TEXSOM 2026: The week, the work, and the wine!

TEXSOM 2026 has come and gone. Across seven days, I tasted wine, gabbed about wine, and learned more than I would have thought was possible.

This was my second TEXSOM Conference–and although my assignments were more challenging this time around, I felt far more confident and more connected. Wine has been good to me this year, and I’m doing my best to share all the gratitude and excitement that’s swirling around my metaphorical cup.

TEXSOM’s 2026 home: A view of the Irving Convention Center from my hotel.

The purpose of this recap isn’t “look at all the important wine people I met” or even “look at how much wine education I crammed into the last week.” Rather, it’s an attempt to give my readers a peek into the always enlightening, sometimes hectic experience that is TEXSOM and Sommer Camp.

So, let me take you through the “Staff Only” doors and into TEXSOM’s crazy world of wine work and play.

Sommer Camp: Thursday, August 20

The three Main Conference days at TEXSOM were preceded this year by three days of Sommer Camp. Volunteers show up early to get all the wine and equipment staged before the doors open for our guests.

Sommer Campers begin setting up the wine room, under the supervision of cellar boss Bill Pfeiffer (center).

There are many tasks to be completed–including a massive temporary cellar to be organized and around 18,000 glasses to be polished. In between, Sommer Campers take breaks for sponsored meals and special educational sessions.

As a Media Team member, I pitched in with some of these jobs. But my primary work was to help collect the media assets that TEXSOM uses throughout the year. They include photos, notes, interviews, and videos that tell the story of the conference and its people.

Virginia Wine Somm Lounge. My first media assignment of the week brought me to the Somm Lounge, which Virginia Wine was sponsoring for two days.

Virginia wines aren’t widely available in Texas. I’m certainly no expert on them. But I have traveled to vineyards in the region, and I’ve tried many of the top producers this year–thanks to the generosity of my friend, Virginia wine superfan Jesse Garrett. So I stepped in to help staff the table.

My role was to photograph the wines and educational materials, pour the wines, and solicit comments from the people crowding around to taste them. (“Give me a tasting note! Be brave!” I urged, with a corkscrew in one hand and a legal pad in the other.)

A selection of white wines from Virginia in the Somm Lounge.

Thursday morning’s wines were a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Traminette from Virginia. The Traminette prompted comparisons to Gewürztraminer and Riesling. An unoaked Chardonnay won praise for its balance. Sommer Campers pored over maps of Virginia’s AVAs, and were reminded that “emerging” wine regions often have considerably more history than the label suggests.

Virginia Wine, Round Two. The crisp whites were whisked away and replaced with Cabernet Franc, Petit Manseng, and Viognier for the afternoon. The takeaway was that Virginia’s specialty varieties aren’t merely useful blending components–they can stand on their own as varietal wines.

Sparkling Wine Service Demonstration. Sommer Campers are a mix of experienced sommeliers, wine students, and passionate enthusiasts. Some have honed their skills through years on the floor–but many of us haven’t had much hands-on service practice outside of TEXSOM.

A sparkling wine service demonstration in the Sommer Camp polishing lounge.

Before dinner, we were treated to an informal sparkling wine demonstration by James Tidwell MS and Advanced Sommelier Michel Emerick in the glass-polishing lounge. We learned how to open and serve sparkling wine in an exam setting or a dining room. (Preferably without hitting anyone in the face with a cork.)

The wine pick was the 2025 Mitolo “La Spiaggia” Sparkling Glera from McLaren Vale, a prelude to a special Australia dinner with Wines of Australia author Mark Davidson.

Dinner: “Style Shifts: Australia’s Varietal Evolution” with Mark Davidson. Davidson presented an exuberant ten-wine dinner built around Australia’s experimentation with varieties and styles. I’ve been to three or four of Davidson’s presentations for Wine Australia this year, and the wine selections are always top-notch.

Wines for “Style Shifts: Australia’s Varietal Evolution” (TEXSOM 2026).

No Aussie Shiraz or Semillon in sight this time. Instead, we tasted Mencía, Vermentino, Fiano, Roussanne, Dolcetto, Tempranillo/Touriga Nacional, Nero d’Avola, Sangiovese, and Grenache/Mataro.

While we passed the wines around the table, we learned how Australia’s history of importing vines has left it unusually open to innovation. The conversation ranged from climate adaptation, to price pressure from cheap-labor countries, to the youngest wine-drinking generation and its preference for lighter, fresher styles.

Mark Davidson presented an exclusive Wine Australia dinner for Sommer Camp volunteers.

I was delighted to learn that Davidson is a staunch advocate for one of my favorite varieties: “If you don’t like Grenache, then you are not my friend.”

