Tag Archives: Wine

Sippin’ with Sporty, Part 1

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The wines touted here and in my next blog to follow are among the most intriguing I’ve tasted over the past sixth months and that can currently be found either on local store shelves or through on-line purchase — especially important, of course, this time of the year. Some are new to me; others have been my go-to bottles for years.

As for the very best wines I’ve sampled of late . . . Good luck finding or affording them. I’ll share that story soon.   

BUBBLES

Champagne Mailly Grand Cru

The basics – It’s a classic blend of pinot noir (75 percent) and chardonnay from only Grand Cru vineyards.

Winemaker’s take – “Iridescent golden yellow tones, full, fruity nose, clean palate. A very come-hither Champagne: racy, elegant and deeply sensual, with beguiling bubbles that literally burst with luscious fruit. Mouth-watering hints of lightly toasted, freshly buttered bread.”

Critical acclaim – From James Suckling: “A fruit-forward style with yellow plums and stone fruit, enhanced by lemon zest.  Light-bodied and crisp, if not zesty, with a good finish.” 

My take – These tasty bubbles were new to me when I tasted the Mailly for the first time not knowing the price. It turned out the price is right.  

For more information – www.champagne-mailly.com

Price – $45.99 at Total Wine

WHITE

Drop of Sunshine Chardonnay

The basics – It’s 100-percent chardonnay from various California Central Coast vineyards.

Winemaker’s take – “A masterclass in balance, this Chardonnay opens with a burst of zesty lemon tart, seamlessly blending with the minerality that defines its crisp character. The finish reveals the lush sweetness of nectarine and ripe pear, while subtle hints of oak—delicate yet perfectly integrated—add depth without overpowering the freshness. This wine showcases a refined harmony of bright acidity and sophisticated structure, leaving a lasting impression of clarity and finesse.”

My take – Again, this wine proves you don’t have spend a fortune to satisfy your sipping urges. The complexity is startling considering the price. 

For more information – www.dropofsunshine.com

Price – $15.99 at Total Wine

2024 Portlandia Pinot Gris

The basics – It’s most pinot gris from Oregon’s Willamette Valley with a tiny bit of riesling blended in to add complexity.

Winemaker’s take – “Brilliantly balanced, bright, and bursting with lively aromas, this Pinot Gris delights from the first sip. A hint of lemon zest, plush pear, and sun-kissed stone fruit paint a tantalizing picture, while crisp green apple and juicy peach play on the palate. A refreshing ribbon of racy acidity and a sleek, stony minerality lend depth and distinction, making every sip purely pleasurable.”

My take – It’s the perfect aperitif wine at a very friendly price.

For more information – www.portlandiawine.com

Price – $16.97 from www.wine.com

2023 Ron Yates Sauvignon Blanc

The basics – The sauvignon blanc grapes grow at an elevation of 3,500 feet in the remote Dell Valley Vineyards 75 miles east of El Paso.

Winemaker’s take – “Medium-bodied with vibrant acidity and silky tannins, the wine offers excellent food-pairing versatility while maintaining elegant structure. Notes of dried herbs, leather, and subtle spice.”

My take – Yates ranks among my very favorite Texas winemakers and he’s a master of his craft. The proof is in the bottle.  

For more information – www.ronyateswines.com

Price – $34.99 at Houston Wine Merchant

2024 Illumination Sauvignon Blanc

The basics – It’s a mix of Sonoma and Napa fruit, which is hand-picked and pressed as whole clusters, then fermented in new and neutral French oak, acacia and stainless steel barrels as well as egg-shaped concrete fermenters.

Winemaker’s take – “A remarkable depth of flavor comes through: notes of lemon zest, honeysuckle, peach blossom, and quince are all elevated by a lovely acidity. A savory minerality layers itself among the appealing fruit flavors and hints at the complexity that will continue to reveal itself.”

Critical acclaim – From Jeb Dunnuck, who gave it a score of 95: “The wine has a Bordeaux Blanc-like vibe in its ripe lime, orange blossom, mint, and spicy wood nuances. It brings plenty of sweet California fruit and is medium to full-bodied and concentrated, with bright acidity and a great finish. Beautifully done . . . just impeccable.” 

My take – What Jeb said. Yes, it’s a tad expensive, but it’s worth every dollar.  

For more information – www.quintessa.com

Price – $54.99 at www.wine.com

RED

2022 Ron Yates Mourvèdre

The basics – The Texas High Plains fruit – it’s 100-percent mourvèdre – ages in  mostly neutral French and American oak barrels, most of them neutral.  

