In case you missed it, the following ran in the Sept. 7 Flavor Section of the Houston Chronicle. 

Galveston natives have an acronym that’s all their own. It’s BOI, which, of course, means “born on Island.” Matthew Massey is a BOI – Galveston Ball class of 2002, too – and also a local boy who made good. How good? Massey, at the age of 39, is the first Texan, never mind Galvestonian, to launch a for-real French champagne brand of his own.

The wine is called Madame Zéro, but don’t be fooled by that seemingly negative number, which only approximates its next-to-nothing sugar content (less than .05 grams per five-ounce pour). This is a big-league bottle of bubbles at every level, a serious wine conceived of and nurtured by a serious young man, that also represents exceptional value. At $56.99 – that’s Spec’s cash price – Massey’s sparkling lady way over-delivers.

OK, you’re probably rolling your eyes right now. Don’t. The obsessively detailed-oriented Massey left nothing to chance with his seemingly pie-in-the-sky project, saying, “I’m very hands-on with everything we’re doing. I have a passion for champagne and, to get it right, you can’t just go hire someone to take care of things. To carry out a vision, you have to understand every part of the process.”

His timing could have been better, what the COVID-19 pandemic which created unforeseen headaches every step of the way. In normal times, all systems would have been go by the end of 2020. But there proved to be a hidden blessing in the pandemic: He got to age his cuvée for an extra year, holding off the release until December of 2021.  

“Not easy on cash flow,” he conceded. “Nothing about this project has been easy.  We’ve had a lot of things we’ve had to mitigate, but it’s made us a lot stronger for when we do end up having easier times ahead.”

Even the famous houses have confronted huge challenges with the supply chain, from the bottles to the cages to the labels. Imagine what it was like for an upstart outsider without an iota of street cred when he first touched down in Champagne. But Massey wouldn’t take “non” for an answer.

Most importantly, after considerable homework and legwork trying to understand the myriad nuances of many of the 319 champagne villages, he found the right team, a grape-grower and a winemaker, in one of his favorite towns, Vertus, in the Côtes des Blancs. Vertus offers outstanding terroir for chardonnay – his favorite varietal – delivering fruit that hits squarely in his personal sweet spot, neither heavy nor austere.

Straight from the chute, his inaugural extra-aged Blanc de Blancs earned a silver medal in the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition. Already, aside from Spec’s, the wine can be found at MAD Houston – his first on-premise account – Brasserie 19, DaMarco, Mastro’s, 1751 Sea and Land and Stella’s Wine Bar in the Post Oak Hotel. He’s hardly finished, either. A rosé is coming in the fall and a vintage wine will follow sometime within the next 24 months.

But, to be sure, there was nothing predictable about Massey’s path to sparkling wine Nirvana. Conceding that his back story “is pretty wild,” he explained, “The beginning is really important. There was a ton of love but not a lot of money in my family. My dad was in the Navy. He was in port (in Galveston) and met my mom (also a BOI) through mutual friends. She followed him to Spain, to Florida, to a lot of other places. They wanted to make a life for themselves on the island, but neither of them had a college education.”

His father Dan, as blue collar and salt-of-the-earth as they come, “built our house with his bare hands,” Massey said proudly. “We didn’t even have carpet, or AC. Hey, he sold his Harley to pay for the kitchen cabinets. We were kind a roughing it in the early days. But as I got older, I really wanted to see the world, so I started working at the San Luis Hotel as a valet parker when I was still in high school. I was really into cars and was trying to buy my first one.”

Fortuitously, the ways things turned out, that job didn’t last long. It seems the actress Sandra Bullock pulled in one evening with a small entourage and he took their luggage upstairs. The group then asked the 18-year Massey to chauffeur them to where the action was. Naturally, he agreed. Wouldn’t you? Finding the keys to the hotel’s Bentley at the valet stand and with no manager on duty, he headed out, Bullock and friends happily in tow.

The hotel’s management wasn’t pleased, to say the least.

