Tag Archives: Texas

Perissos Vineyards – Burnet, Texas

July 9, 2016 Steve Ruegg

This past Saturday, Michelle and I went to two more local wineries, relative to our home in Leander, TX, including a delicious visit to Perissos Vineyards outside of Burnet. Perissos is Greek for “exceeding abundantly, beyond what is expected, imagined, or hoped for” – Ephesians, 3:20. Perissos Vineyards is a small, family-run vineyard and

Deliciousness under development... — Deliciousness under development…

winery – the 16 acre dream of Seth and Laura Martin, as a place to raise their five children, and teach them the values of working for yourself. The Martins currently have around 11 acres planted, with over 13 varietals – the main successes being with Aglianico, Dolcetto, Petite Syrah, Roussanne, Tempranillo, Touriga, and Viognier. The entrance to Perissos Vineyards is wonderful. Upon entering the gates, you drive straight between rows of vines – white on the right, and red on the left. It’s a beautiful sight in the summer. The tasting room is done in large – farmhouse style, with long bench-style tables and seats. You can pack a lot of people in this place!

All of the wines at Perissos Vineyards are 100% Texas grown. Depending on yields, quality, and desired blends, they will supplement their Estate-Grown grapes with grapes from the Texas High Plains.

We met Amy, the Tasting Room Manager, who expertly took us through our tasting of four Estate and two High Plains wines. We

started with a newly released 2015 Estate Viognier ($32). This is a bright, crisp wine, loaded with honeysuckle, with touches of pear and apple. Wonderfully refreshing for this hot Texas summer day, it finishes with a smooth, creamy touch of pineapple and apricot. Definitely a delicious way to start today’s tasting.

We moved on to a 2013 Roussanne ($26) – a blend of 100% Roussanne from the Oswald (78%) and Bingham (22%) High Plains Vineyards. With lots of honey and citrus on the nose, this wine has a typical slight sour grapefruit taste, and a bold finish.

The final white (or maybe it could be considered a “blonde,” given its namesake) is the 2013 Estate Lucy (32), a blend of Viognier (40%,

Perissos' Farm-style Tasting Room — Perissos’ Farm-style Tasting Room

Roussanne (40%), and Muscat Canelli (20%). Named for Seth and Laura’s daughter Lucy, this is another great hot afternoon wine. With a wonderful sense of sweetness (I’m sure like little Lucy herself), this wine has no Residual Sugars. The sweet aromas and tastes of tangerine come from the Muscat Canelli.

Moving on to the reds, we started with the Award Winning 2013

Estate Aglianico ($48). The 2014 release just won Best of Class at the 2016 San Francisco Chronicle competition in the past few weeks! The 2013 is dark and fruity, with plum and red raspberries, with slight spices and a touch of leather on the finish, with a great mouth feel. A delicious wine!

Every once in a while, you’ll run into that person who just needs some self-reassurance in their ability to name a wine they are drinking. T he 2014 Estate Racker’s Blend ($45) is perfect to help these people. If they pick a grape from the taste, they might just be right. This is a

blend of EIGHT grapes: Aglianico (25%), Malbec (12%), Syrah (16%), Petite Sirah (20%), Tempranillo (24%), Touriga Nacionale (1%), Dolcetto (1%), and Montepulciano (1%). This is a very smooth, versatile wine that would go well with steaks and most Italian foods.

The final wine on the tasting menu was the 2014 (High Plains) Italian Stallion ($40) – an outstanding Italian blend of 25% each of Sangiovese, Dolcetto, Aglianico, and Montepulciano. A very delicious blend of blackberry flavors, with a touch of white pepper with lots of texture and a smooth, silky finish.

We also had the good fortune to spend some time with Laura Martin, and had a wonderful discussion with her about her family and their passion and dedication to their dream. In addition, Perissos offers a plate of cheese, crackers, fruit, and salami for $12.95. They will have an Estate 100% Montepulciano coming out soon (Mmmmmm….>!!), and also have a 2014 Rose (Grenache, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon) and a 2015 Rose (Dolcetto, Grenache, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon).

All in all, a delightful experience at a beautiful farm-style winery with great, award winning wines!

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Also, feel free to email me privately at: stevestastingsandtravel@gmail.com.

Lastly… grab a glass of wine, and ENJOY!!!

Texas Wines, Travel, USA, Wines

One of my recent Texas wines…. from Kuhlman Cellars

October 18, 2015 Steve Ruegg

Over the past few years, I have posted to my personal Facebook page a number of photos and thoughts about wines I have had that evening. To get started, I’ll put a few of those on my first few posts. This is truly a work in progress, so please bear with me!

