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A small-town wine adventure at Zannotti’s Wine Bar (Stillwater, OK)
“Hold on, is that a wine bar?” Screeeeech went the brakes. A moment later I was sitting in a cool, dark corner, poring over the most comprehensive wine list I’ve ever seen in Oklahoma. Anchored by the largest campus of Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK is a town of about 50,000. That sounds like almost…
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Review: Paco & Lola Albariño (2023)
A happy hour it was indeed as we lingered over a chilled bottle of Paco & Lola Albariño. This fruity Spanish white was flowing all around the tapas bar as Dallasites hid indoors from the 95-degree heat. At tables around the room, I could spy its cheery label peeking out from ice buckets like a…
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Southern Italy (Campania & Puglia) tasting at Corner Wines (Plano, TX)
Wine, at its best, is both a teleporter and a time machine. The right glass can whisk you away to distant locales visited long ago (or never), to historical moments remembered or imagined by the yearning, eternal soul inside each of your tastebuds. This is why we drink wine. That, and because it’s a tasty…
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Notes from the Lone Star International Wine Competition (2025)
It was an exciting day for wine producers from Texas and beyond: Medal day! After a one-day qualifying round, the Lone Star International Wine Competition judges reconvened on Thursday morning to choose the best of the best. There were still dozens of wines in the running, and many potential medals to be awarded: Gold, Double…
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Local Sips: CRÚ Food & Wine Bar (Plano, TX)
Wine Fairy here, checking in with another recommended watering hole in our big old town of DFW! Read on for a local’s guide to CRÚ Food & Wine Bar in Plano’s Legacy East shopping center. I’ve been going to CRÚ’s Plano location for approximately forever. My wife and I celebrated our first over-21 Valentine’s Day…
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Review: Trabucco “ÉRRE” Falerno del Massico (2020)
Small wine shops are the best, am I right? Even better are the ones with a “drink it here” option. Once a week or so, I make a date night out of it and choose a bottle that I can’t find on every wine list in town. Often, it’s a bottle I doubt is on…
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Review: Peña Garnacha Calatayud (2023)
Days that end in “y” are red wine days, and today I am pouring Garnacha. I snagged this bottle for $10 or $15 at Salado Wine Seller, the best little wine shop you’re likely to find while driving between Dallas and Austin. This evening’s wine is from Calatayud, in southwest Aragón: The Peña Garnacha. I…
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Forget groceries–let’s go wine tasting at the Whole Foods bar
If you crave the surreal experience of getting tipsy in the meat department of a grocery store, then have I got the recommendation for you: The Whole Foods Market taproom. Grocery store taprooms are not a new idea. Whole Foods opened their first in-store bar in 2009 and have them in many of their roughly…
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Review: Cline “Rock Carved” Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (2021)
“What consumer product is a perfect design?” A friend got this question in an interview for an engineering job. I think he said, “the toothbrush.” Toothbrush is a good answer. There are many–although, given the length of human history, probably not as many as there should be–everyday items that are basically solved engineering problems. They…
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Fournier Père et Fils (Loire Valley) tasting at The Wine Authority (Richardson, TX)
We said “bonsoir” to four from the Loire at The Wine Authority last night. It was a special tasting from the Fournier portfolio: Three Sauvignon Blancs and a Pinot Noir. All of the wines were brand new from the 2023 vintage. All four were fresh and zippy and ready to pair with summer salads and…
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Review: Günzer Estate Bocor Single Vineyard Selection Cuvée (2016)
It’s kind of an obvious tip–but if you’re ever stuck in a wine rut, ask a sommelier what they’re drinking at home. Somms work in the food and beverage industry, which means most are chronically underpaid. They regularly taste all the big name wines at work, so that’s not what they’re buying on their days…
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Drink North Texas Wine Festival at the Frontiers of Flight Museum (Dallas, TX)
North Texas wines took flight last Saturday with a special showcase of 12 local producers. DFW wine fans, you came and saw and sipped. From bold reds to crisp aromatic whites to only-in-Texas oddball blends, there was wine aplenty for all y’all Texas wine lovers. The host was the North Texas Wine Country trade organization.…