Pablo Valqui

I first met Pablo Valqui a few years back when he was a fine-food buyer for Spec’s. He became my go-to guy for fancy imported mustards, for example. But one day he wasn’t there anymore and I lost track of him. (Hey, during COVID, I lost track of almost everybody.) But fortuitously we bumped into each other at the Bordeaux tasting downtown a couple weeks ago and that led to a catch-up lunch.      

These days he’s repping wines – Texas’ Newsom Vineyards, to name one – and again planning to lead food-and-wine-centric tours now that the friggin’ pandemic has become less of an obstacle for same. Two trips, both headed to Germany, are on the books for this fall (www.gourmettours.biz) and will be previewed in some detail here today. Why Germany? Valqui’s mother is German and he lived there for a decade, becoming hip to the culture and learning to speak the language fluently. He’s also half-Peruvian, so he’s fluent in Spanish, too. He’s no stranger to French and Italian, either.

I know. Don’t you hate folks like him?

Being equal parts knowledgeable, passionate and people-friendly, Valqui seems like a very fun guy to travel with and that figures to be in the cards for me at some point in the not-too-distant future. We’ve decided to brainstorm a couple of itineraries for possibly as early as next spring that I’ve long wanted to lead through the South of France and Northeast Italy, two places he doesn’t know as intimately as I do.

One figures to start in Lyon, head down the Rhone Valley, then swing through Provence and the Languedoc before wrapping up in Bordeaux. That’s 10/11 days right in my happiness wheelhouse. Another is likely to kick off in Marseille, head to up Aix-en-Provence, the Luberon and the Var, then cut through France’s Southern Alps – yep, my neck of the woods – in route to Italy’s Piemonte, finishing in either Turin or Milan. A biking adventure and a grand aperitif at my house in the Ubaye Valley is certain to be included.  

Intrigued? Keep watching this space.

View from Baden’s Texas Pass

As for Valqui’s pair of German tours, both of which will be limited to 10 guests maximum, the first will start in Munich Sept. 1 and finish there Sept. 11. It will be co-led by Valqui and Chef Johann Schuster, whom you’re likely to remember from his much-loved Charivari restaurant in Midtown. He’ll focus on places that shaped his personal culinary career from Munich to Manheim to Freiberg to Luxembourg, with several stops in between. Collaborations with chef friends are in the mix and copious amounts of wine will be tasted in Baden, the Mosel Valley – a river cruise is on the docket – and even Luxembourg, the wines from which are also gaining traction internationally.

The price is $6,850 and is all-inclusive (food, wine, transit, etc.) save for the airfare to and from Munich, easily reached from Houston via Lufthansa and United nonstops, although the latter’s flight has had some cancellation issues of late, which I experienced firsthand in April.         

The second trip will be Sept. 15-24 and is called the “Wines and Shrines of Germany Tour,” which he’s marketing it to foodies, oenophiles and Catholics. A priest friend of Valqui’s, Father John Torres, will be leading this voyage of discovery, to include a mass led by the Archbishop of Cologne himself, followed by a private rooftop tour of the city’s famed 12^th-century Gothic cathedral, home to a shrine of relics connected to the Three Magi among its many wonders. Wine regions on the docket are the Ahr and Mosel (I headed straight to the latter on my first-ever visit to Europe in the 1980s), plus the Rheingau and the Pfalz, followed by a five-day journey through Bavaria, where some beer just might get sampled.

The tariff for this adventure is $6,500, which also includes everything except airfare to and from Germany. Again, check out Valqui’s Gourmet Tours website for a far more detailed description of the myriad wonderful things you’ll be seeing and tasting along the way. And, to learn more about his personal journey to Houston, here’s a link to an interview he did with highdrive.tv: https://www.highdrive.tv/businessmakers/pablo-valqui-gourmet-tours/

Sippin’ with Sporty

Rosé

2021 Maris – This delightful biodynamic Pays d’Oc pink was first introduced to me by a friend in France. Then damned if I didn’t find it on the shelf at Spec’s in Midtown – for only $14.99! Winemaker Robert Eden’s certified-organic grenache grapes are grown in the Languedoc-Roussillon and the wine is made in what the Englishman Eden, who took over the Maris property 20 years ago (chateaumaris.com), says is the only cellar anywhere constructed entirely with hemp blocks. Because of hemp’s geothermal properties, it doesn’t need a heating or cooling system, making the facility, which contains no plastic, paint or chemicals of any kind, not only energy self-sufficient but also one of the very few carbon-negative constructions in the world.