Polishing Event: Blind Tasting with James Tidwell MS. That evening, we tasted two mystery wines poured from carafes, with each Sommer Camper contributing a one-word tasting note. We entertained theories about what the wines might be. (Both bottles were revealed to be 2020 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo–from Emidio Pepe and Valentini.)

Two blind wines in the Somm Lounge.

In between, we talked about deductive tasting, natural and orange wines, and the assumptions we have about “classic” regions and varieties. Tidwell offered a useful reframing of the exercise. The goal isn’t necessarily to name the wine–it’s to have a fruitful discussion about it.

Sommer Camp: Friday, August 21

Virginia Wine, Again! Somm Lounge tastings start at 9 AM. This morning’s tasting moved into the French-American hybrid Chambourcin and more experimental Virginia territory, including the memorable “Dos Idiots” co-fermented Cab Franc/Petit Manseng from Lightwell Survey.

“Co-ferment of…what?” Studying the “Dos Idiots” label before service. (Photo: Paula Morgan Fitzpatrick)

The Rosemont Extra Brut Rosé of Chambourcin made a particularly strong showing, with Sommer Campers all thirsting for bubbles after breakfast.

Lunch: “Water & Wine Harmonization” with Lynn Farmer, DipWSET. Lynn Farmer, water somm and self-described “aqua-holic,” offered a lunch presentation featuring water from Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino. He made a passionate case that wine does not exist in isolation on the table and that water deserves the same thoughtful attention. We tasted wine, food, still water, and sparkling water together and considered water’s texture, acidity, minerality, and effect on the meal.

Rías Baixas in the Somm Lounge. Wines of Rías Baixas were in the Somm Lounge Friday afternoon, with a booth led by David Yoshida MS.

D.O. Rías Baixas in the house!

We enjoyed a blind-tasting contest (Rías Baixas sub-regions–hard!), a Galicia regional trivia challenge (also hard!) and a heavenly quantity of Albariño in various styles from just-born to barrel-aged.

Virginia Wine, Final Round. Three Bordeaux-style Virginia reds, led by Cabernet Franc and/or Merlot and supported by Petit Verdot. Different soils and winemaking choices produced distinctly different wines. Still hovering behind the Virginia wine table, I poured for Mark Davidson and we had a memorable chat about blind tasting and the value of wine education.

Dinner: Gallo/Girlan/Maze Row. We tasted through a lineup centered on Girlan’s Alto Adige Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with Willamette Valley and Gevrey-Chambertin Pinot comparisons for context.

Polishing Event: “Beaujolais in Motion” in the Somm Lounge. A late-night polishing party with Fanny Spironelli and Travis Perez. (Travis was one of my WSET instructors and Beaujolais is one of my favorite regions, so it was delightful to encounter them in one place.)

I tasted my first white Beaujolais, ever! We talked about the region’s range, and the usefulness of good-value, versatile Beaujolais wines for smaller lists.

Sommer Camp: Saturday, August 22

I had work obligations outside of TEXSOM, so I scheduled a day off. No seminars, no media assignments, no wine. My FOMO was real–everyone was talking about Saturday’s Loire Valley lunch–but the break was probably wise and necessary.

Main Conference Day One: Sunday, August 23

After the one-day reset, I was back in conference mode. On Sunday morning, we prepared to welcome members of the public into TEXSOM’s expo hall and classrooms. Glassware was clean and waiting, and quick-change movements had been carefully rehearsed.

On Main Conference days, seminars and meals are punctuated by walk-around tastings in the convention center hall, so staffers have time to re-set the rooms. Rather than everyone eating in the same place, conference-goers have a choice between several themed lunches occurring during the same one-hour block.

The Wines of Bordeaux booth at TEXSOM 2026.

“TEXSOM runs on time,” Tidwell is fond of reminding us. So Sommer Campers have to do all the same things that we have been doing for three days–only more quietly and on a tighter schedule. Fortunately, there are always plenty of hands to get the job done and the first Conference day hummed along at a smooth pace.

“Perfected by Time” D.O. Cava + Jamón ConsorcioSerrano breakfast. We started the day at 7 AM with a Spanish-inspired breakfast and masterclass. D.O. Cava ambassador and author Doreen Colondres urged us to approach premium Cava as fine wine and as a food wine, rather than merely as inexpensive party bubbles. The focus was on Cava de Guarda Superior–the higher-quality category characterized by extended lees aging, organic grapes, and traceability.

At the Q&A, discussion turned spirited. Somms broached the topic of sparkling wine producers leaving the Cava D.O. and the confusion the schism is creating for consumers.

Famiglie Storiche Amarone lunch. Sommer Campers split up for different lunches. The session I attended was presented by Famiglie Storiche, a union of thirteen historic wineries that is working to raise the quality and reputation of Amarone wines. Each family brought one wine to share, and at least one winemaker or winery principal was seated at each table.

