2001 Llano Estacado Passionelle

[hotwine]

This is a Rhone-style blend of Syrah, Carignane and Viognier from the Llano Estacado winery in Lubbock, TX, using grapes grown within a 60-mile radius of the winery. A delightful cocktail of mixed berries with a subtle sense of terroir, very food-friendly, enjoyed with a hot vegetable and ham soup on a cold winter evening. More "Rhoney" than any other domestic wine I've tasted, medium-bodied, bright ruby in the glass, only 12.1% ABV. Among several wines received from daughter at Christmas, so price unknown; suspect modest, maybe $10-$12, since Texas wines aren't exactly in the premium category. The winery's Website doesn't even list it, so it's not produced consistently and may be sold out. Will look for it locally. Gold Medal winner in the 2003 Texas Wine Society's competition.

[jackl]

I could be biased, but I've only had success with Texas wines (though I haven't had a lot of them). One I posted on not too long ago was the Llano 'Signature' Red--which is their take on a meritage blend. It had good fruit but also a good backbone of acidity to give it some structure and define the fruit. It actually comes in the under 10 dollar category most places in Houston. I'm not sure if the Passionelle is in the under 10 or slightly over category, but it should be right around there. As unlikely as it seems, that area of Texas around Lubbock is proving to be a good place for grapes. I just hope these wines will stay the good values they are--at least for now.

[hotwine]

I've been down on Texas wines for a long time, because they've tended to be over-priced for what they are (or were)... simple table wines, which no amount of pretentious hype could improve, kind of like where Mondavi, Gallo and Sebastiani were in the '60's. But some of them are coming around now.