I’ve got a fun week ahead, meeting up with two Houston vintners from very different walks of life, Jean-François Bonneté and Matthew Massey.

I’ve known Bonneté for a couple years now, although the onset of the pandemic coincided with our meeting so we haven’t had much time to break bread and sip wine together. I’ll be breaking bread with him at Étoile on Tuesday. As for the Galveston-born Massey, who did well enough in oil and gas to launch his own Madame Zero (madamezero.com) line of champagne, our paths have yet to cross, but we’ll finally be tasting together on Thursday at Vault & Vino in Montrose. He’s gotten great traction with is edgy, uber-dry style of bubbles at some of Houston’s best restaurants.        

Bonneté and his wife Nathalie, who hail from Brittany and Normandy respectfully but met by chance in Houston a number of years ago, founded a wine-and-spirits importing company, BCI, in 2015 (bonnete.com) and also have their own lineup of Liberation of Paris wines, thusly named because of the kindness an American GI showed his father not long after the D-Day landing in route to accomplishing same. 

“From the time I was a child, my father was always telling me I should go to America,”  Bonneté told me in our first conversation. “He really loves this country. But, the funny thing is, he would never tell me why. He didn’t like talking about that time in his life. It was very hard.” 

I’ve done my homework on Massy by reading my friend Sandra Crittenden’s excellent piece on him that ran earlier this summer in Galveston Monthly and can now be found at her winelifehouston.com blog. 

I’ll also be catching up with Amanda Hu,  who’s off to a rousing start representing Riboli Family Wines  (riboliwines.com). A  native of China with a Masters Degree from the University of Houston, she began her career in wine with Southern Glazers and in her spare time helped me heard cats with my group blind tastings during my tenure with the Chronicle. Never had a better righthand person! We’ll be tasting Tuesday evening at Ruggles Black with Neera Parador, the force of nature who keeps that remarkable spot humming while keeping my longtime chef buddy Bruce Molzan in check.         

Take-aways from these conversations will make up a good portion of my next missive. In this one, you see that I’ve added a  new wine-themed — if not necessarily wine-centric — segment to the content mix, tying together my two career professions/passions. Sports and wine of course! 

Raising a glass to . . . Justin Verlander

The historic reference standard for regular-season pitching excellence locally used to be the end of Randy Johnson’s partial-season tenure as an Astro. Over his final seven starts in 1998, the Big Unit went 7-0 with an 1.16 ERA. He gave up only 35 hits over 54.1 innings while striking out 78 vs. 18 walks with two home runs allowed. Yep, just two. However, Verlander’s own 7-0 run since June 24 has somehow raised the bar. Over his 47.2 innings, he has permitted four earned runs for an ERA of 0.76 and a mere 30 hits. His K-to-BB ratio is 47-7 and he, too has given up only a pair of homers, but one of them in his last six starts. The best part, of course, is that V-for-Victory’s seemingly certain Cy Young season is hardly over. Johnson would make only two more starts in an Astros uniform — a pair of post-season losses to the Padres in which the Astros scored two runs behind him — before moving on to Arizona.                 

Pouring one out for . . . Bill Russell

Boston’s big man, the greatest big man ever, invented modern basketball at multiple levels and no sports figure other than Jackie Robinson blazed a more important trail. As the centerpiece of 11 championship teams in 13 seasons, he also re-defined what it meant to be a winner. As an advocate for social justice, he cast a towering shadow as well.        

Breaking a bottle over the head of . . . Vladimir Putin  and Alex Jones

On Britteny Griner’s behalf, vis-a-vis the contemptible Cretin of the Kremlin. What Putin’s Russia has done to her, never mind Ukraine,  is  equal parts travesty and tragedy. Here’s hoping he’ll eventually get what he deserves. As for the morally bankrupt, physically repugnant Jones, hopefully he’ll  soon be fiscally bankrupt after two more juries do the right thing, as did the one in Austin Friday to the tune of $45 million in punitive damages for his awful lies. There’s no hell big enough or hot enough for these two thugs.           

