Drink Local Wine Conference Opens

The First Ever DrinkLocalWine.com Conference opened Friday night in
Dallas, with a gala dinner at Le Cordon Bleu. About 40 participants
(more are expected at Saturday’s sessions) enjoyed seared scallops,
roast chicken breast, flatiron steak and a decadent choco-chocolate
dessert, all paired with some of the best wines of Texas.

I can hear you saying, “The best wines of Texas???” Well – yeah!
Texas has nearly 180 wineries, and while the wines may not get far
outside the state, some of them are indeed quite good. I was
particularly taken by the Brennan Vineyards 2008 Viognier –
classically styled, not in the floral manner – and its 2006 Syrah, a
kickass red that had impeccable balance and a hint of the bacon fat
aromas of the Northern Rhone. Flat Creek’s “Super Texan”
sangiovese-based blend was also excellent – the 2008, bottled just
Wednesday so not yet showing all its stuff. McPherson Cellars also
poured a delicious Rhone-style red made from grenache and mourvedre.

There were some non-Texan wines, too. Doug Caskey of Colorado brought
a delightful Boulder Creek Syrah, and Richard Leahy brought something
from Indiana that I forgot to write down – it was a dry white in the
traminette vein – flowery and intensely aromatic. Delish. And the
Michael Shaps 2005 Petit Verdot from Virginia impressed several of the
tasters who were lucky enough to snag a sip with what this Bordeaux
grape can do in the Old Dominion.

There will be more on Saturday, as local  wine enthusiasts,
writers and bloggers from Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, New York,
Georgia, Missouri and other states get all geeky about what’s going on
“around here.”

And don’t forget the Texas Twitter Tasteoff! You can follow the events on Twitter at #DLW09 …

Photo: The Cordon Bleu Chefs put on a culinary show to do Texas proud.