The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas…
I know, I haven’t done a weekly update in a while. Deal with it. I’ve been busy, between work, Wine Tour, Easter, and anything else you can think of that I’d rather be doing. However, there are a lot of wines in the queue, so there might be multiple wines of the week. Consider it a bonus, a makeup assignment, or an act of contrition.
Texas. It’s a big state. We can do a lot of things here. Between the differing soils, rainfall, temperature, and topography, someone was bound to find out how to grow grapes in this state. Notice I left out the word “well.” Don’t get me wrong, there are some really good wines made in this state. There are also some really bad wines. Unfortunately, no one knows about the good stuff, because they get drunk here, and aren’t exported. The reason is no one wants to grow grapes, because there are very few banks that are willing to take a chance on it. So that leaves you with people who made their money doing something else besides growing grapes. Therefore, you tend to have very small vineyards planted to every grape variety under the sun to see what will grow here. Fortunately, I think Texas is getting out of the experimental phase of growing grapes, and into the stage of “we now know what will grow here, so that’s what we are going to plant.” It should come as no surprise then that the varieties that tend to do best come from the warmer regions of Spain, France, and Italy. Someone who’s figured it out is Dr. Richard Becker and his wife, Bunny.
Becker Vineyards is located in Stonewall, Texas, about 11 miles east of Fredericksburg, Texas, and about 70 miles west of Austin, Texas. Their vineyard is planted to several varietals, but, in my opinion, their best wines are the Rhone varietals. Specifically, the Viognier and Prairie Rotie (made in the Cote Rotie style) have been my personal favorites. (I have a bottle of the Prairie Rotie waiting to be opened, review coming soon.) Today, we have the Viognier to sample.
The 2008 Becker Vineyards Viognier is one of those wines that if no one told you where it was from, you’d swear that it is grown in California. Thankfully, Viognier has found a happy home in Texas. Notoriously difficult to grow, even in the best of areas, it manages to tolerate the heat, humidity, bugs, hailstorms, and God knows what else Mother Nature can throw at it. This Viognier has a beautiful straw color, partly because this grape is allowed to get fully ripe in the heat of the summer. The alcohol hovers around 14%, which is partly due to that ripeness. The tradeoff is that you get that wonderful floral aroma that makes Viognier such a pleasure to drink. Upon tasting, the tropical and citrus flavors show forth, with the honeysuckle and other floral flavors now in the background. The finish is clean and crisp, though not as crisp because of the lower acidity. A true pleasure to drink.
As for a rating, I would give it a solid 4 stars. It’s better than it has to be, and you will have a tough time finding a Viognier that is better at this price point. As for what to serve it with, I would go with cream soups, grilled chicken, or mild Asian food.
For those in Texas, this wine seems to be everywhere, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding it around $13-$15/bottle. For out-of-staters, your best bet is to order it direct from the winery. According to their website, Becker will ship to CA, CO, FL, IL, MO, OH, TX, VA and WV.