White

2021 Fiddlehead Cellars Grüner Veltliner – Austria meets the Santa Rita Hills in this relatively new white (second vintage) from Fiddlehead’s owner/winemaker Kathy Joseph. Fermented in a combination of French oak and stainless steel, it tastes of jasmine and white pepper an d couldn’t be more well-suited for summer sipping. Joseph is a for-real pioneer in the Santa Barbara area, where she was one of the first women winemakers, founding her winery (fiddleheadcellars.com) in 1989, originally focusing on site-driven pinot noir and sauvignon blanc. Today she she makes her many wines, which include several from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, in what she calls the Lompoc “wine ghetto” while running the business from more centrally located Davis.      

Red

2017 Newsom Vineyards Tempranillo Texas High Plains – Full discloser: This was a gift from Valqui, but it stands just fine on its own merits. Neal Newsom’s tempranillo vines were the first of the varietal to be planted in the state back in 2001 and they have certainly withstood the text of time. I think it’s Texas best across-the-board red grape period today and Newsom’s is a prime example of what it the grape has to offer, which is to say gobs of delicious red fruit. Newsom’s 148 vineyard acres near the New Mexico border are at 3,700 feet in elevation. Nineteen varietals are planted, supplying fruit to a dozen Texas wineries. The wine can be purchased for $34.95 online (newsomvineyards.com) or at the Newsom tasting room inside  The Empty Glass Texas Tasting Room & Wine Bar (theemptyglass.com) in Tomball. While I’m at it, I’d also like to give a hearty shout-out to Wedding Oak Winery for its 2019 Reserve Sangiovese, although that one is available only to Wedding Oak’s club members (weddingoakwinery.com). Consider joining just to get your hands on it!     

H-town Happenings

* Ninth Birthday Celebration – Camerata, Sunday, July 10. 4 p.m. until closing. 713 522-8466 or cameratahouston.com.

Follow me

* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy

* Instagram: sportywineguy

* Twitter: @sportywineguy

* Facebook: Dale Robertson

Other folks to follow

* Sandra Crittenden (winelifehouston.com) – Sandra shares a piece she wrote for Galveston magazine breaking down Oregon wine country’s newly designated sub-regions.

* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – Russ touts his new Specialist of Texas wine certification class scheduled for mid-September and also announces that he’ll be offering a first-ever Level 2 Certification program this fall, now that there are almost 200 folks who have earned Level 1 certification.       

* Jeff Kralik (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Jeff shares the story he wrote for the Fort Bend Focus on Ancient Peaks Winery in Paso Robles.

* Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com)  – My podcast partner in crime wants you to join him for upcoming events at the Boulder (Colorado) Wine Merchant on July 6 and for a Prosecco lecture/tasting at Fort Worth’s Amon Carter Museum on July 14. The latter happens to be his birthday, too, so there might be cake!    

* Katrina Rene (the corkscrew concierge) – Kat has seven rosés to try that she guarantees will make Houston’s summertime heat more sufferable.   

It’s not exactly breaking news to contend that proper storage is really important for aging wines, but I had an experience at a friend’s house in France that re-emphasized same at an almost miraculous level.

To celebrate our both having survived hip replacements, Louis decided to open two of his oldest Bordeaux bottles, a 1972 Château Les Ormes-de-Pez and a 1978 Château Phélan Ségur, both from St. Éstephe and classified as Cru Bourgeois Exceptional wines these days. Not for a nanosecond did I think either would be drinkable and the crumbling corks seemingly confirmed same. But the color of the wines was encouraging and, against all odds, they went down nicely, having retained a measure of fruit despite their advanced years and serious problems with their respective vintages.

The former is still considered one of the worst ever in Bordeaux while the latter is often referred to as the “miracle” vintage because so little was expected early on. But the grapes rallied because of perfect pre-harvest weather in September and many wonderful wines resulted.    

Still, most critics will tell you nothing good could have happened to either wine since the turn of the century, no matter how well they were cared for. But because Louis’ natural underground cellar, located beneath his 200-year-old farmhouse in the Ubaye Valley, offers ideal temperature and humidity levels, nothing bad happened to them, either. What a treat to taste!

