Back in the day, most Bordeaux wines weren’t all that expensive, which was a good thing because I loved the wines of Bordeaux and I wasn’t making all that much money. But, in 1985, a bottle of 1982 Margaux, a First Growth 100-point Robert Parker tout, could be had at Spec’s for $60. I was still paying under $40 for lesser Classed Growth futures through the memorable 2000 vintage.

Once Bordeaux prices went crazy, though, I wandered off to other regions, such as the Southern Rhone Valley, looking for better value. I probably didn’t buy 10 bottles of Bordeaux over the first two decades of the 21st century. I wasn’t alone, either. Arguably, no region had become more passé because, by and large, quality hadn’t kept up with the exponentially rising costs.

However, a Frenchman turned Houstonian has made it his mission to change that. Jean-François Bonneté, who moved here in 2011 and, with his wife Natalie, eventually launched an import business called BCI, then became vintners themselves. Their lineup of Liberation of Paris wines — the name pays tribute to a memorable chapter in his family’s history, which we’ll get to in a moment — has been available in Houston for several years and offers excellent value, with prices ranging from just under $12 to just over $20. But Bonneté has recently gone a step further in the bargain department with a new pink, a red and a white that carry the family name on the label and sell for $9.95, cash price, at Spec’s.

Impossible, you say? Nope. And, yep, they’re damned satisfying. The full-flavored non-vintage designated red, made from biodynamically-farmed cabernet sauvignon grapes grown in and around the Bordeaux AOC (that’s why it’s a Vin de France) has in fact become a go-to pour at Chez Robertson, pairing splendidly as it does with red sauce pasta dishes, pizza, burgers and cheese/charcuterie platters. It’s not a wine that requires a lot of deep thinking or geeky analysis. It may or may not age all that well, but who cares? I’m not planning to lay any down.

As for the Liberation of Paris story, the label became Bonneté’s way of paying tribute to an American GI who had befriended his father as a young boy not long after the D-Day landing, giving him comfort — and some chewing gum — on the side of the road as the soldier and his fellow troops were making their way to Paris. Joel Bonneté, now in his 80s, has loved the U.S. since that chance encounter and had always encouraged Jean-François to embrace this country. He has, and Houston’s budget-conscious wine-lovers are the better for it. You’ll find the Bonneté wines in some 40 Spec’s stores today.

Spoke too soon

In my last missive in this space, I reported that the South of France wine tour I’m co-leading with Pablo Valqui in late May/early June was sold out. Well, it’s not. We still have two spots left, it seems. Go to http://gourmettours.biz for all the details tasting our way through Provence, the Southern Rhone Valley and the Languedoc . We’re going to have a spectacularly good time, I promise!

Sippin’ with Sporty

2020 Rizzi Dolcetto d’Alba

This is one of the best dolcettos I’ve come across in a good while, and it’s widely available at Spec’s stores around town. Rizzi’s estate fruit grows in Treiso near Barbaresco, an area well-suited for the varietal despite nebbiolo’s being the big dog in the neighborhood. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperatures for eight days with malolactic fermentation following for a month, then aging in tanks for six months. A ruby-purple in color, it’s both floral and spicy with surprising nuance. $23.99 at Spec’s

Kings of Prohibition Shiraz

This bold and tasty non-vintage Australian shiraz has much in common with the Bonneté cab, offering satisfaction way above its price point and pairing with all the same comfort foods, from burgers to pizza to spicy pastas. It’s to be enjoyed, not analyzed. $12.99 at http://wine.com

2019 Goldeneye Ten Degrees Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Dan and Margaret Duckhorn founded Goldeneye in Anderson Valley in 1996, thinking they’d secured some of the best pinot noir terroir in the world. They were right. The Ten Degrees is a blend from the very best lots of the Confluence, Gowan Creek and The Narrows Vineyards. Following a nearly perfect growing season and harvest, fermentation took place using a mixture of whole cluster destemmed fruit with both native and inoculated ferments, all punched down twice daily in small three-ton open top tanks for an average of 14 days. Aging in French oak lasted 16 months. $130 at http://goldeneyewinery.com

H-town happenings

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

Champion Wine Garden Presented by Frost Bank at NRG Carruth Plaza: Seminar reservations. $55. http://eventbrite.com

The Sports Page

Raising a glass to . . . Damar Hamilin

And here’s hoping he’ll play football again. Should he? That’s another question. But we learned from his frightening on-field cardiac arrest what a fine young man Damar is, and he deserves the chance to resume chasing his dreams. I’ll be pulling hard for the Bills to win the Super Bowl for him. That would be a very cool story.

