Premium White Blends: Viviana, Conundrum and Alluvium Blanc

The hot days of Texas summer are upon us. What better thing to do than get your outdoor chores done by noon, get showered up and then stay inside in “air-conned” comfort. Perhaps, the only thing better is to also get in a few tastings of some cool white wines. The tasting experience that follows exposure to our summertime weather makes you appreciate wines with the ability to quench; quench the heat of summer and also the heat of our spicy regional cuisines like Tex-Mex, Southwestern, Creole/Cajun and even Pan Asian.

This was the context for my recent tasting of three premium white table wines. All were fascinating and somewhat exotic blends that prompt the near-philosophical questions as to how the blends were developed and how their names were derived.

The focus of my attention was the newly released 2008 Viviana, the Yin/Yang counterpart of the premium Mediterranean red-blend, Viviano from Llano Estacado in Lubbock, Texas (www.llanowine.com). This wine was made by Llano Estacado’s winemaker Chris Hall and is a proprietary blend of the aromatic northern European Gewurztraminer conjoined with equally perfumed Mediterranean Muscat Canelli and Viognier. Riesling and Chardonnay play their part offering wine structure, mouth feel and body. In this case, no one varietal greatly dominates in percentage.

Viviana’s partners in this taste pairing were two highly rated premium white blends of equal creativity from California: Beringer (www.beringer.com) Knights Valley 2007 Alluvium Blanc by winemaker Laurie Hook, and the 2007 Conundrum (www.conundrum.com) by winemaker Jon Bolta and from the distinguished Wagner family of Caymus Vineyards. Alluvium starts with a conventional white Bordeaux blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Chardonnay and then adds a pinch of Viognier. Conundrum’s approach is also based on Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon then follows it with less conventional additions of Muscat Canelli and Viognier. Recent vintages of both Conundrum and Alluvium Blanc wines have garnered ratings from Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate in the range of 89-92.

How will Llano Estacado’s new Viviana compare?

More evaluation, pairing and analysis at: http://vintagetexas.com/blog/?p=920

Iron Drink….Beer vs. Wine in Glass-to-Glass Combat!

Iron Drink….Beer vs. Wine in Glass-to-Glass Combat!

Guest Blogger, Jane A. Nickles on http://www.vintagetexas.com/blog

It’s Tuesday night and I’m in the kitchen of Ventana Restaurant at the Texas Culinary Academy. Forty people have assembled for the first ever “Iron Drink” beer vs. wine pairing dinner. Three of the Culinary Academy’s finest chefs have been given full creative license to design five courses of mouth-watering original dishes…all with the goal of “stumping” the pairing prowess of the wine and beer experts at The Texas Culinary Academy. This isn’t just dinner…its wine vs. beer in glass to glass combat!

Interesting drink and food pairings, dining event, results at:

Iron Drink….Beer vs. Wine in Glass-to-Glass Combat!

Enjoy!

VintageTexas: Wine Lovers Join the Search for Texas Terroir

VintageTexas chronicles Russ Kane’s rants and raves, interviews, and experiences in his search to define the elusive “Texas Terrior”.

Russ Kane (The Texas WineSlinger) is a wine writer with articles and tasting notes that have appeared in local and regional publications including Texas Culinary Thymes, ArtsHouston, Baycomber, My Table Magazine, and Wineandcuisine.com. He recently did a guest tasting of California Cabernets featured in the My-Table August-September 2008 issue and an article, ”Blogs: The Virtual Gutenburg Press” in the My-Table April-May 2009 issue.

Russ has organized and moderated winemaker panels at major festivals including “Hot Weather, Cool Wines” at the SAVUER Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, and “Mediterranean Cowboys” and “Pinot Gringos” at the Grand Wine and Food Affair. Yes – “Mediterranean Cowboys” and “Pinot Gringos” are strange names for wine panels; but, this is Texas!

He was a Houston entrepreneur for over 20 years, traveled extensively and is actively interested in regional cuisines, wine education, and wine/food pairing. Both Russ Kane and his wife, Delia Cuellar, come from families with restaurant ties and understand the qualities of wine and food in a context of family, friends and acquaintances.

In 2009, VintageTexas won the 2009 Press Award from the Texas Wine and Grapegrowers Association for Texas wine coverage.

For more, go to: www.vintagtexas.com/blog

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