MikeS, did you do your spring release? I didn’t get an invitation email, and I’m taking it personally. I’m certain it’s HH’s fault.
There was nothing left after HH placed his order.
Seriously, though, I’ve got some bottles arriving in a couple of weeks. I hope your invitation didn’t wind up in your spam folder.
We closed the Spring Release last week (not sure why you didn’t get an email). We’ll be putting a few wines up on, though, mañana. I’ll let you know when we do so you and HH can get an orders in. Temps should still be conducive for ground shipping to Texas.
@austro Thank you so much!! Hope you enjoy the hell out of the wines (and please let me know what think of them, good or bad).
1 Like
nevermind
I think I may have confused matters here. I was referring to Turley, but I suspect Neil and you are referring to Fine Disregard, where I don’t have an order in because I forgot to sign up when you posted the link. I’ve fixed that latter problem now.
I did not order from the Turley spring release, as I already have two cases…waiting…and Mrs. Hawk says I need to stop until we get caught up. The thought that one could have surplus wine never even occurred to me, but there ya go.
1 Like
I still operate at a constant deficit.
Noticed yesterday that a winery out of Paso Robles is opening a tasting room in Fredericksburg…when can we expect a Turley outpost?
Halter Ranch, to be exact. That announcement made the rounds out here last week and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re the first of several CA producers to open up shop in Texas. I’ll ask Larry when our turn is.
We (Turley’s production team) actually visited HR in the before times, I think circa 2018? I may be paraphrasing a bit, but the owner is a Swiss billionaire who made his money in prosthetics. The operation is suitably massive for an absentee landlord with his kind of wealth. The vineyard is 200+ contiguous acres and the winery is as state of the art as it gets. I’m trying to think of how many millions it cost to develop all that and I can’t.
Regardless, I think they’ll do well in Fredericksburg. The wines aren’t really my style (superripe fruit and soft tannins), but I could see how a lot of folks will enjoy them because they’re easy to drink.
1 Like
Thanks for the info, after glancing at their website my 2 thoughts are: facilities look like a knockout and I don’t think I have any reason to go there. Their wine selection does look to lean heavy into lighter, sweeter stuff that will sell wonderfully around here, especially in summer.
Unrelated, on my way back from the cattle auction in Fburg yesterday I stopped off around noon at one of my local favorites, Slate Theory, to grab a couple of bottles. Someone inside saw my rig as I was parking, so when I went inside they mentioned that it’s the first cattle trailer they’d ever seen there and praised my dedication. I felt honored.
I had some surgery last month, and one of the side effects was that it knocked my taste buds for a loop. Before, if you’d asked me what my favorite foods were, I would have said
Cheese enchiladas
duck confit
dry red wine
IPAs
any ol’ sausage
squash and pasta and pine nuts
more cheese enchiladas
Now my favorite foods consist of
Scotch
Lemons
corn
It really is a weird experience. Stuff I once loved tastes awful. Red wine is foul, meat is either too salty, or bland and musty and vaguely metallic. Anything barely bitter is ten-times too bitter. Thank god for Scotch, of which I can suddenly make an evening with about a fingers worth.
I was warned this would happen, and was told that it would pass with time. Meantime I’ve dropped a bunch of weight. I may be the only person in modern history whose doctors have encouraged to eat more steak.
Anyway, this whole rant was to get to the point of saying that 6 weeks ago I would have sneered at super ripe fruit and soft tannins, and now it sounds kind of appealing. The relativity of experience is some weird shit.
2 Likes
I think in Glasgow they call this “breakfast”. At least during fighting season.
7 Likes
Can you really call something that lasts year-round a “season”?
5 Likes
Oh man, that is fantastic on so many levels. I’ll have to check out Slate Theory. Always keen to see what’s happening in Texas wine, which is helluva better than when I first got into the industry over fifteen years ago. I actually the daughter of MacPherson Cellars, one of the original wineries in Texas (and still one of the best). She works as somm down in SF and is rather proud of what her family has done.
Side note, do you own a ranch or some land for the cattle? One of my best friends in high school had a ranch in Southern Arizona, San Rafael Cattle Co. It was down south of Sonoita, literally on the border. Dan’s ranch house was maybe two miles from the actual border and was somewhat famous. It always appeared in every coffee table book about ranches of Arizona (most of the photographs were often taken by folks who didn’t have permission to be on the property) and had an appearance in Young Guns 2 (“I’m looking for the faster gun in the West.”). Sadly, the family sold the ranch after we graduated from college. It was a damn cool place.
@NeilT Yikes!! So sorry to hear that. I’ve heard of folks losing their sense of taste like that, but don’t know personally who’s experienced it. Is it just Scotch, or can you also enjoy bourbon? The lack is cheese enchiladas is simply heartbreaking.
1 Like
Yeah, ranch outside of Marble Falls and a ranch outside of Johnson City. As a retired guy I work harder than I ever did when I had an office job in Houston/Austin.
1 Like
I am jealous in all the best possible ways.
2 Likes
I had a new bottle of decent scotch in the cabinet when I came home, so that’s what I’ve been drinking. I can imagine bourbon tasting completely different than the Scotch, so I need to buy a bottle and try it.
Like I said, this is apparently a common side effect (Geezerdonk tells me he could only eat peanut butter and beer), and it’s not so much losing your tastebuds as having them turned on their ear. They do say it will pass, and that someday I’ll enjoy cheese enchiladas again.
Nothing special I did, I was blessed enough to have roots in the country, grow up in the city, and play my cards right enough to be able to move up here permanently (for the time being)
Nice. Kara and I have always wanted to own some land. Admittedly, we’d plant grapevines, but there is something special about your own piece of dirt.
1 Like
lots of work.