Winemaker’s take – “This pure expression of mourvèdre showcases the variety’s distinctive character with compelling complexity. Intriguing aromas of graphite and rich cranberry compote lead to a palate filled with flavors reminiscent of strawberry rhubarb pie, enhanced by a distinctive anise note that adds depth and intrigue. The careful oak program allows the wine’s unique terroir-driven characteristics to shine while providing structure and subtle spice.”

My take – I don’t usually feature two wines from the same producer in a blog, but this red and Yates’ sauvignon blanc were both too good to go unrecognized.     

For more info – www.ronyateswines.com

Price – $39.99 from the winery

2022 Tenuta Luce LaVite Lucente

The basics – Like its famous – and pricy – big brother Luce, it’s a blend of Tuscan merlot and sangiovese.

Winemaker’s take – “Appearing a deep ruby red, the Lucente boasts an intense bouquet of red berry fruit, wild blackberry, violets, and other floral notes. Broad and generous on the palate, with tannins beautifully-integrated into the structure, it develops tangy, aromatic fruit on the mid-palate, including dark wild berry, black liquorice, and smooth spices.”

Critical acclaim – From James Suckling, who scored it a 94: “Round and creamy, offering ripe blackberries, blueberries and hints of chocolate and cedar. Medium- to full-bodied with succulent fruit and fine tannins. Compact and focused, with good length and balance overall.” The Wine Spectator, Decanter and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate each gave it a 90.

My take – This is a superb Tuscan without the obligatory Super Tuscan price. The Luce goes for $70-plus.

For more information – www. https://www.tenutaluce.com

Price – $26.99 from www.wine.com

2022 M Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles

The basics – The blend is cabernet sauvignon-centric (84 percent) with malbec (6), merlot (5) and petite sirah also in the mix.

Winemaker’s take – “Chocolate-blackberry ganache, cranberry preserves, sweet mint, black licorice, dark olive, new leather, mahogany. Palate is sleek and supple, firm, fine-grain, polished tannins, with a complex, classy finish.”

Critical acclaim – From Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, which scored it a 95: “Deep ruby-purple, it has alluring aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, dried herbs, leather and lavender, plus classy touches of oak spice. The full-bodied palate is concentrated and powerful without going over the top. It has abundant, grainy tannins, flinty streaks and plenty of refreshing acidity to carry the long finish.”

My take – It’s equal parts easy drinking and easy on the budget, certainly for a California cab.

For more information – www.mcpricemyers.com

Price – $25.97 at www.wine.com

A little of this and a little of that

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First, sports. After all, that was my first gig. But note that the wines pictured above will be singled out for praise later.  

The Texans don’t suck anymore and hurray for that. But beating up on a terrible Ravens defense – an unthinkable adjective for their Ray Lewis era D – without Lamar Jackson under center for the Ravens offense hardly qualifies as a cosmic turning point. Ditto their 26-0 shellacking of the dreadful Titans the previous week. Tennessee is so bad coach Brian Callahan has already been fired less barely a third of the way through his second season.

But hope springs eternal, even in Houston, which hasn’t seen one of its teams advance as far as the conference championship game – never mind the Super Bowl – since the Oilers did so in 1979, a drought that exceeds all other current NFL cities by a full decade. To put this span in context, the quarterback who last got a team from H-town there, Dan Pastorini, will turn 77 next year.

And that’s why I’ve become a Seattle Mariners fan with the Astros long out of the hunt. Seattle’s baseball franchise is the only one never to play in a World Series. If the Mariners can get there, and they are now only two victories shy of same – there has to be hope for the Texans ending H-town’s suffering, right?

Speaking of droughts, let’s talk about the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones says he’s going to boycott the Super Bowl this year because of the NFL’s decision to make Bad Bunny the featured halftime attraction. That’s hilarious because Jones’ football team has been boycotting the Super Bowl for 30 years – and Jerry knows this one isn’t going, either.   

Finally, I was also going to take some shots at the Bill Belichick circus at North Carolina, but I’ve lost my enthusiasm. Why? Because, really, who cares? Without his fortuitous intersection with Tom Brady, Belichick would be an afterthought nobody today.     


Now, on to vino . . .

It’s hard to tout wines I’m enjoying while in France because most of my favorite, daily-drinking selections are small-production, super-cheap bottles that will never make their way to Houston or anywhere else in North America. To be sure, I will be confronting sticker shock upon my return in a few weeks. Just this morning, for example, I picked up a fresh, lively, eminently quaffable Côtes du Rhone from Domaine Père Hugues at the local Carrefour supermarket for what I thought was the equivalent of a little over four bucks.

Except, because I bought two bottles, the price dropped a dollar on each. Are you kidding me?

And my go-to rosés, the Crazy Tropez and a generic Var – the inland region above Saint Tropez – are about $6 each. I literally buy every bottle of both that I find on the shelf.     

