I’ve been asked by the Chronicle to come up with a short list of local restaurants that even in these inflationary times continue to offer serious bang for the buck when it comes to their wine pricing. As soon as that story runs in the paper’s Flavor section, I’ll post it here. But . . . spoiler alert: Far and away the best value can be found at my buddy Bill Floyd’s Porta’Vino spots in the Heights and The Woodlands. Never mind that they’re BYOB venues, too. That defines the best of both worlds!

Also, starting with my next blog, I’m going to resume letting some of our best sommeliers weigh in on their wine-list favorites as I did for many years in my weekly missive for the Chron. We’ve got too much collective wine talent in H-town to leave it voiceless. However, one of my wine colleagues is hardly voiceless. It seems that Angelo Ferrari, co-founder CEO of the Houston-based Beviamo International LLC, is also an accomplished opera singer, and the man from Brescia will be performing Tuesday night during a pairing dinner at Alba, the lovely Italian resto in the Granduca Hotel. Needless to day, I’m much looking forward to what’s certain to be one of the most unique winner dinners ever.

The eclectic, Italy-centric (obviously) Beviamo portfolio is built around boutique producers. Ferrari and I have bonded over wine, of course, but he’s also a serious cyclist, so we’ve had our share of Tour de France conversations, too.

Kudos!

Each of the wineries that make up the Texas Fine Wine group have recently copped major honors at international wine competitions:

Bending Branch Winery: Won double gold for its 2019 Estate Tannat, Lost Pirogue Vineyard at the 2022 San Francisco International Wine Competition; double gold for its 2019 Texas Cabernet Sauvignon at the 2023 Houston Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition; and double golds for its 2019 Mourvèdre, Desert Willow Vineyards and 2019 Tannat, Tallent Vineyards at the 2023 San Antonio Rodeo International Wine Competition.

Pedernales Cellars: Won two Jefferson Cups at the 2022 Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition, one for its 2018 Block Zero, the most recent vintage of its merlot-cabernet sauvignon-sangiovese-tannat-malbec blend from Kuhlken Vineyards, and for its 2020 Texas High Plains Grenache. The Block Zero also won a double gold at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.

Spicewood Vineyards: Won a Jefferson Cup for its 2019 Tandem. The winery won double golds at the San Antonio Rodeo competition for its 2018 Syrah (Texas Class Champion), 2019 Tandem and 2019 The Independence.

Sippin’ with Sporty

I’ve been heavy into reds of late — tis the season — so today is a red letter day. You’ll notice a crazy price range here, but they’re all terrific for holiday gift-giving and/or imbibing.

2019 Domaine Bousquet Cabernet Sauvignon Tupungato/Uco Valley

This fruit-forward cab from organically farmed mile-high vineyards satisfies the palate and the wallet in equal parts. There wasn’t a vine in sight when third-generation winemaker Jean Bousquet fell in love with the property in the Gualtallary Valley near the Chilean border when he first saw it while on vacation in 1990, but the Frenchman’s vision paid off handsomely. The critic James Suckling scored the wine a 91. $15.99 at http://wine.com

2020 C. L. Butaud Texas Tempranillo

The 2019 vintage of this 100-percent Texas-grown tempranillo earned an 88+ from the Wine Advocate and made history by becoming the first Texas wine acknowledged by Robert Parker’s platform. Representing an even greater reliance on the outstanding Farmhouse Vineyard in Brownfield, winemaker Randy Hester’s world-class 2020 should score even higher. $54 at http://clbutaud.com

2019 Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon

At this price, of course it should be good. If there was ever a California cab worthy of a 100-point score, the Cardinale is it. Back in 1983, the visionary Jess Jackson tapped into the premium fruit at Kendall-Jackson’s Lakeport winery — the original vineyard was called Cardinale — and the rest is history. Hillside vineyards in both Napa and Sonoma County provide the cabernet and merlot fruit these days and rock-star winemaker Chris Carpenter then ages his wine in new French oak. Both Suckling and Jeb Dunnuck scored it a 98. I think they’re two points low. $369.99 at http://wine.com

