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Merlot ('MERL-oh' in British English and French, mer-LOH in American English) is a red wine grape that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. Merlot-based wines usually have medium body with hints of berry, plum, and currant. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot an ideal grape to blend with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon. This flexibility has helped to make it one of the most popular red wine varietals in the United States and Chile. |
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon became internationally recognized first through its prominence in Bordeaux wines where it is often blended with Merlot and Cabernet franc. From France, the grape spread across Europe and to the New World where it found new homes in places like California's Napa Valley, Australia's Coonawarra region and Chile's Maipo Valley. For most of the 20th century, it was the world's most widely planted premium red wine grape until it was surpassed by Merlot in the 1990s. |
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Pinot Noir ('pi no nwar) is a red wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines produced predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the french words for "pine" and "black" alluding to the varietals' tightly clustered dark purple pine cone shaped bunches of fruit. Pinot noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in the cooler regions, but the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of France. It is widely considered to produce some of the finest wines in the world, but is a difficult variety to cultivate and transform into wine. |
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It believed to have originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new and developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a "rite of passage" and an easy segue into the international wine market. The Chardonnay grape itself is very neutral, with many of the flavors commonly associated with the grape being derived from such influences as terroir and oak.[2] It is vinified in many different styles, from the elegant, "flinty" wines of Chablis to rich, buttery Meursaults and New World wines with tropical fruit flavors. |
| Pinot Grigio is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot noir grape, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name ("gris" meaning "gray" in French) but the grape can have a brownish pink to black and even white appearance. The word "Pinot", which means "pinecone" in French, could have been given to it because the grapes grow in small pinecone-shaped clusters. The wines produced from this grape also vary in color from a deep golden yellow to copper and even a light shade of pink. The clone of Pinot gris grown in Italy is known as Pinot grigio. |
Syrah is a dark-skinned variety of grape used in wine. Syrah is grown in many countries and is primarily used to produce powerful red wines, which enjoy great popularity in the marketplace, relatively often under the synonym Shiraz. Syrah is used both for varietal wines and in blended wines, where it can be both the major and minor component. It is called Syrah in its country of origin, France, as well as in the rest of Europe, Argentina, Chile, and most of the United States. The name Shiraz became popular for this grape variety in Australia, where it has long been established as the most grown dark-skinned variety. In Australia it was also commonly called Hermitage up to the late 1980s, but since that name is also a French Protected designation of origin, this naming practice caused problem on some export markets and was dropped. |
| Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape gets it name from the French word sauvage ("wild") and blanc ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France. It is now planted in many of the world's wine regions, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine. Conversely, the grape is also a component of the famous dessert wines from Sauternes and Barsac. Sauvignon blanc is widely cultivated in France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, California, and South America. |
Zinfandel is a variety of red grape planted in over 10 percent of California wine vineyards.[1] DNA fingerprinting revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski, and also the Primitivo variety traditionally grown in the 'heel' of Italy (Puglia). It is typically made into a robust red wine, but in the USA a semi-sweet rosé (blush-style) wine called White Zinfandel has six times the sales of the red wine. Zinfandel has such high sugar levels that it was originally grown for table grapes in the USA, and this sugar can be fermented into high levels of alcohol, sometimes 15% or more. |
Texas Wine and Spirits Favorites of 2007
Joseph Phelps 2004
Opus One 2002
Patron Berdaous
Patron Burdeos is a tequila matured in barrels made of a unique blend of American mountain oak and oaks from the different regions of France. The tequila is aged for 12 months, then distilled once again and racked in hand-selected Bordeaux barrels, adding the distinct fruity flavors of the finest Bordeaux wines.
Dos Lunas
10 Year Old
Hennessy Richard
Richard was the founder Hennessy. This superior Cognac is appreciated by knowledgeable connoisseurs who set great store by extremely elegant cognacs. Richard Hennessy is made up of more than 100 of the most exceptional eaux-de-vie, aged up to 200 years. Each one has been selected for its unique qualities. The finesse of the finished cognac is a stament to years spent slowly maturing in oak barrels. Well-rounded but with infinite possibilities, mature and at the same time ever-youthful, this perfectly balanced aromatic cognac is the quintessential Hennessy.
In 1765, Richard Hennessy laid the foundations of a priceless collection made up of his most exceptional eaux-de-vie. Since then, eight generations of the Hennessy family have enriched the Founder's Warehouse with their own contributions of the finest cognacs produced during their lifetimes. It is from this collection that Hennessy has created Richard Hennessy, as a homage to its founder. According to Talleyrand the celebrated 18th-century French politician and illustrious customer of Hennessy, to enjoy a cognac such as Richard Hennessy one must "cradle the glass in the palm of one’s hand, swirl the spirit to release its full aroma, lift it to one’s nostrils, inhale deeply and then... set it down and discuss its virtues"
Balanced and complex, the rich bouquet slowly releases a succession of aromas that have built up over the years: vanilla, spices, pepper and delicately fragrant flowers.In the mouth, the infinitely refined texture reveals an extraordinary palette of flavors and the finesse of oak. To savour the full flavor of this exceptional cognac is a privilege. Take a tulip-shaped taster’s glass, or a small snifter of the finest crystal, ensure the opening of the glass is small. This will guarantee the gradual release of the aromas |