As it happens, there’s a case of the ’72 Ormes de Pez for sale on line at an Asian website for $942 (sg.cruworld.com). It would be a risky purchase, though, without detailed storage history over half a century.

A much safer option, to be sure, will be the 2019. In an odd twist of fate, I found out Wednesday that the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux was kicking off its North American tour to showcase the new releases at the Corinthian downtown Thursday evening. (Remember, I’d been in France myself for two months and was a bit out of the loop.) Upon entering the exhibition space, the first bottle that caught my eye, and I’m not making this up, was the Ormes de Pez, which is owned by the Cazes family of Lynch-Bages fame.

Minutes later, an old friend fortuitously flagged me down. It just so happens that Pamela Wittman represents Phélan Ségur in the U.S. C’est parfait!

It’s not often one gets a chance to compare notes on the same wines separated by half a century. The “babies” were predictably compelling and have the added advantage of representing a better vintage than their ancestors, although 2019 wasn’t without its issues, too. The sultry, Houston-hot early summer days gave cause for concern, but heavy rain in late July eased tensions. Every wine I tasted, the aforementioned included, checked most of the requisite boxes. Overall, the Bordeaux Union itself has scored the vintage 3.5 on a 5-point scale.

When the 2019s are released later this year, I’ll be first in line to purchase both the Ormes de Pez and the Phélan Ségur. It’s a given bottles of each will make their way back to Louis. But to be drunk, not cellared, this time.

Neither of us are getting any younger.

Explore the wineries’ respective stories at phelansegur.com and ormesdepez.com.    

A tradition continues

Elton Slone

Early in my tenure as the Houston Chronicle’s wine columnist, I enjoyed a memorable dinner with a jovial fellow named Robert Craig, a Houston-area native of who had made his way to San Francisco while serving in the Coast Guard, fell in love with wine and ultimately became the Hess Collection CEO before launching his own eponymous winery.

“I’m the most famous winemaker ever to come out of Dickinson, Texas,” Craig said, chuckling.

Robert Craig wines are still around, although Bob, sadly, isn’t. He retired from the business in 2012 and, after battling Parkinson’s Disease for years, passed away in 2019. But his former partner turned successor, Elton Slone, shares Craig’s joie d’vivre, also making him delightful dinner companion, and he has done wonders for the brand, which continues to showcase some of Napa Valley’s finest mountain fruit.

Craig had led efforts to gain official recognition for both the Mount Veeder and Spring Mountain District AVAs and had himself put down roots high up on Howell Mountain when, in 1992, his partnership purchased 25 prime acres at the summit. The winery remains headquartered there today, although it has a lovely new tasting room in the city of Napa.     

Slone’s roots are in Indiana, no more of a proving ground for vintners than the upper Texas Gulf Coast. But he landed a job in a wine bar in Bloomington during college and one of his regular customers, who became something of a wine mentor, was the rocker John Mellencamp.

“His studio was practically next door,” Slone said. “He kept me on my toes. He knew his stuff.”

Slone tasted me through a half-dozen Robert Craig wines at a’Bouzy one evening this week while digressing sufficiently on other topics – we share a passion for cycling, European travel and Barolo – to hang out for nearly four hours. Hey, time flies when you’re drinking well, right?

The quality of the cabs didn’t surprise me in the least, but the 2019 Gap’s Crown Vineyard Chardonnay and the 2018 Howell Mountain Black Sears Vineyard Zinfandel were wonderful discoveries. Note that the latter, which spends 18 months in French oak (half of it new) and is bottled unfined and unfiltered, is my “Sippin’-with-Sporty” red tout for today. Truth to tell, it’s one of the most interesting zins I’ve ever had the pleasure of sampling.            

