By: Ryan Tedder
This last weekend the largest gathering of Master Sommeliers, Masters of Wine, Industry Folks and Wine Enthusiasts gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Colinas for the 10th Annual Texsom Conference. This is the largest such event in the USA and the brainchild of Master Somms James Tidwell and Drew Hendricks to bring people of the wine faith together to one place to literally geek out to some of the coolest, most thought-out tastings and elbow rubbing around. There is also a shadow competition going on during this madness pitting the best young sommeliers from around the state against one another for the chance to win a full scholarship to take their Advanced Exam with the Court and the official title of “Texsom” for the year. Winning Texsom 2012 was one of the coolest wine experiences of my life. Needless to say, this past weekend was an endurance match for the wine lover and I can honestly say I learned more in 2 days than the last 6 months about some items that had been causing me much consternation. Anything for the pursuit of knowledge. Now to let my liver relax a bit…
The event started out with a master class on the nuances of oak aging presented by the master from Taransaud. Sometimes once I move past the oak spices, smoke, toast and chocolate notes, the textural sensations and markers for oak have confused me in the past. We lined up the same exact wines in these flights with different oak changes to hone in on the differences of the wines. We spoke about “Seasoning” the oak and the terroir of the lumberyard as well as oak stave stacking techniques. Then we explored toasting differences and the amount of time spent in oak and its effect on tannins. We learned about all of the species of oak that make barrels and how they are constructed. Needless to say it was quite enlightening and I walked away feeling much more confident with my relationship with oak-all by 10am-That’s one hell of a breakfast!
We proceeded to a a nice lunch with Napa wines and then a class on the History of Napa. With my man Ivan the Fiver by my side we rolled the competition in this class and I actually won the grand prize-a bottle of 2010 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. I don;t have any photos of the class-after they said we won a prize, I zoned in on the “free wine” part. Next we went to the hardest ticket to score for the whole tasting, the Burgundy’s Last Decade of the Last Century – ie 90s Red Burgundy Tasting. Graileys friends, I must tell you, we drink better wine every week than this tasting could supply. It was quite a treat to hear Fred Dame, Paul Roberts and Jay Fletcher talk about the wines but the vintages left some in the room wondering-why no 1993? 1996? 1999? Even 1992 is drinking like a stud right now. We had 2 superlative wines-1995 Fourrier Clos St. Jacques 1er Cru-the Burg of the Tasting-and a bottle of 1990 Camille Giroud Clos Vougeot that was just waking and a triumph of old school wine making. The other 2 1998s and 1997 were just good. Really nothing to write home about. We started with a bottle of 2011 Domaine Leflaive Meursault sous d’Ane because they could not find a bottle of white burg in enough quantity that was not premoxed from the 90s. This begged the question: “Have they fixed the problem with Premoxed White Burg?” To this question, much thrashing about and talking in circles ensued, but no actual definitive answers and a dismissive now it’s fixed… I guess we get spoiled drinking Burgundy at Graileys…
The hospitality suites were fun for the night – Kudos to Favorite Brands, Wassermann and Empson for all the smoking wines! We did an 80s party to Dallas and then had a foggy meal at Gemma. Quite the night! The next day started bright and early at 9:15am with a tasting of German wines! If you know me, you know I love German wines and Germany in general. This was an awesome tasting as well as a “State of the Union” address on German Wines Today, the Grand Cru System and the movement to dry wines and Pinot Noir. I learned that there is more Pinot Noir in Germany than in Burgundy. Also that they make some of the best dry Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc in the world as well as owning Riesling. Needless to say I was in heaven They also showed off a new German robot with spiked wheels to tend by remote control the high altitude, steep vineyards on the Mosel and the Rhein rivers. I put a picture above because I could not believe it myself. Do not be surprised if we have a random Gross Gewachs tasting at Graileys soon-these wines were fantastic!
After a nice lunch with Chilean wines (wow the prices have gone up!) we went to a Rioja tasting looking at 10 great wines from 5 wonderful producers. I was very impressed with the Artadi wines as well as the La Rioja Alta. The Murrieta Rioja Blanca was also a treat. I walked away feeling that I need to drink more Rioja! We headed to the Syrah master class after that and then off to the Grand Tasting. i was in a wine induced haze at that time and no photos would have helped. It was grand time has by all and not to be missed again next year!