Pouring one out for . . . Lovie Smith

Look, Lovie did a lousy job of coaching this season, even if he’s not a lousy coach. He should have gotten fired. Hell, he should have wanted to get fired. But Smith’s departure won’t fix anything that’s wrong with the terminally screwed-up Texans, arguably top to bottom North America’s worst sports franchise.

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Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy  

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Jeremy Parzen (http://dobianchi.com): On Martin Luther King day, Jan. 23, my podcast partner in crime and his wife Tracie will be participating in a protest against the “Neo-Confederate” Memorial in Orange, where Tracie grew up and much of her family still lives. He writes: “We will be there from 1-3 p.m. Please join us to show solidarity for the Black community.” If you have questions, contact him at jparzen@gmail.com Nothing else to say but . . . Bravo, Parzens!

Sandra Crittenden (http://winelifehouston.com): Sandra suggests 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 reviews his most popular blogs of 2022.

Jeff Kralick (http://thedrunkencyclist.com): Jeff writes about the best wines he has tasted of late that weren’t sent to him as free samples. Which is to say, by and large he actually PAID for them. Novel concept . . . (smiley face emoji here).

Katrina Rene (http://thecorkscrewconcierge.com): Kat weighs in on five wine trends she’s looking forward to in 2023.

New Year’s Eve has never been a particularly important holiday for me because I spent far too many of them on the road, alone in a Marriott hotel room somewhere, waiting for the next-day’s “big” game. But those days are long over, so I suppose it’s time to re-assess, especially since I’m four months into my seventh decade on this troubled orb of ours. I can say this for certain: Never have I more gratefully metaphorically turned a page than I did Saturday night.

Happy New Year!

Last January 1, I awoke to the news that I was negative for COVID-19, terrific news because I was 72 hours from undergoing a much-needed hip replacement. But, by nightfall, I had received another test result — from the hospital where the surgery would take place — informing me that, nope, I was positive and my operation would have to be pushed back a month. A gut punch, to say the least, given the pain I was in. It’s a good thing I’ve always been allergic to firearms.

What helped hugely, though was the arrival of a new four-legged child on Jan. 6. Little Coco, an exuberant six-month-old Pomeranian puppy, provided great comfort during that difficult patch. Ultimately the surgery would take place on January 20 and it couldn’t have gone more swimmingly, thanks to the skills of Dr. Ken Mathis, a rock star in his own right. After four days, I’d ditched the walker and within three weeks I was back on the bike, pain-free and pedaling like a crazy person. Debbie and I headed off to France on schedule, then spent an absolutely splendid spring there, enjoying our gorgeous little off-the-beaten-path Alpine valley with friends, new and old. Our best trip ever, we declared it.

It was certainly Coco’s, who proved to be a perfect traveler in her maiden voyage as a frequent flyer.

But returning to Houston in sweltering mid-June brought new adventures — and sweeping changes. A wee-hours trip on the staircase leading from our bedroom down to the kitchen could have been catastrophic had I landed on the new right hip, but instead I only made my already messed-up left knee exponentially worse. A series of PRP injections (that’s platelet-rich-plasma, fyi) got me mobile again, but a loud message had been clearly delivered. I was done with stairs. And Debbie was done with bagging fallen magnolia leaves in 100-plus-degree heat.

Our Montrose home, hard by Buffalo Bayou Park and special in every way imaginable, went on the market. It sold quickly — for well above the asking price — and we became renters for the first time in 47 years. But whereas our original apartment on Hermann Drive, long since torn down, had maybe 500 square feet and cost $135 a month, our new one is 18 floors above Kirby Drive with a panorama that includes downtown, the Medical Center and Greenway Plaza. Whole Foods is across the street. Yes, it’s priced accordingly.

