 |
| Jesse Katz with Mr. October |
Astros owner Jim Crane readily admits he isn’t an overly engaged wine drinker personally, but he thought enough of one of his son Jared’s high school chums, Jesse Katz, to put serious money behind Katz’s Aperture wines (aperture-cellars.com), and the bet paid off big for all concerned. Aperture, which Katz launched in 2009, has earned widespread critical acclaim in recent years, so it stood to reason then that the Astros Foundation would eventually stage a charity wine event to showcase the powerful Aperture lineup.
The inaugural auction took place last month at Minute Maid Park with the added attraction of having three baseball Hall-of-Famers, former Astros Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio and “Mr. October,” Yankees legend Reggie Jackson, a good friend of Kane’s and an Astros consultant, sharing the stage with Katz. Collectively, and fittingly, they hit it out of the park, raising a cool $500,000 for the Foundation, whose “pillars,” Crane said, are “youth baseball, childhood cancer, military appreciation, homelessness and domestic violence.”
But Katz, who’s seemingly headed for anybody’s winemaking hall of fame given his career trajectory to date, threw everybody a curve ball. Although he’s best known for a stunning Malbec made under the Devil Proof label (devilproofvineyards.com) and his Aperture Cabernet Sauvignons, he changed up on the Astros’ behalf, conspiring with three top Russian River Valley vineyards to produce three very limited-edition pinot noirs that honored the three Hall-of-Famers. The wines, each made from a different French oak barrel, were aged for 16 months at Aperture’s new winery outside Healdsburg.
“I have always loved making Pinot Noir,” Katz explained, “and when I was honored with the task of making wine for three Hall-of-Fame baseball players I wanted to get really creative and produce something unique, outside of Aperture’s normal portfolio. Pinot Noir is one of my favorite varieties.”
Bottles signed by Bagwell, Biggio, Jackson, Crane and his wife Whitney were auctioned off during the festivities, which featured dishes prepared by Danny Thrace, executive chef at Crane’s Potente restaurant across from Minute Maid Park. Note that the wines can still be purchased, however, by contacting wineeventrsvp@astros.com.
“We are thrilled to add another exciting, special event to our Astros Foundation calendar,” Crane said. “We continue to be committed to investing in the Houston community and are very appreciative of our fans and corporate partners for supporting this event. It was an exciting night, and I am confident that our guests had a very special Astros experience. Baggy, Craig and Reggie were a big part of the event and we certainly appreciate their time.”
Katz, now 36, was once the youngest head winemaker in California when he took over at Lancaster Estate after having apprenticed in fabled cellars as diverse as Pétrus and Screaming Eagle. He grew up among the vines – mostly in Europe – when his famous photographer father Andy was on shooting assignments. Yep, that’s the “Aperture” connection.
Another Katz label is The Setting Wines (the settingwines.com). In case you missed it like I did, a six-liter bottle of same, the 2019 Glass Slipper Vineyard Cab – the fruit grows in Coombsville – sold for an all-time record $1 million at the Emeril Lagasse Foundation’s Carnivale Du Vin auction in New Orleans last Nov. 6.
As it happens, Katz will be back in town this week to celebrate the release of his 2019 Soil Series cabs, the first vintage to be produced at the winery, with a meet-and-greet at Potente that also includes a five-year vertical tasting of these Sonoma County gems. Since I’m ensconced in France for the next few weeks, I won’t be there. As we say here, “Tant pis!”
A terible reminder: Life ain’t fair
 |
| Mendy’s rose |
In recent years, it seems wine folks have become my closest friends and confidents, whether they’re fellow bloggers, producers, wholesalers, merchants or just savvy drinkers with tastes similar to mine. They are my family. So this is a sad, sad time for me. My buddy Garvin Davis, an indispensable member of my Chronicle tasting panel almost from the beginning, lost his lovely wife Mendy suddenly last week. She was only 50. I can’t imagine Garvin’s grief, or that of their two young daughters, as they are forced to carry on without her.
I never got to spend as much time with Mendy as I would have loved – juggling a career as an M.D. Anderson radiologist and raising kids made her life wonderfully complicated – but I will long treasure the special times we spent together, particularly one fabulous Thanksgiving family feast and an intimate performance by creole jazz great Etienne Charles they hosted at their gorgeous home on behalf of Da Camera. Garvin and Mendy also paid a memorable visit to our Alpine retreat one summer, which ended with a lunch at our favorite albergo just over the border in Italy. Special times, those.
Every flower that we plant this spring – and there will be a lot of them – will pay homage to Mendy’s beauty, inside and out. Unlike her eye-surgeon husband, she didn’t intensely dissect wines, but she definitely shared his appreciation for them. It’s heartbreaking to think I won’t ever again be sharing a special bottle with the both of them.
Sippin’ with Sporty
White
Red
* 2019 Turnbull Reserve Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon – I don’t normally tout wines at such a price point, which is well above my daily drinking price range, but this one was too good not to salute. showing what happens when a great vintage conspires with great terroir and great winemaking. You’ll have to pay a lot more to find a Napa cab that checks this many boxes. Five national critics gave it scores of 90 or higher, including a 95 from the Wine Enthusiast, who praised its “rich berry fruit adorned with a touch of molasses, dried herb and oak” and said it’s deliciously built for the long haul.” In other words, plan to lay the bottle, or bottles down, for a few years for maximum enjoyment. $109.99 at wine.com.
H-town Happenings
* A Spanish Fling with the Bierzo wines of Raúl Perez Pereira – Camerata, Tuesday, May 17. www.camerata.com
* Argentinian Chef’s five-course dinner and wine pairing – Serca Wines Tasting Room, Wednesday, May 18, Thursday, May 19, Thursday, May 26. $235 ($195 for wine club members). http://www.sercawines.com
* Stroll Through Bordeaux Event – Ouisie’s Table, Thursday, May 19. $60 plus tax and gratuity. 713 528-2264.
* La Rioja Alta wine dinner – Truluck’s, Wednesday, May 25. $400. https://trulucks.com/la-rioja-alta-wine-dinner
* Wines from Rioja Experience – The Post Oak Hotel, Thursday, May 26. $199. localwineevents.com
* The Wine Rendezvous Grand Tasting & Chef Showcase – The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, wrapping up Wine & Food Week – Saturday, June 11. $125. wineandfoodweek.com
Follow me
* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy
* Instagram: sportywineguy
* Twitter: @sportywineguy
* Facebook: Dale Robertson
Other folks to follow
* Sandra Crittenden (winelifehouston.com) – Sandra shares her story on the multi-faceted pinot gris/grigio grape that she wrote for Galveston Monthly magazine.
* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – Russ checks in with Carl Money’s Pontotoc Vineyard in Mason County, singling out the 2020 Enchanted Rock Albariño for high praise.
* Jeff Kralik (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Jeff’s latest review of wines that have met his approval of late is an especially fun read.
* Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com) – My podcast partner in crime gives a shout-out to a detour-worthy natural wine shop he recently discovered in Palm Springs. Yes, Palm Springs.
* Katrina Rene (thecorkscrewconcierge.com) – In honor of Mother’s Day, Kat celebrates two respected mother-daughter wine-making teams.
The Sporty Wine Guy 