A Toast to Texas

On the Trail of Great Wine in Historic Montgomery

Mark Williams

In the past, few have thought of Texas as the place to be for quality wine -- but all that is changing these days. Texas is now the fifth-largest wine-producing state in the nation with more than 120 wineries and over 3700 acres of commercial vineyard land. In the last 20 years, wine production in Texas has swelled from 24,000 gallons in 1981 to a high of 1.9 million gallons in 2004. Currently, the Texas wine industry contributes more than $200 million to the state's economy and employs 1,800 Texans.

To celebrate the wine culture of the Lone Star State, the Historic Montgomery Business Association and Sudden Link Communications presents the first Historic Montgomery Wine and Food Trail -- “A Toast to Texas -- set for this Saturday (9/23) from 10AM to 10PM in downtown Montgomery, located just five miles west of Lake Conroe at Highway 105 and FM 149.

The day is set to be "a unique, top-notch, fun festival for the whole family." Montgomery celebrates its history as the third oldest city in Texas and the home of Dr. Charles B. Stewart, designer of the Texas flag. Those who wish to sample wines can purchase a $20 wine tasting packet that includes five tasting tickets, an engraved wine glass and a Wine Trail passport -- which makes its bearer eligible to be a judge of the best Texas wines.

The festival is the creation of Debbie Brosch, owner of Western Winery in Historic Montgomery. Debbie has been dealing in Texas wines for the last seven years. “The Montgomery area is growing,” says Brosch, “and I would like to see the wine fest grow along with it.”

Budweiser will sponsor the Beer Garden and will set up their “Draft Wall,” where attendees can taste six beers, including Budweiser’s seasonal beer; come stomp some grapes at the festival's "Grape Stomp," located across from the main stage.

Learn about wine pairing, cooking with spirits and ice sculpting; there will also be many Texas artisans demonstrating and selling their wares, as well as the official “Go Texan” specialty foods and items. Besides the food offered by the area restaurants, there will be fun festival foods. Children will also have loads of fun in a supervised area with a variety of inflatable rides, a petting zoo and pony rides. 

Texas wineries have lots to offer beside wines and are rapidly becoming popular tourist destinations. For example, Bernhardt Winery in Plantersville, one of this weekend's participants, books tons of live music and a Second Saturday Guitar Jam on the second Saturday of every month. Another Wine Trail weekend participant, Chisholm Trail Winery in Fredericksburg, celebrates the "Spirit of the Old West," offering picnic areas where longhorn cattle roams nearby.

In the small Texas Hill Country community of Cypress Mill, McReynolds Wines’ tasting room is “small and informal,” says Gerald McReynolds. “We enjoy the opportunity to sit down and talk about with our visitors while giving them a taste of the wines. If the weather is suitable, we may gather at a picnic table under one of our magnificent oak trees to pour and discuss our wines.”

Circle S Vineyards in Sugar Land offers a more urbanized setting, while Fall Creek Vineyards in the Hill Country town of Tow combines European winemaking tradition and California technology with Texas Hill Country soil and climate; Flat Creek Estate Vineyard in Marble Falls has a wine tasting room nestled in the heart of the Hill Country.

Pillar Bluff Vineyards, one of the state’s newest wineries, located west of Lampasas, offers up Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon in a setting “that can be enjoyed equally at either a casual dinner for four, an intimate dinner for two or a black tie event for 200. The grape varieties and blending designs produce a memorable Texas Wine that will stand eye to eye with any competitor from any nation.” In North Texas, Wichita Falls Vineyard & Winery in Iowa Park offers not only great wines but specialty items like candles and cosmetic creams. 

Closer to home, Haak Vineyards & Winery in Santa Fe, the only winery located between Galveston and Houston, has experimented with making wine since 1969. "I didn't plan to make wine," said Raymond Haak, who officially opened his winery in 2000. "But we had these vines because I've always enjoyed the challenge of growing grapes. One day, I looked out at those vines and knew I had to make wine and I had to make it here." 

