So what was this studying? Pretty much finishing The Complete Bordeaux by Stephen Brook. That and starting some flashcards on my iPad. I pretty much finished the book. I got to page 643 out of 710 before I came back to San Antonio. And I didn’t read every single page. But what I did read was all the main information and then the entries for all the top chateaux. That alone was a few hundred pages alone. Made me want to go back there. But enough about the book, I didn’t stay in the cave 24/7. I did go and have dinner in a few places. So I’ll talk about them here.

First night I headed to Bellino’s. It’s pretty much become a tradition for me to go on my first night there. They have a pretty decent food menu and the wine menu has a good selection of Italian wine. Tonight they had a special that sounded good. It was some Italian sausage and spaghetti with marinara sauce. I decided to pair it with one of the wines on their menu but they were out. This was the second time in a row that my first choice of wine was not available there. I went with my backup choice, though to call it a backup isn’t really fair. Let’s just call it a second choice. It was the 2010 Banfi Rosso di Montalcino. And in actuality, I was going to get this first, but thought another wine would be better.

Sausage and Pasta with Banfi Rosso di Montalcino

The food was good. I had heard one of the servers describe it to another table and say that the sausage wasn’t spicy. Well I’d agree, but it wasn’t not spicy. Definitely a mild sausage which is fine. Very tasty. The spaghetti was cooked well and the sauce also tasted good. It was a bit watery, but that was probably from the pasta not being completely drained. Very minor and really didn’t detract from the meal. The wine had good fruit, but very high acidity. It wasn’t a bad pairing, but it really needed to calm down a bit. All in all a good pairing. I ended with tiramisu. It’s kind of hard for me pass that up. After dinner I brought home the wine to have later.

Night number two. I really didn’t know where to go so I drove around and just stopped once I decided. I went to Moondogs. I wasn’t looking for anything fancy that night. I entered and was greeted very pleasantly by the host. She let me know I could pick any table I wanted. Grabbed a table and checked out the menu. I decided on just a chicken fried steak. I have a weakness for them. I wanted to try their bbq nachos, but my server let me know that even the small one was a good-sized portion. It came out and was also pretty good. Not the best I’ve had, but definitely not the worst. I would have it again if I went back. This time I didn’t have any wine. I went with beer. Here they really didn’t have a stellar selection of beer, just the normal selections. I ended up ordering a Blue Moon. Not a beer I typically order, but it’s nice every once-in-a-while.

Third night I decided to check out Glow. This was a restaurant I’ve seen the past couple times I’ve been down there, but decided not to go there. Basically because the menu online didn’t really have much that I thought I would like. While I’m not as bad as I used to be, I’m still a pretty picky eater. The menu on this night had at least two things I thought I would like. Glow has been around for almost two years and it’s one of a few places in the Rockport area that has an upscale menu. I ordered a pepper crusted tenderloin. It also had some potatoes and spinach with it. Two items I like. It came out perfectly cooked. It was also served already sliced. I believe this is called chef cut as I’ve only had this style a couple times. Great flavor and the pepper crusting wasn’t overwhelming.

2011 William Chris Artist Blend

The wine I ordered was the 2011 William Chris Wines Artist Blend. This was one of the main reasons I came to Glow. I had gone to William Chris this past December. While doing their interview we talked about Rockport and that their wine was on the menu at Glow. They are picky as to what restaurants carry their wine. Glow is one of the places they like to eat and that’s why it’s on the list. Another wine with good fruit. Some good dark fruits on it and a bit of earthiness. It’s a blend of Merlot, Mourvedre, Syrah,Sangiovese, and Cabernet Sauvignon. An unusual blend, but it works. For dessert I had bread pudding paired with one of the brandies they have.

I do have to say that first, get a reservation here. There’s seating for about 40 people. I knew this ahead of time from reading reviews. I made my reservation for a seat at the bar since it’s just me. Glad I did. There was a 20-top at 7:00 that took up half the place and the other tables were mostly sat. I got there just in time too. The 20-top was a surprise birthday party and I got there before the guest of honor did. They only had two servers/bartenders to take care of the whole place. Since I had gotten my order in before the big top, I had no issues with the food timing. However, these two were definitely running. They also had a busser helping out. They did an awesome job taking care of everyone and keeping their cool.