He next landed at Luigi’s, the popular Italian restaurant on Galveston’s strand. It was there, he said, “that I got really big into trying to understand wine. I was underage, but I tasted a lot of wine with the older guys.” A gig at Sullivan’s Steakhouse in the Galleria area and then Zula in downtown Houston further expanded his wine horizons. But . . .

“I told my best friend, Kelly Finn, ‘Dude, we’ve got to turn the chapter on restaurants,’” he said. “’We’ve never been anywhere. We’ve got to visit the great wine regions. We’ve got to find a way to travel.’”

Massey contemplated a career in wine distribution – until he found out how poorly entry-level positions paid.

“I had my ah-ha no moment,” he said, laughing.

Although his degree from the University of Houston was in marketing, Massey soon finagled what proved to be a lucrative position with a global oil-and-gas company, “doing sales, presentations, that kind of stuff. It helped fund my passion.”

In the end, it would be bubbles that captured his fancy because he saw a way forward to make his wine unique. Or to use his own hyphenated word, “non-conformist.” Aging a non-vintage champagne for a minimum of five years couldn’t be less conformist. Most rest for closer to 15 months, with up to 12 grams of sugar added during same. For a workout maven like Massey, a buffed 6-2, 195-pounder, that level of dosage was unfathomable.

“We had to get away from adding sugar,” he said, explaining that he wanted a champagne made in a style that spoke to his personal ethos. Also, he’s wont to say, “transparency is at the forefront of our brand.”

To wit, on Madame Zéro’s back label, you can find calories per five-ounce serving (100), the carbs (1.5 grams) and the fat content (0). Ditto protein (also 0). No matter. With the dearth of sugar, it’s practically a health drink.        

And one that’s made, Massey insists, “with zero compromise.”

Raising a glass to . . . Del Harris

The new Hall-of-Famer coached the worst Rockets team in history (yes, even worse than the recent Rockets teams) back 1982-83. But that wasn’t his fault, believe me. He has positively impacted many of the greatest players of the modern era over half a century and he’s still in the game at the age of 85, serving as vice president of the Dallas Mavericks’ G-League team. Del was, and remains, a helluva nice guy, too. Cheers, coach!    

And to . . . Casper Ruud

The young Norwegian, who reached his first ATP World Tour final at River Oaks in 2019, lost his second Grand Slam final of 2022 at the U.S. Open Sunday, but he made a lot of new fans with his sportsmanship when he gave back what proved to be crucial point early in the final against Carlos Alcaraz. It came on a double bounce the umpire missed. Alcaraz went on to claim his first major title and become tennis’ youngest top-ranked male player ever. Both guys should win multiple Slams going forward. A new age beckons.     

Sippin’ With Sporty

    Pink

2021 Acumen Napa Valley Mountainside — Philip Titus’ personal winemaking acumen, best expressed in Acumen’s excellent cabs over the past decade, led to his crafting a predictably compelling rose from the winery’s Atlas Peak fruit. I’d rather not pay so much for a pink wine, but I’ll make an exception for this gem. I loved the bright red fruit flavors. It’s just a beautiful, immensely satisfying wine. $35 at http://acumenwine.com

                     White

2020 Cuvaison Méthod Béton –– The name references the fact that this small-lot white fermented in concrete eggs. It’s a blend of two Dijon clones that delivers beautiful aromas with pronounced white peach citrus notes on the palate. It’s equal parts elegant and intensely flavored with white peach and citrus at the forefront. $50 at http://cuvaison.com

                            Red

2018 Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de la Tour Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — One of Napa Valley’s reference standard cabs going back to the 1930s, it rarely disappoints. In awarding a 98-point score, Antonio Galloni called the wine “sensational,” praising it for the luscious red fruit layered with leather and licorice flavors. What he said! Well, what James Suckling and Jeb Dunnuck said, too. Their scores were 98 and a 97+ respectively.$150 at http://bvwines.com

H-Town Happenings

Indulge Your Palate: A Food, Beer & Wine Tasting Festival — The Health Museum. 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29. Starts at $30. http://eventbrite.com

Stella’s Wine Bar Symposium — Saturday, Oct. 8, 4 p.m. http://eventbrite.com

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Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy  

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Twitter: @sportywineguy

Facebook: Dale Robertson

There are no bad weeks in wine-blogger world. You’re meeting cool people and writing about stuff that gives us much pleasure. But some weeks are truly special and last week was one of them.