Because Debbie and met living in Moody Towers, brand new in the fall of 1970 on the University of Houston campus, we weren’t strangers to high-rise living, so this move feels like closing a circle. Also, I now wake up to a view of the Astrodome, which is what brought me to H-town in the first place.

We took possession of the apartment and began moving stuff in on Sept. 25, with Debbie leaving for France the next day. That evening, after dining with a friend, we headed back to the house in separate cars. Debbie’s made it. Mine didn’t. At the intersection of Allen Parkway and Montrose, two blocks from home, a young man ran a red light at 30 m.p.h. and nearly T-boned me. Had he, I would likely have been killed. A Z4 is no match for an Expedition. Fortuitously, only the Beemer, barely 11 months old, was beyond repair. I escaped with my hip intact — again — and nothing worse than a minor blackeye caused by the airbag.

Still shaken, I got Debbie to the airport the next day in her car . . . then promptly ran out of gas on the way home. Nonetheless, the rest of the move went smoothly and I followed her to the Alps a week later. We had another fabulous stay and even 40 hours spent trapped in travel hell on the return didn’t dim our enthusiasm for our new high-in-the-sky life. Further, I had a cool new ride waiting for me when I got back. I can’t say enough good things about the folks at Liberty Mutual. They’re as fair as their commercials are funny.

Despite the delays, I arrived just in time to watch the Astros’ close out the Phillies in the World Series. A successful fundraiser I helped orchestrate for Houston’s Alliance Française followed in early December and, just a few days ago, the wine-tasting tour through the South of France I’m co-hosting with my new best friend, Pablo Valqui, sold out.

One final challenge was losing my “sportwineguy” domaine — long story, which began with us getting hit with some pretty serious credit card fraud — but I was able to lock up “thesportywineguy” as a replacement. So, by any measure, 2022 ended way better than it began.

Now here we are, starting fresh in 2023, optimistic that the next 12 months — and hopefully many more months after that — will be free of health issues and heartache. At our age I know that’s asking a lot, but fingers and toes are crossed because there are still many wines to sample, and plenty of topics to both blog and podcast about, the latter with my like-minded buddy Jeremy Parzen (http://dobianchi.com). I intend to keep the petal to the proverbial metal because, as my favorite philosopher, Charles Barkley, was always wont to say, “Life is short and death is long.”

My celebratory bottle of bubbles for ringing in the New Year? See below. To again quote Sir Charles, “Hey, somebody’s gotta be me.”

Cheers!

Sippin’ with Sporty

I know, this is supposed to be a wine blog. Sorry for the digression above. Here we go . . .

2021 J. Lohr October Night Chardonnay

Although the wine, made from chardonnay grown in Arroyo Seco, tastes classically Californian, it was made using traditional Burgundy methods such as malolactic fermentation and a weekly stirring of the lees, used, explains winemaker Kristen Barnhisel, “to complement the aromatics, while also adding a creamy palate texture and long finish.” Aging lasted in barrell, sur lie, for eight months, 24 percent new. $25 at http://jlohr.com

2021 Hampton Water Languedoc Rose

Wine.com’s Wilfred Wong calls this collaboration between the Languedoc’s Gerard Bertrand and rocker Jon Bon Jovie’s one, Jessie Bongiove “one of the world’s most consistent pink wines. (Dad got to know Bertrand performing at his summer jazz festival near the Narbonne shore.) It’s floral, fruity and minerally all at once and delicious year around. Wong scored the wine a 91. It earns 100 points for value, especially for the $17.99 sale price at Kroger right now.

2019 Chappellet Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon

I finished the year with yet another reference-standard California cabernet, this blockbuster from the Chappellet family, which turned Napa Valley’s Pritchard Hill into one of the world’s most revered and renowned wine locales, certainly for cab-centric blends, since the winery’s founding in 1967. Five national critics scored the Chappellet’s flagship 93 or higher with offering more eloquent praise than James Suckling, who described it as being “voluptuously full bodied, with a lavish structure and supple tannins framing the ripe dark berry and blackcurrant flavors.” $289.95 at http://wineexpress.com

H-town happenings

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

The Sports Page

Raising a glass to . . . J. J. Watt

Like Earl Campbell, J. J. became a bit of a shooting star in our midst, delivering only a few great seasons before injuries took their toll. But so great were they that, like Earl, he’s a certain first-ballot Hall-of-Famer as one of only two men to be named Defensive Player of the Year three times. (Lawrence Taylor was the other.) Also, like the Tyler Rose, he never got that championship. No matter. He was a championship human being, and as beloved as any athlete who ever stepped between the lines on H-town’s behalf. Surely, Cal McNair will do the right thing and make sure J.J. retires as a Texan.