Sippin’ with Sporty

Rosé

2020 de Négoce Rosé of Sangiovese – This is a simply delicious pink wine, redolent with melon and red fruit on the nose and offering both in spades on the palate, too. The Alexander Valley fruit was direct pressed and the juice then spent time in stainless steel for both fermentation and aging. It’s a steal for the sale price of $13 at denegoce.com

White

2021 Clockwise Sauvignon Blanc – A MacRostie wine from the Sonoma Coast, it’s  aromatic and nicely textured.  The juice fermented in stainless steel and didn’t undergo malolactic fermentation. These days the winemaking decisions are made by Heidi Bridenhagen, but the winery’s founder, Steve MacRostie, whose roots in his neighborhood date to the mid-1970s, remains a hands-on owner. $30 at macrostiewinery.com

Red

2019 Robert Craig Black Sears Vineyard Zinfandel Howell Mountain – Slone proudly calls the Black Sears plot, located atop Howell Mountain at some 2,400 feet of elevation, “without a doubt the best zinfandel vineyard in the world” and I can’t argue after tasting this gem. It’s fittingly sold in a Rhone-style bottle because, truth to tell, it could pass for a great syrah from that region. Fewer than 300 cases were made, however, so $65 (store.robertcraig.com) is a reasonable price to pay. As it happened, I would taste a Turley Howell Mountain Zinfandel Saturday and found it similarly smashing. It’s shame so many zin vines at elevation are disappearing because cabernet generates much higher profit margins. Follow the money . . .   

H-town Happenings

* Ninth Birthday Celebration – Camerata, Sunday, July 10. 4 p.m. until closing. 713 522-8466 or cameratahouston.com

Follow me

* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy

* Instagram: sportywineguy

* Twitter: @sportywineguy

* Facebook: Dale Robertson

Other folks to follow

* Sandra Crittenden (winelifehouston.com) – Sandra gives us the lowdown on Oregon wine country’s newly designated  sub-regions.

* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – Russ’ latest Texas Fine Wine Tasting Stop is Bingham Family Vineyards: “Texas farmer discovers terroir in High Plains Dirt; You can too!”

* Jeff Kralik (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Jeff writes about shrugging off the effects of maddening flight delays (Italian air traffic controllers were on strike) to explore the new Garda DOC surrounding the gorgeous lake of the same name.

 * Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com)  – My podcast partner in crime shares the news that the Union of Communes of the Langa Hills and Barolo has commissioned a study of a potential ban on tourist traffic between the villages of Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, and Monforte d’Alba, proposing to institute an electric shuttle instead. Hmm . . . I know those roads well and have never found them to be particularly congested. Of course, I haven’t there lately during truffle season.

* Katrina Rene (thecorkscrewconcierge.com) – Kat proposes seven rosés to help us beat the heat. Two of them, the Minuty “M” and the Hampton Waters are always on my short list of favorites. The latter is a collaboration between the Languedoc vintner Gerard Bertrand and the rocker, Jon Bon Jovi. They met when Bon Jovi performed at Bertrand’s summer jazz festival, which remains a bucket list event for me.    

Rafa! 14 times a French champion

My Sporty Wine Guy handle notwithstanding, this is supposed to be a wine blog and in a sense it is because I’m raising a glass to the greatest sports warrior ever. Ever.    

Because Rafael Nadal’s 14 French Open titles in 17 years is also the single greatest sporting achievement ever.

Nadal won the first of them at the age of 19 (I was there) in his debut at Roland Garros when he took down No. 1-ranked Roger Federer in the semifinals. He won his most recent Sunday at 36, beating a player, Casper Ruud, some 13 years his junior, in three lopsided sets. He’s 40-1 on the red clay in Paris since 2016, the tournament during which he turned 30.

And Rafa is now playing on a that’s foot so messed up he needed to two anesthetic injections before every match over the last two weeks. He admitted he couldn’t feel his foot at all while he was on the court.

And, because of same, this may have been Nadal’s swan song. Nothing and nobody is forever. He said he won’t go to such extreme lengths again, so a forced retirement possibly looms.

“If I am able to play with anti-inflammatories, yes; to play with anesthetic injections, no,” he said. “I don’t want to put myself in that position again. Can happen once but is not a philosophy of life I want to follow. My tennis career has been a priority during all my life but never a priority over my happiness.”

Again, ponder the numbers – 14 titles in 17 years on tennis’ toughest surface. That’s sick. He began his Roland Garros run with four consecutive championships and was 31-0 until Robin Sodering stunned him in the fourth round in 2009. Nadal got his revenge by beating Sodering in the finals the next year and then the quarters in 2011 in route to five consecutive titles. He had won another 39 matches in a row before top-ranked Novak Djokovic took him out in the 2015 finals.

Djokovic, again ranked No. 1, also beat him last year in an epic four-set semifinal. And their four-set quarterfinal this spring required more than four hours before Nadal prevailed in the wee hours Thursday – while effectively playing on one foot that he knew for certain was under him.