It started with a predictably spirited “Sporty Wine Guy” podcast recording session on Monday with Jeremy Parzen and ended with my first-ever visit to the far-field wilds of Tomball, where I found a quaint and lovely small town with an excellent wine bar and an outstanding BYOB – woo hoo!!! – Argentine steakhouse. But we’ll get to that in a moment because I’m going to recount my adventures in chronological order.  

Wednesday brought visits from an old friend, Nicole Rolet, and a new one, Carlo Pagnin. Rolet was in town for a frenetic day of tasting the local wine community on her new Chène Bleu releases (chenebleu.com), which included a predictably compelling 2021 rosé. We met up for would be my first ever wine breakfast at the Colombe d’Or. Pourquoi pas, right? It was five o’clock somewhere, after all.  

An American and a refugee from the corporate world, Nicole is a true force of nature, having transformed a crumbling monastery built in the Middle Ages into a state-of-the-art winery complex near the village of Crestet, in the shadow of Mont Ventoux, the towering hump that so routinely figures prominently in the Tour de France. We met back in 2010 when she put together the first-ever International Grenache Symposium at her place, bringing in luminaries from as far away as Australia to taste and compare notes on the great grape of France’s Southern Rhone Valley.                

Husband Xavier, who is both a Frenchman and the former president of the London Stock Exchange, had purchased the property and surrounding vineyards that became Chène Bleu not long before they met. The sparks flew between them and the next thing Nicole knew, she had become a vintner with lofty expectations of creating a Grand Cru-caliber wine in a neighborhood not known for same. There have been hiccups, to be sure, but the Rolets have been relentless in their pursuit of excellence.

And unafraid to think outside the wine box. An example: Their “feminine” red Héloïse includes a bit of Chène Bleu’s high-altitude viognier blended in with the dominant syrah and some grenache, following the Côte Rotie model in the Northern Rhone. But, since that doesn’t conform to France’s strict AOC regulations, it must be sold as a Vin de Pays, albeit one of the best you’ll ever encounter. Héloïse’s “masculine” counterpart, Abélard, is mostly grenache (85 percent) with syrah making up the rest.

Héloïse and Abélard, of course, were the star-crossed lovers from Medieval times – she was his young student – whose “uncompromising commitment to each other through time,” Nicole writes on her website, “reflects our own convictions.  We admire their ability to combine deep thinking, passion and tenacity.”  

Unfortunately, Chène Bleu isn’t widely available in Houston, but fortuitously I had seen a double magnum of the rosé high on a shelf at Montrose Cheese & Wine. It became the biggest and most expensive ($219) bottle of rosé I’ve ever purchased, but I got Nicole to sign the label, then my wife and I and four others shamelessly polished the whole thing off a couple nights later at Porta’Vino. To repeat myself, Pourquoi pas?       

Magnums of same are on the shelf at Houston Wine Merchant for $86.99. Pricey, to be sure, but worth it. This meticulously crafted age-worthy pink is Grand Cru-caliber by any measure.

Moving on . . . Lunch that happy day would be at Coppa, where Pagnin, the export manager, was showing his Muri-Gries wines (muri-gries.com) from Bolzano in the Südtirol/Alto Adige. We tasted two beautiful whites, a pinot grigio and a pinot bianco, and the winery’s flagship Lagrein, made from grapes that are grown in the center of Bolzano – literally – and are still tended to by Benedictine monks whose predecessors had moved from Muri in Switzerland to Bolzano in the mid-19^th century. The bottles we sampled can all be purchased through AOC Selections (aocselections.com).

It has been 30 years since I visited Bolzano, but I promised Pagnin I would return next spring to tour the gorgeous monastery (seen here) and taste Muri-Gries’ many other wines. A special producer, this one.  

