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2005 Texas Red constructed in a Super Tuscan style

Picture this: It’s a sunny and warm May afternoon in the hill country area of Texas. Everything is in bloom and the weather couldn’t be better. It’s a beautiful day for a drive with the top down. On this typical spring weekend we ventured for a little relaxation and wine enjoyment to the Fredricksburg area of Texas to the heart of the great wine region. Today’s pick…Torre di Pietra winery and their Amore de Tuscano.

This one is a 2005 Texas Red constructed in a Super Tuscan style. The first words that come to mind are bold and oaky with forward fruit. This wine lives up to its tuscan heritage with tastes of black cherry, ligonberry, and currants. It has a light body with a good full mouth feel with just a slight tannic hint. Its rich flavor would really stand up to a rich Texas meal of venison, buffalo or even good ole’ BBQ. The Sangiovese grape is Texas makes a gem in a wine and this Italian style blend is must buy if you are even in town. Take the time to come on a clear weekend evening or on a day during the wine trail events and you are sure to find a music event in the back yard pavilion with a chance to enjoy a great wine under the big Texas sky.

Dave Potter Sent: Update Info

It has now come down to rebuilding my contact data base.  I have several dead email address, phone numbers, and home addresses.  If you would please email me with the title in the subject line  "data update".  Name Address email home and or cell and birthday if you want  ha ha.  Thank you for your support.

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Live from Dave's iPhone

Grayson Hills Winery
By: Dave and Kelli Potter


Sometimes the best things are right in your backyard. Here in Texas we have pretty big backyards. Okay, ours mine is not really that big, but there is a lot to see in Texas and like most Texans we think of Texas as our own backyard. We recently took a little road trip North by North East to Grayson County. We make our way through the back roads of northeast Texas to a small town called Whitewright, Texas located just between Sherman and McKinney to the East of Hwy 75. We started our day at a quaint location called Grayson Hills Winery.
This young and small winery packs a big punch - big things do come in small packages. Like many small wineries they choose not to make a bunch of different types of wines, but focus on a few wines that taste good. With some award winning wines under their belt, they are a very promising winery that in my opinion will soon run with the big dogs in Texas wine production.
On the wine list Grayson Hills offers 6 different wines for your tasting and, more importantly, their wines pretty much cover the spectrum of palate tastes. Our new friends Rick and Connie Magers, owners of Grayson Hills, have done an outstanding job and are making a great product. The facility is warm and VERY inviting, giving off tons of friendly Texas hospitality. While we were there, they made sure we felt welcomed and before we left we were feeling like part of their family.

On the menu we tried a sampling of their 6 wines. First up was the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a nice, dry red. On the palate you get pepper and a little spice with plum and cherry notes on the finish. It has a wonderful nose with blackberry and a big, forward fruit flavor on the tongue. This one should be worthy of medals in the near future.
The second wine we tried was the Barn Red. This is a semi-sweet red that finishes smooth and is the perfect accompaniment to a hot summer day, especially served chilled.
After a tour of the barrel and bottling room we had the pleasure to try Rick’s first effort at a red port wine. This wine, still in the barrel, will soon be a fabulous addition to his wine selection. Made with Tempranillo and Black Spanish grapes it is a perfect port, rich and luscious. We can hardly wait until he decides to call it done and bottle it for our drinking pleasure.
Finally we tried the Sogni D’Oro Moscato, otherwise known as a white port dessert wine. This wine is so wonderful, reminding us of Thanksgiving with its flavors of cream, pecan, hazelnut, and spices. It would pair well with a big slice of pecan pie (a la mode of course) and goes down so smooth and warm- yummy! Aged in French oak I can’t think of a better way to end our tour of this small but flavorful winery. Who knew you could have it this good in north Texas? I suggest you visit for yourself!

Love Of Wine

This little post is nothing about any wine we have drank or winery we have visited. Its a small post of my wife and her new Tattoo with grapes integrated into it.

