Lone Star/DFW Chapter of the American Wine Society

What a busy summer it has been for this group! We've had some wonderful tastings with great attendance despite the exhuberant summer travel schedules of all our members!

Here's a recap:

We wrapped up summer up with our August tasting focusing on some remarkable Napa Cabs, along with a Pinot Noir and a Merlot, from District Series wines. Our hosts, the Atteberry's, designed this tasting around a DS Cabernet they've previously won two wine competitions with, most recently taking home the Gold in July's Lone Star Wine Olympics.
Our wine educator, Deb, also debuted a new educational ice breaker- a wine quiz at the start of each tasting and it's already a big hit!

In July, the Doctor's Hermann hosted the ever-popular 5th Annual Wine Olympics. This group favorite event saw a fierce competition with Bronze and Silver going to Argentina and South Africa respectively while the USA brought home the Gold. Congratulations to all our "athletes", we know how hard you trained!

June saw the Johnson's graciously open their home again to host in collaboration with Deb, our wine educator, for the National Tasting Project which showcased Australian wines this year.

In May, the Lohr's hosted a beautiful Pinot Noir tasting where we explored the differences in Pinot's from Oregon, California and Burgundy, France. The end of the evening saw the lingering members taking in a beautiful Texas sunset by the pool after several months of unusually heavy spring rains.

April was a truly exceptional tasting when our co-hosts, the Smathers and the Scroggins, arranged to have both Riana and Gigi Mondavi join us via zoom!
Our members throughly enjoyed the opportunity to listen to these legacy wine insiders talk about their craft, not to mention tasting some of the best Charles Krug Estate wines. Riana had to sign-off to attend a function but Gigi was gracious enough to stick around and take questions (and even a group photo) with the members!

As everyone always says, this summer has flown by, but it was made all the more special by the wines and friendship shared by this group. Cheers to a delicious autumn!🍷🍂

This group can pivot!
We were scheduled to do the National Tasting Project this month but low attendance due to our travel-prone members prompted our wine educator to pull a fast one and create an entirely new tasting in 24 hours! Not wanting the second bottle of each of the NTP wines to go to waste Deb and this month's host, Mary Ann, decided to postpone the Australian wines for a larger group later this year.

After spending a Friday afternoon running around Dallas to various wine shops to curate a new tasting, Deb put together a fantastic collection of less commonly known grapes to present the "HELLO My Name Is..." Tasting.

Ranging from a bright Greco di Tufo from Italy to a dark and sultry Tannat from Uruguay, our group thoroughly enjoyed tasting these eight lesser known grapes.

After the tasting we enjoyed a delicious roasted salmon with mustard sauce provided by the host, alongside many wonderful appetizers, sides and desserts contributed by members.

In addition to last night's tasting, we were treated to the surprise announcement that two of our members were married earlier in the week! Congratulations to Deb & Steve!! 🍾 ❤️🥂

The Lonestar Chapter celebrated this festive season with our annual Holiday Party earlier this month. Our hosts provided an amazing prime rib roast and members contributed an array of delightful dishes. This group is blessed with an abundance of great chefs!

Throughout the evening members experimented with cocktails at various drink stations and after dinner we enjoyed a rousing round of the white elephant gift exchange.

Among the wonderful desserts provided was a special treat consisting of a selection of Sauternes paired with blue cheese, spiced cake and sliced pears.

Of course, we had a variety of special wines shared by our members, including a Bordeaux Magnum and a 2013 Conn Creek Anthology Double Magnum!

We are fortune to be part of such a fun group and excited to see what creative tastings are to come in the new year.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! ¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! Buon Natale! Wesołych Świąt! Frohe Weihnachten! Feliz Natal!

November's Tasting was a joint effort between the former and current presidents and their spouses. Trey & Adrienne and Trey & Annette collaborated to host the T & A tasting (ahem, it's not what you're thinking... 😉) This tasting focused on Tempranillos & Albarinos (just not in that order). We tasted 2 Albarinos and 5 Tempranillos and discussed the different classifications of aging in our first 3 Rioja's, then moved on to the differences between Tempranillos from the Ribera del Duero and the Toro regions.
The evening was capped off by a celebration of a birthday of one of our members as well as the birth of a first grandson to another member (the baby is also the son of a former member!). In hindsight we should have had more Cava! 🍾
After the tasting we dined on beef and chicken fajitas alongside many fabulous sides and desserts brought by members.