Thursday, however, I’m heading back to my beloved Piemonte for a single night to meet up with a couple friends who are leading a tour group through the region.  I’ll also be restocking my favorites from Ceretto, Oddero, Bruno Rocca, Pio Cesare and Luigi Eiunadi with, of course, somewhat higher tariffs, they will still be way less expensive than what the same bottles would sell for in Houston . . . if I could find them.

But I’m no less excited to hit a few of my favorite Alba-area retailers to look for wines that my friends at AOC Selections have gotten behind. Master sommelier Brandon Kerne, pictured above, is filling a huge void in our market for Barolos, Barbarescos, Barberas and Dolcettos. I know Roagna, Trediberri, G.B. Burlotto and Giulia Negri only through the crack AOC team, although, full disclosure, I have yet to taste any of Giulia’s prized offerings, a number of which are now on offer at AOC.

I’m hoping to score three bottles of her 2016 “La Tartufaia” Barolo ($75) and the recently released 2021 ($90) is no less tempting. The 2016 vintage had been considered the best vintage of the early 21st century in the Langhe, but 2021 seems to be eclipsing it, based my tastings in early September and conversations with producers I know personally.

Negri cultivates Barolo’s highest site, Serradenari, shown above, in the La Morra neighborhood,and she is unquestionably a rising star in the region. Kerne’s expert take on Negri, shown above doing her “barologirl” thing, and her wines:

“Barolo has never been quick to change, and Giulia’s brilliance lies in her ability to push forward while honoring the past. She calls her approach ‘enlightened traditionalism,’ a pragmatic, respectful philosophy that refines classic methods through smarter vineyard and cellar work. One detail I love is her use of tressage, or vine braiding, a time-consuming Burgundian technique that helps vines handle heat without the trauma of hedging. Everything is aged in neutral large oak, and every choice is intentional. ‘That which is born square can never be round,’ she says, and that care and clarity comes through in the glass. These are some of the most aromatic, silken expressions of Nebbiolo being made today.”

In short, if you’re as passionate about Nebiolo as I am, run, don’t walk, to AOC today.

Finally, I need to share something I received recently from WalletHub about H-town’s vibrant wining-and-dining scene, which I’ll put it up against anybody’s, although I’m hardly unbiased.  

To determine the best and cheapest local foodie scenes, WalletHub explained in a press release, it compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities across 28 key metrics. The data set ranges from affordability and accessibility of high-quality restaurants to food festivals per capita to craft breweries and wineries per capita to retail pricing.

While we didn’t score too well in gourmet specialty food stores per capita and average off-the-shelf beer and wine prices, ranking only 95th and 77th respectively, we were No. 1 in both restaurants per capita and availability and accessibility to highly-rated restaurants. I’m not really sure what the latter means, but, hey, let’s raise a glass of Negri Barolo to that anyway.

Cheers!      

Bonjour from paradise!

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Oops! Written in early May, this missive never got published, it seems. So here ya go. Would be terrible to deprive you of all my wisdom . . .

I know, finally. But it has been a crazy few months for the Robertsons what with our pursuit of a long-stay French visa (so far, so good), a couple weeks hunkered down at the Houston Open and the U.S. Clay Courts (two of my favorite venues), an H-town move (complicated, yet well worth the trouble) and then traveling to France, which proved to be the biggest, most bizarre adventure of them all.

We’ll never be completely certain what happened, but my being “unresponsive” to a flight attendant was apparently deemed reason enough to turn a full United Houston-to-Frankfurt flight around over the Atlantic. We wound up landing in Boston, where things only got weirder. Two days later, following multiple consultations with medical professionals — doctors, EMTs and even an ambulance crew lugging a stretcher — each of whom pronounced me fit as a fiddle, we finally made it to France.

Now here I sit at our dining room table in the Ubaye Valley, contemplating the most beautiful view in the world, at least in my humble opinion. This lovely place, about 65 miles inland from Nice in Haute Provence, has been our home away from home since 1998 and only becomes more special with each visit in large part because our circle of friends, like-minded souls all of them, keeps expanding. We fell in love with the landscape years ago, but now it’s actually more about the people.

Although I probably sound naïve saying this, the Ubaye seems the safest of havens in this screwed up world of ours. While you can’t escape the news here, it almost feels OK to ignore it. The 12th-century church tower seen in the photo above still stands despite lots of bad stuff happening through the centuries. That’s reassuring, Still, it was a bit unnerving the other morning when a couple of sound-barrier-breaking French fighter jets screamed through the valley seemingly a couple hundred feet over my head.

Da hell?

Admittedly, I was curious how the locals we don’t know well would relate to us given what’s going on with the MAGA jackasses back in the USA. They are, to be sure, horrified by what they see on television and read in their newspapers. But, if anything, it has made them all the more welcoming. They can feel our pain. It has been hugs all around on almost a daily basis.

