txakoli

Summer, summer, summer.  Long days, vacations, staycations, friends, family and fun.  Hot days and warm nights call for a style change in your go-to wines.  Rosés and whites reign supreme.  We’re totally on board, but this summer, we’re pouring a few new white wines into our glass and bringing you along for the ride!

As two bubble loving wine friends, Kristi’s first surprise for Charisse is the Sparkling Riesling NV from Coeur Cause Wines.  Not only is this crisp, fresh, citrus forward bubbly deliciously refreshing, a percent of every bottle sold supports one of Coeur Cause’s charities.  Owner Stacy Bellew partners with winemaker Josh Maloney to bring a sparkler which maintains the flavor and aroma (think petrol) so true to Riesling.  Think you don’t like Riesling, this beauty will change your mind!

Next up, Txakoli (sounds like broccoli) from Basa Lore.  Made from the Hondarrabi Zuri grape varietal, this lightly fizzy wine is typical of the Getariako Txakolina D.O. in the Basque Country of Spain.  Think steep slopes, green Spain, crisp ocean breezes and this wine exudes the perfect accompaniment to any and all of your summer fun.  It’s bright.  It’s crisp.  It’s definitely worth hunting down to stock your fridge.  Txakoli loosely translates to “enough for the home” but we’re not sure there actually is enough of this Summer delight.  Sharing her Basque and Txakoli expertise with us is Dr. Kerri Lesh, or Dr. Txakoli.

Kristi’s summer adventure in Wisconsin and Minnesota afforded a visit to Saint Croix Vineyards with Peter Hemstad, co-owner, for a vineyard-based exploration into the world of grape variety creation.  One of the results?  Itasca!  This superb creation not only withstands the frigid MN winters, it is also hardy enough to resist pests and disease which can plague vineyards.  With 23 varieties of wine, many lesser known varietals created by Peter and the University of Minnesota, this winery should be on everyone’s vacation destination top 10.

Hailing from La Pradera Vineyard in the Texas High Plains rounds out the final four.  From Tatum Cellars, this single vineyard, single varietal Roussanne is a rare expression of the varietal as a stand alone.  Most typically blended in the southern Rhône region of France, this wine lets Roussanne shine.  Juicy, spicy, toasty yet maintaining a freshness made for summer drinking. 

While we know it may be impossible to find these wines in your local wine shop, we hope you’ll get them shipped to your doorstep in time for this weekend’s summer fling!

Show Sponsors:
> The Magnolia in Fort Worth
> The Texas Wine Club

Don’t forget to FOLLOW, LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE and let us know any topics you’d like us to cover!

Cheers! Charisse and Kristi

A special theme song shout out to our musician, the late, great, Paul Gray with his Swinging Shepard!

Cheers! Charisse and Kristi

Check out Kristi’s blog for further wine adventures!  Krist

Thanks for joining Somm Women Talk Wine! Check out our socials for more fun filled wine exploration!

Instagram:
@somm_women_talk_wine
@kristiwinenerd
@charissehenryfw
@kmayfield109

All episodes are also on our website:
SommWomenTalkWine

Charisse and Kristi

As two women in the wine industry, what better topic for us to tackle than “Women in Wine”?!  Special guests include Lindsey Koch and Benedicte Rhyne who share their passion for wine and how they embraced their natural female skills and talents to make their way in the traditionally male oriented world of wine. 

Meet Lindsey:  Lindsey started her career in Fort Worth, TX as a medical staffing agency before launching her own staffing company, Embracing her interest in wine she studied to become a certified Sommelier, she took the big leap of faith to start her own wine bar, WineHaus from the ground up.  After  8 years, she sold the business to a previous customer as she made the move out to Sonoma County, California to further her career in wine. Living in California Wine Country, Lindsey is currently the Estate Director for Small Vines Wines in Sebastopol, managing everything from marketing and customer outreach, to curating bespoke tasting experiences at the winery. Additionally, Lindsey and her husband always dreamed about starting their own winery and made the dream a reality, starting Curves & Edges Wines during the 2020 vintage. She focuses her efforts at Curves & Edges on two varieties that have always brought her great joy, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot.

Meet Bénédicte: Bénédicte (Bennie) Rhyne is a native of Aix en Provence, France. She received her master in oenology (the study of wine) from the Université de Bourgogne (Dijon), had a successful experience at Chateau Pétrus, in Pomerol, Bordeaux, before global adventures to New Zealand and England landed her at Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma, California, as a member of the winemaking-team. Here she developed a”Meritage“program increasing the winery’s production ten-fold between 1991-2001. Additionally she created a sophisticated wine laboratory with well -trained staff and quality control procedures. In 2002, Bénédicte and her family moved to Fredericksburg, TX and created a Wine Laboratory to compliment her Wine Country Consulting business.  Bénédicte served sixteen years as the winemaker of Mesa Vineyards, St. Genevieve Wine in Fort Stockton, Texas. She the spent 10 years as the winemaker of Kuhlman Cellars, a quickly growing winery whose door's opened in October of 2014 in Hye, Texas to produce fine quality and “Terroir” driven wines from Texas in the style of her native Provence.  Bennie is now focused full time on her wine consulting and launching her own wine label - stay tuned!

Show Sponsors:
> The Magnolia in Fort Worth
> The Texas Wine Club

Don’t forget to FOLLOW, LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE and let us know any topics you’d like us to cover!

Cheers! Charisse and Kristi

A special theme song shout out to our musician, the late, great, Paul Gray with his Swinging Shepard!

Cheers! Charisse and Kristi

Check out Kristi’s blog for further wine adventures!  KristiWineNerd.com and make sure to follow on insta at @charissehenryftw and @kr

Thanks for joining Somm Women Talk Wine! Check out our socials for more fun filled wine exploration!

Instagram:
@somm_women_talk_wine
@kristiwinenerd
@charissehenryfw
@kmayfield109

All episodes are also on our website:
SommWomenTalkWine

Charisse and Kristi