For last months October tasting we were treated to an evening of Italian wines in a beautiful outdoor setting. Our hosts, Tom & Gail, recently returned from a "research" trip to Italy where they spent countless hours diligently sampling the wines and food of Tuscany and the Piedmont region to find something special to share with our group!

The tasting consisted of 7 wines. Highlights included a well-received 2020 Chianti Classico, Grand Sellizione, a decadent 2018 Le Ragose Amarone Della Valpolicella and an interesting comparison of two different bottles of the same 2019 Sangiovese, where the only difference was the aging process - large barrel vs small barrel. Members were divided on their favorite with the small barrel scoring slightly higher, which illustrates the unique ways in which the winemaker's personal choices impact the final product.
During the tasting our hosts treated us to a Pappa al Pomodoro (a traditional Italian tomato and bread soup) recipe they learned while in Italy and at the conclusion of the tasting we feasted on two types of lasagna accompanied by many delicious sides and desserts brought by the members.

While Fall has yet to show up in Texas, football is in full swing so this month's tasting was right on time. "Are You Ready For Some Football, Wines?" introduced us to a variety of wines being made by former professional football players & coaches.
Ranging from a team of three former Green Bay Linebackers (Three Fat Guys) to Cornerback Charles Woodson (Intercept), Coach Dick Vermeil (Vermeil) and Denver's John Elway (7 Cellars) we tasted a Rosé, a Sauvignon Blanc, two Chardonnay's and four Cabernet Sauvignon's.
While the overall scores indicate this group might think these players should probably have stuck with what they did best, it was a creative and informative tasting and a fun night.
Our hosts, Stan and Janet, treated the group to an excellent BBQ with smoked sausage, brisket and chicken, while members rounded out the menu with complementary appetizers, sides and desserts. As usual it was a great evening with this fun group.

Checking to see who is watching the post in this group.
Here is a sneek peek at our tasting this Saturday.
“Ready for some football” is a tasting of wineries that are owned by former NFL personalities. We will have one rose, three whites, and four reds.
There is one white wine in the pic that doesn’t fit the theme. It’s new and Janet wanted to give it a try with a group that appreciates different wines.

Another Wine Olympics has come and gone, and like the real Olympics there were some big surprises this year!

This year's medalists were:

Gold: USA🥇
2019 Far Mountain, Fission, Cabernet Sauvignon

Silver: Romania🥈 (yep, you read that right!)
2019 Crama De Matei, Matei, Red Blend

Bronze: Australia🥉
2018 Mollydooker, Blue Eyed Boy, Shiraz

Another big surprise was a well-received Cabernet Sauvignon from Isreal! The 2020 Yarden Galilee from Golan Heights Winery was a great discovery from a lesser known wine region.

Thanks to all the coaches who put in hours of hard work to produce their best "athletes".
Congratulations to this year's winners and a big thank you to Cyndi & Bruce Hermann for creating and hosting this fun tasting that's become a chapter favorite!

Here is a sneak peek at a wine that will be in the September tasting event that Janet and I are hosting. Any guess what the theme is?

The Lone Star/DFW Chapter beat the Texas heat yesterday with the National Tasting Project. The NPT is a yearly event where all AWS chapters taste and rate the same wines. This year's NTP featured Chardonnay's and Pinot Noir's from California wineries ranging from Santa Barbara to Sonoma.
Our hosts provided a spectacular main course of Beef Stroganoff made from filet mignon and members contributed many delicious appetizers, sides and desserts. Some of the members closed out the evening listening to favorite songs, sharing memories of first concerts and there may even have been some group singing. Cheers y'all!

The Lone Star/DFW Chapter's February tasting featured the wines of Escudo Rojo - Baron Philippe de Rothschild from the Puente Alto region of Chile. As a special bonus, our hosts arranged for the winemaker, Gonzalo Castro, to join us all the way from Chile via Zoom to guide us through this lovely tasting. In addition to speaking about the specific wines we tasted, Gonzalo was gracious enough to give us an informative overview of the estate and his wine making methods and challenges.
We tasted 8 wines in total then moved on to a wonderful dinner featuring Chicken Cordon Bleu and Spinach Chicken Kiev prepared by our hosts.