Standing in line for tacos, Sommer Campers chuckled nervously at the prospect of tasting thirteen Amarones and then going back to work. But that was precisely the lesson of the day. Amarone was presented as something considerably more versatile and food-friendly than its reputation as a giant, boozy after-dinner wine might suggest.

I sat between James Tidwell and Tommasi’s executive director, Pierangelo Tommasi, and took notes for TEXSOM. They had a lively discussion of Valpolicella appellation law, while I blissfully sipped the Amarone that Tommasi was pouring.

Wine Scholar Guild: “From Autopilot to Awareness.” Chris Martin MW and Kristina Sazama led an interactive tasting that deliberately stepped outside the usual tasting-grid sequence. The 90-minute class was a teaser for Wine Scholar Guild’s Tasting Diploma program, which has enrolled its first students for 2027.

We tasted six wines blind, while focusing on subjective experience over identification. Martin: “We’re basically trying to problematize a system of wine education that has existed since the 1950s.”

There were questions and provocations. How might over-reliance on a rigid wine-tasting lexicon be a disservice to our customers–or to ourselves? What ways of connecting with wine are we missing in the quest for advanced certs? How lifeless is “medium-plus,” as a descriptor? The larger point was that tasting is a sensory encounter as much as it is a discipline.

The class came with a free trial of WSG membership–something I’ll definitely take advantage of as I continue my studies.

“Make the Right (Bank) Choice” Bordeaux dinner. An elegant plated dinner. Seven wines from magnum. Mary McGorman Adams MW moderating a panel discussion with several producers from the Right Bank.

Winegrowers touched on climate challenges, biodiversity, soil health, and the ways that Bordeaux is adapting to change without abandoning its identity.

Polishing Event: Champagne Taittinger. Is stocking the Somm Lounge with Taittinger a ploy to get foot-sore somms to polish glasses until midnight instead of crawling back to their hotels? Perhaps, but it works every time!

Benjamin Samacoïts-Etchegpin pouring Champagne Taittinger at TEXSOM 2026.

The night ended with copious Champagne and joyous selfies. Also, the experience of discovering that it is possible to be tired at a wine event and still willingly go to another wine event…if Taittinger is involved.

Main Conference Day Two: Monday, August 24

Mornings at the TEXSOM Conference start with a group toast for the volunteer team. Monday dawned with a special, highly allocated cellar pick from Williams Selyem: the Drake Vineyard Estate Brut Rosé poured from magnum.

Tim Gaiser MS: “An Approach to Tasting.” My first morning seminar was a tasting class with Tim Gaiser MS, based on techniques from his book, Message in the Bottle: A Guide to Tasting Wine.

On the table were six wines. On the projector screen were valuable nuggets of advanced tasting technique. Sensory memory, eye positioning, impact compounds, structure, cause and effect, and the “Evil Dwarfs” (wines that are commonly mixed up in blind tasting.)

The seminar wines were served non-blind, so we could focus on the lesson rather than freaking out about getting them right in front of our peers. Said Gaiser, “There’s no crying in baseball–and there’s no freaking out in wine.”

Gaiser was insistent that we put the eye-positioning technique into practice right away. We paired off and took turns watching our partner taste and describe a wine. I learned two important things about myself as a taster: that I look up and to the left when I’m accessing sensory memories, and that I smile like a fool in love when I’m sniffing a good Syrah.

Lunch: “Texas Wine: The Fresh Take That is Turning Heads.” An educational lunch sponsored by the Texas Department of Agriculture. Fourteen Texas wines were on the table, including traditional-method sparkling wines, Blanc du Bois, Mediterranean varieties, and a Tempranillo from the nearby Texoma AVA.

Texas wine is changing quickly, and the information-rich session focused on climate-adaptive varieties and proposed new AVAs. Kelsey Kramer (of Hill Country Wine Academy) and my Media Team colleague Shelly Wilfong (of the This Is Texas Wine podcast) were presenting.

Christopher Ramelb MS: “Studying Tips and Truths.” In an afternoon seminar, Christopher Ramelb MS shared study strategies that helped him pass the Master Sommelier exam. There was useful specific advice on memorization for theory exams and for tasting technique. Making your own study materials, practicing in the format of the exam (oral or written), systematic scheduling, and targeted blind-tasting practice were offered as tools for success.

But his list of “Hard Truths” also served as a reality check about advanced certification. There’s no escaping the need for disciplined book learning, the inevitable moments of failure, the cost, the nerves, and the fact that doing everything right doesn’t guarantee a pass.

Authors’ Meet-and-Greet and book signing. Speaking of wine nerds and book nerds…well, that Venn diagram is pretty much a circle. The Monday evening authors’ event was a busy swarm and several authors sold out of books at their tables.

