local flavor for less

Put to the test: Are Texas wines really competitive values?

I held a double blind tasting recently. Ostensibly, the panel was told I was researching "value for the price point" and that they would only know the varietal or blend and the cost. I selected a broad range of subjects; in addition to two "average consumers," Addie Broyles of the Austin American Statesman and her friend Becky, I invited sommeliers:

Bill Elsey of wines.com
Scott Ota from the Driskill Grill
Brian Phillips of the Intercontinental Stephen F. Austin and Haddington's
Restaurant buyer Crissy Cornelius of Fleming's Downtown
John Roenigk of The Austin Wine Merchant
Sam Hovland of East End Wines

The secret, known only to Addie and me? Most of the wines were from Texas. Only one wine from each flight was a "typical" representative from outside the state. I wanted to get empirical evidence to support my answer to a question Addie asked me last month: "Why aren't more Texas wines on Austin restaurant wine lists?"

I wanted to see the "state of Texas wines" so to speak. In on the plan were Denise Fraser, publicist, and Russ Kane, Texas wine blogger. Denise sourced the Texas wines for me, but I did not know what they were.

The flights: Viognier under $15, Chenin Blanc $10-15, Sauvignon Blanc $15-20, Dry Rose $10-15, Tempranillo $20-29, Sangiovese/Cabernet Blend $20-29, Rhone Blend under $15, Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux Blend $30-35. The price points were given to me by Denise, to accommodate the retail prices of the Texas wines sourced, and I purchased a typical bottle at the given point, which were the only wines I would know (but I would not know where in each flight each was poured).

The rules: All wines must be readily available in Austin for most of the year, to ensure they could be on a restaurant wine list—I did not want micro-production Texas wines that are not readily available (the benchmark production for the Texas wines was about 1,500 cases per year). Scoring was on a 25 point total scale: appearance 3 points max, nose 5 max, palate 5 max, finish 3 max, overall quality 5 max, and 'how much did you like the wine for the price?' at 5 max. I asked for specific comments as well because I needed input behind the numbers. (This proved vital.)

I know, the sample is small and this is not a "definitive" empirical over-view of the quality of the entire Texas wine industry. However, the results do actually support not only my own opinions, but those of most of the wine professionals I know in Austin.

My conclusions? Texas can be clearly competitive in some areas.

Viognier was one clear bright spot, showing that Texas Viognier is quite competitive at the price; the McPherson Vineyard Viognier showed rather well, 16.7 average. The Becker Vineyards ,16.3 average score,was solid at the price point. Most Viognier available in Austin tends to be above the $15 price of the Texas wines, which makes them a good value, since Viognier can clearly be done here well.

Sangiovese/Cabernet blend also does well in Texas, showing great promise and some quality that surprised many on the panel, with mixed results however. Llano Estacado Viviano was a strong performer at 19.0 average score. Perissos Vineyards was clearly inferior scoring only 13.5. Cabernet-based Bordeaux style blends are also very close in competition for the price, and given the high price of most genuine Bordeaux, Texas may soon well be a solid competitor. Fall Creek Meritus was a surprise in quality, 17.5 average score, especially as it was put up against a Pomerol from Bordeaux which scored 18.0.

Rhone blend wines in Texas are showing a little promise. Two Texas Rhone wines were clearly inferior, Llano Estacado Signature Melange, 13.5, and McPherson Tre Colore, 15.0. Prairie Rotie from Becker was somewhat of surprise result as the Sommeliers gave it moderate to low scores, 14.6, while the consumers did not care for it at all, scoring a very low 11.75 overall average. Bill Elsey was as surprised at this result as I was, explaining that "we may have scored the wine higher because it was a clean and well made wine, that showed some of the characteristics of Southern Rhone wines that I look for with the riper fruit, full bodied character to it. I don't know why everyone else was so down on it, maybe because it had a slight bit of non-fruit character that is appealing to sommeliers."

There is still much work to be done in other areas of wine grown and produced in Texas as well. Some of the Texas wines were, to be blunt, inferior. Chenin Blanc from Fall Creek, and Rosé from Becker and McPherson showed poorly. The Blanc de Bois cousin of Sauvignon Blanc from Haak Vineyards showed to be weak across the board. Tempranillo showed mixed results; Pedernales Vineyards was popular with consumers, 19.5 score, but failed with the professionals, 14.0, Perissos Vineyards was seen as "ok" but not impressive. Given the higher price point, for the Texas wines, $20-29, Texas, while almost competitive, is not yet delivering good value for the dollar here.