The next night I was joined by the neighbors downstairs. They’ve been living in the complex for a long time and are super nice. They’ve been friends of my parents since they got the place. I let them choose the restaurant. They picked a place called Crab-N. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere near Aransas Pass. A seafood place of course, but as usual there’s a few items for a guy like me who doesn’t like seafood. We all pretty much ordered a pasta dish with different proteins. Mine was the chicken with a lemon butter sauce. Pretty good, but I would have liked the sauce to have more flavor to it.

I chose their only Sauvignon Blanc on the menu to pair with dinner. It was the Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc. Unfortunately I didn’t get the vintage, but it’s most likely a 2011, maybe a 2010. One of the main reasons I chose it was due to the seafood dishes my guests had. For me a chardonnay would have probably been better. They also drink a lot of Sauvignon Blanc, so I knew this should be a good choice. I was pleased with it. Good citrus aromas and great acidity.

The only issue with this particular dinner was the service was pretty slow. The place was full when we got there at 7:00. My guests tried to call to make a reservation but the person who answered the phone said they didn’t take them and then for some reason thought they wouldn’t be busy. On a Saturday night? Busy at 7:00? No never in the history of restaurants is it busy at 7:00 on a Saturday. A case of someone thinking that how busy you are a 4:00 determines how busy you’ll be when most people eat dinner. Not sure how many servers they had on the floor, but it looked like they were a bit overwhelmed. Not a big deal for someone like me, but it was noticeable.

My last night in town I really didn’t know where to go. Some of the places are only open during the day on a Sunday. I just got into the car and started driving. I ended up at a place called Latitude. I’ve been here before and know the food is good. Parking lot is pretty empty at 7:00 but yet the dining room was on a wait. So that means they only had 1-2 servers on the floor. I decided to go to the bar which is actually where I prefer to eat anyway. Since I already had a pepper tenderloin earlier that week, I decided to go with a Beef Burgundy.

Beef Burgundy with King Estate Pinot Noir

For the wine I ordered an Oregon Pinot Noir. For the second time this week I get told they were out. They bring out a Russian River Pinot Noir because it was close to the price of the wine I had ordered. Unfortunately I prefer pinots from Oregon and not California. They then tell me what other wines they are out of. I decided to get the 2011 King Estate Pinot Noir. Apparently this is not unusual here with wine. From what I get told, they order wine and it doesn’t come.

The Beef Burgundy arrives and it’s got a nice brown sauce with mushrooms, onions, and carrots. I forget that this is a dish with mushrooms, yet another food I don’t like, but it’s no big deal to pick them out. The tenderloin tips are nice and tender and tasty. The Pinot Noir has a good smoky aroma and good sour cherry on the palate. Figured a dish with the name Burgundy in it might be something to pair a Pinot Noir

I decline dessert as I’m pretty full. I take the rest of the wine home (by the way Texas is a state where you can order a bottle of wine and as long as it’s recorked, you can take it out of the restaurant). I reopen it when I get back to the condo while watching TV and having one of those generic swiss rolls. The pinot eventually gets this really nice tobacco on the nose.

Well, that’s my culinary adventures while down in Rockport. It’s a small town (along with Fulton) on the coast of Texas. Popular among Texans and lots of piers to fish off of. However, most of the piers are private or part of a hotel or condo complex. Many of the restaurants allow you to bring your own fish to have them cook. Not much as far as nightlife, but there are a few bars.

I don’t know when I’ll return to Rockport. While it’s only a 3 hour drive, it’s not a place I would go to just to spend the night. With the kind of schedule I have I wouldn’t be able to spend more than one night normally. Plus I’m not a fisherman, and I’m not as fanatical about hanging out at the beach like I used to. However, if I had to make the choice about being at the beach or in the mountains, I’d pick the beach every time.

