Totally Texas: There's 'a lot of fine winemaking' going on in Texas, says reviewer

The outside wine press doesn't often focus on the Texas wine scene, and articles are generally in the form of feature stories, rather than reviews. A recent exception is a piece from John Mariani, who writes about wine for Bloomberg News. He was recently in Austin for the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, and he wrote the following based on what he tried then:

"I had a chance to taste about 50 Texas wines at the festival (though few Austin restaurants carry more than a handful of local wines), and I came away impressed with how they have evolved over the past decade. I also wondered if too much Texan swagger is getting in the way of planting the best grapes in the best vineyards. Wineries are trying to grow dozens of varieties, from pinot grigio to riesling, in climates that can be unsuitable to them.


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Entertainment Calendar

Baldwin's Station: Tim Finch & The Eastman String Band, May 8; 6:30 p.m. seating and dining for each show; 7618 Main St., Sykesville; 410-795-1041. Belisimo's: karaoke, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Saturdays; 2900 Baltimore Blvd., Westminster; 410-833-5777. Casa Rico: The Singing Cowboys, Thursday; TownMall of Westminster, 400 N. Center St., Westminster; 410-857-8009 or www.casa-rico.com. Down Under Pub & Grill: karaoke, 8:30 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday; The National Trivia Association presents Quizzo Trivia Contest, 8-10 p.m. Monday; music by Ben Sherman, Wednesday; 4 W. Main St., Westminster; 410-876-0320. J&P Pizza: karaoke, today; DJ Fridays; 2600 W. Liberty Road, Westminster; 410-875-2779. Spargos/Two Doors Down: karaoke with Lou Marshall, 8:30 p.m. today; Broadcast, 9 p.m. Friday; Number One Cause, 9 p.m.


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Understanding Red Wine's Potential Benefit for Diabetes

New research suggests that resveratrol, a chemical commonly found in red wine, has the ability to lower blood sugar levels, but might have certain untoward side effects. This research will be presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 17th Annual Meeting & Clinical Congress by Kimberly Martin, MD, and mentor, Dr. F. Ismail-Beigi, on Friday, May 16th, at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort in Orlando.

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Prosser seeing a wine boom

PROSSER -- Thousands of visitors sipped their way through Yakima Valley wineries, ate in nearby restaurants and slept in the region's hotels and motels during Spring Barrel Tasting this weekend.

Nowhere was that more apparent than in Prosser, where elaborate winery tasting rooms built over the past five years are not only attracting more visitors, but also more businesses to this quaint, picturesque town of 5,000.

"It's driven restaurant and hotel growth, and the economic growth is good -- it drives the sales tax," said Mayor Paul Warden, a former city councilman who took the reins at city hall in January. "We had three wineries for years and years. Then six. Now there's 12."

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Liquor heist could have been worse

LANGLEY - Bravado and some technical ability helped thieves make off with a tractor-trailer loaded with liquor early Sunday morning, but it might have been more profitable had they taken the time to read the bills of lading on nearby trailers.

The trailer and a tractor were stolen from Langley's 3D Transport, but because it was only a partial load the thieves' haul was less than $200,000 of inexpensive wine and imported beer.

Three other trailers parked in the truck compound on Allard Crescent were loaded with liquor worth closer to $800,000, the usual value of a load, 3D president Raj Dhami said.

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Doglovers Wine Club Features Sugar, A Greyhound Found On I-75

Sugar, a Greyhound rescued by Dog Lovers Wine Club Bark Partner Southeastern Greyhound Adoption, graces the latest wine label. Sitehound owners everywhere can be proud.

Douglasville, GA (PRWEB) April 30, 2008 -- Sugar is a greyhound that was found wandering loose on Interstate 75 near Stockbridge GA back in 2004. She was picked up by The Henry County Humane Society and held for a few months while waiting for adoption. She was then taken in by a volunteer, Patti Peterson, from Southeastern Greyhound Adoption (SEGA) for fostering. After a brief placement at a family farm, she returned to Ms. Peterson after some run-ins with her adoptive family's Emu herd.

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Adoption of Wine Reform to Balance Markets, Preserve Rural Areas and Simplify Rules for Producers and Consumers

The Council of Ministers today formally adopted a wide-ranging reform of the Common Market Organization for wine. The changes will bring balance to the wine market, phase out wasteful and expensive market intervention measures and allow the budget to be used for more positive, proactive measures which will boost the competitiveness of European wines. The reform provides for a fast restructuring of the wine sector in that it includes a voluntary, three-year grubbing-up scheme to provide an alternative for uncompetitive producers and to remove surplus and uncompetitive wine from the market. Subsidies for crisis distillation and potable alcohol distillation will be phased out and the money, allocated in national envelopes, can be used for measures like wine promotion on third country markets, innovation, restructuring and modernization of vineyards and cellars.


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