Sippin’ with sporty

Rosé

* 2021 Reserve Saint Marc — Made by the highly respected Foncalieu cooperative in Puichéric in Southwestern France’s Aude region, it’s a lovely, lively pink syrah at a spectacular price, a mere $7.99 at Spec’s. You’d think just the shipping costs would run higher than that. Founded 50 years ago, Foncalieu is a cooperative with some 650 grape growers who farm a combined 10,000 Languedoc acres. Strength in numbers, to be sure.     

White

* 2021 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc — This is the best expression of New World sauvignon blanc I’ve had the pleasure of sampling in a long time. You’ll taste lemons and melons with just a hint of oak in the background. Bordeaux in style with a trace of semillon in the blend, it’s as elegant as it’s flavorful. But we’ve come to expect such a high level of quality from the historic estate, which was established in 1882. A hundred years later, its first vintage cabernet was released. $43.59 at Spec’s   

Red

* 2017 Ducru Beaucaillou — Full disclosure: I don’t routinely spring for wines at such a lofty price point ($217.89 at Spec’s) But a most kind friend brought a bottle to dinner one evening and . . . wow. Six national wine critics gave it scores between 98 and 95. It’s hard to imagine a better example of a modern Bordeaux, and it’s worth every penny. Mostly tiny-yield cabernet fruit (merlot makes up 10 percent of the blend), this gem from Saint-Julien should age magnificently, although I wouldn’t hesitate to open another bottle tonight, were itoffered to me. Now accepting donations!       

H-Town Happenings

* Sullivan Rutherford Estate tasting with Certified Wine Educator James C. Barlow of Spec’s and Sullivan’s Dan Horsch — Vault and Vino, 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday Aug. 9. $55. jamesbarlow@specsonline.com

* The Platinum Wine Vault Luxury Tasting — Bayway Cadillac of The Woodlands, 6-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12. $65-$125. wineandfoodweek.com

* Bending Branch wine dinner — The Empty Glass in Tomball, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16. $105. theemptyglass.com 

* Truly Greek Truly Unique wine tasting — Lakonia Imports tasting room in Humble, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17. localwineevents.com      

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Team Jordan

In a perfect world, I would have made it to California a couple weeks ago to help two of my favorite wineries celebrate milestone anniversaries. But then I nearly took a nasty tumble on the staircase late one night in search of a cold glass of water – yes, dammit, water!!! – and therefore concluded a major lifestyle change was in order. So . . . out with stairs, in with elevators.

High-rise living here we come. Falls ain’t good for old geezers with brand-new hips and a wrecked knee. 

John Jordan

Moves aren’t either, of course. But if not now, when? Anyway, the personal upheaval combined with a newfound fear of flying — these are batsh*t crazy times for the airlines — caused me to miss Alexander Valley Vineyards’ 60^th anniversary celebration and a “Summer of Giving” soirée at Jordan. The winery has been hosting a series of these events across the country to celebrate its 50^th birthday in turn with supporting worthy causes through the John Jordan Foundation (johnjordanfoundation.org) 

However, I did get to raise a few glasses Saturday night at Porta’Vino with AVV’s  operations director Harry Wetzel IV, whose namesake grandfather launched the business. And, no, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the oak. The winery is in excellent hands with him and his brother, Rob, who oversees the sales-and-marketing wing. They’ve got this. In fact, Harry arrived with a sauvignon blanc, a first for AVV. It was delicious . . . but not yet available in Texas. Next spring, he promised!  

As for Jordan, it has a couple more dinners planned in August. I might still make it out there, our pending move notwithstanding. Fingers crossed. 

Harry and Maggie Wetzel

While there may older and arguably more iconic California wineries, than Jordan and AVV, the list is a very short one. And their respective properties, both in the cellar and around the grounds, are second to none. They’re practically Alexander Valley neighbors, too. Hank Wetzel’s father, also named Harry, started what became the great AVV adventure when he and his wife Maggie bought their gorgeous real estate without having ever set foot on it in the summer of 1962. The elder Harry, an aviation company CEO, had traveled the world visiting some of its greatest vineyards and had become convinced Sonoma County offered similar potential. Flights from his home in Southern California on Pacific Southwest had dropped to $11.49 per ticket – really – and that made it cheap and easy to cart the family up to the North Coast on a regular basis.