Speaking of the beach, be sure to look for my episode on beach wine next week. I did hit the beach with some wines that would be good for hanging out with friends at the beach, or any kind of outdoor event.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Friend me up with the links above, hit the donate button to the right to send me a few ducats for wine, and leave comments below. Make sure to tell your friends to check out the site and the show.

L8r,

Mark

In this special episode of 1337 Wine TV, Mark takes a quick trip up IH-35 to Austin to hang out with Advanced Sommelier, GM and Sommelier of Personal Wine and Red Room Lounge Bill Elsey. Mark and Bill talk about how Bill got into the industry, passing his Sommelier tests, and the Red Room Lounge – one of Austin’s newest wine bars in downtown Austin. They also taste 3 wines. First was the Champagne they were sipping on before the interview started which was the Non-Vintage Godme Champagne. Next up was the 2011 Gañeta Txakolina from the Basque region of Spain. Finally they taste the 2010 Huber Pinot Noir from the Baden region of Germany.

Links for this week’s show:

Red Room Lounge

Personal Wine

Bill Elsey’s Twitter Account

Godme Champagne

Gañeta Txakolina – No link for this wine

Alfred Huber

1337 Wine is proud to announce the upcoming release of Loki Pinot Noir. This will be the first of hopefully more wines to be released under the 1337 Wine label.

When asked why the name Loki for the wine Mark Fusco, owner of 1337 Wine, said, “the Pinot Noir grape is notoriously difficult to grow and due to the capricious nature of the grape I felt this would be an appropriate name for it.”

While not Mark’s first choice of varietal for a wine, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with Olof Vineyards out of Oregon. Oregon Pinot Noirs are Mark’s preferred style of American Pinot Noir. Olof uses the 413 Clone in their vineyards. Located in the Rogue Valley AVA in Oregon this clone does exceptionally well.

1413 cases of the wine will be produced at a price of $41 per bottle. Olof will be handling orders and shipping the wine for 1337 Wine.

For more information contact Mark on his website http://www.1337wine.com/

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
V

APRIL FOOLS!!!!

Ok, so here are the clues. First Loki. C’mon that should be obvious . If not, Loki is the “Trickster” God in Norse mythology. I chose Pinot Noir because it is one of the ‘trickiest’ grapes to grow.

Next Olof Vineyards is really Fool Vineyards.

Clone 413? April 2013.

1413 cases. European dating of 4/1/13.

$41? Should be obvious.

Rogue Valley is a real Oregon AVA. I was lucky that there is an AVA in Oregon that evokes Loki and his trickster nature.

Now, don’t screw it up on Facebook and reveal this is an April Fool’s joke. Save those comments for here!

Now that you’re here, check out some of the past episode. No new show this week, but I am interviewing someone today in Austin for next week.

Repost and retweet

In this special episode of 1337 Wine TV, Mark heads over to his good friend Ceci Barretto’s wine shop Vinously Speaking for a night of Texas Wine Tweeting. We are joined by a few other San Antonio wine peeps. Robin English-Bircher, who is another wine blogger here in town and her husband “Mr. Bircher,” and Jen McInnis Wine and Spirits writer at the San Antonio Express-News. The second Tuesday of the month is #TXWine Twitter night where people from all over tweet about the Texas wine they are drinking. This month we were able to all drink the same three wines. First up was the 2012 McPherson Cellars Chenin Blanc. Next was the 2010 Duchman Family Winery Aglianico. The last wine was the 2010 Pedernales Cellars Texas Tempranillo. All three are 100% Texas wines and we were able to get them for a really good price as a set which Pedernales Cellars was very kind to help put together for us.

Links for this week’s show:

Vinously Speaking – An Eclectic Wine Shop and Wine Blog – Ceci’s shop

VitisPoema – Robin’s wine blog.

Jennifer McInnis – This is her MySA.com profile (MySA.com is the online version of the San Antonio Express-News)
Jen’s Twitter account

Brandon Ridens – aka DJ Phylo – This is his website

McPherson Cellars

Duchman Family Winery

Pedernales Cellars

Book I’m currently reading and mentioned in the show:

In this special episode of 1337 Wine TV, Mark interviews the first American to earn the title of Master Sommelier as awarded by the Court of Master Sommeliers. Eddie and Mark talk via Skype about how he got into wine, his experience in France, and what Power Entertaining is all about. Eddie graciously sent and autographed his book.