Thursday’s lunch took place at Roegels Barbeque, where Jonathan Honefenger was holding court. At one time or another, any serious Houston wine consumer had surely encountered Honefenger, considering he held down jobs in every sector of the industry here until he up and moved to Oregon with his fiancee (and soon to be wife) Madeline just as the pandemic was hitting. Madeline, it seems, had bought a Peruvian vineyard once owned by her grandfather not long before she and Honefinger first met, so they readily had something in common to discuss.

Jonathan Honefenger

Although she at first didn’t want to date him, he’s a persuasive fellow. Now, they’re ensconced in Portland and have just introduced the Wild Child lineup of wines (wildchildwinecompany.com), which include a reisling, a gamay and a pinot noir. The reds paired splendidly with Roegels’ reference-standard barbeque and all three will soon be on the shelf at Houston Wine Merchant.

That’s the short version of Honefenger’s fascinating story. It will be continued in much greater detail in the near future.    

On Friday night, I finally met up with Casey Barber, the self-made fortysomething entrepreneur from Dallas who, despite raising three children as a single mother, founded the Rose Gold Rosé (rosegold.com), possibly the best-selling French rosé in Texas right now. It’s under $20 in retail – I most frequently scoop up my bottles at the West Gray Kroger – and it spirits you straight to the lovely hinterlands above St. Tropez, where the grapes are grown and the wine gets made.

In just five years, Rose Gold production has exploded from 1,000 cases to 12,000 and Barber’s hoping to double that next year. This all happened because of a memorable tasting experience in Provence on her honeymoon. The marriage may have ended, but it seems safe to say that Casey’s career in wine is only starting.

We convened at Ruggles Black because she and owner Neera Parador are friends. That proved wonderfully serendipitous because I’d suggested to the chef, Bruce Molzan, that he put Rose Gold on his list without knowing Casey and Neera knew each other.       

Then on Saturday night . . . Road trip!  The Newsom Family Vineyards tasting room occupies part of The Empty Glass wine bar (theemptyglass.com) in Tomball and the man behind the bar doing the pouring was Pablo Valqui, with whom I’m partnering on a food-and-wine tour in the South of France next spring. (Details can be found in my previous post and at gourmettours.biz.)

Newsom, of course, was already one of Texas’ premier grape-growers before he decided to release his own label and the juice is just as good as the fruit. In fact, the 2015 Newsom Merlot is the best example of that varietal I’ve run across in 2022 and it sells for a mere $29.95. A five-wine tasting in the cozy Newsom space goes for $18 and five reserve wines can be sampled for $28.              

Our next stop would be the nearby Che Gaucho steakhouse to actually drink the wines, and what a splendid experience that proved to be. The beef and empanadas were top-drawer authentic – the family hails from Argentina – and the BYOB aspect was too good to be true. Tomball has not seen the last of me, whatever the price of gas might be. (chegauchorestaurant.com)  

Despite all the sipping and kibbitzing, I still found time to knock out my first piece  for the Chronicle in a few months. It’s about Matthew Massey, the Madame Zéro champagne producer (madamezero.commadamezero.com) who, improbably, hails from Galveston. You’ll read that story in this space, too, after it appears in the Chron. He and Barber would obviously have many notes to compare, were they to meet, which I hope I can make happen soon.   

Alas, the one thing I didn’t do was attend the Cuvée Collective’s grand opening (cuveecollective.com) thanks to an emergency plumbing issue that had to be dealt with, dammit. Located near the Beltway and I-10 on the west side, it’s our newest upscale wine-storage/tasting venue and I’m told by those who have visited that it’s off-the-charts gorgeous with multiple venues within the warehouse for hosting events and an expansive list of storage options.

Hearty congratulations are in order for the founder, Ginny Endecott, who, like Barber and Massey, had the vision, the determination and the know-how to pull things together during a very difficult period in all of our lives. Ginny used to sit on my Chronicle tasting panel and happens to be even nicer than she is knowledgeable.