Djokovic, who can be arrogant, conceded afterward that he had lost to the better player. He was right, too, although the Serb has 30 victories to Nadal’s 29 in their unrivaled 59-match rivalry.

Facing the player many wrongly consider tennis’ GOAT, Roger Federer, Nadal is 24-16.

And, speaking of GOATs, football’s Tom Brady, whose seven Super Bowl rings ranks way, way up there on any list of sporting accomplishments as well, wrote in a Time magazine essay – even before Nadal had again prevailed in Paris – that the Spaniard inspires him. (time.com › 6177746 › rafael-nadal)

To quote Brady: “I admire athletes who push themselves to the limit, and I’m absolutely inspired every time Rafa takes the court. There’s something to be learned from watching his determination, his strategy, everything that it takes for him to never take any moment for granted. He’s forever going to be remembered as one of the very best athletes in all of sports.”

Well, you’re close, Tom. Nadal is THE very best. Salut, Rafa!  

#Sad

As much as I enjoy my long escapes to France’s Southern Alps, it comes with a price. Lots of very cool wine people come through Houston and I miss out on opportunities to converse with them while tasting their wines. It happened again this week with Margherita Manetti visiting from Tuscany and hosting a dinner at the new Concura Italian Bites Wednesday evening.  

Her family, which has been in the tile business there for three centuries, has also owned Fontodi, one of very the best Chianti houses, since 1968. Her father, Giovanni, is into his second three-year term as the chairman of the Vino Chianti Classico Consortium, Italy’s oldest such organization.

The Fontodi story (fontodi.com) is fascinating and the wines, particularly the Super Tuscan Flaccianello della Pieve, can be exceptional. The estate in Panzano covers 320 acres with 200 of them – certified organic – planted to vine. The Manettis also have 100 acres of olive trees and their own herd of prized Chianina cattle, whose manure is repurposed as organic compost. As for the tile business, their terracotta from furnaces in Greve is so valued that it was chosen for the restoration of Florence’s famed Duomo and also covers the floor of the Botticelli room in the Uffizi Palace.

In other words, Margherita has many wonderful stories to share and I hate missing out on hearing them, especially considering she may well be the first representative of the Fontodi winery ever to pass through H-town. I haven’t yet dined at Concura, but I’d highly recommend attending her dinner on the strength of the wines alone.

Fortunately, I will be back in time to catch up with Salvatore Ferragamo, who chose to be a winemaker rather than a shoemaker. You’ve heard of his family’s footwear business, right? Ferragamo was here back in 2019 when we first met and he’s returning to host a  dinner at Roma Saturday, June 25. (ilborrowines.it)      

Congrats, Wedding Oak!

A rosé I very much hope to sample soon, the 2021 Castanet from Wedding Oak Winery in San Saba, claimed a double gold medal and earned a 97-point score at the 2022 Experience Rosé Competition, which featured pink wines from around the globe (although the vast majority of the wines were California in origin) and is the largest such exclusively rose taste-off held in the U.S.

Mike McHenry, Wedding Oak’s managing partner, said winemaker Seth Urbanek “created Castanet in the traditional method using cinsault grapes from the Texas High Plains. The fruit was harvested at the ideal acidity and ripeness for rosé winemaking, pressed immediately, and cold fermented. The result is a beautiful rosé. Our customers love this wine as much as the judges.” 

The judges described the Castanet as having a “lovely aroma with papaya character. It’s mouth-filling and unusually rich feeling.”

The Castenet, which sells for $30 at its three tasting rooms in San Saba, Frederickburg and Burnet or on line at weddingoakwinery.com, was the lone Texas rosé to medal and would be one of just 15 overall to earn double golds. Only four wines received higher scores, led by the 2021 Russian River Vineyards Wedge Family Vineyard Rosé of Petite Sirah Fountaingrove District with a 99.

Now in its fifth year, the competition was held in Santa Rosa, Calif., in early May. Winemakers, sommeliers, retail buyers, wine educators and journalists served as judges.     