Link for today’s show:

Eddie Osterland – his website

His book via Amazon:

Book I’m currently reading:

In this special episode of 1337 Wine TV, Mark finally rights some wrongs as the Foursquare Mayor of Max’s Wine Dive in San Antonio. He has been going to Max’s for almost two years and has never had two of their signature dishes – Fried Chicken and Pulled Pork Stuffed Peppers. Mark visited with Whitney Deetz who is the Wine Sales Manager at Max’s to do 3 food and wine pairings. Fried Chicken with the Prodige Sparkling Wine from France, the Pulled Pork Stuffed Peppers with the La Marca Prosecco from Italy, and finally their Chili Mac with the Lucky Country Shiraz from Australia.

Links for this week’s show:

Max’s Wine Dive

The Boiler House – Part of Lasco Enterprises

Lasco Enterprises – Parent company of Max’s and some other concepts

Prodige Sparkling Wine

La Marca Prosecco

The Lucky Country

A Day Like No Other – The band Mark’s friend plays in and who loves the Chili Mac. BTW, their cover photo is one of my pictures

Book I’m currently reading:

In this special episode of 1337 Wine TV, Mark visits the Messina Hof Winery in Bryan, TX. This is where it started for Messina Hoff in the 1970s. He sits down with Paul the VI and Paul the VII Bonarrigo (Father and Son) to taste 6 different wines in a private room at their restaurant on site. Wines tasted in this episode are the 2011 Primitivo, 2010 Bordeaux Blend, 2010 Cabernet Franc, 2010 Zinfandel, 2009 Star of Texas Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2012 Angel Late Harvest Riesling.

Links for this week’s show:

Messina Hof Winery

In this special episode of 1337 Wine TV, Mark makes the long overdue trek to Houston, TX to attend a tasting of Brunello di Montalcino sponsored by the Consorzio Vino Brunello di Montalcino. 30 producers from Tuscany (Toscana) were brought to the United States to show their 2008 vintage. Only two cities were chosen – Houston and New York. We were the first to taste the 2008s.

Kevin Zraly led two tasting seminars. I was lucky enough to attend both seminars. Thanks goes out to Melanie Young of The Connected Table for allowing me the opportunity to not only attend both seminars and the tasting, but also setting up this great interview with Kevin.

Kevin has been in wine education for over 30 years and was the Wine Director of the Windows on the World restaurant that was on top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He is also the founder of the Windows on the World Wine School which began in 1976. The school still operates today and I have links below to the school and Kevin’s book of the same name.

Wines tasted in this week’s show are the 2008 Tenuta di Collosorbo Brunello di Montalcino, the 2008 Capanna Brunello di Montalcino, and the 2004 Agricola Sasso di Sole Brunello di Montalcino. Brunello is the local (Montalcino) name for the grape Sangiovese. Montalcino is located in the Tuscany (Toscana) region of Italy.

Links for this week’s show:

Tenuta di Collosorbo

Capanna

Sasso di Solle

Consorzio Vino Brunello di Montalcino

Windows on the World Wine School

Mark returns to the set for a special Valentine’s Day show. He decided to go fairly standard in choices with an all-California wine show. First is the Non Vintage Mumm Napa Rose Sparkling Wine. Next is the 2010 Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay. Last is the 2011 Layer Cake Cabernet Sauvignon. All 3 wines should have fairly wide distribution in grocery stores with better than average wine areas and larger wine shops. The rose sparkling wine might be harder to find, but Mumm itself is pretty easy to find.

Stay tuned next week for a great interview with Kevin Zraly.

Links for this week’s show:

Mumm Napa

Kendall Jackson

Layer Cake

In this last episode of Mark’s December tour of Texas Hill Country wineries, he visits Duchman Family Winery. He meets with winemaker Dave Reilly and tastes two of their wines. The 2010 Vermentino and the 2010 Aglianico. Both Italian varietals that are doing well in Texas.

Links for this week’s show:

Duchman Family Winery