The Barcelonnette “suburb” of Saint Pons (population 400) will be our home base through October, but we are hoping to wander further afield than we have in the past, when our Ubaye hours felt all too limited. For starters, we’ll be visiting Marseille, where we’ll spend an evening with our great friend Claude Gouron, who has photographed the Ubaye probably more than anyone ever but now splits his time between Barcelonnette and Marseille. There his partner, the lovely Samira, lives and works as a ceramic artist . . . never mind that she’s legally blind.

For years, decades even, I went to extreme lengths to avoid Marseille. Remember Gene Hackman in the French Connection? Right, scary. But Claude introduced me to the city’s myriad charms, equal parts gritty and gorgeous. I absolutely love the place now for its energy and its diversity. In many ways, it’s Houston with an Occitane accent — but a bit more history. The Phoenicians first put down roots on that sunny, rocky Mediterranean shore some 2,600 years ago.

And, to be sure, a visit to Italy’s Piemonte — Barolo country! — looms at some point. It was a stopover Alba that led us serendipitously to the Ubaye for the first time in June of 1993. Needing to get to Nice to catch a flight the next morning to London — heading to Wimbledon — we took the long way through the southern Alps, arguably the best detour we could have possibly imagined.

Although spring is springing across the valley floor, the high road down to Nice over the Col de Restefond has only recently been cleared of snow and it’s still a winter wonderland up there in the thin air, as the photo above proves. I screwed up the courage to drive it for the first time yesterday. But it might be a few more weeks — and at least a 20-degree temperature rise — before I tackle those 4,500 feet of vertical climbing on the bike. (A recent attempt on my eBike fell a mile short when my battery ran out of juice, dammit!)

Regarding my wine consumption . . . Well, yes, there has been some. Both of our chain grocery stores have extensive options to choose from at, by Texas standards, absurdly low prices. Five euros (less than $6) will buy any one of a half-dozen delicious Provencal roses and a quaffable Gigondas goes for $17. A perfectly baked baguette to accompany same? Under $2.

But, OK, filling up my Peugeot hybrid SUV can cost $80-plus.

Anyway, going forward I hope to resume posting blogs with reasonably substantive content every two to three weeks and thesportywineguy.com podcast will continue remotely thanks to the technical wizardry of my buddy Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com). Parzen is currently curtailing his globetrotting a bit, in part because the Trump tariff debacle has badly disrupted his Italian wine marketing/consulting business and also because he’s busy helping transform Emmit’s Place in his Westbury neighborhood into, seriously, a wine-drinker’s destination, as I noted in the blog that dropped yesterday.

Late June will find us in Vichy, Debbie for a total immersion French class and me for lots of biking and wine-bar time. It’s one of France’s best-known and most beautiful spa towns, although it’s hard to erase from memory those dreadful years Vichy spent as the capital-in-exile of “free” France while the Nazis had Paris under their despicable boot heels. Truth to tell, we shouldn’t forget. As the philosopher Santayana famously warned, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”

Pay attention, people.

Don’t pay the ransom. I’ve escaped!

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Yep, I’ve been off the blogging grid for awhile now. Falling on my sword here. It has been a complicated, crazy 2025 as we contemplate spending most of this year and next in France’s gorgeous Ubaye Valley, but no excuses. There’s a lot to catch up on, so, as my friend Shawn Virene, the A’Bouzy owner, is wont to say, “Giddyup!” And, speaking of Virene, whom I’ve known for 20-odd — and even — years, I’ll get back to him and his new resto in a moment.

Each of the following items deserves a blog of its own, but we’re going to be short and concise today. No, really.

2022 Bordeaux rocks!

Spec’s annual Bordeaux tasting has always been one of my favorites events of the year and the most recent one even exceeded my high expectations in large part because of the super high quality of some of the least expensive wines being showcased. One crazy standout was the Ampélia — pictured above — from François Despagne with a futures price of $15.19. No, that’s not a typo.

In 1996, Despagne had inherited the Grand Corbin-Despagne estate from his family, which has owned that storied property in Saint-Emilion for seven generations, dating back to the 1700s. Seeking a fresh challenge three years later, he and his wife Murielle bought the five hectares in neighboring Castillon where the Ampélia grapes grow in a jumble of old-vine plots. The plot was special because, at 110 meters above sea level overlooking the plateau of Saint-Philippe d’Aiguilhe, it happened to be the highest place in all of Bordeaux.

The name Ampélia is derived from the Greek Ampelos (the vine). Fresh and minerally — there’s plenty of limestone in the soil there — the wine is eminently ready to drink right now.

“It’s not a cuvee,” Despagne points out. “It’s simply the optimal quality we can get from this terroir.”

