Wine Corner Review #5: Becker Vineyards Texas Fume Blanc

Most people don't realize that Texas wine industry has grown so rapidly that the Lone Star State is now one of the top five producers in the whole country! Yet, even though there's a lot of quality out there, I've been faced with a pleasant but persistent dilemma: What to write about for my first review of a Texas vintage? Should it be from Fall Creek, that fabulous, value-oriented producer in tiny Tow, Texas? What about Fredericksburg winery, the undisputed king of Texas sweet wine, whose head honcho, the one-and-only Cord Switzer, is a genuine Lone Star character whose pithy sayings are the stuff of legends? In the end, I decided to go with a bottle from argueably the most award winning Texas winery of all, and, to that end, my lovely wife the Rock Star, her sister the Wild Thing, her nonstop niece Beaners, and myself gathered for an early evening tasting one recent Friday.

The robe of the Texas Fume Blanc (basically, a Fume Blanc is a Sauvignon Blanc with upwardly mobile aspirations) is the gentle gold of a Hill Country summer morning. The nose evokes honeysuckle and only the slightest touch of spice. Crisp apples and the distinct taste of ambrosia salad spread slowly across the palate, leaving a light,dry lemony finish. Beaners notes that it would be perfect for pasta and shrimp, not to mention chicken, and of course the Rock Star, being the Queen of Sauvignon Blanc, decreed that a bottle should be added to our collection immediately. You should do so yourself, either from your local wineshop, or if your state or county allows it, directly from www.beckervineyards.com. In any case, remember:

LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR MEDIOCRE FOOD!!!