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A wine buyer is faced with a multitude of often diverging expert reviews and ratings of one and the same wine. In a paper written for the American Association of Wine Economists, Omer Gokcekus(Seton Hall University) & Dennis Nottebaum (University of Münster) attempt to shed light on the question to whose rating a regular buyer should pay attention. They did so by comparing the ratings of regular consumers with ratings by Robert Parker, the Wine Spectator, and Stephen Tanzer.  Read their results here.

Messina Hof Winery and Resort, one of the fastest growing and award-winning wineries in Texas, recently announced its winning wines for the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition was held on January 3rd-5th in San Francisco, CA. Wine entries included 5,500 wines from across the United States, making it the largest competition of American Wines in the world for the ninth consecutive year. Medals were awarded by a panel of 65 judges consisting of local and national wine experts.

Messina Hof Winery received seven medals at the competition, including a gold medal for Messina Hof’s Cream Sherry Solera. Four silver medals and two bronze medals were also brought back home to Texas, representing the Lone Star State well. Messina Hof’s awards placed them in the top 10% of all wineries entering the competition.

“Messina Hof is honored to be taking home seven medals from the competition. We are proud to have made a great name for Texas,” said Paul Bonarrigo, winemaker and co-founder of Messina Hof Winery & Resort. “The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the most prestigious competition in the US, and we are pleased to have had another amazing showing, cementing our status as a leader in the wine industry. These awards are a true testament to the high quality of wines we produce.”

Messina Hof’s portfolio of SFCWC awarded wines:

Gold

Messina Hof Cream Sherry Solera

Silver

Messina Hof Texas High Plains Mistella Late Harvest Moscato 2011

Messina Hof Texas Port NV

Messina Hof Texas Paulo 2009

Messina Hof Primitivo 2010

Bronze

Messina Hof Texas High Plains Muscat 2010

Messina Hof Texas High Plains Riesling 2010

All top-winning wines will be available for a public tasting on February 18th 2012 from 2-5pm, at the Festival Pavilion in the Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA. Messina Hof’s gold-winning wine, Cream Sherry Solera, will be available to taste at the event.

For the complete list of winning wines, go to http://www.winejudging.com/medal_winners.htm

That time of year is now upon us. The holiday season is coming to an end, but certainly not without one last celebration. This weekend, many will

gather throughout the country and world to celebrate the end of 2011, as well as the start of 2012. Some will attend large clubs and restaurants where the champagne is provided and already picked out, however many in the area will be attending celebrations in their own Houston apartments and houses. Choosing champagne to ring in the New Year can often be difficult with little knowledge of the subject, but a simple guide to options and information can go a long way to ensure a great toast at midnight.

The first step is to choose whether you want to have sparkling wine or go in the traditional route with champagne. Sparkling wine works great for any number of situations, as it provides a tasty and great alternative to the common champagne selections that people seek out for New Years. Sparkling wine will usually have wine grapes from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or Pinot Meunier. All white grapes will be labeled blanc de blancs. Sparkling wine is created by a second fermentation within the bottle. The bottles will then go through a process of disgorgement and dosage, finally becoming a sparkling wine.

The difference between sparkling wine and champagne is often questioned, but a simple answer can suffice. The only sparkling wine that is considered champagne must be made in the champagne area of France. An authentic style of champagne will be produced from that area of France and here in the United States, the most common bottle you will see is with brut on the label. Some of the other common champagne purchases made in the United States are extra dry, zero or sec. These are champagnes that run drier and a little sweeter.

 With the economy being the way it is these days, you don’t necessarily need to drop a ton of money on a bottle for the New Year. There are plenty of choices when it comes to both champagne and sparkling wine, with heavy availability throughout the United States and the Houston area. In the end, it’s certainly possible to find a quality bottle of champagne or sparkling wine without having to break the bank, ensuring a great New Year’s celebration.

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Did you know that Spec’s sold 159,432 bottles of Champagne in the last twelve months?  Spec’s Charles M. Bear Dalton helps us to understand which is the most popular type of Champagne and what the phrase Brut Non-Vintage means.  See details here.

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Is air a friend or foe of wine? It is in fact both. The most important factors are: when in the life of the wine is the air in contact, what style of wine is intended, and what is the intended cellaring period for the wine. Air here really means its oxygen component. Houston Wine’s contributor, Sterling Minor, has prepared an informative article about the effects of oxygen on wine. Read details here.