As for the vintage, it reminds of 2003 when summer temperatures also often soared of 100 degrees, producing many wines with high alcohol, low acidity and rich, bright fruit. While they may not age for long before fading, they’re going to be wonderfully enjoyable for the near term.

However, despite the heat and long periods of drought, Bordeaux enjoyed heavy spring rains and a smattering of “showers at the right time (during the growing season) for the ripeness,” said Ivanhoe Johnson, one of the famed region’s most prominent négociants. “In the grapes, there was an amazing balance between softness, freshness and concentration. I never taste a vintage like this in my life.”

And I can’t wait until these wines are on the shelf in H-town. My other favorites in the bargain range included Lacoste Borie ($30.14), Petit Ducru ($33.51), Echo de Lynch Bages ($47.82), Phelan Segur ($54.56) and D’Armailhac ($57.93). Among the big boys, the standouts for me were hardly surprising: Evangile ($307.84), Ducru Beaucaillou ($259.96), Pichon Comtesse ($243.28), Pichon Baron ($193.22) and Lynch Bages ($152.89).

Note that none of the First Growths were presented. Oh well . . .

High marks for a Texas merlot

I think everyone knows by now that I hold Texas vintner Ron Yates and his wines, both from Spicewood and his eponymous estate in Hye, in the highest esteem. On my most recent visit to the latter, I got to taste the 2021 Ron Yates Friesen Vineyards Merlot, which was recently among the five finalists for best of show for that varietal in 2024 San Francisco International Wine Competition.

No small feat that. The judges said the wine “enchants with aromas of dark cherry, vanilla, and cedar, balanced flavors of ripe berries, spice, and oak, and a lingering cherry finish.” I couldn’t agree more, and it’s only $40.99 for a bottle at ronyateswines.com.

Only three of John Friesen’s 33 acres in the High Plains are planted to merlot, a grape that hasn’t historically distinguished itself in Texas. But, if you ask Yates and also Dr. Bob Young at Bending Branch Estates, two wineries that have been especially loyal Friesen customers, nobody does it better in the vineyard.

Note that Friesen also offers his own merlot, from the 2022 vintage, priced at $55 from friesencellars.com.

The Texas Wineslinger bids adieu

Sadly for me, my great friend Russ Kane, who has written more knowledgably and passionately about Texas wines than anyone ever, has up and moved to the Atlanta suburb of Decatur, Ga., in order to spend more time with his family. At some point, however, I suspect he’ll start sniffing around Georgia’s vineyards. He simply won’t be able to help himself.

To be sure, Texas vintners are going to sorely miss Kane. Like lots of folks, I was ignorantly dismissive of what the state’s wine-growers were doing in the vineyards and cellars until Kane provided much-needed wakeup call back in 2008, my first full year as the Houston Chronicle’s wine columnist. As Yates most recently proved, we’re in the big leagues — and have been for some time.

Taste of Italy 2025

This annual gathering, sponsored by the Italian American Chamber of Commerce for a dozen years now, gets better and better. For the last several springs, I’ve had the privilege of sitting on a panel that discusses the merits of pairing Texas barbeque with Italian wines. Well, duh! Of course, anything would taste great with Ara Malekian’s Harlem Road slowed-cooked meats (harlemroadtexasbbq.com). Classically trained in some of Switzerland’s finest kitchens, Malekian, shown below, came to Texas to reinvent himself as a pitmaster. He succeeded, to say the least.

But this year we added a Mexican resto to the mix, Xalisko Cocina Mexicana in The Woodlands (xalisko.com). And guess what? Samples of chef Beatriz Martines’ inventive cuisine also worked splendidly with the Italians. Martines offers a serious wine list at Xalisko that happens to be sprinkled with excellent offerings from Italy, so she was a natural fit for the party.

If you have to pick one Italian varietal to pair with either cuisine, I always default to barbera and, no, it’s not just for the perfect alliteration. Barbera’s have never been better, but their prices still make sense.

The one we tasted in the pairing seminar, a 2022 Cerrino Barbera d’Alba, can be found at Spec’s for under $16. From the little hamlet of Trezzo Tinella, it’s bright and fruity with very nice acidity.

A subsequent Italian wines event at AOC showcased producers I had missed at the Hilton: Parvus Ager (Lazio), Cantine Briziarelli (Umbria and Montefalco) and Cantina I Vini Di Maremma, I don’t think I’ve ever attended a better tasting featuring wines that, with three exceptions, were all priced under $20. And the others were under $40. Bravo!

And get a load of this super-cool “box” wine from Briziarelli. It’s indeed made of cardboard with a liner inside. But none are in the U.S. yet.