Pouring one out for . . . Péle

In the 20th century, there were two truly transcendent, force-of-nature athletes, Muhammad Ali and Edson Arantes do Nascimento. The globe was indeed their stage, sans hyperbole. My favorite Péle story: When he and his Santos team traveled to Nigeria in 1967, a 48-hour cease-fire in a savage civil war then raging in the country was declared in order to allow both sides to watch him play. He died Dec. 29 at the age of 82.

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Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy  

Instagram: sportywineguy

Twitter: @sportywineguy

Facebook: Dale Robertson

Others to follow

Jeremy Parzen (http://dobianchi.com): My podcast partner in crime looks back on a most memorable year for his family, which celebrates its first Christmas in their new Westbury home.

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

Russ Kane (http://vintagetexas.com): Russ chooses his favorite Texas wines of 2022. Spoiler alert: The 2019 Bending Branch Malbec ranked No. 1.

Jeff Kralick (http://thedrunkencyclist.com): Jeff picks his 10 favorite sparkling wines of 2022. Spoiler alert: The Bruno Paillard Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Extra Brute was his bubbles bottle of the year.

Katrina Rene (http://thecorkscrewconcierge.com): Kat recounts her adventures in Healdsburg, her travel destination for this holiday season.

I’d already been contemplating re-visiting this story, knowing how hard COVID-19 had been on the restaurant industry, when Jodie Schmal, my friend and former colleague at the Chronicle, reached out, asking me to research same for her. (A classic example of great minds thinking alike!) Folks who are still doing it the right way, even after the financial hit the pandemic caused, deserve a shout-out and nobody does it better than Bill Floyd with his Porta’Vino restaurants on the western edge of the Heights and in The Woodlands. His wine pricing model is off the charts as far as being customer-friendly and he allows BYOB, too. Every time I see Bill I just want to hug him.

Bill Floyd

At any rate, I wrote the piece that follows for the Chronicle. (https://www.houstonchronicle.com/food-culture/restaurants-bars/articleComments/Houston-Restaurants-Best-Wine-Deals-17666611.php) As you’ll see, we bargain-chasers aren’t as well off as we used to be, but Houston still offers much better value than probably any market in the country because of the likes of Floyd, Charles Clarke, Grant Cooper, Shawn Virene and the Brandanis out in Fort Bend County.

Years ago, chef Charles Clark first spoke of his plans for a restaurant that would offer wines at just over their retail cost, and he delivered the goods when Ibiza opened in Midtown. These days Clark presides over Brasserie 19 and, although his markups have increased of late — blame the bottom-line pain wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, he and others in the hospitality industry say — there’s still plenty of value to be found on the well-curated list.

Ditto the lists at Coppa and Flora, run by Clark’s former partner, Grant Cooper. Clark and Cooper may have parted ways, but they’re still on the same page when it comes to making customers smile rather than cringe when they’re looking for a special bottle. Their wine-pricing model inspired others including a’Bouzy’s Shawn Virene, as well as Bill Floyd, who considered their game plan a no-brainer: The lower the markup, the more bottles you’re going to sell, and your happy customers become loyal customers.

Floyd took the model to Potente, the posh spot downtown that he ran for Astros owner Jim Crane (note: prices have jacked way up there since Floyd left) before going out on his own with Porta’Vino. Flying against the pandemic grain, he broke all the old-school pricing rules with more than half of the wines on the Porta’Vino list selling for less than you would pay for them in retail, even at value-driven chains such as Spec’s and Total Wine.