The price points for most Texas wines are $20 and up, this is what I call "playing for the university varsity team" in terms of overall competition in the current wine market: you have to produce solid quality results regularly and consistently to play "varsity." Scott Ota:"Texas has some values on par with other areas. However, when running wine programs we also, and sometimes regrettably, have to think about the names and locations that sell to consumers. Therefore, we need the Texas wines to clearly outperform the rest of the world at the same price point to sell it." Texas needs more work and more training to get there. I wouldn't cut them from the team just yet—but they need time before they can make it.

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Belles of the Ballroom

9 Austin bar and venue experts take over popular Old Austin space near UT

29th Street Ballroom/Facebook

Changes are coming at the 29th Street Ballroom, but the goal is to preserve what already makes it special.

The evolution continues at the 29th Street Ballroom, the music venue formerly attached to Spider House Café. It's no secret, Resound Presents CEO and co-founder Graham Williams says, that he and a large team of other industry pros are taking over the space; but now they're ready to talk about what comes next for the venue and adjoining bar.

Although Spider House Café closed in 2020, the Ballroom stayed open, and has continued serving University of Texas students and anyone else who wants to see a show outside of the ordinary: punk shows, burlesque revues, fundraisers, and more. It'll stay open through most of the renovations, scheduled through January of 2025, and is expected to hold a grand opening in March.

Now Resound — one of Austin's top live music organizers, which was itself born from the ashes of another Austin institution — is lending two of its co-founders to managing the space going forward: Williams and Ian Orth. They're joining seven other team members from venues around town, many of them overlapping: Amy Mullins, Brian Tweedy, Jason McNeely, John Yaklin, and Shannon LeBoeuf of Hotel Vegas, Chess Club, Kinda Tropical, Tweedy’s, and Yellow Jacket Social Club, in varying capacities; and Brian Buscemi and Mike Sanchez of the Little Darlin’.

Williams emphasizes that although things will be changing at the Ballroom, the goal isn't to change anything people already love.

"Over the next few months as we kind of ease into the spring, we're using this downtime to revitalize things, decorate, revamp some of the stuff in the venue and the bar, and just kind of get things moving in the right direction," Williams says, "taking what's already popular about the venue and just adding to it, really."

Bar updates
The biggest shift will be turning the bar from an accessory to live shows into its own entity that's open even when there's nothing else going on. Amy Mullins, best known as a co-owner of Yellow Jacket Social Club, is overseeing that transition. She's never operated a venue that is primarily focused on music, and has been enjoying learning more about how to do it; she even worked the door recently when a staff member called out sick.

Mullins echoes Williams in assuring that the change is more about logistics than tone. It'll still feel like Old Austin, but she does express a hope to run more than the "typical venue bar," handing out simple drinks as quickly as possible. She's working on a new menu that includes wine, beer, craft cocktails, and non-alcoholic options like tea, kombucha, or mocktails. Regardless of what's on the schedule on any given night, Mullins says the menu will stay the same.

"There's no drink too complicated for us to make, however busy we are," she says.

Food options
Another goal for the team will be making sure the space works when there's not someone onstage to crowd around. They'll expand the front and side patios and create a food truck food court that features the same trucks that are there now, plus one newcomer. All in all, that includes Yalla Burger & Wings, Gyro Center, Li’l Nonna’s Vegan Pizzeria, Guppy’s Indian Fried Chicken, Waylon J’s BBQ, and Ay Chihuahua Tacos.

The expanded patio will connect to Tweedy's Bar next door, which also has its own food trucks. The idea is to create a space to hang out after shows that feels fit for the purpose. It's possible to stick around after events now, but the layout does create a vague feeling of loitering.

Artist and fan-friendly tweaks
On the entertainment side, Williams says some of the renovations include putting in a new sound system, redoing the green room, updating the facade, and repainting signs. Since the winter is a slower time for live music, they'll be taking advantage of the extra time to work on things before packing the calendar with more events than before. Resound will handle most of the bookings in live music, comedy, and DJ sets, welcoming both national and local talent.

Whatever the details end up being, this team has proved to Austinites that they know how to run venues worth visiting. And since they're all friends and business partners on multiple levels, it sounds like having this many cooks in the kitchen just isn't an issue.

"Some of us have been roommates and known each other since we were young," says Williams. "It's a good mix of people who are all very like minded, so a lot is being brought to the table per decision. So yeah, it's it's really exciting. Sometimes that's not the case. .... But with this project, it's a lot of really great, creative people that are good at what they do [and] they trust each other."

bars live music concerts comedy