A gathering of eagles

I rarely wear ties anymore, even at black-tie events, and long pants make me uncomfortable. But a recent invitation to join an august, historic group of local wine mavens for a private dinner at the Club Marigold forced me to put on grownup clothes.

“Gotta wear a tie,” my host, Pete Creasey, said.

Houston’s Seventh of April Club dates to 1964. Why the name? It seems the founders couldn’t come to any agreement on same so they opted to go with the date of their first gathering. The one I attended was No. 548 in the series. Chef Austin Waiter’s edgy, French-accented cuisine paired splendidly with the six wines members contributed from their personal cellars, starting with a 2017 Y de Chateau d’Yquem, the exquisite dry sibling the most famous of all Sauternes, and finishing with a “sticky” Chateau Guiraud Sauternes from the 2009 vintage paired with that gorgeous confection shown above.

In between, we shared the 2018 Aubert Eastside Vineyard Russian River Valley Chardonnay, the 2000 Cuvee Mon Aieul Châteauneuf-du Pape and the 2012 Sine Qua Non Stein Central Coast Grenache. Yessir, I liked hanging with these guys. Sure hope they invite me back before another six decades passes.

California dreaming . . .

Becomes a reality when the aforementioned Virene, whose bubbles list at A’Bouzy may be the best in Houston — it’s certainly the best-priced — opens his new restaurant Succulent in the Regent Square space, West Dallas at Dunlavy, that was so briefly occupied by Pastore. There, Virene’s focus will be California wines, with Napa Valley’s front and center. The menu will be built on seasonal ingredients from both the West coast and the Houston area, including Virene’s family-owned Huckleberry Farms in Round Top. He’ll even be growing herbs and vegetables on the premises.

I’ve known Virene for most of the 40 years he has been in the restaurant business in Houston, starting when he was a young server at Ruggles on lower Westheimer. He adopted his aggressive wine-pricing model during his long tenure with Ibiza and Brasserie 19 and has continued to embrace same, bless him.

Event of the week

Master sommeliers Keith Goldston and Julie Dalton, colleagues in the Fertitta empire, go mano-a-mano at Vic & Anthony’s Thursday night in a pairings taste-off. They’ll each choose a wine to accompany three courses — a potato pave, king crab spaghetti and beef Wellington — and diners will pick the winner at the end of the evening. It seems a screaming deal for $200 per person, all inclusive. You can reserve one of the few remaining spots through eventbrite.com.

Sippin’ with Sporty — Holidays 2024

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BUBBLES

Vincent Couche Eclipsia Brut NV

From the Wine Enthusiast, which scored it an 89: “This is a ripe wine. Pear and quince flavors are cut by lemon zest acidity, making for a fresh, rich wine that is well balanced. From vines in the Côte des Bar in the southern Aube region of Champagne, the wine has a warm, rich while still crisp character.”

From me: This officially certified biodynamic sparkler sparkles at every level. Vincent Couche is a perfectionist, especially when it comes to keeping chemicals out of his wines, and it shows. You won’t find fresher-tasting bubbles anywhere.

$46.50 at AOC Selections

Gonet-Medeville Champagne Tradition Premier Cru

From the winemaker: “The vines are sustainably farmed, have low yields, are harvested by hand, dosage is low and malolactic fermentation is blocked. The Grand Crus are vinified in wood, as are about a third of our Premier Crus like this one. The blend is 70 percent chardonnay, 25 percent pinot noir and the rest pinot meunier.”

From the Wine Advocate, which scored it a 92: “This wine is showing very well, bursting from the glass with an expressive bouquet of crisp yellow orchard fruit, honeycomb, dried citrus rind, walnuts and fresh brioche. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, elegantly textural and fleshy, with ripe but racy acids, fine depth at the core and a long, sapid finish. This is a complex Champagne that sees some barrel fermentation.”

From me: We had the pleasure of meeting Theo Gonet, the winery’s generation-next face, in Houston recently. As they say, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the oak. His parents are from prominent Champagne and Bordeaux viticultural families, Xavier’s in Mesnil sur Org and Julie’s in Sauternes respectively. They’ve been producing wine as a couple under their hyphenated label since 2000 and, in 2004, they expanded into Graves, where they make the Respide Médeville.

$54 at AOC Selections

WHITE

2023 J. Hofstätter Weissburgunder Pinot Bianco

From the winemaker: “Brilliant, straw yellow. An elegant fragrance with medium intensity offers notes of peach combined with apple and pear. Graceful and harmoniously structured on the palate with crisp acidity and delicate fruit. Subtle notes of hazelnut on the finish.”

From me: The winery in Italy’s Alto Adige, in the Alpine foothills below the Brenner Pass, was founded in 1907 by Josef and Maria Hofstätter. Their fifth-generation descendent and the current cellar boss, Niklas Hofstätter, also recently traveled through Houston, hosting a tasting at Vin Santo. Like Theo, he thoroughly charmed us. It’s always an added bonus to meet the people behind the wines we get to taste, especially when the wines are as special as these.

