Snobs are sure to dismiss Texas wines as wines made by local “Philistines”. They should note the Dave Phinney: Yeah THAT Dave Phinney who created the now legendary Orin Swift wines such as: The Prisoner, Saldo, Pappillon, Mercury Head, Machete, & D2…Phinney has made his statement that Texas can and does grow and produce world class wine.
Phinney’s Locations TX 7 is a phenomenal Red Blend made in collaboration with local grower and producer Kim McPherson. A “Rhone” blend of Shiraz/Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan, Grenache…
Locations TX is made in signature Dave Phinney style: rich and fleshy filled with notes of dark berry fruit with a bit of pepper and spice. It’s an under $20 retail steal of a wine!
Also tried the 2017 McPherson “Les Copains” (The Friends) Texas Red Blend. A Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cinsault, Counoise and Syrah. The McPhersons have been making wines in the panhandle for over 40 years. These are serious wine people working to bring the right grapes to the multitude of microclimates in the Panhandle AVA.
Les Copains offers up rich notes and flavors of ripe cherries, raspberry, blackberry…add to that hints of lavender backed by black pepper and spice, while supple tannins provide a pleasant lingering finish. A real pleasure at $20-25 retail.
Both the Location TX and McPherson wines get their grapes grown in the McPherson vineyards located in the highlands AVA of the Texas Panhandle, eight million acres at an elevation of 3-5,000 feet, one of the largest AVAs on the planet is in and around the Texas cities of Amarillo and Lubbock.
In a short number of years Texas has created a wine industry that’s soon being recognized as world class. Yeah the Cali and Euro snobs will poo poo the notion!
Just as they did for Oregon, Washington, Argentina, Australia, Chile, South Africa, and New Zealand!
Always wanting to remind folks that there are a host of new locales developing world class wines. Just a few of mention to watch:
Idaho
Arizona
New Mexico
New York
Virginia
Canada
Israel
Slovenia
Uruguay
And yes… Texas! Wine is coming of age throughout the world!
