Happenings at TWC
Wine Club Selections for Feb-2021
Special Note: Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association, is hosting their 2021 Annual Conference as a Virtual Event on-line, Feb-23,24, and Mar-2,3. There will be presentations and discussions on Vineyards, Winemaking, Tasting Room, and Marketing. There will also be a virtual tasting of Texas Gold Medal wines in which you can choose to participate (with wine purchase). You do not need to be a member of TWGGA – just have an interest in Texas wine. To learn more and see the full program, connect to the registration site – https://www.txwines.org/2021-texaswineandgrapevirtualforum/ Carl will be involved in several of the sessions, including the virtual tasting. Continue »
Feb 18, 2021 at 5:35 AM
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Vine Pruning, January 2021
As spring approaches, it becomes time to prune vines in the Texas Wine Collective vineyard. Along US 290, one can see that pruning has started in many vineyards. Although there are numerous posts and videos on FaceBook and Utube addressing the subject of vine pruning, each season I like to offer this brief tutorial on the subject from my own perspective of doing this task now for 18 years. During your next visit to Texas Wine Collective, you are invited to wander out to the “Pet Vineyard” to take a look at the mix of mostly Black Spanish vines, interspersed with some recent additions of Tannat (added in 2019) and Tempranillo (added in 2020). Continue »
Feb 1, 2021 at 3:57 PM
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Wine and Football: An Unlikely, but Must-Try, Match
The Super Bowl is coming up on February 7, and sadly, as usual, my team won’t be in it. Raised an Oilers fan (Luv Ya’, Blue!) and relegated to being a Texans fan when my team moved to Tennessee, I’m used to losing. Well actually, I’m used to watching my team look good for about five games and then losing. Continue »
Jan 27, 2021 at 9:37 AM
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Bench Trials for Winemaking - 2021
Since being involved in winemaking and wine evaluation efforts for well over 20 years, it seems that the subject of wine bench trials should have come up sooner. Bench trials represent an important part of the winemaking process, and even though they require a lot of thought, preparation, and record-keeping, they are typically fun and exciting. This edition of Carl’s Corner will address some key reasons winemakers do bench trials, including: blending for flavor adjustment (acidity, alcohol, tannin), sweetening, fining to remove solids and cloudiness, and treatments to enhance cold and heat stability. Each of these specific topics is briefly discussed below. While doing bench trials, it is best to involve some other interested folks, take notes, and discuss the effects. The goal of bench trials is to determine the least intrusive treatment that will yield the best possible wine. Continue »
Jan 20, 2021 at 11:03 AM
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Our First TWC Blending Session Is in the Books!
Ten years ago, if you’d told me that I’d be pouring wine in a Texas wine tasting room, I would have laughed. It just wasn’t on my radar back then. And if you’d then told me that I’d actually be making wine, I would have considered you nuts. But that’s exactly what I found myself doing just this morning. Continue »
Jan 13, 2021 at 1:54 PM
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Sweetening Wines
One doesn’t have to spend much time working in a Texas wine tasting room to learn that lots of folks enjoy sweeter wines. Wines with some residual sugar or sweetness often have bright fruit aromas and flavors, and are very easy to drink, either by themselves or with snacks and meals. The question is often asked how does one make a sweet wine. Many folks believe that certain grapes are just sweeter than others, or some grapes can get riper and thus have greater sugar content. That is the issue to explore in this edition of Carl’s Corner. Continue »
Jan 6, 2021 at 11:16 AM
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The Year in Review
Whew. Well, that was a strange one. This past year reminds me of a horseback ride I took several years ago through a national forest in northern New Mexico. Things started out just fine, even a little boring, but by the end, I was just glad to get off the horse in one piece. Continue »
Dec 30, 2020 at 1:16 PM
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Carl’s Corner Review for 2020
At the end of each year it is rewarding to look back over the topics included in Carl’s Corner posts over the past 12 months. For the crazy and stressful 2020, twenty-five posts covered a range of topics that are summarized below. Hopefully you have enjoyed these stories and the information provided has both enlightened and entertained. Here’s a look back at Carl’s Corner for 2020. Continue »
Dec 22, 2020 at 1:08 PM
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What’s in a Name?
As a former English teacher, I spent many weeks each year exposing my adolescent students to the joys of Shakespeare. I’m not going to lie: This sometimes took some serious educational acrobatics on my part. While I prefer Hamlet and Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet was more accessible to most of my students. They could relate to it on a teenage love level. Plus, I could show them the Leonardo DiCaprio movie version of it. That made everything better. Continue »
Dec 17, 2020 at 9:13 AM
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Blended Wines – Why and How?
A fascinating article in WineMakerMag about Wine Blending Partners written by Chik Brenneman, former winemaker for the UC-Davis Dept. of Viticulture and Enology, caught my attention because there are so many blended wines in Texas, and also in the rest of the wine world, for that matter. As pointed out in the referenced article, “Blending accomplishes several goals in winemaking . . . . improve flavor, mouthfeel, cover a defect, balance the chemical profile, adjust the alcohol content, emulate a commercial wine you enjoy or simply for product consistency.” Hidden in these reasons is what I like to call “insurance in the vineyard.” Certain grape varieties will do better (or worse) depending on vintage conditions (weather) and having several varieties of grapes planted can really help the winemaker produce a much better wine by blending based on qualities of the various components available. And, making a better wine is the key point, right? Continue »
Dec 8, 2020 at 5:50 PM
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