Hidden Wine Gems

Here at Kuhlman we love being able to feature wines with fun pairings. While we all know and love Alluve, Barranca and Kankar; let's take a minute to talk about wines we consider “hidden gems” for our favorite Texas foods. Our cultural history is written in food & wine and Texas is no exception with its melting pot of flavors. 

2017 Marl: This blend of Merlot and Petite Sirah has been winning hearts at the winery. Its velvety tannins and blackberry notes seem to surprise people who don’t care for merlot. The Petite Sirah adds a peppery note making this a great match for burgers on the grill or picnics with Roast beef or even Ruben sandwiches. We particularly love this with something that has red peppers in it like romesco sauce over potatoes. Try it with Texas style queso and tortilla chips.  A red wine with chips and queso?! Yes!

2016 Gypsum: Gypsum is our hidden summer favorite. Lighter than Alluvé, this wine can be enjoyed chilled. (shhh, try it in sangria!) Gypsum’s light and cheerful nature makes it a wonderful surprise pairing for seafood and spicy Mexican, Tapas and Spanish foods. Try it with spicy Barbecue, beans, and potato salad on a hot summer night. This wine is the perfect way to introduce dry reds to people just beginning their wine journey, but it also has a complexity that lets those “experienced” wine drinkers enjoy as well. 

2017 Zinfandel:  There is a reason we put Texas on the label. This isn’t California Zin. This Zinfandel is light, fresh and peppery with hints of strawberry. Because this Zin is a lighter style, it is surprisingly versatile and loves big flavors in food. Try it with Lamb meatballs or Pulled pork with Barbecue sauce. We often pair this Zinfandel with game meats to complement their earthy nature. Try smoked duck breast for an extra treat. Zinfandel tends to be high in alcohol which can make spicy food seem spicier so be cautious with the hot peppers. But Indian flavors and Zinfandel are a perfect match, I also love it with chicken fried steak or Jaeger schnitzel. But the best… try it with barbecue potato chips. 

Enjoy!

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New Red Wines!

As we approach our 5th birthday, we are excited to finally unveil two new red wines, years in the making.  

We’ve learned our patience for the process because fine wine takes time.  At Kuhlman, we don’t believe in bottling our reds a year after harvest. Fine red wine simply needs time to mature and reach it’s true potential.  You can taste the difference in wines that haven’t been rushed. Currently, we take an average of 30 months from harvesting to release a bottle of red wine - that’s two and a half years!  We also will never, ever “bottle Thursday, sell Friday”. Our reds get at least a few months if not upwards of a year of bottle aging prior to their release. Patience is the name of the game for fine wine!

Our two newest reds received this same patience and care in their development. Which is part of the reason we are so proud to offer them in the September Club Release:   

2017 Marl

Our Kuhlman proprietary blends are named after distinct geological features of Texas terroir.  Marl is a soil structure of mixed of clay and limestone, which we have generous amounts of towards the eastern half of the Kuhlman Estate.Blocks 2, 3 and 5-- Marsanne, Agilanico and Carignan, respectfully, all contain the Marl soil, contributing to our ability to grow this fruit beautifully and capture its essence even in the extremes of Texas weather  All else being equal, clay results in a “cooler” soil which tends to slow down ripening and helps keep acidity of the fruit. It also holds significantly more moisture - which on a wet year, can be challenging! 2019 certainly has shown this, as we’ve had about 50% more rain than a “normal” year.  

Pomerol, Bordeaux and Piedmont, Italy also are known for their Marl terroir, and the amazing quality and blending in these wines regions help inspire our own old world blend, Marl.The new 2017 Marl is a beautiful Old World style red blend.  It has bright red fruit notes with aromatics of plum and cassis. As with all of our blends, the grape composition will change from year to year. For 2017, Marl is a wonderful, rich blend of Merlot and Petite Sirah.

 

 

 

2016 Reserve Merlot

The 2016 Reserve Merlot is a landmark wine for Kuhlman Cellars.  It is our first ever “Reserve” designate wine, made with great intention and care.  Prior to bottling the regular 2016, Bénédicte sampled and tasted each barrel, selecting the very best to be set aside.  We allowed these barrels to rest, reserved in the cellar, for an additional 12 months French Oak barrel aging. All told, the 2016 Reserve Merlot spent 30 months in French oak barrels developing mature aromas of dried cherries and violets.  The extended aging also developed exquisite mouthfeel. We are very pleased with how the complex finish lingers and creates a layered experience/reflection which time, patience and intention bring. This is a wine to enjoy with rich, complex foods, or for a special occasion.

We are excited to share this Reserve wine with you.  When we first considered the possibility of reserving part of the 2016 Merlot for special cellaring treatment, we were driven by creating a distinct and elegant wine.  We expect you will be delighted when you open the bottle and experience it for yourself!

 

Looking Forward

As we look further out on the horizon, there will be a steady release of new red wines.  Of course, our favorites and anchors of our wine program such as Alluvé, Barranca and KanKar will continue their rich legacy

For Vina Vita wine club members, you have choice on each club shipment and you can always order more than your minimum quantity while enjoying your membership discount. Be sure to customize or add to your selections to fit your palette, and remember to try our new release wines. We want you to enjoy what you receive, try new wine adventures, and live Vina Vita! 