And Floyd is doing this despite offering his guests the option of bringing their own wines from home. Call him the Crazy Eddie of restaurateurs, but he has done as many as 400 covers on a Saturday night at his Washington Avenue location, and a second one in The Woodlands has been a hit, too. Some of the folks who come for dinner find themselves leaving with four or five cases because of deals on wines such as Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay ($46 at Porta’Vino; $47.50 at Spec’s), Flora Springs Trilogy ($55; $81 at wine.com) and Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($79; $90 at wine.com). Silver Oak is one of the more ubiquitous on-premise wines in our area; its price range is $79 to $200 according to Somm.ai, an alcohol beverage data company co-founded by Houstonian Jeremy Hart.

Unfortunately, markups of 400-percent or more are now routinely seen after having seemingly trended downward pre-COVID. Still, thanks to Porta’Vino and the other restaurants listed below, where multiples under 250 percent tend to be the norm, Houston continues to offer better wine value than most major American markets.

a’Bouzy

Champagne and other sparkling wines rule the roost here with prices for everyone’s budget on the voluminous list, starting with a lovely Provençal sparkler, the Jacques Pelvas Grande Cuvee, for $24. Markups are mostly less than twice retail and the Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut is $64 per bottle, almost six bucks less than wine.com’s price. Prices range from $12 for a liter of Jolie Folle Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley to $1,352 for a 1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, which is about $1,100 online. Several large-format bottles cost more. 2300 Westheimer 

Brandani’s Restaurant & Wine Bar

Ron and Claire Brandani seem to offer better value than any other suburban Houston restaurant that has a for-real wine list. Prices range from $29 for the Duchman Texas Vermentino to $1,800 for a bottle of the 2016 Harlan Estates red blend. (The latter’s tariff is only about double the cheapest online price for the legendary cult wine.) And the La Jota Howell Mountain Merlot goes for $130, compared to $110 on wine.com. 3340 FM 1092 in Missouri City 

Brasserie 19

It was a sad day when the price of one of the city’s most popular rosés, the Domaine de Mourchon Loubie, went from under to $25 to almost $50 on the list here, but most markups remain south of two-and-a-half times retail. Charles Clark’s prices now range from $28 for the Dau Sauvignon Blanc ($17 at wine.com) to $120 for the Howell Mountain Vineyards Cab, which sells for about the same online. 1962 W. Gray

Coppa Osteria

Many markups on the Italian-heavy lists are less than double, including the G. D. Varja Barolo at $84. Bottle prices start at $24 for the Col D’ Orcia Spezieri, a sangiovese-ciliegiolo blend, and the Castiglione Del Bosco Dainero, which pairs merlot with sangiovese, to $488 for two Roberto Voerzio Barolos. (Note that one of the aforementioned, the same 2017 Cerequio, is also on the list at Marmo in Montrose for $990, an almost 500-percent markup.) 5210 Morningside in Rice Village

Flora Mexican Kitchen

Cooper’s prices start at $25 for the lively Portal da Calcada Vihno Verde from Portugal. The most expensive wine is the 2012 L’Evangile from Pomerol for $295, about twice what it would retail for, and that’s the norm for most the wines on the list. Dom Perignon goes for $190 a bottle, only $30, give or take, more than retail. 3422 Allen Parkway in Buffalo Bayou Park

Giacomo’s Cibo e Vino

Most of Lynette Hawkins’ wines are less than double what they would sell for in a store or online. One example is the delicious Roagna Perpentue d’Alba at $40 per bottle, compared to $25 retail. Prices range from $20 for the Marenco Pineto Brachetto d’Acqui to $600 for Emidio Pepe’s 2000 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The vast majority of Hawkins’ wines sell for well under $100. 3215 Westheimer

Porta’Vino

No markups are higher than 50 percent and more than half of the wines sell for less than retail. The bottle price range is $29 for several whites and sparklers to $316 for both the Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon and Opus One Red Blend. Note that the latter goes for $365 at the winery’s Napa Valley tasting room. 5610 Washington 

Post Beer and Wine

Having opened in the early days of COVID, this super-casual spot remains a bit under the radar, but its wine program and pricing deserve our attention. The most expensive bottle in the Pursued By Bear Cab from Washington State, priced at $150, is a little more than double the retail tariff. The cheapest wines are an Italian Chardonnay from Tenuta San Vito and the Yves Cuilleron Cabernet Franc from France’s Northern Rhone at $40 per bottle. 6417 N. Main