2019 Spottswoode Lyndenhurst Cabernet Sauvignon — I tasted the Lyndenhurst side by side with the Cardinale and there wasn’t a dramatic drop-off despite the dramatically different price points. All the Bordeaux varietals are in this second wine from the Spottswoode folks. It’s a complex, elegant wine and medium-bodied with a lengthy satisfying finish. $89.99 at http://wine.com

2019 Aridus Graciano

The outlier in the group hails from Arizona’s Cochise County and it’s a gem. While the 16.6 percent alcohol content may seem alarming, the wine is as balanced as it can be. Graciano is best known as a blending grape in Spain’s Rioja, which is just as hot and arid to Arizona, but the intensely flavored Aridus proves how nicely it stands on its own. $46 at http://aridiuswineco.com

H-town happenings

Stellenbosch Red & Wine Dinner: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13. Astor Farm to Table, Katy. http://astorfarmtotable.com $89 http://eventbrite.com

Wine 101 tasting class: 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17. Chef Bernadette’s Place. http://bernadettesplacellc.com $79. http://eventbrite.com

JMP Wine Night Featuring Orin Swift Wines: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19. JMP Wines Tasting Room, Humble. http://jmpwines.com $70. http://eventbrite.com

Pop-Up Wine Night: 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12. Serca Wines. http://sercawines.com $35. http://eventbright.com

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Others to follow

Jeremy Parzen (http://dobianchi.com): My podcast partner in crime pays tribute to one of his favorite cities and one of mine, too — Torino, or Turin as we Americans call it. He’s there this week hustling up some wine business. I spent 17 glorious days in the city covering the 2006 Winter Olympics for the Houston Chronicle.

Sandra Crittenden (http://winelifehouston.com): Sandra offers up 10 pinot noirs you need to try now, sharing an inciteful piece she wrote for Galveston magazine.

Russ Kane (http://vintagetexas.com): The Texas Wineslinger goes deep with Hill Country winemaker Doug Lewis about a very special wine for him, the 2012 Round Mountain Vineyard Reserve.

Jeff Kralick (http://thedrunkencyclist.com): Jeff shares his favorite wines of late, an eclectic mix as always.

Katrina Rene (http://thecorkscrewconcierge.com): Having returned from a whirlwind couple weeks of globe-trotting, Kat focuses on Texas wine happenings during the holiday season.

The Sports Page

Raising a glass to . . . Brittney Greiner

What an obscene ordeal she was made to endure, but she’ll be fine. Can’t wait to watch her hoop again.

And to . . . the Texans

For providing such wonderful comic relief in these stressful times. They have perfected ineptitude.

A friend who isn’t overly savvy about the vast and wonderful world of wine asked for help the other night, requesting a short list of my go-to daily-drinking bottles. She has tasted enough with me to know my palate is reasonably trustworthy and she didn’t want to get bogged down in geeky details.

“Please,” she said, “just tell me what you like and how much it costs.”

OK, here goes . . .

When it comes to bubbles, Kirkland’s pink Prosecco (under $10) and Brut Champagne (under $20) at Costco can’t be beat. They’re well-made and offer remarkable value. If I’m feeling fancy, however, I default to either the Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Brut or the Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve, both of which can be found for under $50. Having said that, I’ve drunk more of Matthew Massey’s Madame Zéro of late than all other champagnes combined. Although it’s about $60 at Spec’s, it checks a lot of boxes — including the drink-local one.

Well, sort of. While it’s a for-real French sparkler from the heart of Champagne, the intense young man behind the brand grew up in Galveston and learned about wine working in Houston’s restaurant scene. All things being relatively equal, I’ll support a home boy any day. I can’t wait to taste his rose sparkler, which should hit the market soon.

Speaking of homeys, Jeremy Hart’s Explicit Content Châteauneuf-du-Pape has become a fixture in my Vinotemp, too. The native Houstonian has held down almost every kind of job there is in the wine trade, so it’s exciting to see him roll up his sleeves and release this gem from the Southern Rhone’s big-dog AOC. Hart makes it in a partnership with Chateau de Font du Loup, a respected boutique producer with some 20 hectares of organically farmed grenache and syrah vines that are up to 100 years old. Regularly $60 at Central Market, it’s $47 during the store’s just-begun red wine sale. Worthy every penny, believe me.