$24 at Vin Santo

2021 Domaine de Fondrèche Ventoux Blanc

From the winemaker: “A Ventoux that opens harmoniously with floral aromas: acacia flowers, hawthorn, honeysuckle, accompanied by nuances of citrus and vanilla. Fat and roundness fill the mouth, in a very floral profile, a beautiful balance and a very pleasant freshness.”

From Jeb Dunnuck, who scored it a 92: “A blend of nearly one-third each of grenache blanc, roussanne and clairette with the balance rolle, the 2021 Ventoux Blanc has a clean, medium-bodied, vibrant style as well as attractive notes of ripe pears, citrus, and lime, with a terrific sense of underlying minerality.”

From me: Although the Fondrèche plateau in the shadow of Mont Ventoux is mainly dedicated to red wines production with its very stony soil, chalky surface and sandy-clayed texture, this classic Southern Rhone blend checked all my boxes at a very nice price.

$21 at AOC Selections

2021 Kosta Browne One-Sixteen Chardonnay

From the winemaker: “Expressive aromatics of fresh mango, honeyed lemon peel and toasted brioche encompass the senses. Stunningly balanced with a refined, smooth palate, lively acidity, and a weightless texture on the finish.”

From James Suckling, who scored it a 96: “Aromas of gunpowder, dried peach and sliced cooked apple. Sea shell. Pineapple. Medium to full body with a creamy texture and lots of fruit but still reserved at the end. Hints of brioche and caramel and then cream. Plenty of fruit and length.”

From me: Duckhorn’s stewardship of Kosta Browne, which was founded in 2007 by Dan Kosta and Michael Browne, has, if anything, made the wines better because they have become more elegant, at least in my opinion. California chardonnay doesn’t get any better than this.

$79 at wine.com/$91.99 at Spec’s

2019 Waterford Estate Stellenbosch Chardonnay

From the winemaker: “The Chardonnay vineyard was planted in 1988 and registered as single vineyard in 2012, which ensures that the traceability of the wine produced is exclusively to the original 5.8-hectare block. Soils are comprised of red clay as well as large granite deposits and parent material found throughout the clay profile. The clay adds structure to the wine, while the granite produces great minerality and finesse to the overall presentation.”

From me: Winemaker Mark Le Roux nailed it. The wine is richly flavored but complex and very well-balanced. He’d be the first to admit he’s working with perfect terroir for chardonnay in the Blaauwklippen Valley on the slopes of Helderberg Mountain in South Africa’s famed Stellenbosch.

$34.97 at Spec’s

2022 Becker Vineyards Reserve Viognier

From the winemaker: “A rich, well-balanced, and aromatic wine, wonderful chilled or slightly temperate, from Six Harts Vineyards in the Texas High Plains. Aging for 16 months in French oak barrels allows a vuluptous structure on the palate while allowing delicate florals and a mosaic of stone fruits.”

From me: It’s fair to say Becker put Texas viognier on the map. That’s no small thing because I think viognier is the white varietal that’s best suited for Texas terroir.

$29 at beckervineyards.com

2023 Duchman Family Wines Vermentino

From the winemaker: “With aromas of lime zest, crushed rocks and lemon, the palate reflects juicy pear, pineapple and ripe, yellow apple.”

From me: And vermentino is a close second among the white grapes, particularly when Duchman’s Dave Lewis is working his magic in the cellar. This is the first Duchman vermentino to hit the market in three years — growing world-class fruit in Texas can indeed be challenging — and it’s return is to be celebrated.

$26 at duchmanwinery.com

PINK

2022 Ron Yates Grenache Rosé

From the winemaker: “Aromas of orange blossom and lemon citrus with flavors of strawberry shortcake and honeysuckle.”

From me: At the family’s original winery, Spicewood, Ron Yates sells a wine called “The Good Guy,” a robust red field blend which he named in honor of his grandfather, who purchased a piece of land to support Ron’s original forway into the wine business. Now, Yates is paying forward himself. Note that he’s a very good guy, too. This refreshing pink is a cinsault (65 percent) grenache blend from the Farmhouse Vineyards in the Texas High Plains. The grapes, which were pressed immediately after picking, were grown specifically for this rosé. The wine spent six months in 100-percent stainless steel.”

$29.99 at ronyateswines.com

2020 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto Dogliani

From the winemaker: “A traditional wine, easy to drink, which comes from a blend of Dolcetto grapes from the village of Dogliani. There it obtains his maximal tipicity, of a ruby red colour, which tends toward violet with a rich fruity bouquet, full bodied with an intense aroma of undergrowth and a pleasantly tannic taste, with a slight final almond note.”

