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tomorrow's texas tea Print
Written by Nikitas Magel   

Vineyard in Wimberley, TexasRK: (con'd) As far as the wine blogging, I think it's important to focus on a niche.  We don't have to be a reproduction of all the other [more established] wine resources.  We don't have to be another [Robert] Parker or another Wine Spectator.  Instead, I think we need to find a topic we can be passionate about, something that has a niche that may not be covered in the mainstream [wine] media.  Now, certainly, [my wine blog about] Texas fits that bill.  I was amazed at how many readers I have — I've only been doing this now for three months, since August.  I've actually reached 6,000 readers per month with a total number of page views per month of about 24,000.  To me, that's much bigger after three months than I ever expected it was going to be, so it tells me that people are looking for information about Texas wines, and they're not finding it in the mainstream media.

NM: And I get a strong sense that that's also a major factor in the industry's growth: with the state government's support and sponsorship, plus the growers' efforts on growing specific varietals according to regional climates and soils, I think that key to the Texas wine industry's growth will be its resolve to carve out a niche for itself in the larger wine world.  Clearly, that'll be done by focusing on further discovering and then manifesting its unique identity.  It sounds like that's already happening, but will become even more nuanced and diversified.

RK: Yes, now it's a matter of honing and refining things to become even more specialized, just as California has been doing for a while now with its own regions and varietals.

NM: Speaking of which, I think that Texas has the advantage of learning from many of the lessons already learned in California, and even Oregon and Washington, during their respective periods of discovery and growth.  I suspect that will allow Texas the advantage of not having to pioneer as much as these other regions, but can focus on other factors that will directly contribute to its rapid growth and maturity.  After speaking with you, I have to say I'm honestly very excited for Texas!  I can only imagine the magnitude of what's in store for its wine industry in the future.


To find out more about Texas wines and their producers, as well as current happenings in the industry, visit Russell Kane's wine blog, Vintage Texas, and the Texas state-sponsored website on wine, Go Texan Wine. v

Comments (1)add comment

Bobby Cox said:

0
Winegrower
I know it is very important to develop a "sense of place" but I must point out that the Brennan Vineyards 2006 Viognier was mostly from The High Plains and in common with the famous Chardonnay from Llano Estacado, a very generious dollop of our best grape, Chenin Blanc.
 
10 December 2008
Votes: +2

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