The highest-rated double golds, their scores and their prices:

99: 2021 Russian River Vineyards Wedge Family Vineyard Rosé of Petite Sirah Fountaingrove District ($35 at shoprussianrivervineyards.com)

98: 2021 Alapay Cellars Beachtown Blush Central Coast ($34 at alapaycellars.com), 2021 Carol Shelton Wines Wild Thing Rendezvous Rose Mendocino County ($19 at carolshelton.com), 2021 Pelio Estate Vineyards Pinot Noir Rosé Carmel Valley ($24 at pelioestate.com)

97: 2021 Russian River Vineyards Gianna May Rosé of Pinot Noir Green Valley ($35 at shop.russianrivervineyards.com), 2021 Moniz Family Wines Rose California ($16 at monizfamilywines.com), 2021 Oak Farm Vineyards Rosé Lodi Single Vineyard ($26 at oakfarmvineyards.com), 2021 Wedding Oak Winery Castanet Texas High Plains ($30 at weddingoakwinery.com)  

Sippin’ with sporty 

This segment of the blog is on hold under I return to Houston because all of the fun wines I’ve been drinking of late that I haven’t already spoken of in previous posts are things that can’t be found in Houston, or even the U.S. Nothing used to frustrate me more than reading about a fabulous this or that in, say, the Wine Spectator, then being laughed at when I went looking for it at Spec’s.

But, having said all that, I’ve enjoyed three wines recently that at least deserve a shout-out, the 2018 Domaine Allemand Ma Couvée Rouge from the IGP Hautes-Alpes – the lovely vineyards and winery are about 30 minutes west of my place – the 2021 Chateau Magnan Rose from the Coteaux d’Aix En Provence and the non-vintage Jacques Copin Brut Tradition Champagne. All were excellent . . . but good luck finding them in Texas.       

I’m told by my house-sitters, however, that I’ve got a pretty big backlog of samples that have arrived in my absence so I’ll be tasting and reviewing as fast as I can get those boxes open, I promise.

 H-town Happenings

* Fontodi wine dinner with Margherita Manetti – Concura Italian Bites, Wednesday, June 8. $185.  www.concurahouston.com

* Vino Vinyasa yoga class – Hilton Americas Houston, Saturday June 11. $30. 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 

* Il Borro wine dinner with Salvatore Ferragamo – Roma, Saturday, June 25.  $125. 713 664-7581 or bit.lyRomaIlBorro.

Follow me

* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy

* Instagram: sportywineguy

* Twitter: @sportywineguy

* Facebook: Dale Robertson

 Other folks to follow

* Sandra Crittenden (winelifehouston.com) – Sandra, who is touring Italy’s Abruzzo wine region this week, shares a piece she wrote for Galveston magazine on aromatic white wines.

* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – The Texaswineslinger touts the multiple merits of Messina Hof’s 2019 Sagrantino Reserva, one of the state’s consistently best reds. Drinking it, he suggests, transports you to Umbria — without any COVID-testing hassles. In other words, a #winwin   

* Jeff Kralik (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Speaking of big rosé tastings . . . Jeff insists the one he conducts annually at his home is the largest American “True Rosé Tasting” anywhere. You’ve got to go to his site, however, to hear it from the horse’s mouth why he makes this claim. He singles out six for high praise, including a couple of Texas entries.   

* Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com)  – My podcast partner-in-crime is running through his best dining experiences during his recent trip to the Piemonte to teach at the Slow Food University.   

* Katrina Rene (thecorkscrewconcierge.com) – Kat provides a comprehensive rundown of Texas wine events in June.   

OK, I’m guilty as accused. I’ve been a bit remiss about posting anything fresh lately, but I’ve got a damned good excuse. I’ve been on the road again, first visiting Italy’s Piemonte, then the Luberon and the Var in the South of France. Hence, today’s missive focuses on three superb destinations for wine tasting – and sleeping amongst the vines.

Cascina Baràc on the outskirts of Alba, was a totally random find, courtesy of hotels.com. Now, more often than not, it’s going to be my new home-away-from-home when I’m visiting Barolo-Barbaresco country, home to the most remarkable vine-covered landscape I’ve yet encountered anywhere. Although less than 10 minutes by car from the Piazzo Duomo, Alba’s epicenter, Bàrac’s beautifully restored century-old farmhouse offers the feel of a remote country hideaway, nestled as it is in a gorgeous natural amphitheater of organically farmed Barbaresco vineyards.  