Why “Explicit Content?” Because Hart is into purity and intense fruit flavors. His wine, made in concrete vats, never sees any oak — just like the wine that I think is the best under $20 red in the Houston market, the Domaine de Mourchon Tradition, a Côtes-du-Rhône Village from the lovely town of Seguret.

I’ve known Mourchon’s owner Walter McKinlay who turned 89 this summer but still made it back to Houston to host a dinner at Rabelais a couple weeks ago, practically since he released his first vintage in 1998, but our friendship might not survived if he didn’t have such fine, value-driven wines. McKinlay turned 89 this summer but still made it back to Houston with his daughter Kate to host a dinner at Café Rabelais a couple weeks ago,

Note he Mourchon Loubie rose (about $19) also happens to be my favorite pink. But, when at Spec’s, I always pick up a few bottles of the Saint Marc Reserve, a Pays d’Oc rosé of syrah from Provence that goes for about $8. Really, eight bucks. It’s delicious. So is Gerard Betrand’s Gris Blanc, an under-$15 pale pink grenache from the dry, sun-splashed Tautavel neighborhood about 30 miles north of Perpignan. And the $10 Liberation of Paris rosé from another Houstonian, Jean-Francois Bonete, always tempts me as well. I’m such the sucker for good, cheap pink wines.

Another one of my default reds is the Allegrini Palazzo della Torre, an under-$20 corvina-centric blend from Italy’s Veneto. Or, if it’s Barolo you want, visit Kelly Prohl’s Double Decanted near Sam Houston Parkway on the west side of town and ask her for the 2016 Ceretto (about $60). Then again, forget I said that. I want every one of those bottles for myself.

As for whites, I’ve recently discovered a new favorite, Warwick’s The First Lady Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa’s Western Cape Region. (The name pays tribute to the winery’s founder, Norma Ratcliffe, a seminal figure in her country’s wine evolution.) It’s under $15, yet offers the vibrant minerality and citrus notes I want from sav blanc. As for chardonnay, the Duckhorn Decoy, which can sometimes be found for under $15, is a no-brainer buy that can be purchased almost anywhere. Ditto the Decoy Rosé and Cabernet Red.

Cheers!

The Sports Page

Raising a glass to . . .

Jim Crane, for setting the forever standard of excellence for Houston sports franchises. He’s not always the nicest guy — ask James Click — but he knows how to run a business. Signing Jose Abreu was brilliant. Who needs a general manager?

Pouring one out for . . .

Cal McNair, the nice guy who has made the Texans beyond irrelevant. Under his “leadership,” they have become the worst franchise in Houston sports history. It’s not even close.

Pouring a bottle over the head of . . .

Deshaun Watson, a seriously bad guy. He’ll beat the Texans Sunday, but that, of course, says nothing. He’s a loser.

H-town Happenings

Seasonal Sip Tasting: 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1: the SIPstahood Winery Tasting Room. http://thesipstahood.com $25 http://eventbrite.com

Happy Cab Franc Day wine dinner: 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4. Atkins House. $60. http://eventbrite.com

Wine Tasting Fundraiser for the Alliance Francaise Houston: 6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7. Hanover River Oaks. $150. 713 526-1121 or info@alliancehouston.org

Pur Pairings Food & Wine Pairing Class: 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13. Pur Noire Urban Wineries. http://purnoirewines.com $42. http://eventbrite.com

Indulge Your Palate – A Food, Beer, Wine-Tasting and Toy Drive: 5 p;m. Thursday, Dec. 15. The Hermann Park Golf Course Center. $30 http://eventbrite.com

Follow me

Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy  

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Others to follow

Jeremy Parzen (http://dobianchi.com): My podcast partner in crime talks about his cool new home in Westbury, not far from where he’s been living since he moved to Houston eight years ago. Can’t wait to see it in person!