You’ll notice there are no wine touts from me this week. Instead, I’m expecting you to explore all of the aforementioned.       

 H-Town Happenings

* Night in Santiago – Camerata, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 6-8 p.m. Free admission. 713-522-8466 or cameratahouston.com

* Cheers for Charity benefitting Second Chances — Red Oak Ballroom at Norris Conference Centers at CityCentre. 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10. eventbrite.com

* Crack Open the Case night: Exploring Wagner Family Wines — JMP Tasting Room, Humble. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, September 15. Starts at $50. eventbrite.com 

* Indulge Your Palate: A Food, Beer & Wine Tasting Festival — The Health Museum. 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29. Starts at $30. eventbrite.com

Follow me

* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy  

* Instagram: sportywineguy

* Twitter: @sportywineguy

* Facebook: Dale Robertson

Mark your calendars. My friend Pablo Valqui, an experienced tour operator, and I have officially partnered up on our first food-and-wine travel adventure, set for the South of France from May 24 through June 4 next year.    

We’ll be spending four days in Provence at the outset — including a day trip up to the gorgeous Ubaye Valley where the Robertsons “settled” 25 years ago — then heading to Languedoc-Roussillon before circling back through the Southern Rhone Valley and wrapping up with two nights in Nice. Highlights follow:

Food and wine: 

* Welcome dinner in the gorgeous gardens of La Table du Pigonnet in the center of Aix-en-Provence (www.hotelpigonnet.com).

* Pairing dinner at Domaine Gerard Bertrand’s Château l’Hospitalet south of Narbonne near the Mediterranean shore (chateau-hospitalet.com), then a sunset visit to a charming “crab shack” on the Grazel Lagoon near Gruissan. 

* Dinner at the Michelin-starred L’Oustelet on the plaza in Gigondas (loustalet-gigondas.com)

* Tastings at Saint-Pierre de Mejans in the Luberon (saintpierredemejans.com), Château La Mascaronne in the Var (chateau-lamascaronne.com), Domaine de Mourchon above Seguret (www.domainedemourchon.com), Chêne Bleu in the shadow of Mt. Ventoux (chenebleu.com) and Château de Saint-Cosme in Gigondas (saintcosme.com), plus a few other serendipitous stops.     

* A chef-prepared grand aperitif/tasting hosted by yours truly at our home above Barcelonnette (ubaye.com).

* A coastline tour from Nice to Monte Carlo, followed by a festive farewell to La Belle France dinner on our final night.

Culture:

* A tour of Marseille, France’s oldest and most diverse city.

* A tour of the historic Fontfroide Abbey, one of France’s most beautiful, with lunch in the charming restaurant there (fontfroide.com).   

* A tour of Sisteron’s famous Citadel, towering above the Durance River in Haute Provence (provence-alpes.coteazur.com).

Our price is $7,290 per person — maximum of 10 folks, to keep things intimate — and will include all wining, dining, lodging and transportation from the time you get off the plane in Marseille until you board another in Nice. Our hotels will each be superior class, yet unique in their own special ways.   

Official inquiries should be made to Valqui at info@gourmettours.biz, but don’t hesitate to reach out to me, too at sportywineguy@outlook.com

Banner Year!

In recent post, I spoke of the 60th and 50th anniversaries being celebrated in 2022 by Alexander Valley Vineyards and Jordan Winery respectively. But Jordan is hardly alone in marking its half-century in business. It seems 1972 was the most magical of years in the modern history of the California wine industry.

Jordan’s Sonoma County neighbor, Dry Creek Vineyards, also came on line and the Napa Valley scene exploded with Caymus, Silver Oak, Diamond Creek, Clos du Val, Burgess, Mount Veeder, Rutherford Hill, Smith-Madrone and  Sullivan Rutherford Estate releasing their inaugural vintages.

Up in Calistoga, Jim Barrett and Ernie Hahn purchased Chateau Montelena, which had sat dormant since Prohibition. A year later, of course, Barrett’s first Chardonnay release conquered the French in the “Judgment of Paris.” California has been front and center on the world’s wine map ever since.  