About half of the property’s 60 acres are dedicated to grape-growing and it isn’t just for show. Tenuta Baràc is a working winery, making besides Barbaresco, a Barolo, a Nebbiolo d’Alba, a Barbera d’Alba, a Nebbiolo Rosato and an Arneis. All  represent terrific value and can be enjoyed on site with dinner or, if you’re so inclined, the outstanding full breakfast included in the price of the room. In short, there’s no need to drink and drive.

But it goes without saying you’ll want to explore the neighborhood.

Aside from the proximity to Alba, the village of Barbaresco is maybe 10 minutes to the east and that’s only if you get stuck behind a tractor. There, in the heart of tiny town near Angelo Gaja’s headquarter compound, the Antica Torre has long been a favorite trattoria of mine, offering the requisite lineup of perfectly executed Piemontese specialties. Back in Alba, there’s no beating La Piola, located on the Piazza Duomo below the three-starred Michelin resto of the same name. Both are owned by the Ceretto wine family and share rock-star chef Enrico Crippa’s culinary vision.

Foodies, take note: Greater Alba has more Michelin stars on a per capita basis than any locale in the world.                

Mas de Puyvert

If Provence appeals to you – If? Really? – you must check out Saint-Pierre de Mejans a short drive to the northwest of Aix-en-Provence in a quiet corner of the Luberon, which is to say Peter Mayle (“A Year In Provence”) country. This was a different kind of find in that I’ve known the wines for some time but have only recently come to be friends with the proprietors, Wendy and Jean-Marc Gobbi, and just this weekend has their 12^th-century chateau begun offering rooms for let. There are four, all uniquely and gorgeously decorated and named for the four estate’s four primary grape varieties: Viognier, Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault.

The majestically landscaped grounds are home to what was a priory in the Middle Ages – its known history goes back as far as 1118, the year referenced on the new rosé bottle label – and somewhat more modern residence the Gobbis call their “farmhouse.” Capable of hosting six to eight people, the Mas de Puyvert offers an expansive living area, a full kitchen, four bedrooms, two baths and a private pool, all just a short stroll from the caveau, where an old-vines red, a white, a rosé and oil made from estate-grown olives are on offer at prices that will tempt you to buy them by the case.

Wendy Heinicken Gobbi

Better still, Wendy is one of us. A Houston-area native, she graduated from Kingwood High School and the University of Texas. After deciding early on that the corporate world wasn’t for her, she headed to France and has lived there for much of her adventuresome adult life, truly grasping what joie d’vivremeans. Husband Jean-Marc is a career educator and the founder of a renowned international school in Aix.

Although the Gobbis don’t offer on-site dining, myriad options abound in the area.  A restaurant they introduced me to in Aix not far from the Cours Mirabou called Le Pigonnet – it’s also a lovely hotel – offers one of the most appealing al fresco dining experiences anywhere. The Provençal cuisine and the ambience are equal parts exceptional. But book well in advance. The tables can be hard to come by once spring has sprung.

Less than an hour and a half to the east, in the heart of the Var and the Côtes-de-Provence AOC, is the Château La Mascaronne, a  150-acre property first brought to prominence by another American, Tom Bove, but now owned by the hotelier/entrepreneur/vigneron Michel Reybier, who made his first huge splash in the wine world around the turn of the century when he purchased Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux’s St. Èstephe region.

Reybier believes just as strongly in La Mascaronne’s potential because of its spot-on terroir about 20 miles inland from St. Tropez, near the bustling market town of Le Luc. He thinks bottles of its signature rosé could one day become as coveted as those from his Bordeaux chateau, rated a Second Growth property in the legendary Classification of 1855. La Mascaronne’s white, a fresh and lively vermentino-semillon blend, and the fruity red, made from syrah and cabernet, aren’t to be taken lightly, either.

Nathalie Longefay

My renewed interest in the winery, whose wines have been imported to Houston by French Country Wines in Rice Village for many years, stemmed from the news that Reybier had involved Tony Parker in the project. Right, that Tony Parker, who won four NBA championships during his 17 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs while vastly expanded his wine knowledge tasting with his coach, Gregg Popovich, an oenophile of the first rank. Both Parker and Reybier, in turn, hail from Lyon, arguably France’s culinary capital and home to the French pro hoops teams Parker owns.

“We share a passion for wine – but also for sport,” Reybier said. Parker, for his part added, “The plan to move forward on a common project was obvious. I am committed to investing myself alongside him and taking these exceptional wines and champagnes (Reybier has a major presence there as well) to the next level.”