Dry Comal Creek

Dry Comal Creek

Vineyard & Winery

July-2009

By: Dave & Kelli Potter

thegreatgrapesoftexas@gmail.com

What can I say? Texas summers are hot and humid. What better way to cool off than visiting a Texas Winery and looking at some of the scenic views Texas has to offer! This summer our small summer trip took us for a week of down time and relaxation to my in-laws home in the lost pines area of Texas. After spending the 4^th of July with good food and family my wife and I took a little short romantic getaway to San Antonio. Our first stop before hitting the River Walk was New Braunfels, Texas. A short trip off of highway I-35 south we stopped at one of the first Winery’s we had visited when we were dating. Nine years later to our surprise Dry Comal Creek has morphed into a wonderful, mature winery. We almost did not recognize the place. Our first experience several years ago brought us to a young and very small vineyard with a tasting room built into a small building next to it. Now time has changed this small estate into a top notch wine making establishment. As we drove up we noticed the lovely rows of grapevines that filled the very baron land we once laid eyes on. It now fills much of the front of the property with maturing vines.

Upon closer inspection the tasting room has evolved into several buildings with places to wine and dine with friends or sit back outdoors under a covered patio and take in music and scenery with a nice cold glass of your favorite vintage. With the creek at the back just as dry as it was 9 years ago, you can embraced a shaded area to sit and enjoy the views the hill country can inlay to your eyes. Hills, rocks, trees, and grasses that flow with the light breeze - everything

that you expect this part of Texas would produce.

The expansion of new buildings is where the magic starts and the redone tasting room can impress the pickiest wine lover. They had added a nice addition to the back of the main building to accommodate larger groups and parties and have also expanded the variety of wine gifts for the wine lover in you. The wine list has enough variety to enticed you to try new something new to your tastes. And the friendly staff offers what you would expect in Texas hospitality and are eager to engage you in what their wines have to offer. Everyone has their own taste, but here in Texas we like to try anything new and if it has a wild crazy name we will give it a shot.

A lot has changed here at Dry Comal Creek. What better way to experience it than taking a taste test. At the time of our tasting experience they were offering tastes of 14 different proprietary wines with a variety of styles and colors to satisfy even the pickiest wine lover. If you plan to stop by, take advantage of the fuller tasting to get in all the reserve level wines. They should not be missed!

We walked away with three bottles this visit:

First, the 2007 demi-sweet French Colombard impressed. The French Colombard was actually the first bottle we purchased from Dry Comal Creek those nine years ago. This one is light bodied and not too sweet. We are typically a hard to please couple in this range since one of us loves sweet wines and the other of us does NOT. Here we found middle ground with the light flavors of pineapple and orange, with a very mellow body and mouth feel. With only 2% sugar this one made us both happy. Currently they are offering the 2008 French Colombard which has a completely different character. They made the 2008 much sweeter at 5% and added a little bit of bubbles to make it a light sparkler. Probably that one would be great around the swimming pool on a really hot day.

The second wine we fell in love with on this trip was the White-Black Spanish. This one is also a demi-sweet meeting both our needs. The wine is a nice blend of the French Colombard grape coupled with the Black Spanish grape. The Black Spanish actually is what you will see on most of the vines out front and seems to be catching on as a great grape for growing in the hill country area of Texas. Married together this wine gives you the feel of a Reisling with the light body and color of a good Pinot Noir. It offers a nice plum sense on the palate and is a very soft wine. Yummy and would pair well with a variety of foods.

The third wine we picked on this trip is the Comal Red IX. The signature demi-sweet red wine opens up with the aromas of berries and chocolate and has a great, long finish. We tried it both with and without a small bit of dark chocolate and I would highly suggest the pairing. With the chocolate on your palate the wine really opens up with a definite fruity, jammy flavor and brightens up tremendously.

In case your tastes call you to a different style than ours, some other suggestions of ours might be the '07 Merlot, the '08 Cabernet Sauvignon, or even the award winning '07 UnOaked Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve wine.

Enjoy!