My TEXSOM book haul. (Yes, I exercised extraordinary restraint.)

I got books signed by Gaiser and Davidson. I also picked up my copy of Jessica Dupuy’s brand new title, Italianity: The Culture of Italian Wine (written with Andrea Lonardi MW).

HERITA USA / Giovanni Rosso dinner: “The Language of Limestone and Lava: Barolo to Etna.” A really fun comparison of two mountain wine worlds: Barolo’s limestone soils and Etna’s volcanic terrain, with the wines showing different expressions of altitude, freshness, salinity and site. Jacob Gragg and Aga Hilferty DipWSET presented wines from the portfolio of HERITA (formerly Santa Margherita).

The conversation kept coming back to restraint and letting place speak rather than piling winemaking on top of it. One of the wines on the table was Giovanni Rosso’s “Contrade Nuove” Etna Rosso–one of my current faves and the subject of a forthcoming review for The Wine Fairy.

Main Conference Day Three: Tuesday, August 25

Our morning toast was Franciacorta (Bellavista “Alma”), courtesy of Vinitaly.USA. Glasses clinked, and we headed out for the final sprint!

Vins de Provence brought soil samples and aged rosé.

The conference was now in full swing, with expo tastings and seminars filling the day. In between assignments, I squeezed in my weekly #MerlotThursday tasting and greeted local industry pals as they wandered into the expo hall.

Chris Martin MW: “Study Smarter: The Science of Learning Wine.” A “dry” 9 AM seminar for wine-education aficionados. (“Thank you for joining me this early in a room without wine,” Martin quipped. “Although maybe for some of you, it’s a blessing.”)

This class was geared toward people studying for advanced wine achievements, including the WSET Diploma, Court of Master Sommeliers exams, and Master of Wine. It was an interesting counterpoint to Martin’s earlier presentation for Wine Scholar Guild with its holistic, no-wrong-answers mode of wine study.

We got deep into research-backed study methods to improve information recall for exams. They include active retrieval, spaced repetition, and interleaving (systematic mixing of topics).

Martin advanced the idea that “desirable difficulty” should replace the comforting illusion that rereading a text is the same thing as learning it. Also: Apparently we have all wasted money on highlighters.

Lunch: KOBRAND Fine Wines. A global portfolio lunch from the distributor KOBRAND: Taittinger, Château La Nerthe, Lingua Franca, Vigna dell’Impero, Sequoia Grove, and, at the end of the meal, a 1976 Taylor Fladgate Single Harvest Tawny Port.

The 1976 Very Old Single Harvest Port from Taylor Fladgate.

TEXSOM is the only place I’ve ever been poured a wine that’s older than I am, and it’s such a decadent thrill. After all, every year there is less 1976 Port on planet Earth. I got an ounce or two of it, and it was delicious.

The Commonwealth Wine School booth. The Commonwealth Wine School booth is one of the most popular interactive stops, with its multi-session blind-tasting game.

Across the six expo tastings, Sommer Campers and conference-goers taste twelve wines and stir up a little friendly rivalry. Correct answers win raffle entries and bragging rights.

Sunil Iyer and Tim Powers of Commonwealth Wine School leading a blind-tasting game.

This year, first place went to Samantha Cole-Johnson (of JancisRobinson.com and “Mission Blind Tasting”)–and it wasn’t even close. But I was proud of my Sommer Camp buddy Elena for clinching second place. And yours truly snuck onto the leaderboard, too, eventually tying for ninth.

Diversity and Opportunity Reception and Grand Tasting. The Grand Tasting is the final public event on the TEXSOM schedule. It’s a chance for everyone–volunteers, exhibitors, and guests–to mingle and enjoy some exceptional wines.

Karen Bonarrigo (of Messina Hof and Bonarrigo Family Wines) at the TEXSOM 2026 Grand Tasting.

It is a madcap tasting session, and you can feel the relief in the air. We did it! We worked, we reveled, we studied, and now it’s time to pack it all up and go home.

After TEXSOM

After loadout on Wednesday morning, I went back to my house for the first time in several days. I took a shower and a catnap and then drove to work for my next wine adventure–pouring a tasting at the bar where I recently started working.

A lot has changed for me since last year as I’ve ventured deeper into the world of wine. But some important things have stayed the same. I fervently want to belong–and then I find that the sense of belonging is not as distant as I thought it would be. I feel at home among wine pros, with their collective love of flavor and their habit of lifelong learning.

Once again, TEXSOM tested the limits of my stamina and my skills. Once again, I think I must be nuts for diving into such an immersive and demanding event. And once again, I can’t wait to bust out the corkscrew and the notepad and do it all again.

Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this article. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.

This is my unofficial, personal recap of my experience at TEXSOM 2026. For more information on Sommer Camp or the Conference, please get in touch with the TEXSOM team here.