Sandra Crittenden (http://winelifehouston.com): Sandra shares the “Beginners Guide to Bordeaux” piece she did recently for Galveston Monthly. She’s hardly a beginner herself, however, having traveled there frequently.

Russ Kane (http://vintagetexas.com): The Texas Wineslinger goes deep with Hill Country winemaker Doug Lewis about a very special wine for him, the 2012 Round Mountain Vineyard Reserve.

Jeff Kralick (http://thedrunkencyclist.com): Jeff focuses on stickies from Bordeaux and how to pair them. Would you believe beef and chorizo enchiladas?

Katrina Rene (http://thecorkscrewconcierge.com): Kat [pays tribute to the “mountain merlots” that she loves.

We’ve nailed down the details for the Dec. 7 wine tasting that will kick off a fundraising campaign to restore the Alliance Française of Houston’s historic home on Lovett Blvd. in Montrose to its former glory. The timing is perfect because the venerable language school/cultural center celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2023.

The event will be 6-to-9 p.m. in the gorgeous ninth-floor indoor-outdoor entertainment space in my new home, the Hanover River Oaks on Kirby Drive, across from Whole Foods. We’re asking for a $150 donation per person, but that comes with an array of appetizers prepared by the guy I call “the food god,” Ruggles Black’s chef-owner Bruce Molzan, and a wide array of French wines provided by four importers with strong ties to the Houston area. There will also be a couple of excellent door prizes on offer in a drawing that evening, including a dinner for four and a personal tasting with yours truly.

The vintners Matthew Massey, who has Madame Zéro champagne and Jeremy Hart, who recently released his Explicit Content Châteauneuf-du-Pape, both super-serious for-real French wines, plus two importers, Douglas Skopp, whose Dionysus Imports offers a splendid lineup from a variety of boutique producers, and Jean-François Bonneté, who owns the import company BCI and is man behind the Liberation de Paris and Bonneté wines.

I’ve been a member of the Alliance’s Board of Directors since the late 1990s and have fond memories of a many a wonderful event there that celebrated all things French. The COVID-19 mess pretty much shut us down socially, but we’re ready to flap our wings again. Some classes are again in-person at the site (www.alliancefrancaisehouston) and we intend to resume hosting regular wine tastings — we lost a huge asset when Spec’s legendary fine-wine buyer Bear Dalton passed away a couple years ago — as well as readings, art showings and and just-for-fun get-togethers for local Francophiles.

Our home needs some upgrading, though, and moving forward with that starts with our Dec. 7 soiree, so please come and invite your friends. But be forewarned: Capacity is limited to 40 and we’re about halfway there already. In short, don’t tarry with your ticket purchases! To register, call Angela Gomez at 713 526-1121 or send an email: info@alliancehouston.com. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to email me at sportywineguy@outlook.com.

Our home needs some upgrading, though, and moving forward with that starts with our Dec. 7 soiree, so please come and invite your friends. But be forewarned: Capacity is limited to 40 and we’re about halfway there already. In short, don’t tarry with your ticket purchases! To register, call Angela Gomez at 713 526-1121 or send an email: info@alliancehouston.com. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to email me at sportywineguy@outlook.com.

I can’t think of a better way to kick off the holiday season!

Travels with me and Pablo

Pablo Valqui, a travel-industry pro and true gourmand, has begun nailing down the precise details for our May 25-June 4 tour of some of my favorite wineries in the South of France, ranging from the Languedoc to the Southern Rhone to the Luberon to the Var. We’re close to filling up — 10 spots maximum are available — so, again, don’t wait much longer to peruse the details at http://gourmettours.biz or reach out to me personally at the aforementioned email address.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to being a part of this adventure, which will include an afternoon aperitif at my home in the magnificent Ubaye Valley above the dreamy little town of Barcelonnette.