In East Texas, Maydelle Country Wines is “located on a dirt road in a nearly 100 year old depot, using only products available from the soil of Texas. Each batch is kept small for that personal taste.” Besides grapes, wines are also made from fruits like blackberries, grapefruits, elderberries and peaches.

Perhaps one of the best known wineries in Texas is Messina Hof Winery & Resort, located in Bryan. Although the winery itself was officially established when its first vintage was released in 1983, the rich heritage of winemaker Paul Bonarrigo dates back six generations to Messina, Sicily, while his wife, Merrill Bonarrigo, has family roots in Hof, Germany. The pair are considered pioneers of the Texas Wine Industry, creating distinguished premium wines and a landmark wine country destination. 

With tours, festivals, the Harvest Pickers Club, wine seminars, Vintner Dinners and other events, Messina Hof is a unique and beautiful location for events like weddings, luncheons, meetings and corporate gatherings. Messina Hof's Guest Center is housed inside a 19th century estate, now a home for family antiques and lovely gift items. The deck and lake behind the winery provide a perfect setting for a relaxing picnic with a vineyard view. 

Messina Hof’s restaurant, The Vintage House, serves up Vineyard Cuisine accented by fresh herbs and vegetables while serving only the freshest meats and seafood. The Villa, Messina Hof’s bed and breakfast, is uniquely decorated with fine antiques and a stay there includes a winery tour, wine tasting, wine & cheese reception in the evening and a European breakfast served with champagne. Vinery tours happen Monday through Saturday from 10AM to 7PM and Sunday from 11 ‘til 4. Call 979-778-9463 for information.

Pleasant Hill Winery in Brenham invites you to "Wine Down" on the deck on Fridays from October through December from 3PM to sunset; the first fall "Wine Down" is October 6 featuring music from the Hip Huggers with Sam & Robin. Enjoy wine by the glass or share a bottle with friends. Cheese boards will be available. Call 409-830-8463 for more information.

In Conroe, White House Winery offers such unique wines such as a full-bodied, peach-flavored Chardonnay; an intense, deep rich Zinfandel with bold, zest aromas mixed with ripe berry fruits; and a bright, crisp, dry Pinot Grigio with a gentle hint of perfume and a detectable spiciness, rich with flavors of citrus and almonds. Call 281-702-2850 for more information.

Of course, a festival of any kind wouldn’t be complete without live music. The Historic Montgomery Wine and Food Trail features such Lone Star notables as Ezra Charles, who has been entertaining audiences for nearly 20 years with his unique jazz and blues stylings. Actually, Charles and his band, The Works, lay down a rockin' groove that defies simple descriptions, but is firmly rooted in every type of music that ever came out of this part of Texas: boogie woogie, swing, rockabilly and blues.

Famous for having girls in the horn section and flashy piano antics, Ezra Charles has never had his songs be the first thing the audience noticed -- but ultimately they have got to be the reason for the band's remarkable staying power. "It's been a tough row to hoe, but as long as I can keep doing what I want to do, it's been worth it," says Charles. "I think that as an original music band you have to be able to completely recreate that CD sound on stage. When you're presenting original music, people lose interest if it doesn't come off as being perfect. I guess the fact that people have followed us for a long time says something."

Also on the bill is Davin James, a country singer-songscribe from Kingwood honors his heritage, and it reflects with pride in his music. Respectfully traditional, Davin embraces country music with emotion. The son of a riverbank singer and campfire guitar picker, this Mississippi-born artist follows his heart to perform the country music from which he was raised in those rugged backwoods.

A native of Mississippi, Davin James’ passion for making pure American music comes through, a love spurred on by his father, who taught him guitar while listening to the radio while on camping trips; but it is honed by childhood idols like Merle Haggard, George Jones, Bob Wills and Lynyrd Skynyrd. His biggest influence may just be Hank Williams, Jr. “Hank, Jr. put all that stuff together,” recalls James of the music that led him down his life’s true path -- “hardcore honky-tonk, blues, gospel, Southern rock.”

Davin James calls himself an “unconventional traditional country music artist” whose drive is to be “genuine and honest with the music.” He says his live performance is “a spontaneous show that interactively captures and embraces the audience -- putting out powerhouse music casting a web that perfectly captures Gulf Coast blues, electrifying Southern rock and deep-down hard roots country. 