Harry wound up taking over the property owned by Cyrus Alexander, the original homesteader in the neighborhood back in the mid-19th century. The first vines would be planted a year later and the inaugural AVV cabernet sauvignons, made from two 50-gallon barrels, went into bottles in 1968. The rest, as we say, is history.

Harry Wetzel IV

 In case you may have forgotten, AVV’s flagship Cyrus red blend has won an unrivaled four Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo International Wine Competition Grand Champion Best of Show saddles for the 1999, 2006, 2008 and 2014 vintages. We tasted the 2016 Saturday evening and, trust me, it will be a strong contender, too. More kudos to Kevin Hall, one of the longest-tenured winemakers in California who has presided over all of the 

above.        

John Jordan, for his part, was born the same week that his father Tom and his mother Sally closed on their land up the road. Like Harry Wetzel, they were inspired by the vintners and vineyards they had visited in Europe, particularly in France. The Jordans’ high-minded goal was to make a California cab that spoke with a French accent. My first taste of the Jordan came in the mid-1990s and I recall thinking that I was indeed drinking one of Bordeaux’s classed growths.

Mission accomplished.

Tom hadn’t messed around. He hired André Tchelistcheff, already a Napa legend, as consulting enologist, then hired a young fellow named Rob Davis to handle the daily chores. Davis was instrumental in the making of Jordan’s first cab in 1976 and he would stay at the helm through his retirement in 2019.

For the record, I have finally forgiven John and his multi-talented right-hand person, Lisa Mattson, who has become a dear friend, for including Dallas instead of Houston on their paying-it-forward American tour.  

Upcoming Jordan Social Impact Summer dinners, both al fresco on the winery’s gorgeous terrace, are set for Aug. 13 and Aug. 27. Details can be found at jordanwinery.com. And who knows? I might still make it out should a seat at a table remain available. If so, I hope to see you there.     

Note that two wines from both AVV and Jordan are among my nine touts for today. I thought I owed you a few extra ones for being off the blogging grid the last couple of weeks. Sorry!

Sippin’ with sporty

Rosé

Chandon étoile Brut Rosé – A classic blend of chardonnay (47 percent), pinot noir (45) and pinot meunier (8), this pale pink but intensely flavored sparkler tastes of strawberries and lemon with a touch of almond. Founded in the late 1950s in Argentina by Robert-Jean de Vogüe, Chandon launched the California branch of the family’s now-global bubbles business (chandon.com) not long after Jordan’s founding. $39.97 at Total Wine

2021 Alexander Valley Vineyards Rosé of Sangiovese – AVV’s 16^th vintage of its always-enticing rosé profited from a nearly perfect growing season. Tasting of red fruit and watermelon with just a hint of peach, it’s “pure California sunshine in a glass,” suggests long-tenured winemaker Kevin Hall, who started with AVV in 1998. I won’t disagree and neither would the judges at the 2021 California State Fair, who awarded it a nearly perfect score of 99. For Spec’s price of $14.99, it’s a superb value, too. avv.com

2021 Lynmar Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir – The Russian River Valley fruit is a blend of 11 pinot noir clones. The wine, aged for four months in stainless steel, tastes of peaches, pomegranates and hibiscus flower, with a tangy touch of orange zest. The Lynmar Estate, founded four decades ago by Lynn Fritz, borders the western edge of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, the Russian River’s largest tributary, and is only 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Lynn Fritz bought his first vineyard, Quail Hill, four years ago. $33 at lynmarestate.com

White

* 2019 Aridus Viognier – The fruit was all estate grown in southeastern Arizona’s Chiricahua foothills and the wine was the end result of a complicated series of experiments (explained in detail at ariduswineco.com) conducted by the wine-making/growing team of Lisa Strid and Scott Dahmer. It aged in a mix of neutral and second-fill French oak, stainless steel and sandstone jar, resulting in a complex, nuanced, super-satisfying summer sipper. $35 at ariduswineco.com