 

Cheers to the Wine Life!  

 

A New First - 2018 Hensell Allocation

2018 Hensell Allocation!

Probably the most frequent question I’ve heard in the tasting room the last 5 weeks is “when will Hensell be released?!”

We understand.  We’ve been anxiously waiting too!  Great news though: 2018 Hensell is ready for release!

Our big question was how should we do this?  Waiting till September for the next scheduled club release seems too far away.  Especially since Hensell Rosé is one of the quintessential summer wines in Texas!  So, we’ve decided to do something new and present a new club membership perk:

Allocation

We are offering each club member the exclusive benefit of early-access to Hensell.  

Each member has the opportunity (but not the obligation) to purchase between 3 and 12 bottles of Hensell!  Simply log into your Kuhlman Cellars account, navigate to the Allocation section of your profile, confirm your bottle counts, add to your cart, and hit checkout.  Simple!

You have until July 4th for the early-access Hensell pre-release.  After that, it will be made available to general release in the Tasting Room.

But wait….there’s more exciting news!

We’ve also heard from our members who sometimes can’t make it to the winery.  So, we are hitting the road this summer for a Hensell Roadshow! We will bring your allocation bottles to events held in major cities in late June!

If you’ve accepted the allocation, make plans to join us at one of the different events where we will sample Hensell and other Kuhlman Wines!  Each location will also have a special Hensell food pairing which you can purchase to enjoy with a glass of Hensell. The best part is we will bring your Hensell to you (and any other wines you might want as well).

As always, be sure to bring friends!  You can find the RSVP information here.

2018 Hensell Rosé

For the 2018 Hensell, we continue pursuing our goal of exquisite Provence styled dry, aromatic roses.  We’ve also changed the fruit blend, with this year being hand harvested Grenache and Cinsault from our great partners at Farmhouse Vineyards blended with some of our Estate grown, hand harvested Carignan.  

Hand harvesting provides the most gentle handling of the fruit to preserve the delicate nuances while also conveying the most winemaking control to Bénédicte, our winemaker.  Having grown up in Provence, Bénédicte's rosés are true to style and beautifully transport us all to the south of France and the epicenter of rose in the world!

This wine will be a certain palate pleaser for anyone seeking a refreshing, crisp, aromatic easy drinking wine.  Enjoy with salads, shrimp & grits, BLT’s, as well as BBQ, duck & sausage gumbo, and Tex-Mex. Or, simply enjoy on a porch swing, poolside lounge or an evening relaxing with friends.  

Enjoy!

 

Carignan

Carignan is a red wine grape known for producing well structured, dry red wines, yet little seems to be written regarding this “under the radar grape”. The truth is, it has significant prominence in both the old world and new world and it is more commonly blended in everyday red wines than one might think, despite not gaining much press. Pronounced “care-in-yawn”, it is a powerful and opulent grape known for deep and concentrated color, bold tannins and high retained acidity. This is no wimpy fruit; it is structurally sound and offers tremendous presence, especially when utilized as a primary blending grape.

For those of you not familiar with this grape, just imagine if the well know Merlot and Syrah grapes were to mate, the best qualities of each of those varieties are similar to what Carignan showcases. The variety is presumed to be from Spain originally and is still prevalent in Catalonia, Spain. It is also well known in southern France, from the Languedoc-Roussillon region in particular. California has been growing and blending Carignan for decades and there are mature Carignan vines producing fruit in the Texas High Plains. This grape variety needs to be cultivated in relatively warm and dry climates, as it can be prone to powdery and downy mildew and requires a warm growing season to achieve proper ripeness. The vines tend to be vigorous and must be well managed to produce quality, concentrated fruit. Having said that, Texas seems like a pretty great place to grow Carignan.

At Kuhlman Cellars, we originally planted Carignan in our family experimental block in 2012.  We believe this is the first planting in the Fredericksburg AVA.  We also believe in its potential as a possible backbone grape for our blending family. It provides a well-balanced yet massive backbone if crop yields and vine canopy are well managed. For those of you who have tasted the 2012 Barranca, you know exactly what I mean. Wines with finesse, power and character come from these interesting blends. We also planted Carignan in our estate vineyard in the Texas Hill Country in 2015.  Our largest block, Block 5, with approximately 2.3 acres of Carignan, will be producing fruit in the coming years on the Kuhlman Cellars Estate property. Our usually dry/hot summers, as well as our clay topped limestone soils in central Texas provide a suitable environment for harvests of intense, ripe fruit from our vineyards, so the future of Carignan in our wine program is exciting!

Below is a list of known Texas vineyards currently growing Carignan:

Bingham Family Vineyards- Texas High Plains

Brushy Creek Vineyards- Alvord, Texas

Buena Suerte Vineyards- Texas High Plains

Kuhlman Cellars- Texas Hill Country

La Pradera Vineyard- Texas High Plains

Martin Vineyard- Texas High Plains (believed to be the oldest Texas vines still in production)

Let’s celebrate the wine life, Vina Vita, and savor everything that is… Carignan.

 

Cheers!