The Sidehill Gougers are hometown heroes of sorts in Montgomery, paving a new country road with a classic acoustic sound with its roots entrenched in both tradition country and the California country sound of the 60’s and 70’s. “Taking their cues from such sources as Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, the intertwining voices of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, the singing and songwriting team of Shane Walker and Jamie Wilson are creating their own brand of Texas country-folk for the new century.

The band's name comes from a fictional creature, like the famed Jackalope, that Walker's father playfully warned him to avoid when exploring as a kid along Bluff Creek just outside Crawford. Inhabiting steep slopes thanks to longer legs on one side of its body than the other, this folklore animal provided an ideal moniker for an act that limns the edges and heights of country and folk and invests real life tales with mythic resonance. The blossoming talents of this fertile collaboration can be heard on their CD, “Gone to Seed,” a lovingly hand-packaged seven-song EP of finely etched musical portraits sung and played with heart and spirit.” 

Also scheduled to appear are The Fab 5, a band based in the South County/North Houston area that pays homage not just to the Beatles, but to all the different kinds of the music that make up the groovy 60’s. The band’s live show combines good time rock n’ roll with elements of a musical stage production, using not just the songs of the era, but also an array of costumes and hairpieces to help take their audience on a trip back in time, back to the often tumultuous moments now caught in a time capsule of sorts.

“We get a lot of emotional reactions,” says founding Fab 5 member Bill Staats, who sings and plays keyboards. “Grown men often come up to the stage in tears after the show, but that’s just what this music does to some people. They’ll hear us play a song that means something to them from their youth. A lot of Vietnam veterans, too -- we hear a lot from them.” 

When the Fab 5 hit the stage, look for it to be a blast from the past: sounds from the British Invasion, the Merseybeat era, groovy 60’s love songs and anthems with a heaping helping of Memphis soul thrown in for good measure -- plus there’s that retro look: “Things started happening when we got the costumes,” says Staats, who founded the band in 1990 with guitarist-vocalist Dwaine Abraham -- a business associate who had also played in a band as a kid. “We just wanted to start a band that we wanted to see ourselves,” recalls Staats of his modest ambition of forming a weekend band that has become a cottage industry, “and we found some guys who used to be in bands who wanted to play again.”

The band is available for your next special occasion; for more information, twist & shout at the band’s website: thefab5.com . Also visit drummer Ringo Rod’s music store in Humble, Band Together (138 W. 1st St., 281-540-7444). 

So you’ve never been to a wine tasting? Well, suffice it to say that it’s not a drinking contest, but rather involves all your senses. When pouring yourself a glass, an inch or less is best. If you are tasting several wines, begin with the lightest -- sparkling wines, roses, then light whites followed by full-bodied whites -- and progress to the heaviest -- light reds to more full-bodied reds followed by dessert wines. This will help keep your taste buds more sensitive so you can better appreciate each wine in the series. A sip of water between wines can also help preserve your palate.

First notice the color of the wine. It often helps to hold the glass up to light or hold it against a white background, like a white napkin. The color can give you a clue as to the age of the wine. White wines generally gain color as they age while red wines lose color.

Swirl the wine a couple of times by moving the glass in a circular motion. Swirling is done to let the wine breathe and release vapors, evaporating from the sides of the glass, for you to smell. 

Then put your nose right over the rim of the wine glass and breathe in. Take note of the wine's aromas and bouquet. Then sip, letting the wine spread across the tongue from front to back and side to side before swallowing.

The bottom line is that a good wine should always give pleasure. It should smell good, taste even better, and be smooth and satisfying by itself or with whatever you're eating.

Nose, bouquet, aroma, or fragrance: these are all terms that describe how the wine smells to you. Does it remind you of a flower scent? Then it can be called "floral". It may be "grassy" like a freshly mown lawn. Or it may come across as fruity, like a cherry or strawberry or melon might smell. Imagine yourself in nature and see if the scent is something growing around you, like eucalyptus.