* 2020 Jordan Chardonnay Alexander Valley – A blend of 17 vineyard blocks from six growers, the grape clusters were destemmed and gently pressed at night for a maximum extraction of freshness and acidity. The juice fermented for 12 days in both French oak barrels (54 percent new) and stainless steel tanks. Four months of sur lie aging followed, resulting in a wine with Fuji apple aromas – always the mark of a good vintage according to winemaker Maggie Kruse. $40 at jordanwinery.com (The 2019 is at Spec’s for $31.34)  

* 2021 Lost Draw Cellars Texas High Planes Picpoul Blanc – For me, picpoul blanc, despite its Spanish heritage, is evocative of the South of France because I drank it frequently during my Tour de France years while passing through the Languedoc. But it clearly thrives in the High Plains’ sunshine and semi-rarefied air. Picpoul loosely translates to “kiss of lemon” and that’s definitely the keynote flavor here. Winemaker Chris Bundrett notes the “laser-beam of citrus on the palate, focused, steely, yet juicy.” $35 at lostdrawcellars.com     

Bottom of Form

Red

2018 Pedernales Cellars Texas High Plains Graciano – I can’t decide whether I was more surprised by Lost Draw’s Picpoul Blanc or this delightful red from Pedernales’ winemaker David Kuhlken, who touts “the lovely fruit notes, but also very gnarly, dark, iron and earth.” Spanish in origin like picpoul, graciano is a used in Rioja blends but obviously can take center stage, with syrah and carignan in supporting roles. $45 at pedernalescellars.com

2019 Alexander Valley Vineyards Homestead Red – Winemaker Kevin Hall says he “anchored the blend with rich, concentrated merlot (45 percent), added zinfandel (32) for spicy notes, cabernet sauvignon (8) for elegant structure, grenache (6) for berry flavors, mourvèdre (5) for additional texture and syrah (4) for more bright spicy flavors and floral aromatics.” Yep, that’s six count ‘em six varietals, each of which was fermented and barrel-aged separately “to maximize complexity and broaden the spicy dark fruit, oak and vanilla flavors in the glass.” $23 at shopavv.com

2018 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley – Cab makes up 80 percent of the blend, but merlot (11), petit Verdot (7) and malbec (2) offer their two-cents worth as well. This ageworthy wine spent 13 months in French oak (35 percent new) and underwent 37 months of aging before release. Kruse calls it a “showstopper vintage, with black cherry, boysenberry and black fig aromas jumping out of the glass.” $60 at jordan.com   

H-town Happenings

*Avignonesi Wine Dinner with Gabe Chiocca – Roma, 6 p.m. Wednesday. $89 plus tax and gratuity. romahouston.com  

* Argentine Empanada and Wine Night – SERCA Wines Tasting Room. 5-7 p.m.Saturday, July 30. $40 per person or $120 for four with a bottle of wine. SERCAwines.com

* Gran Corte Reserva Vertical Tasting, 2014 through 2019 vintages — SERCA Wines Tasting Room, 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6. $80 ($64 for Wine Club members) SERCAwines.com    

* Sullivan Rutherford Estate wine tasting with Certified Wine Educator James C. Barlow of Spec’s and Sullivan’s Dan Horsch – Vault and Vino, 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9. $40. $55. jamesbarlow@specsonline.comjamesbarlow@specsonline.com   

Follow me

* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy

* Instagram: sportywineguy

* Twitter: @sportywineguy

* Facebook: Dale Robertson

Other folks to follow

* Sandra Crittenden (winelifehouston.com– Sandra explores Oregon’s new sub-AVAs.

* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – The Texas Wineslinger tells you everything you need to know about the aforementioned Graciano grape. In fact, it was him who generously shared the bottle from Lost Draw Cellars.  

* Jeff Kralik (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Jeff offers his take on the best wines he has tasted recently. His pick of the week? The 2005 Domaine Jessiaume Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravières.  

* Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com)  – My podcast partner in crime gives us the lowdown on his two favorite Italy-centric wine bloggers, Riccardo Fabbio (Wine Telling Riky) and Kevin Day (Opening a Bottle).    

* Katrina Rene (thecorkscrewconcierge.com) – Kat salutes the many wonders of the sauvignon blanc-centric whites from Bordeaux.

  

 

 

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.