From me: I’ve never been overly smitten by dolcetto, but this wine is an exception. It has depth and finesse so often lacking in dolcettos, although those coming from the grape’s “grand cru” of Dogliani, surrounding the gorgeous town of the same name, rarely disappoint. And the hilltop Einaudi estate, which features a relais as well the winery, is spectacularly situated with gorgeous views of both the Langhe landscape and the Alps on clear days.

$15.99 at wine.com

2020 Domaine du Cayron Gigondas

From Vinous, which scored it a 96: “Dark magenta. Vibrant cherry, raspberry and lavender aromas show excellent clarity and a spicy white pepper hint. Sweet and penetrating on the palate, it displays expansive red fruit and spicecake flavors with a subtle touch of candied licorice. Closes sappy and impressively long, with resonating floral and red fruit notes and gentle tannins that build slowly.”

From me: Sister Delphine, Roseline and Cendrine are the fifth generation to run the Cayron estate. They’re traditionalists, too, fermenting the juice in concrete tanks, then aging in large foudres that are more than half a century old. Most of their 60-plus-year-old vines grow at elevations above 1,000 feet beneath the dramatic Dentelles de Montmirail.

$43.59 at Spec’s/$48 at AOC Selections

2020 Les 2 Domaine la Monardière Vacqueyras

From the winemaker: “Manual harvest with sorting on the table and total destemming. Fermentation follows using only indigenous yeasts. Maceration for 15 to 18 days. Aging lasts 18 months with half in tanks and half in oak barrels. Bottling is done without fining or filtration.”

From me: It’s fun to be able to recommend both a Gigondas and a Vacqueyras in the same blog. The two AOCs, second only to Châteauneuf-du Pape in prestige in the Southern Rhone, are separated by just a few kilometers, but the wines are always quite different. This one, made from fruit grown on vines planted more than 65 years ago, would be a classic GSM if not for the small bit of cinsault in the blend.

$33 at AOC Selections

2021 C. L. Butaud Cease & Desist Texas High Plains Red

From the winemaker: “We start with a base of our flagship tempranillo, tipping our hat to the red blends of Spain from Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Toro, et al. Blended in the past with syrah and mourvèdre, these wines have been voluptuous, showstopper wines, with my artistic focus based more on the hedonistic pleasure of drinking robust and velvety wines.”

From me: I’d have to retaste half a dozen wines side by side and blind to make sure I’m not going off a limb on this, but, as I’m sitting here typing right now, I’ll pronounce this the most compelling red I’ve tasted in 2024. Yep, it’s really that good. Major kudos to native Houstonian Randy Hester. And his current release Mourvedre and Tempranillo are eminently praiseworthy, too.

$48 at clbutaud.com

2021 Ridge Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

From the winemaker: “Dark purple hues with black cherry, dark plum, black olive, soy, dried jerky, lilac, dried rose petals, cedar, juniper berry, and wintergreen mint. Fresh entry with building tannins that coat the entire palate. Gravelly, dusty, and mineral notes give way to layers of red and black fruits. Integrated oak with youthful tannins and acidity. Will prove to be very age-worthy.”

From Decanter, which scored it a 96: “From the legendary Monte Bello estate vineyard, most of this estate cab comes from the Klein Ranch portion of the famed Santa Cruz Mountains estate. An American Cabernet (blended with 16 percent merlot) evocative of first-growth Bordeaux nuance and complexity. Freshly turned soils, bay leaf and sweet tobacco aromas segue into notes of pure black fruits. Sweet, ripe black plums open the palate with perfectly tart blackberries, muddled mint leaves, pencil shavings, and soaring acidity brighten this wine into a mineral-driven finish. This is a wine that, in eight to 10 years, will surely be at its apex.”

From me: I fell in love with Ridge’s classic zinfandels before I’d ever tasted the cabernet, but this wine makes future purchases a 50-50 proposition. Note that its big brother, the 2021 Monte Bello, received three 100-point scores from the wine critics and 10 of at least 95. But it sells for way more $$$.

$90 at ridgewine.com

2021 Chateau Croisille Le Croizillon Cahors

From the winemaker: “The malbec grapes from Cahors were sourced from several of our vineyards’ different terroirs, allowing malbec’s fruity and easily digestible qualities to come to the forefront. Part of the wine underwent carbonic maceration and the rest a 10-day maceration with little extraction. The wine aged for eight months in concrete and stainless steel.” on the rest of the volume. Aging lasted for eight months in concrete and stainless steel tanks.” 

From me: It’s an easy-drinking, super high-value red that does a nice job of reminding us why and where malbec first became famous before becoming really really famous in Argentina’s Mendoza region.

$15 at AOC Selections