Parker wasn’t on site the day I visited, but an hour spent with La Mascaronne’s super-savvy technical director, Nathalie Longefay, told me the Reybier-Parker partnership is being well-tended-to at an organic level, pardon my pun. Longefay, whose family goes five generations deep in Beaujolais wine country, is a fountain of knowledge. Having previously consulted for Bove – a former Naval officer turned vintner and also the guy who sold Miraval to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2012 before taking on a major restoration at La Mascaronne – she knows these rocky, limestone-rich vineyards intimately.

Like St. Pierre de Mejan’s castle, the Bastide on site, restored by Bove before he moved in, is available for renting in its entirety or by the room. It’s got a pool, too. Of course it does. It’s in Provence.

Then there’s La Mascaroone’s ultra-modern sister property, La Réserve Ramatuelle, a five-star destination only an hour away on the Mediterranean shore near St. Tropez, yet a world removed from the coastal hullaballoo. In a word, or three . . . Oh la la! Next time I’m headed that way . . .

 Websites:

* Cascina Bàrac – barac.it

* Château St. Pierre de Mejans/ Mas de Puyvert – saintpierredemejans.com

* Château La Mascaronne – chateau-lamascaronne.com

* La Réserve Ramatuelle – lareserveramatuelle.com

Sippin’ with sporty

Rosé

* 2020 Château La Mascaronne Rosé – Pink perfection, folks. Nothing else to say. This was Reybier’s first vintage as owner and it proved to be an exceptional one. Both fruity and flinty and full of lively minerality, this blend of Cotes-de-Provence cinsault (35 percent), grenache (35), syrah (20) and vermentino is as elegant and expressive as rosé gets. The Tasting Book gave it a 95-point rating. $30 at French Country Wines. (Happily, I’ve got a couple bottles of the 2021 in my possession here in France and it’s a gem, too!)        

  

 Red

* 2020 Domaine Richard Rottiers Moulin-a-Vent – The organically-grown, hand-harvested gamay grapes for this tasty (red fruit and spices), aromatic (violets) Beaujolais Grand Cru, which aged in tuns and barrels for six months before bottling are from nine different plots around the Moulin à Vent AOC. Robert Parker’s Wine Adovocate called it “a benchmark cuvée for the appellation, awarding a score of 93. The widely-traveled Rottiers launched the estate in Romanèche-Thorins in 2007, which had almost five acres of 40- to 80-year-old vines to build upon. In 2012, he became fully organic. $30.99 at wine.com.

H-town Happenings

* 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

* Five-Course Argentinian dinner paired with SERCA wines – Thursday, May 26, at Serca Wines tasting room. sercawines.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 aromatic white wines – German rieslings and Alsatian gewurztraminers, to name a couple – that she wrote for Galveston Monthly magazine.  

* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – Russ explains in the ins and outs of Rioja while noting that its signature varietal, tempranillo, has been a huge hit in Texas, too.  

* Jeff Kralik (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Jeff features six wines from Oregon’s Willamette Valley that captured his attention in a recent Zoom tasting conducted by the Willamette Valley Wineries Association (WVWA) to showcase three of the region’s newest AVAs.     

* Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com)  – My podcast partner-in-crime contemplates Italian wines’ status in the American market these days.   

* Katrina Rene (thecorkscrewconcierge.com) – Kat gives us the lowdown on her favorite Texas rosés.

 

 

  

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

* 2020 Gérard Bertrand Change Sauvignon – Despite the bargain tariff, this bright, lively citrus-flavored aperitif-perfect wine is made from grapes grown in Pays d’Oc vineyards that are either already 100-percent organic or will be in the near future. Few larger producers in the world are as dedicated to biodynamic grape-growing as Bertrand, a former French rugby star whose father was a legendary vigneron in the Languedoc.  A similarly pleasing chardonnay-sauvignon blend also exists in the French market. $15.99 at wines.com

Rosé

* 2020 Chateau De Berne Inspiration Cotes de Provence – There’s a lot going on in this delightful classic Provençal pink from the 1,500-acre Berne estate about 25 inland from St. Tropez, near the village of Lorgues. You’ll taste a lovely mélange of herbs and fresh strawberries on the palate. Wine has been made on the property since the 18^th century. Today, it’s home to a five-star “Relais & Chateaux” hotel, among other amenities. $21.99 at wines.com

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.