We want to get past that concept that
ooh Texas wine. How can that be good?
I never even knew they had wine in Texas.
Barbecue from Texas? Yes, please.
Tacos from Texas for sure,
but wine from Texas?
When I say the words Texas wine,
what do you think? Pure elegance?
Umm, I don't even know. I mean,
I've been to Fredericksburg and they
have like a few good ones down there.
Isn't really that good. Not really.
Here's a confession.
I don't know anything about wine,
but I know how to find people that do.
So let's start at Lost Oak
Winery in Burleson right now,
currently destroying some nice grapes.
And I'm harvesting grapes with Gene Estes, an
OG Texas wine maker who's
won some international
awards. Is this a profitable
venture for to be into Texas wine?
Are you making money? I am now,
but it took me many years to get here.
The harvest of grapes get
crushed on site and aged in
barrels and the wine is sold in the tasting
room. Over the years,
a lot of wineries and growers
have learned the techniques
how to do it correctly.
And so what's happened,
especially in the last 10 years,
is the quality level has raised
dramatically on Texas wines.
And since
Gene got his start, the Texas wine
industry has really grown up.
Pop quiz according to the.
Texas Trade Association how
many wine producers do you
think there are in the state?
78191 or 394 right? And it says Texas
wine is a $13.1 billion industry.
So did they do the students
make this also or you made this?
No, the students did.
If, like Gene says,
Texas can make good wine,
then I wanna know why.
So I went to see Andrew Snyder
at Grayson College in Denison.
Students helped
grow the grapes and learn how to make wine.
I think most wine makers in the
state of Texas would agree that
some of the best fruit in Texas
is coming out of the High Plains.
The climate there is more conducive
to growing grapes of higher quality.
The flat. Farmland around Lubbock
is like the Napa Valley of Texas.
It's one of eight grape growing
regions and the elevation on the
High Plains is about 3300 feet,
which means hot Texas days
but much cooler nights.
And that gives grapes a chance to rest.
It's where 80% of the
state's grapes come from.
Those higher quality grapes,
with the right in the right hands
of a good winemaker, are going to
make some really good quality wine.
Not surprisingly,
Texans think they make good wine.
So let's get an outsiders perspective.
Talking to Courtney shizzle,
she's a wine writer in New York.
They're big and they're bold
and they have structure.
And I think that appeals very
well to the American palate.
So you see potential.
I do see potential,
but I think it'll take time.
You know, I think overall
the quality does need to come
up a little bit as a whole.
OK, it's time to.
Put Texas wine to the test.
A blind taste test.
5 Texas wines versus 5 from around
the world and the price point would be
anywhere from 20 to 35 bucks a bottle.
Andrews running it and we've got 3 Somalis
who are trained wine professionals.
The glasses are poured in a different
room and brought out to our panel.
They're judging on appearance, aroma,
taste after taste and overall impression.
Just looking at their faces, I have
no idea what they're thinking.
The spitting is very impressive.
The results for Texas were mixed.
The wines of the world did better overall
and easily took the top two spots.
Drilled down to 3rd and 4th place though,
and you'll see it's a tighter race.
But the bottom 3 wines?
They were all from Texas.
And is on its way. This is good wine.
Yes, it's coming. It does not suck.
It's not all growns up and all growns up yet,
but it's it's getting there.
It's gonna walk before you run,
and it's definitely working in the
right direction and picking up the pace,
you know what I mean?
So I learned the Texas wine industry
is much larger than I thought,
that the High Plains is a legit
grape growing region and Texas
wine did OK in our taste test.
So if you think Texas wine sucks,
you're wrong. That's good.
Got something you want verified?
Send me an e-mail.