Zanti Cucina Italiana

The two locations — the original is in The Woodlands and another opened not long ago in River Oaks — have their share of overpriced wines, but there are bargains to be found, too. Consider the Gaja Sito Moresco, which is about $70 retail, costs $116; and the Jordan Chardonnay is $75, when you’d pay $42 in a shop. Prices start at $32 for the Cascina Chicco Roero Arnesi. 1958 W. Gray

Sippin’ with Sporty

Goldeneye Anderson Valley Brut Rose

Anderson Valley is arguably America’s counterpoint for Champagne and this complex bottle of pink bubbles seems to prove the point. The blend is 63 percent pinot noir with the rest chardonnay. It was crafted in the traditional method and spent 24 months en tirage. You’ll taste blood orange, honeydew and hazelnut notes, which, together, taste very, very good. $70 at http://goldeneyewinery

2020 Cuvaison Hedon Chardonnay

Made from the-best-of-the-best estate fruit in Los Carneros, where Cuvaison put down roots way back in 1969, the wine spent 18 months on the lees and was 100 percent barrel-fermented in both French and American oak, about two-thirds new. It shows beautiful balance and bright acidity. “Lush” seems the perfect descriptive adjective for Steven Rogstad’s small-lot gem. Rogstad has been in charge of winemaking at Cuvaison since 2002 so, yes, he knows his terroir. $60 at http://cuvaisonwines.com

2019 The Pact Coombsville Cabernet Sauvignon

From the folks at Faust, this cab showcases what a terrific AVA once-unheralded Coombsville has become. Bright fruit flavors combined with silky tannins and a lovely long finish make for a nearly perfect wine. James Suckling scored it a 96 while both the Wine Spectator and the Wine Advocate awarded 93s. From winemaker David Jelinek: “The Pact 2019 lives up to Faust legend with beautiful dark blueberry and blackberry aromas over layers of crushed rock minerality, haunting forest notes and hints of violet. With the texture of velvet — luxuriously dense — the palate wraps that core of blue and back fruit with the barest edge of bright cherry spiced with star anise and savory dried tarragon. Silky tannins and generous ripe fruit linger through an endless, vibrant finish. There’s a long life ahead for this Cabernet.” Suckling suggests holding off drinking until 2024, if you have the patience. I didn’t. $129 at http://wine.com

H-town happenings

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

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 looks back on a most memorable year for his family, which celebrates its first Christmas in their new Westbury home.

Sandra Crittenden (http://winelifehouston.com): Sandra suggests 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 has a “news flash” on the 2023 Texas Wine Certification courses he’ll soon be teaching at the Texas Wine School. He also takes a close look at Kerrville Hills Winery’s intriguing Teroldego. Yep, that’s a grape varietal.

Jeff Kralick (http://thedrunkencyclist.com): Jeff reports on a recent group blind tasting of North American pink sparkling wines that he conducted.

Katrina Rene (http://thecorkscrewconcierge.com): Kat offers a rundown on Texas wine world happenings during the holiday season.

The Sports Page

Pouring one out for . . . Franco Harris

I got to know Harris during the Houston Oilers’ Luv ya Blue era because the road to the Super Bowl always led through Pittsburgh, and the Hall-of-Fame running back was one of many larger-than-life Steelers who routinely wreaked havoc on the Oilers. He was also an extraordinarily nice guy. We played tennis together a couple times after he retired and he was damned good at that, too. Harris’ death at 72 this week came only days before the 50th anniversary of his “Immaculate Reception,” an impossible catch — and possibly a non-catch, too, because there were no replays then, of course — that turned into a 60-yard touchdown reception, giving the Steelers their first playoff victory since 1947 and proving a precursor to one of the most dynastic runs in NFL history. In Harris’ final AFC Championship Game seven years later, a 27-13 victory over the Oilers, he pounded 21 times for 85 yards on a day when fellow Hall-of-Famer Earl Campbell’s 17 carries netted but 15 yards. No Houston team has been that far in the postseason since, the longest drought by 10 seasons among the league’s current cities.

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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Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy  

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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  

Instagram: sportywineguy

Twitter: @sportywineguy

Facebook: Dale Robertson

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.