The title of this post is taken from a comment that my friend Luke left me on Facebook yesterday in reference to the Gruet/Cap*Rock debacle. The comment does a good job of giving voice to the disappointment that many are feeling with the outcome of the Gruet purchase of the Lubbock winery. In conversations with Texas wine lovers over the last couple of weeks, and actually with wine lovers from outside of Texas as well, I was finding a lot of excitement about the prospect of "Texas Champagne" coming from the Lubbock area. There really seemed to be very little...
Sorry to do a follow up post so soon, but we just received official word that Gruet has backed out on the Cap*Rock sale. VintageTexas posted the following details on his blog moments ago - I received a call from Max Tarbox, attorney for the CapRock Auction Sale early this afternoon indicating the he has received permission from the Backruptcy Judge Robert Jones to proceed with a new auction for the sale of the CapRock Winery. Mr. Tarbox was informed by Laurent Gruet that he does not plan to go through with the purchase the CapRock Winery despite that fact...
It looks like the old axiom about smoke and fire is proving true in the case of the problems involving the sale of Cap*Rock Winery to Gruet. I posted late last week that there were rumors surfacing that the sale of the winery to Gruet was in jeopardy. Since that post I have been working with Russ Kane from VintageTexas to determine what was really going on. There have been many rumors flying around from multiple sources about the sale, but we have been unable to track down much in the way of hard facts until this morning. Most of...
The 2010 Wine Bloggers' Conference was a great opportunity to meet some of the awesome people in the wine business, people who don't normally surface in my fair state of Texas. There are so many different ways that I have been able to experience the wine country life here in the Lone Star State, and one of the ways that I have kept up to date with what is going on in the wine industry in California is by listening to Wine Biz Radio on a weekly basis. The power duo of Richard Kasmier, known by all as "Kaz", and...
At this point this is all very much hearsay, but I spoke to a source today who said that the sale of Cap*Rock winery to Gruet that had been reported earlier on this blog is in jeopardy. Again, this has not been substantiated yet. For now I don't really have anything concrete on this, but I will be looking into it further. I'm hoping that this rumor is false. I will post new information as it arises. Update - I continue to hear rumors from various sources that there is a problem with the Cap*Rock sale, but have yet to...
The Good There have been a lot of good posts about the recent #PinotNoir blowout that took place. The entire event was so much fun, and represents an international community Twitter event the likes of which I've never seen before. So, with all of the great posts on the event, how did I choose the one to feature here? Easy, I picked the one that has a video that mentions my hometown of Lubbock, Texas. :) This video is from the WineTonite blog. This is the first time I have ever heard Lubbock associated with a wine event before a...
Just thought I'd make it clear from the title, as I have my suspicions that a post titled Help a Wino Out might not get viewed a single time. I know how much everyone loves to be asked for stuff, but really all that's needed here is a few minutes to go vote for Ed Thralls in a contest that Lapostolle has put together to send an aspiring wine maker to Chile to work. That's right, the prize is work. Anyway, Ed has been working really hard to pursue his passion over the last several years, including getting his wine...
There are few topics that are more controversial in the wine world right now than that of Biodynamic wines. Both proponents and opponents seem to be equally passionate in their opinions on the subject. Jeff Lefevere has an outstanding post up on his Good Grape blog right now about the need for a change in the dialogue (or dueling monologues) on this topic. Jeff does a good job of showing the parallels between wine and politics or religion that this issue has created. From the post - By now, I think most seasoned wine enthusiasts are not only familiar with...
If you spend enough time reading about wine or talking to winos, there is no doubt that the topic of marketing will come up at some point. Everyone has an opinion when it comes to marketing, wine labels, and the like. My favorite wine labels are the ones that have a unique story behind them. I think that this can serve a winery well in making a personal connection with the consumer. On my recent trip to Oregon and Washington, I found some really great story labels, but one of my favorites was the story behind Hard Row to Hoe...
When the temperatures start moving North here in Texas, my tastes gradually turn from red to white. The Summer heat makes many of my favorite reds darn near undrinkable for the next couple of months. So naturally I just stop drinking during the Summer, right? Sure. One great variety for these hot summer days is the Austrian superstar white, Grüner Veltliner. I recently received some Grüner samples from crackerjack PR gal Constance Chamberlain from The Brand Action Team. One of the wines that I received was the 2008 Laurenz V Singing Grüner Veltliner. This wine will set you back around...
One of the great things about the 2010 Wine Bloggers' Conference was getting to meet and hang out with some really awesome wine people from around the country. One of the guys that I have always wanted to meet is Hardy Wallace of Dirty South Wine, Murphy-Goode, and now NPA (Natural Process Alliance) fame. Hardy went from being a total rock star to being an even bigger rock star when he emerged victorious from the Murphy-Goode contest for A Really Goode Job. The gig got Hardy relocated to California, where he did some great work for Murphy Goode. When his...
This baseball season saw the advent of a new league that brought together two of my favorite things, wine and baseball. A great group of winos from around the country came together to participate in the Major Wino Fantasy Baseball League. The first order of business here today is some gloating on my part. As of the start of today's games, I am enjoying a pretty sizable lead in the league. I was fortunate enough to pick up a couple of studs that didn't cost me very much (players were selected in an auction format), such as Ubaldo Jimenez and...
The Good The good this week goes out to the wine community that participated in the #pinotnoir Twitter tasting last night. I think that anything that provides an excuse for drinking some great Pinot deserves to occupy this space. I would especially like to note the power trio of Ed Thralls from Wine Tonite, Tamara Belgard from Sip With Me (made sure I got your URL right this time), and Joe Herrig from Suburban Wino, who did most of the heavy lifting for the event. Great job guys, and thanks for bringing this together, and involving so many people from...
The events of the last week have gotten my brain churning on some things. For those who haven't read my last couple of posts, a local winery was purchased at auction by Laurent Gruet, of the sparkling wine powerhouse from New Mexico, Gruet Winery. Although I think the overall reaction around the state has been pretty positive, there are always complainers in a situation like this. Among the complaints, a major one has been about a big European concern (Gruet is originally from Champagne France) stepping into the Texas wine pool. For those of you who have never lived among...
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