Tasting Texas

Tickets have gone on sale for the Texas Hill Country Wineries Texas Wine Month passport event running throughout the month of October. With the purchase of a digital passport, wine lovers can visit up to four of the 45 participating wineries per day while receiving discounts on bottle purchases. Passport tickets are $120 per couple or $85 for an individual with $5 from each ticket sold going directly to the Texas Hill Country Wine Industry Scholarship Fund  To date, more than $55,500 has been awarded to 47 Texas students working towards a degree in viticulture, enology or hospitality.  Go  to https://texaswinetrail.com/texas-wine-month to secure your tickets.

Raising a glass to . . . Jonathan Honefenger

The former Houstonian, who played a variety of roles in our wine community for many years, has resettled in Portland with a new wife and become a winemaker. Honefinger’s Wild Child Winery has a Gamay and a Pinot Noir on offer for $28 with more Willamette Valley wines coming soon. He’ll be visiting Houston next week, so I’m hoping to catch up with him. Check out his website: wildchildwinecompany.com      

Pouring one out for . . . Steve Worster

Before there was Earl Campbell, there was Steve Worster. Big Woo was a load, too, believe me. Like the Tyler Rose became in the mid-1970s, Worster was The Man for Texas Longhorns teams that won 30 consecutive games and two national championships in 1968-70. He made the Wishbone offense — but the Wishbone offense made him, too. Unlike Campbell, a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, he never found stardom as a pro. In fact, he never played a down in the NFL.      

Sippin’ with sporty

Bubbles 

Madame Zéro Champagne – You’ll be reading a lot more about Matthew Massey in my blog going forward, but I wanted to introduce to this outstanding bottle of bubbles post haste because, well, as Charles Barkley used to say, “Life is short and death is long.” The “zero,” of course, references the dosage, or lack thereof, that arguably makes Massey’s all-chardonnay sparkler, with almost no sugar in the mix, a health drink. That was his intention. The 39-year-old Galveston native – yep, Ball High School – is a workout nut, too. In short, he’s an amazing story and I can’t wait to tell it. But don’t wait to buy the wine, a for-real value a $56.99 on the shelf at Spec’s.               

Rosé

2020 Caves d’Esclans Whispering Angel Côtes de Provence– Sacha Lichine’s famous Provençal pink, a major player in the world’s 21^st century rosé renaissance, never disappoints. The critic James Suckling scored this vintage a 92, touting the grenache, cinsault and vermentino blend’s “very pale apricot-pink color (with) delicate aromas of sliced apple, pink grapefruit, peach, cream and stones (that) follow through to a medium body and crisp acidity. Deliciously creamy and smooth.” Note that Suckling also gave the 2021, which you’re probably seeing more of on the shelves these days, a 92. The gorgeous estate, acquired by Lichine in 2006, is northeast of St. Tropez overlooking La Vallée d’Esclans with the Mediterranean coast just visible in the distance. 

White

2020 Kosta Browne One-Sixteenth Chardonnay Russian River Valley – Kosta Browne is, of course, best known for its pinot noirs. Fact is I’d never tasted one of the chardonnays until this one. In a word, wow! The winemaker, Julien Howsepian, says his wine “is rich and lean with laser focus, and a minerality that calls to mind a ‘salt of the earth’ country ballad. Excellent structure, weight, and super balanced–a delicious heartfelt chardonnay.” The fruit was sourced from eight name-brand Russian River Valley vineyards and six of the most famous chardonnay clones were utilized. What could possibly go wrong? Absolutely nothing, it seems. But it’s pricey – $99 at wine.com

Red

2018 Papa Pietro-Perry Pinot Noir Russian River Valley – Another personal “discovery,” this one. (I gotta get out more!) Also a blend of multiple vineyards and clones – vinification of each was done separately – the juice spent 11 months in French oak, a third new. The wine packs a hefty flavor punch with red fruit galore. And the winery’s back story might even be better than the wine. Founded in Ben and Yolanda Papapietro’s San Francisco garage, the winery became a viable business in 2000 and has been earning accolades ever since. Ben’s love of pinot noir dates to his first tasting 1950s French burgundies and he remains inspired by same today. $61 at papapietro-perry.com