I’ll start with a local Texas wine – from Texas Hill Country, about 1 hour west of Austin (from about Hye to Fredericksburg). For those who have never tried Texas wines, I was absolutely amazed at the wines they have here. Texas Hill Country has become the #2 region for winery visits in the U.S. The Texas Hill Country has become an award winning wine region, and makes some of the best Tempranillo’s anywhere!

Texas Hill Country Wineries link

Kuhlman Cellars is one of the newer wineries, in the “town” of Stonewall, just west of Hye, just east of the LBJ Ranch, and features an excellent wine and appetizer pairing (by appointment). Jeremy Wilson is one of their excellent sommeliers, and is an excellent host!

http://www.kuhlmancellars.com https://www.facebook.com/kuhlmancellars

Kuhlman Cellars has a lovely selection of wines, including Sauvignon Blanc (90% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Semillion); Calcaria (75% Trebbiano, 17% Roussanne & 8% Viognier); Roussanne; Viognier, Alluve (59% Carignan, 22% Grenache & 19%Petite Sirah); Baranca (82% Carignan, 9% Petite Sirah & 9% Grenache); and Kankar (43% Malbec, 38% Petite Sirah & 19% Sangiovese).

Last night’s wine – a 2012 Kuhlman Cellars “Alluve’ – Sonoma County” ($28). A Texas Hill Country winery, using Sonoma County grapes for this blend of 59% Carignan, 22% Petite Syrah, and 19% Grenache. The blend of primarily Petite Sirah and Carignan together creates a beautiful red-purple color. The nose displays an amazing blend of aromas such as blackberry and plums, with a touch of black licorice. The flavors that come out of the taste in the mouth are well balanced, and the use of Grenache lightens up the wine to keep it from being potentially heavy. There are subtle hints of coffee and sweet plums, with a touch of leather. As with many Texas wines, this is a wine that is very enjoyable now, and for the next 5-7 years. It paired very well with lamb chops, but would also go well with steak, bison, or venison. And Kuhlman Cellars recommends to pair Alluve’ with their own herbed almonds.

Kuhlman does some fantastic pairings with their wines. Another of the newer “must visits” on the 290 wine trail west of Austin!

Feel free to leave a comment below, and to subscribe on the left, so you get notified of new posts.

Also, feel free to email me privately at: stevestastingsandtravel@gmail.com.

Lastly… grab a glass of wine, and ENJOY!!!

General Posts, Travel, Wines

Welcome to my world of my travels and wines!

October 16, 2015 Steve Ruegg

And so it begins…

My intent with this blog is to provide a fairly practical guide to the world of wines and travel. I’ve been fortunate through my work and vacations to see many beautiful places in this world, and I have a passion for planning trips. I’ve also found myself immersed in the wonderful world of wines over the years, and love to share not only my wines, but also my experiences with both friends I have, and with friends I have yet to meet. I hope you all find this blog not only informative, but also worthy of sharing with your friends for them to enjoy, as well.

A little about myself. My name is Steve Ruegg (pronounced like reeg). I was born and raised in the small town of Walworth, in Southeastern Wisconsin – in the beautiful Lake Geneva (or Geneva Lake as it is officially called) area. I’ve also lived in Minnesota (twice), Florida, Northern California, Missouri (both sides of the state), and I now live in Austin, Texas. I’m a die-hard Green Bay Packer fan (and owner), and also a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan.

So… what makes me “qualified” to write a travel and wine blog??? Well, I think I’ve got some great stories and experiences that I can share, that might help someone to decide where to go on that dream vacation, or to help you find some good new wines to try, and places to go wine tasting. Throughout this blog, I’ll talk about places I’ve been to (U.S., Brazil, much of Europe, Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, etc…) in my travels, and wineries I’ve visited, wine tours I’ve taken, and wines that I drink. I hope to give travel tips, talk about types of travel (cruise, drive, trains, and flying), how to plan travel, how to pair wines with food, etc., in as practical a way as I can. If I like a place or a wine, I’ll say that. If I don’t like it, I’ll also say that. I’ll never recommend something I don’t like, but that doesn’t mean that you might not like it.

I hope you’ll feel free to ask questions, suggest topics, (gently) criticize, and most importantly, be supportive. I always welcome suggestions for new wineries and wines to try, and new places to visit. Pass this on to your friends, to wineries, etc.

Feel free to leave a comment below, and to subscribe on the left, so you get notified of new posts.

Also, feel free to email me privately at: stevestastingsandtravel@gmail.com.

Lastly… grab a glass of wine, and ENJOY!!!

Wine – Tasting – Travel

Tag Archives: Texas

Perissos Vineyards – Burnet, Texas

One of my recent Texas wines…. from Kuhlman Cellars

Welcome to my world of my travels and wines!

My practical guide to wines and world travels.