There's Something Special About the Wines From Llano Estacado
Generally speaking, people think of Texas Wines as a novelty. Something to pick up when you are visiting Texas to show your friends back home or if you live here, something to satisfy your curiosity. I have encountered many people here in Dallas, both consumers and wine industry professionals alike that think that great wine just cannot be made in Texas. Their main argument is that we don’t have the right growing conditions for quality grapes and that the winemakers here just don’t have the experience needed to make outstanding wines. If you are one of these people then I might suggest that you don’t know very much about Texans and their ingenuity!
It is true that as a whole, our Texas Wineries do lack the years of experience that other wine growing areas have benefited from such as France, Italy or California, but we are only just discovering our potential for winemaking in this state as well as what grapes perform well in our climate and landscape. To find these things out takes trial and error. More often than not, you will be unsuccessful, however, you can learn from your mistakes, make adjustments here and there, and continually improve. I have been very fortunate to have visited several wineries over the past two years in California, Texas and believe it or not, Maui, Hawaii. I can say with one hundred percent certainty that of all the wineries I have visited, the one winery I feel has the greatest potential to shake up and shock the wine world is right here in the Lone Star State, in the West Texas city of Lubbock.
I used to be one of those knuckleheads that thought Texas Wines were second rate. That was until a good friend of mine suggested that I try a Texas Chardonnay from Llano. I love trying new wines so I picked up a bottle of it, took it home and gave it a whirl. I must confess I wasn’t expecting anything world class, but I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised by it’s quality and taste. I was blown away! Hmmm, maybe it was just the mood I was in that day, I thought to myself, so I bought another bottle of it and tried it again. Wow! How did they make a wine this good in Texas??? The next time I was wine shopping I came across a bottle of their “Signature White”. It is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc grapes. Every winery has something they are known for and perhaps Llano just made great Chardonnay. Wrong again! The Signature White was fantastic! Well now I’ve tried two of their white wines and yes they were excellent, but the cynic in me rationalized that their red wines could not be very good.
At our first Dallas Secret Wine Society event, we asked our members to bring either a Pinot Grigio or a Red Zinfandel wine. One of the truest Texans I know, Adam, brought a bottle of Llano’s Red Zinfandel. I was really excited to try it. I had already tried many great Red Zinfandel’s from California earlier that evening. How would Llano stack up against some of the Northern California giants? After sampling a bit of it, I’d say pretty well!
The final slap in the face came at this year’s Grapefest during the People’s Choice Wine Tasting. At the Llano booth, they were pouring something relatively new from their Winery and at this point, a bit hard to find. It was a blend of Cabernet and Shiraz (Syrah). Oh my! This may have been their best wine yet! It is well worth the effort to track it down if you like blends or Shiraz style wines. However, that wasn’ t the straw that broke the camels back for me! At the advice of Llano Estacado’s State Sales Manager, Andre Meyer, I tried a sample of their Port. I happen to love Port wines and have been extremely lucky enough to taste some of the best from some of the greatest names in the Port Wine industry. Names like Graham, Taylor Fladgate, Warre's, Croft and Fonseca to name just a few. So naturally, again, I did not believe there was any way that I was going to be impressed with a Texas Port Wine from Llano. Andre reassured me that it was wonderful! Well Llano, here’ s to me eating crow again and right about now, my foot is stuck and I can’t seem to get it out of my mouth! That is five out of five great wines for those of you keeping score and folks, I’ve tasted over a thousand different wines and know a great one when I taste one.
Clearly there is something in the water up there at Llano in Lubbock, TX. I thought to myself, I had better go up there and see for myself what makes Llano so great! After sending an email inquiry about visiting their winery, the President and COO himself personally invited me out to meet the Head Winemaker, Greg Bruni, and tour their facilities. Wow, talk about red carpet treatment, I must be someone special! Or maybe that is just the way Llano Estacado Winery does business. Either way, I was quite impressed! So I packed a notebook, my camera, grabbed a recorder and boarded a Southwest Cattle Car and headed on up to Lubbock to meet Greg.
