July 2015 WINES&VINES 35
All Texas Grapes,
All Texas Wine
Posted by Andrew Adams
About a year ago I spent an eye-opening
week in the Texas High Plains AVA on a
press tour of that flat and wind-swept
part of Texan wine country. I was im-
pressed with the grit of the region's
growers who are committed to putting
more vines in the ground despite punish-
ing freezes and other challenges.
While there I met food and wine writer
Andrew Chalk, who has covered Texan
wine extensively and was one of the
leading proponents to change the rules
regarding the use of the "Go Texan" logo
that is used to designate items produced
in Texas. For years, wineries could make
a wine with grapes from out of state and
still use the Go Texan logo on their label
by simply adding the fine print "for sale in Texas only."
It's not easy growing grapes in Texas, and the state's growers . . .
Read more and comment at winesandvines.com/blog
MOG BLOG
Additional MOG blogs are online at winesandvines.com/blog
It's Not Easy
in Burgundy Either
Posted by Jim Gordon
You may have heard the news recently that an American vintner in Bur-
gundy had more than doubled the size of his company's vineyard hold-
ings. This was quite a feat in a place where the price of land makes prime
California vineyards seem like bargains in comparison.
Alex Gambal's holdings now include 12 hectares (or 30 acres) in famous
appellations including Nuits St. Georges and Puligny Montrachet after a
merger with Domaine Christophe Buisson. Of course, it didn't happen
overnight. Gambal's first vintage in 1996 filled just 60 barrels. If you read
on, you'll see that many of Gambal's challenges are not that different from
those you might be facing here in North America . . .
Read more and comment at winesandvines.com/blog
Alex Gambal
