August 2008

For all involved in the wine industry this time of year is one of anticipation, excitement, anxiety and sometimes depression. The existence of the winery depends on the quality and the health of the vines and grapes it uses to make its wine. It is a challenging time for anyone in the best of times, but for those of us that chose to do this job in Texas, well… let’s just say that it shortens our life a bit! For the third year in a row we received news from the vineyards that bad storms and hail destroyed over 70% of the crop. The news leaves me with two options: cry or drink; I chose the latter (heavily).

Texas is a great state with wonderful people but I must say that having a winery here can be hazardous to your health if you have a heart condition. To be told with less than two months before harvest that the main source of raw material to maintain your business is down by 2/3 can put a person in the hospital. Everyone in the state has been hit hard by this and we are all scrambling trying to find grapes to augment our inventory. The good news for us is that a lot of work was done in previous years to secure contracts and partnerships with other sources outside of our vineyards and that work is now paying off. Although we will be OK, I am concerned about the health of the industry in our state. There are not enough grapes in a good year to satisfy Texas wineries. During a bad year many of them will disappear and their absence will hurt everyone.

Some people think that this “natural selection” process eliminates the weak wineries and that this is good for the industry. Some also think that Texas wine is overpriced over Chilean, Australian or even California wines and that the quality is not up to par with the prices. Therefore, they see the bad news as good news! I disagree totally. I agree that many Texas wines are priced higher than wines from other regions. I also agree that some wines are not of the caliber that we are now expecting from a winery. But, if you drank wine from California or Chile about 10 or 15 years ago then you know that much of what they produced was not worth cooking with. Also, most Texas wineries are very small and they don’t have the economy of scale of the “big” guys in California and other countries. Additionally, the cost of labor in other countries is only a fraction of the costs here. Today Texas is where California was decades ago. There is some catching up to do!

It all translates into slightly higher prices from our small wineries in order just to break even. I remember drinking Texas wine 15 years ago and it was horrible! Today, a very large number of wineries in the state are producing exciting and fantastic wines that are not only priced competitively but are also beating wines from California, France and other countries in national and international competitions. The problem is that we are conditioned into thinking that only wines from those regions named in fancy magazines can produce good wine. Well… obviously I am biased, but if you think this way then you are simply wrong!

If you go to a small Texas winery and you drink a wine that you think is good only for the toilet; don’t give up! How many times you thought your spouse’s cooking was not even fit for the dogs? Yet, you eat (or tried) the next meal that he or she prepared. Why? Because people learn and because a bad meal is not representative of your spouse's abilities nor or a bad wine of the entire Texas wine industry. Also, small wineries are under tremendous amount of stress. If you go to a tasting room and the person taking care of you didn’t satisfy every one of your wishes, give them another chance. Maybe they (or you) were having a bad day! What I am trying to say is that our industry needs you. We know that you can spend your money anywhere you want. But when you buy that bottle of Cabernet from Chile for $12 and ignore the bottle of Cabernet from Texas that costs $15 or $17, your money goes out of the state instead of going back into the local economy which helps everyone including you.

There you have it! I am done with my monthly preaching now. If I made you feel guilty, then go out this weekend and buy a bottle of Texas wine. It is good for you, it is good for the local industry and it is good for Texas. We will be doing our part! In the coming weeks we will be announcing a wine country tour of the Hill Country. Stay tuned!

Other News and Events

We have not outlined our fall jazz series or any of the other events coming up. But, you should check the winery’s Web site at least once per week to ensure that you don’t miss any events posted outside of this newsletter. Soon we will post our fall schedule and as you know our events get full really fast. We are working on jazz evenings, Sunday lunches, elegant Saturday dinners, wine tasting events and several club socials. This is what we have for the first part of August…

  1. Date: Aug 1st - New Wine Releases and Wine Tasting. Club Members only. August 1st from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Bring a picnic and enjoy a tasting of three new wines scheduled for official release Aug 1st. (Pinot Gris, Ramos Reserve Chardonnay, Tempranillo 05) Free .

  2. Date: TBA - Bottle Shock the movie event. The movie Bottle Shock is based on the true events in 1976 when the wine world was "shocked" by the Judgment of Paris wine competition. It is a comedy and a true story and we want to celebrate its release. Once we know the exact dates we will send an email to all interested, purchase group tickets, then we will meet at the movies and return to the winery for a wine tasting that is to include (if possible) the same wineries in the movie plus (of course) some of our own Texas wines. You will be the judge! It should be a fun day... If you wish to be considered for this event please send us an email with the subject Bottle Shock or click on this link. For a viewing of the trailer click here (high speed Internet connection required)

  3. Date: Various - Announcing the establishment of the San Martiņo Wine Academy. Join with a certified sommelier from an award-winning, four-star Dallas restaurant, who will lead you in the exploration of grape varietals present in San Martiņo’s wines. 

    Each session will include a brief discussion of the varietal’s physical characteristics, historical roots, growing regions, vinification techniques, and taste/aroma profile.  Sessions will include tastings of those wines produced by San Martiņo. The San Martiņo Wine Academy will culminate in a ‘Blind Tasting’ session of a selection of San Martiņo’s wines – to test knowledge learned throughout the series.  The ‘Blind Tasting’ participant that correctly identifies the most wines in the quickest fashion will receive any two blind-tasted wines of his or her choice.  The participant that comes in second will receive any one blind-tasted wine of his or her choice.  Those who correctly identify one or more varietals will receive an additional 5% discount on those wines, over and above any discount already available. 

    Each varietal session is $25 per participant (or $125 for the entire series) and space is limited.  Additionally, all participants will receive an additional 5% discount on any wine tasted during the varietal sessions (does not include ‘Blind Tasting’) – over and above any existing discount the session participant is entitled.  For the ‘Blind Tasting’ session, cost is $10 for those that have taken at least two classes or $25 for anyone else who wishes to participate.

THURSDAY, SEPT 4th  @ 7PM

CABERNET SAUVIGNON

THURSDAY, SEPT 18th @ 7PM

RED BLENDS (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese and others)

THURSDAY, OCT 2ND   @ 7PM

TEMPRANILLO / ZINFANDEL / ZINFANDEL PORT

THURSDAY, OCT 16th  @ 7PM

PETIT SYRAH / SYRAH

THURSDAY, OCT 30th   @ 7PM

MERLOT / SANGIOVESE  / DECADENCIA

THURSDAY, NOV 13th  @ 7PM

WHITES (Blanc du Bois, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris)

SUNDAY, NOV 16th  @ 2PM

BLIND TASTING

 To reserve your spot on any of these events, please go to our Web site and click on Events.