Blog contributed by Kelsey Kramer, Director of Education, Hill Country Wine Academy
Photo credit: TEXSOM and Ahna Hubnik
On Monday, February 17, Texas Wine Growers hosted the lunchtime presentation for the TEXSOM Awards judges. Around 100 professionals are invited to judge each year, or alternatively come from multiple states just to volunteer. These same taste-makers present on a variety of topics at the TEXSOM conference in August annually, sharing their expertise on a range of topics from sustainability, diversity in the drinks industry, adapting to a rapidly changing industry, aged wines, and wine styles that range from Pet Nats to Georgian wine, to wine trends of Sicily to the intricacies of Bordeaux’s best vintages. Hardly the central discussion at TEXSOM is locally made wine, as the professionals who participate in TEXSOM’s offerings study wine from around the world and travel from about 15 states to continue learning about the future of the industry. After two consecutive years of presenting to the esteemed judges and professional volunteers during the Awards, it’s clear that the future of wine includes Texas.
Throughout all of the classes, speaking engagements and presentations I’ve given about Texas wine, this opportunity stands out as wholly unique. I was honored to collaborate on this presentation with Mr. John Rivenburgh, President of Texas Wine Growers, to get to the heart of Texas wine, but through a unique lens. Truthfully, at the onset of this opportunity, I threw out everything I’ve ever built in terms of curriculum and presentation material about Texas wine and came into the conversation from a fresh perspective. Being involved with TEXSOM for the last seven or so years as a volunteer, attendee, mentorship program participant, and Texas wine representative has given me the inspiration for a different kind of Texas wine discussion that answers the question: “What is it about Texas wine that matters to these Master Sommeliers, Masters of Wine, writers, journalists, panelists, award-winning beverage program directors, taste-makers, judges, and hospitality experts?”
The truth is that tasty wine, meaningful stories, and statistics ARE NOT ENOUGH! When we are competing with all of this and more from so many other wine regions of the world, Texas wine feels either novel, or worse, not relevant enough to matter. So, we brought the new perspective.
Here’s what we figured matters to high-level hospitality and beverage professionals with little to no exposure to Texas wine:
- Rather than pouring Texas’ “most important” grape varieties, we tasted what gets Texas producers excited.
Upon ideating about the presentation, we dreamt up a tasting of Rhône varieties, Italian varieties, comparatives across different regions, and more. However, the responses we received from Texas Wine Growers winery members included Souzão, Malbec, Mourvèdre, Aglianico, Tannat, Teraldego, and Blanc du Bois! Quickly, we realized that the most exciting tasting that we could offer for this group was one that could both surprise and delight. Then, we let the wines speak for themselves. Rather than talking through each wine, John and I spurred a conversation about tying grape varieties to specific regions of Texas, rather than the whole state. This both allowed us to comment on the regional intricacies of the Texas Hill Country, as well as shine a light on how much more complex growing is in Texas is than simplifying to “warm climate grapes work here.”
- Getting beyond the generalizations of Texas.
In an entry level conversation or class about Texas wine we give the statistics. We point out the AVAs of Texas. We maybe discuss the top 10 varieties planted in Texas or the top 5 grape varieties that have gained traction on the market thus far. Clearly, this was not an entry level group and generalizations just don’t relate to the way that these professionals discuss other regions that excite them. With heavy assistance from Mr. Rivenburgh, we embarked on conversations that took us from the phenolic development of our grapes to the soil variation across the Texas High Plains to the strong potential of hybrid varieties in the market.
- We “nerded out”…a lot.
Then, we really dug in. With statistics left behind we were able to emphasize the formation of the Texas High Plains via windblown sediments of the Rocky Mountains. We drilled into the Pedernales River Basin’s potential for educating the world on adapting to climate change. We gabbed about Pierce’s disease, updated about sustainable practices in our state, and sparred about the challenges that we face when growing the same grape varieties 400 miles apart within our borders. To top it all off, the visuals to accompany the talk included geological timetables, elevation imagery and as many regional closeups as possible. We expected effort on behalf of the attendees – a pace to keep up with – and they duly responded with high expectations right back.
- Painting a picture of the future rather than of the past.
This piece was crucial. The history of Texas wine is rocky, and as important as it is to understand where we are now, the value of our history only becomes relevant to beverage managers and judges as it relates to what’s next! Potential, new efforts and the 50 years from now discussion gives a reason to keep learning about Texas wine. Better yet, it allows room for more people to join the discussion and support our goals. In addition to sustainability, we highlighted sparkling wine programs that are developing with more complexity, clones that are being experimented with across the state, and the narrowing of terroirs such as the massive Texas Hill Country AVA into the incredibly diverse regions within.
- Identifying opportunities to picture Texas wine on a beverage program.
Ultimately, all of these efforts only become personal when it relates to the daily work of a taste-maker and wine judge. This means viability with the right cuisine, the right placement on a wine list, and most importantly, the interest from their customers. Texas wine only matters to a beverage director as it will excite their target audience, so taking every opportunity to tie geology, varieties, and soils to a real-world scenario was pivotal. We opted to give actionable advice about reaching a guest in an effective way, what to seek out that fits your needs, and pleaded for help in speaking about regionality in our state.
- We were honest.
With a group this aware of how wine regions start, develop, and grow into the classics, hiding the tough stuff is just not effective or fair. Instead, we broached the hard subjects, introduced the challenges that have come right along our successes, and openly said “we don’t know…yet.” After all, one of the beauties of Texas wine is that our products taste the way they do because our failures inform us on how to adapt. We compared Texas growers to clonal selections that have been adapted over time to become valuable pieces of the future of wine. We asked for help because we can’t uplift an industry of this size on our own, and after all, these are the experts in the market.
Did it work? Maybe we won’t know for another few decades, but based on feedback, maybe so! One of the most consistent comments were that the wines poured exceeded expectations. Hopefully, we will see this reflected in the TexSom Awards that are due to come out any day now. A particular interest in sparkling wine, rosé, Blanc du Bois, and the tough grapes of the Pedernales River Basin emerged in conversations following the lunch. The question now is – how do we continue to exceed expectations from here, and build new advocate relationships that last.
P.S. A BIG thank you to the TEXSOM team who has consistently supported the Texas wine industry, and for our future partnerships in education! Your efforts are making waves.
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