Some varieties of wine grapes are known for their aromatic aromas. Viognier, for example, usually has a very floral scent reminiscent of exotic flowers like gardenia, freesia, or jasmine often with a hint of ripe peaches or apricots. Chardonnay, on the other hand, is often described as smelling like apples or nuts, toasty, and sometimes pear-like or even pineapple depending on where it is grown. In general, wine grapes have a tendency to pick up the flavors of the soil and whatever is in the surrounding environment as they grow in the vineyard. So you may encounter the scent of roses, jasmine, violets or eucalyptus -- and it won’t be your imagination. 

Sometimes you will find that a wine doesn't have a nose or bouquet at all. It can still be a good, very drinkable wine -- albeit most award-winning wines have both a nice bouquet and great taste.

What's the difference between aroma and bouquet? Aroma is present in the grapes and in the wine from the time it is first made. Bouquet is an additional, pleasant characteristic that develops only in the bottle, many months or years after bottling. 

The first thing you will probably notice is the relative sweetness or dryness of the wine. This is determined by the amount of natural sugar in the wine. High alcohol content also makes wine taste sweet. 

Another sensation you will notice almost immediately is the tartness or acidity of the wine. Just think of the difference between grapefruit juice and water. Acid may sound harsh but it is very important in making wine taste crisp and fresh. If there is too much acid, the wine will taste bitter and unpleasantly sharp. If there is not enough acid, the wine will taste flabby and flat, like day-old beer in a glass. 

If you’re drinking red wine, you may also notice the tannins in the wine. Tannin is a chemical that comes from the stalks, pips and skins of red grapes. It tastes astringent and mouth-drying and makes your mouth pucker. There are many kinds of tannin. Some tannins taste bitter and are most noticeable in young red wines. Over time, as wines age, tannins soften and give the wine a certain full-bodied weightiness that is very enjoyable. 

Alcohol, of course, is found in all wine. A moderate amount of alcohol in wine adds sweetness to the taste. If the alcohol is too high and out of balance with the tannin and fruit, and so on, then the wine will feel hot in your mouth -- like a dash of Tabasco -- and difficult to drink. 

The more tasting you do, the more acquainted you will become with the characteristic flavors of the major varietal grapes. With experience, it becomes easier to discern the flavors of the various varietal grapes -- Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Young wines are often fruity. Fruit flavors are usually considered a positive component in the quality of the wine. If you can't smell some kind of fruit in the wine -- cherry, raspberry, peach, melon, mango, pineapple -- then it is not a fruity wine. 

Fruit is often confused with sweetness but they are not even related. Sweetness in wine is determined by the amount of residual sugar left in the wine after fermentation. Dry wines with very low levels of residual sugar and no discernable sweetness can taste very fruity. Sweet wines can taste fruity or not. That is, 'fruit' may be present or absent but it has nothing to do with the sweetness of the wine. 

Body is a tasting term referring to viscosity, thickness, consistency, or texture. A wine with body often has higher alcohol or sugar content than other wines.

Aftertaste is the sensation that lingers in your mouth just after swallowing a sip of wine. It’s an important part of wine tasting because it can reveal an extra attribute or a fault. A long, pleasant aftertaste, where all the components of the wine are in balance is a sign of quality. On the other hand, an aftertaste is undesirable in sparkling wines and champagne which, ideally, should be crisp and clean with no lingering aftertaste at all.

When the aftertaste is gone, ask yourself what your general impression is of the wine. Do you like it? Do all the components seem to be in balance? If you think the wine -- especially young red wine -- is too harsh, consider that it might improve and mellow or open up with age. Or is the wine ready to drink now? What kinds of food might go nicely with this wine? If you want to assign it a score of your own choosing, well, you just go ahead.

The first Historic Montgomery Wine and Food Trail is partially underwritten by the Montgomery Industrial Development Corporation. Additional sponsors include Woodforest Bank, A & H Electric, and K-Star Country (99.7 FM). Proceeds will benefit the revitalization of Montgomery’s Historic area.

Bottles of wine may be purchased and collected upon leaving the festival. Cheers!

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