H-Town Happenings

* Night in Santiago: Camerata, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 6-8 p.m. Free admission. 713-522-8466 or cameratahouston.com

* Cheers for Charity benefitting Second Chances: Red Oak Ballroom at Norris Conference Centers at CityCentre. 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10. eventbrite.com

* Crack Open the Case night: Exploring Wagner Family Wines: JMP Tasting Room, Humble. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, September 15. Starts at $50. eventbrite.com 

* Indulge Your Palate: A Food, Beer & Wine Tasting Festival: The Health Museum. 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29. Starts at $30. eventbrite.com

Follow me

* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy

* Instagram: sportywineguy

* Twitter: @sportywineguy

* Facebook: Dale Robertson

Follow these folks, too

* Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com) – My Podcast partner in crime goes slightly off topic and gets us up to speed on the rescue of a wild boar that got trapped in Milan’s canal system. You can catch our conversations wherever you get your podcasts at “Sporty Wine Guy.”

* Sandra Crittenden (winelifehouston.com) – Sandra tasted with native Houstonian and newly hatched winemaker Jonathan Honefenger, who has moved to Portland and launched his Wild Child lineup of Oregon wines.

* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – The Texas Wineslinger looks at Texas’ 2022 harvest, said to be an excellent one but also one that’s wrapping up early.

* Jeff Kralick (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Jeff runs through a list of wines that have gotten him excited of late.

* Katrina Rene (thecorkscrewconcierge.com) – Kat also weighs in the 2022 Texas harvest.

Mark your calendars. My friend Pablo Valqui, an experienced tour operator, and I have officially partnered up on our first food-and-wine travel adventure, set for the South of France from May 24 through June 4 next year.    

We’ll be spending four days in Provence at the outset — including a day trip up to the gorgeous Ubaye Valley where the Robertsons “settled” 25 years ago — then heading to Languedoc-Roussillon before circling back through the Southern Rhone Valley and wrapping up with two nights in Nice. Highlights follow:

Food and wine: 

* Welcome dinner in the gorgeous gardens of La Table du Pigonnet in the center of Aix-en-Provence (www.hotelpigonnet.com).

The lagoon

* Pairing dinner at Domaine Gerard Bertrand’s Château l’Hospitalet south of Narbonne near the Mediterranean shore (chateau-hospitalet.com), then a sunset visit to a charming “crab shack” on the Grazel Lagoon near Gruissan. 

* Dinner at the Michelin-starred L’Oustelet on the plaza in Gigondas (loustalet-gigondas.com)

* Tastings at Saint-Pierre de Mejans in the Luberon (saintpierredemejans.com), Château La Mascaronne in the Var (chateau-lamascaronne.com), Domaine de Mourchon above Seguret (www.domainedemourchon.com), Chêne Bleu in the shadow of Mt. Ventoux (chenbleu.com) and Château de Saint-Cosme in Gigondas (saintcosme.com), plus a few other serendipitous stops.     

* A chef-prepared grand aperitif/tasting hosted by yours truly at our home above Barcelonnette (ubaye.com).

* A coastline tour from Nice to Monte Carlo, followed by a festive farewell to La Belle France dinner on our final night.

Culture:

* A tour of Marseille, France’s oldest and most diverse city.

The Abbey

* A tour of the historic Fontfroide Abbey, one of France’s most beautiful, with lunch in the charming restaurant there (fontfroide.com).   

* A tour of Sisteron’s famous Citadel, towering above the Durance River in Haute Provence (provence-alpes-cotedazur.com).

Our price is $7,290 per person — maximum of 10 folks, to keep things intimate — and will include all wining, dining, lodging and transportation from the time you get off the plane in Marseille until you board another in Nice. Our hotels will each be superior class, yet unique in their own special ways.   

