global about a decade ago. 

Because of my pandemic precautions – and his too, I suspect – I hadn’t seen Elsinga in a while until he came as one of the contestants in the Villa Sandi Sommelier competition held in conjunction with the Taste of Italy. However, he hadn’t lost a step, winning the championship on the basis of his service skills and knowledge.

It came with a $750 check and an all-expenses-paid trip to Vinitaly, which, unfortunately, he likely won’t be able to take because health issues are limiting his ability to travel. But he has a plan to gift it to a younger, more mobile somm and he promised to keep me in the loop on how that plays out.

Cheers, Tony! 

Through single-night beverage sales last weekend, Underbelly Hospitality’s restaurants Georgia James, Georgia James Tavern and Wild Oats raised $9,846 for World Central Kitchen’s team in Poland helping feed Ukrainian refugees. And going forward, wine director Matthew Pridgen has selected some of his favorite wines with Georgia James donating 20 percent of every bottle sold for as long as Georgia James is open at its current location, 1658 Westheimer. Chris Shepherd’s steak house will soon be moving to a cool new spot at the corner of W. Dallas and Dunlavy.

Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen has been helping feed people affected by war and natural disasters for over 11 years now, serving millions of people around the globe. To help the cause directly, go to https://donate.wck.org/team/412271

* 2011 Argyle Extended Tirage Brut – With the grape harvest extended into early November, the vintage was particularly well set up for long-term aging on the lees. It’s an elegant wine that checks every box for a relatively high-end bottle of bubbles. Texas A&M grad Roland Soles, Argyle’s co-founder and first winemaker, presided over this lovely brut when it was first bottled and routinely made America’s top sparkling wines – at least according to the Wine Spectator – before leaving in 2013 to devote his attention to ROCO, a winery he and his wife founded in 2003. $85 at shopargylewinery.com 

* 2017 Duckhorn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon – Duckhorn has made this reference-standard Howell Mountain cab since 1989 (I fell in love with the 1990 vintage) and it never disappoints. A blend that includes a 10 percent merlot component, the 2017 offers rich, expressive fruit on the nose and only gets better from there with a long, immensely satisfying finish. It aged for 24 months, the first 18 in new French oak. $105 at duckhornwineshop.com 

* 2019 J. Lohr Pure Paso – The fruit, mostly cabernet (72 percent) and petit sirah, is all from San Luis Obispo County in the Paso Robles AVA, hence the name. The wine, a remarkable bargain, aged for 18 months in American and French oak barriques, 20 percent new. Intense black cherry fruit is front and center on the palate. $27 at https://www.jlohr.com

* Thursday, March 24 – Nebbiolo Fest at Roma, 2347 University. 6:30-7:30 p.m. $49. Romahouston.com 

* Through Sunday, March 20 – The Champion Wine Garden at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Go to rodeohouston.com for a complete list of entertainers and wine-seminar presenters. 

* Twitter: @sportywineguy

* Instagram: sportywineguy 

* Facebook: Dale Robertson

* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy (A new one will drop next week!)   

* Sandra Crittenden (winelifehouston.com) – Sandra and I shared a table as “observers” at the Villa Sandi somm competition, but she beat me to the punch in recounting our adventures. We were masquerading as a brother and sister celebrating our birthdays. I’d just turn 35 . . . wink, wink. 

* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – Russ tells us everything we need to know about the Newsom Grape Day & Expo, held every March at Newsom Vineyards up on the High Plains. 

* Jeff Kralik (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Jeff reviews and rates the best wines he has received of late. * Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com) – My podcast partner writes about Darrell Corti, whom he calls “an Italian wine pioneer and gastronomic treasure.” 

* Katrina Rene (thecorkscrewconcierge.com) – Kat takes a comprehensive look at what’s happening in the world of Texas wine this spring.

* The sports writing/broadcasting profession lost a great one in John Clayton, who came to be known as “The Professor” in his years at ESPN. We were young reporters together in the 1970s, him in Pittsburgh covering the Steelers and me, of course, in Houston covering the Luv ya Blue Oilers. John, in fact, was present on that memorable afternoon three days before the 1979 AFC Championship Game – Houston’s last one, by the way – when the Oilers’ quarterback, Dan Pastorini, threw me out the door at the Oilers’ facility during a press conference (long story).

Clayton had just asked Bum Phillips about the incredible synergy between those Oilers and the city of Houston, its media included, and Bum was going on and on about how we were indeed all one big happy family. Then my head landed on one of his cowboy boots with Dan on top of me, fist drawn back. 

Phillips, startled, looked down and blurted out, “Til now. What the hell’s going on?”

Clayton, who died Friday, and I were bonded forever after that. We called each other “Partner.” 

RIP, Partner.

* So, let me get this straight. Deshaun Watson doesn’t play for an entire season after behaving badly – if, apparently, not illegally – away from football and his reward is an extra $74 million in guaranteed money. True, he’s now stuck in Cleveland, but the bar for him becoming a hero there couldn’t be lower. Only Detroit has endured more seasons (56) without even one Super Bowl appearance than Cleveland (53). Houston, of course, “ranks” third with 51.