Byron Pinot Noir 2003 Santa Maria Valley
Premium

Here is a first-rate example of why Santa Maria Valley is such an exciting place to grow Pinot Noir. Dark fruit and spice, with structure, and layer after layer of  intriguing flavors and accents characterize this full-bodied yet freshly focused wine. The bouquet shows floral notes (roses, violets) along with accents of orange peel and cardamon, which for me are signature markers for Santa Barbera Pinots. The palate shows Pinot Noir’s supple yet crisply fresh texture along with earthy, mineral notes to the deep red fruit.

Founded in 1984 by winemaker Ken Brown, Bryon was one of the pioneers of Santa Barbera Pinot. He continues to investigate all the viticultural and wine-making parameters of Pinot Noir, which accounts for the extra depth and interest his Pinots express.

Faust Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 Napa Valley
Premium

Faust is a new wine project of Augustin Huneeus, founder of Quintessa and Franciscan Estates in Napa and Veramonte in Casablanca, Chile. His intention is to select small lots of fruit from a range of vineyards that will express essential characteristics of Napa Cabernet. The debut vintage is 2002, a great vintage for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. The color is impenetrably purple-black leading to a bouquet of super-ripe black-currant fruit and accent notes of spicy, high quality French oak. On the palate the wine is velvet-plush, smooth up front with a bit of tannin at the back for structure and focus. Flavors are of ripe, sweet fruit, with a hint of fresh rosemary, chocolate, even fine tobacco on the finish. Match with your best, grilled Texas beef sirloin steak.

Most wine-loving Americans are familiar with Australia’s Barossa Valley, located northeast of Adelaide (Austin, Texas’ sister city). Half a continent away to the west is the exciting though less well-known wine region of Western Australia, centered around Perth with its surfing beaches and eucalyptus forests. This area — composed of Margaret River, Swan Valley, Pemberton,and  Frankland River — is famous for the elegance and finesse of its wines, combining the bright fruit of the New World with an Old World structure and restraint. Houghton Wines date to 1836 (when vines were first planted in the Swan Valley, Western Australia’s oldest wine region) and produce Australia’s best-selling white wine, once known as White Burgundy but now labelled Classic White to abide with truth-in- labelling.

2004 is a great, classic vintage for red varietals in Western Australia, the result of an Indian summer that ripened concentrated grapes after a dry summer. While the color is a deep purple ruby, this wine is classic Western Australia in its focused and precise varietal aromas and flavors suggesting red fruits such as ripe plum and cherry, with subtle spicy peppercorn and liquorice notes. This is not an over-the-top, super-ripe Shiraz masquerading as The Hulk (a style too often mistakenly considered as the only style Australia is capable of), but rather a supple, graceful, elegant rendition.

Our white wine selection for the last full month of winter is a wine of real depth, concentration, length and sheer deliciousness that will match a seafood stew, a vegan mushroom casserole, or a piece of grilled salmon or halibut. (In Texas we can usually grill outside even in February!) This blend is traditional for the top dry white wines of Bordeaux’s classic Graves and Pessac-Leognon regions. And like those wines, Houghton’s Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005 shows the supple, deeper texture of Semillon. Sauvignon Blanc (43%) provides acid for lift and freshness as well as a savoury herbal counterpart to Semillon’s (57%) lanoline and slightly figgy character. At 12.5% alcohol and with no oak (the wine is fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel), this is very fresh, citrusy, and tangy, but with an elegant depth and length of flavor.