Posts Tagged competition

I can’t believe March 20th will be the first anniversary since the creation of this blog. I started the blog with some goals in mind and they haven’t changed since:

• Help consumers discover wineries they may not know about and they should visit
• Help wineries with marketing
• Help wine related events with marketing

Gloria and I have at this moment visited 125 Texas wineries and have enjoyed every minute. We’re still learning to tell you what the aromas and tastes are in wine, and probably never will be able to, hence the idea of telling about our experiences at the Texas wineries. We were big proponents of the previous Texas Passport Program which started us on the journey of visiting Texas wineries, and look forward to learning how the new program will work.

The blog started out as an extension to my personal website and after a couple months I decided to make it more professional and came up with the name TX Wine Lover. This allowed me to move the blog to http://txwinelover.com, create a Facebook page, and switch to the Twitter account of @TXWineLover.

A lot has happened in the first year:

• Posted about our experiences at 61 Texas wineries
  • More than one winery’s website has put links to my posts about them
• Posted about visiting and comparing Texas wineries with New York State, Illinois, and San Diego wineries
• Attended and posted about special tasting events and food competitions
• Volunteered at wine festivals to help wineries pour their wine
  • Received our TABC Certification
• Told of our experiences harvesting grapes and bottling wine at more than one winery
• Road trip diaries to Driftwood and Hill Country and Fredericksburg wineries
• Attended my first TEXSOM (Texas Sommelier Conference)
• Participated in and helped host some #TXWine Twitter Tuesday events
• Created lists of:
  • Autumn and Spring wine festivals
  • Texas wineries with lodging
  • Texas wineries on Twitter
  • 2012 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Texas wineries with medals which is the only list I know that was done
• Created the first TX Wine Lover awards which seemed popular
• Featured local blogger at Spoken City
• Was a guest on a wine podcast
• Guest blogger on Thirsty Girl website
• Mentioned in other blogs and websites like the Houston Press
• Did a review on a Texas wine but with a viewpoint from many people instead of just my own
• Held our own blind taste test for eight Texas Orange Muscat wines
• Met some great Texas winery owners, winemakers, winery employees, and fellow Texas wine lovers. Some I originally met on Twitter so it was fun to meet them in person.

I guess it has been a busy, but definitely fun year. I have a queue of winery visits to discuss and was always afraid if I wrote about every one we visited, then I wouldn’t have anything else to blog about. From looking at the above list though, I think I should be able to find something.

Already there are plans for the next year. Since a lot of our winery visits were done before the idea of the blog came about, we have had to revisit some of those wineries for pictures, information, etc. before I can write about them, and we have more which need to be revisited. Plus there are wineries which we have not been able to get to yet, not to mention new Texas wineries which are always opening.

I will be attending at least two conferences this year. First up is DrinkLocalWine in Colorado next month and then in August is TEXSOM again. Various other things are planned and it should be another fun year.

I want to especially thank all the people who have tolerated me during the year including the winery owners and winemakers for patience in answering my questions and letting me take photos, but especially Gloria who has had to listen to me talk about Texas wine and the industry in general. Most of all, I want to thank you the reader, for stopping by the website every so often and hopefully enjoying what I write. Please don’t be afraid to give feedback and possible suggestions to keep the blog interesting, and we’ll take this journey together.

Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup and Best Bites Competition is a food and wine event held in Reliant Center for those who wish to try the award-winning wines from the International Wine Competition and taste signature dishes submitted for competition by area catering institutions and restaurants.

After the entire list of International Wine Competition results were announced in November, 2011, the next day I compiled a list of the Texas wineries who had won, and from what I have been able to tell, mine is the only such list compiled. Buckles, chaps, and saddles would be awarded to the champions at the Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup and Best Bites Competition on February 19, 2012. When I received an invitation to attend the event, I gladly accepted the offer.

To recap, the ninth annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Wine Competition had 2,454 wines from 736 wineries in Texas, across the United States, and around the world. Twenty countries participated in the competition and 1,817 medals were awarded by 18 panels of judges, consisting of local, national, and international wine experts.

For the Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup and Best Bites Competition, in addition to trying the champion wines, guests were able to sample food from area restaurants and catering institutions, and vote on their favorites in the Best Bites Competition.

Since this was our first time attending the event, we were not entirely sure what to expect. We arrived early since we heard the event was sold out and there were going to be 4,000-4,500 people there. While waiting for the event to start, I read through the program and noticed the Texas wineries and wines which were going to be there, so I was excited to try some wines which we have not been able to try yet. The layout of the Reliant Center had been set up with tables/booths in a three layered circle which made it easy to walk around.

Russ and Delia

Gloria and I met up with Russ Kane (http://vintagetexas.com/blog/) and his beautiful wife Delia. Russ and I decided to take simultaneous phone pictures and link to our photos when we blog. Here is the link to his blog post and photo of my significant other Gloria and me. We then planned a course of action for our adventure. Since Russ and I were obviously biased towards Texas wineries, the decision was made to try to see all those wineries first and then if time allowed, go around again and try other wines.

Wines were being poured either by the winery representatives themselves or by volunteers. Unfortunately while walking through the booths, the names of the wineries with the wines we wanted to try were where the program indicated, but the wine wasn’t. It was understandable that not all winery representatives could attend, but it was unclear why there were a lot of missing wines which were supposed to be available for tasting.

Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo - Messina Hof

We were impressed that some winery owners were present and pouring their winning wines, such as Messina Hof (Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo with Paul VII and Karen Bonarrigo and their daughter Sophia Marie), Fall Creek (Ed and Susan Auler), and Piney Woods Country Winery & Vineyards (Alfred J. Flies). Also representing Llano Estacado Winery was Bill Freidhof, Vice President Sales & Marketing.

Best of Show Marchesi Antinori Sri Guado al Tasso

We tried to taste all the Grand Champion Saddle winning wines but only made it to a few. We did try the top Texas wine Messina Hof Solera, and the Grand Champion Best of Show Marchesi Antinori Sri Guado al Tasso. It was understandable why these wines were big winners. We also stopped at various non-Texas wine booths which had notable wines or which we wanted to compare against the same Texas wine variety.

Of course the event was not just about the wines but the Best Bites competition, and there were a lot of restaurants vying for the awards of the evening. The food booths were intermixed with the wine booths and it made for a nice setup. All the food we tried was excellent and we were soon very full. Definitely come very hungry and thirsty if you are going to attend next year’s event.

All champion wines will be auctioned at the Rodeo Uncorked! Champion Wine Auction and Dinner on Saturday, March 3, 2012. The program indicated the event has already been sold out.

It was an enjoyable evening as we got to enjoy some of the best wines from around the world and the best food from the Houston area. We would highly recommend attending next year’s event if you are able.