Sippin’ with Sporty

White

2020 MacRostie Sonoma Coast Chardonnay: Quality meets value in this bottle. Checks all the California chardonnay boxes. $26 at http://macrostiewinery.com

2019 Grgich Hills Estate Chardonnay Napa Valley: The organically grown grapes are from Carneros and American Canyon, Napa’s coolest climes. The winemaker is Ivo Jeramaz, whose uncle’s name adorns on the bottle. Mike Grgich, of course, is the man who put Chateau Montelena on the map with the 1973 chardonnay that won “the Judgment of Paris” competition. Mike’s still with us at the age of 98. $42.59 at Spec’s

Pink

2021 Bonterra Rose: Made with organically grown grapes — grenache grown in Mendocino County is front and center — it’s got wonderfully crisp acidity, reflective of how the wine was made. Winemaker Jeff Cichocki fermented and aged each varietal separately for two months before blending. $15.99 at http://wine.com

Red

2021 C.L. Butaud Texas Mourvèdre: It’s a nicely structure, full-flavored blend of mourvedre grapes from two High Plains vineyards, Farmhouse in Brownfield and Desert Willow in Seminole. Owner-winemaker Randy Hester thinks it can age nicely for a decade, but it’s drinking splendidly today. $30 at http://clbutaud.com

2016 Viberti Buon Padre Barolo: I saw it on the list at Porta’Vino for $54 so I decided to give it a try. After all, we rarely encounter many Barolos under 60 bucks, do we? I wasn’t disappointed. Neither, apparently, was the critic Suckling, who awarded a score of 95, calling it “a rich, flavorful Barolo with plum and chocolate character. Hazelnuts and meat, too. It’s full-bodied and layered with a wonderful combination of ripe fruit and ripe tannins. Yet, it remains tight, focused and fresh.” $46.49 at Total Wine

2018 Medlock Ames Kate’s & B’s Cabernet Sauvignon: Suckling also gave this cab a 94, and Jeb Dunnuck thought it deserved a 95. I’m in full agreement. Kate’s & B’s is named for the wives of co-founder Chris James and Ames Morison. Owners Chris James and Ames Morison believe their Bell Mountain vineyard blocks on the Sonoma side of the Mayacamus Mountains “are reflective of classic Bordeaux terroir with high-density vine spacing, gravely clay soils, tiny yields of small inky-black berries, and a thoughtful clonal selection matched by a rigorous farming regime.” $105 at http://medlockames.com

2019 Mouton Cadet Bordeaux : It’s hard to find a better red Bordeaux at such a price point. I hadn’t tried a bottle in years until recently. Truth to tell, the high quality surprised me. I’ve tasted a lot worse while spending a lot more on other Bordeaux wines. Kudos to the late Baron Philippe de Rothschild, who first released this lovely little red in 1930. $17.99 at http://wine.com

Reddy Vineyards The Superior Texan: A rustic Tuscan-inspired blend with a Texas twist, it’s a blend of mostly sangiovese and tannat with a little montepulciano and malbec thrown in to add depth and complexity. $45 at http://reddyvineyards.com

H-town Happenings

Happy Cab Franc Day wine dinner: 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4. Atkins House. $60. http://eventbrite.com

Holiday Sampling Happy Hour: 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29. We Olive and Wine Bar. $40 http://eventbrite.com

Follow me

Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy  

Instagram: sportywineguy

Twitter: @sportywineguy

Facebook: Dale Robertson

Others to follow

Jeremy Parzen (http://dobianchi.com): My podcast partner in crime (and, yes, we’ll get another one up soon!) reports on Pisa university research that shows it’s possible to prove a correlation between soil type and aroma. He also touts a wine country dining experience he enjoyed recently in Sebastopol.

Sandra Crittenden (http://winelifehouston.com): Sandra shares the “Beginners Guide to Bordeaux” piece she did recently for Galveston Monthly. She’s hardly a beginner herself, however, having traveled there frequently.

Russ Kane (http://vintagetexas.com): The Texas Wineslinger goes deep with Hill Country winemaker Doug Lewis about a very special wine for him, the 2012 Round Mountain Vineyard Reserve.

Jeff Kralick (http://thedrunkencyclist.com): Jeff’s fifth annual blind tasting of domestic pinot noirs featured 55 wines. He tells you about 20 of them in his latest blog with more installments to come.

Katrina Rene (http://thecorkscrewconcierge.com): Kat weighs in on Texas wines that have captured her fancy of late.