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Texas Wine News Roundup: Winter 2025
It’s a scary time for the wine biz. Our thumbs are tired from scrolling past news about winery closures, sales slumps, and layoffs…and all the associated think pieces. (Why won’t the youngins put down their phones and drink some wine? Is it housing costs, social anxiety, vape pens, or wine snobbery that we should blame?…
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Local wines by the Bay at Winery Collective (San Francisco, CA)
Fisherman’s Wharf in December is not a bustling place. The cruise ships have mostly left for the season and the sidewalks are nearly empty. It’s too chilly and gray to catch any California sunshine on the waterfront. The Ghirardelli Chocolate building shines on the top of the hill, its marble counters spotless, its sundae glasses…
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Celebrating Wines of Hungary with Günzer Estate Winery
A rare opportunity to taste the wines of Hungary popped up on the calendar this past week. So we hustled over to Total Wine in East Plano for a joint presentation by Thomas Hoeber (of Dallas-based importer Aqueous Spirits) and Norman Günzer (of Villány’s Günzer Estate Winery). Hungarian wines have a long and illustrious history.…
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Cheval des Andes tasting at Blind Bishop (Dallas, TX)
Malbec’s story is possibly the most poetic of all the grapes. From royal darling in the court of Eleanor of Aquitane, to trans-Atlantic pilgrim, to purple-hued hero of by-the-glass lists everywhere, this is a variety that has survived and thrived across centuries. France lost most of its Malbec plantings, first to phylloxera and then to…
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WSET Level 3 Class: Week 4 (and Exam!) Thoughts
The race is run, the die is cast. It’s all over but the waiting. And–because WSET exam processing times are reportedly hovering around the 10-week mark–there’s going to be a lot of waiting. So, my wine-blog friends, you and I both will have to wait to see if The Wine Fairy earned her Wine and…
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Review: Domaine Diochon Moulin-à-Vent Vieilles Vignes (2023)
Domaine Diochon of Beaujolais is something of a living dinosaur. It’s not just the vines that are old–so is their entire winemaking ethos. But there’s no Instagram reel or YouTube mini-doc to tell you all about it. In fact, Domaine Diochon doesn’t even have a website. Little has changed since the founding of the estate…
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WSET Level 3 Class: Week 2 Thoughts
Back at school for more wine study! I’ve just wrapped up my second weekend of classes at Dallas Wine Education Center, where I am a candidate for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 3 Award in Wines. It’s been a very vinous few weeks for The Wine Fairy. In between WSET classes on Saturday…
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Texas Wine News Roundup: Fall 2025
Howdy, Texas wine fans! Our quarterly Texas Wine News Roundup digs up five stories that you might have missed in the third quarter of 2025. Check the bottom of this post for sources and links to the full articles. Since fall is harvest time, we’ll start with a report on this year’s crop of grapes:…
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WSET Level 3 Class: Week 1 Thoughts
Greetings from Dallas, where I’m preparing for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 3 Award in Wines exam! I’m at the Dallas Wine Center in the Bishop Arts neighborhood, about two miles southwest of downtown. Dallas Wine Center is the educational arm of Blind Bishop, a wine bar and bottle shop owned and operated…
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DFW Wine Events: October 2025
Here’s to fall–and a new month full of wine experiences in Dallas-Fort Worth! There’s lots to taste, see, and do in October, including street festivals, wine dinners, educational classes, and more. As always, we’re just local wine nerds and are not affiliated with any of the businesses listed below. All info is subject to change.…
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Judgment Day approaches! Crushing the WSET Level 3 exam jitters
No, not the Rapture. That was supposed to happen today–but so far it’s just another Tuesday. I’m sure I drink too much wine to go to that particular Heaven, anyway. My Judgment Day is the big exam that’s coming up in just over a month: The Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level 3 Award in…
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Cabernet Sauvignon: The King of Grapes (Total Wine class review)
Born by happy accident in 17th-century Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon is now the world’s favorite grape. Almost every wine-producing country grows a bunch of it, and almost everybody likes it. It’s no wonder that Total Wine’s “King of Grapes” class always fills the room. “Always”? Yep, this is the third time I’ve taken “King of Grapes”–but…