Official inquiries should be made to Valqui at pablo@gourmettours, but don’t hesitate to reach out to me, too at sportywineguy@outlook.com.

Banner Year!

In recent post, I spoke of the 60th and 50th anniversaries being celebrated in 2022 by Alexander Valley Vineyards and Jordan Winery respectively. But Jordan is hardly alone in marking its half-century in business. It seems 1972 was the most magical of years in the modern history of the California wine industry.

Jordan’s Sonoma County neighbor, Dry Creek Vineyards, also came on line and the Napa Valley scene exploded with Caymus, Silver Oak, Diamond Creek, Clos du Val, Burgess, Mount Veeder, Rutherford Hill, Smith-Madrone and  Sullivan Rutherford Estate releasing their inaugural vintages.

Up in Calistoga, Jim Barrett and Ernie Hahn purchased Chateau Montelena, which had sat dormant since Prohibition. A year later, of course, Barrett’s first Chardonnay release conquered the French in the “Judgment of Paris.” California has been front and center on the world’s wine map ever since.  

Tasting Texas

Tickets have gone on sale for the Texas Hill Country Wineries Texas Wine Month passport event running throughout the month of October. With the purchase of a digital passport, wine lovers can visit up to four of the 45 participating wineries per day while receiving discounts on bottle purchases. Passport tickets are $120 per couple or $85 for an individual with $5 from each ticket sold going directly to the Texas Hill Country Wine Industry Scholarship Fund  To date, more than $55,500 has been awarded to 47 Texas students working towards a degree in viticulture, enology or hospitality.  Go  to https://texaswinetrail.com/texas-wine-month to secure your tickets.

Raising a glass to . . . Jonathan Honefinger 

The former Houstonian, who played a variety of roles in our wine community for many years, has resettled in Portland with a new wife and become a winemaker. Honefinger’s Wild Child Winery has a Gamay and a Pinot Noir on offer for $28 with more Willamette Valley wines coming soon. He’ll be visiting Houston next week, so I’m hoping to catch up with him. Check out his website: wildchildwinecompany.com.      

Pouring one out for . . . Steve Worster

Before there was Earl Campbell, there was Steve Worster. Big Woo was a load, too, believe me. Like the Tyler Rose became in the mid-1970s, Worster was The Man for Texas Longhorns teams that won 30 consecutive games and two national championships in 1968-70. He made the Wishbone offense — but the Wishbone offense made him, too. Unlike Campbell, a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, he never found stardom as a pro. In fact, he never played a down in the NFL.      

Sippin’ with sporty

Bubbles 

Madame Zéro Champagne – You’ll be reading a lot more about Matthew Massey in my blog going forward, but I wanted to introduce to this outstanding bottle of bubbles post haste because, well, as Charles Barkley used to say, “Life is short and death is long.” The “zero,” of course, references the dosage, or lack thereof, that arguably makes Massey’s all-chardonnay sparkler, with almost no sugar in the mix, a health drink. That was his intention. The 39-year-old Galveston native – yep, Ball High School – is a workout nut, too. In short, he’s an amazing story and I can’t wait to tell it. But don’t wait to buy the wine, a for-real value a $56.99 on the shelf at Spec’s.               

Rosé

2020 Caves d’Esclans Whispering Angel Côtes de Provence– Sacha Lichine’s famous Provençal pink, a major player in the world’s 21^st century rosé renaissance, never disappoints. The critic James Suckling scored this vintage a 92, touting the grenache, cinsault and vermentino blend’s “very pale apricot-pink color (with) delicate aromas of sliced apple, pink grapefruit, peach, cream and stones (that) follow through to a medium body and crisp acidity. Deliciously creamy and smooth.” Note that Suckling also gave the 2021, which you’re probably seeing more of on the shelves these days, a 92. The gorgeous estate, acquired by Lichine in 2006, is northeast of St. Tropez overlooking La Vallée d’Esclans with the Mediterranean coast just visible in the distance. 

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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