El Wine Chateau

Wine Club Tasting this month: Tour de France!

This month’s wine club is a special one, as we taste wines from along the route of the 2024 ! Tonight’s tasting is almost full but Saturday afternoon has plenty of spots left! 5 wines, one from Florence, where the Tour started, then 4 French regions: Piedmont, Burgundy, Langeudoc-Roussillon, and Nice. Missing from the line-up this year is Champagne, since the Tour will not be finishing in the traditional location on the Champs-Élysées this year due to the Olympic Games, but know that we have plenty of champagne options in house 😎🍾 Registration link in bio. 🇮🇹

Live tonight! returning to El Wine Chateau stage, this west Texas gentleman will bring originals and covers with a southern flair. His storytelling is akin to the Texas country greats with delivery, honest and true.

July music lineup, join us Saturday nights at 7:30 🎸

July 13th - Landon Talley
July 20th - Justin Cashion
July 27th - Savannah Kay

Join us next week as we resume our Friday tastings with some incredible wines from South Africa!

Even as South African regions and styles are increasingly integrated into wine education, you would be hard-pressed to find robust South African selections at even the most well-endowed stores and restaurants. We will be featuring some of the quintessential regional varieties and styles in addition to some novel takes on historically underrepresented grapes.

This is a come-and-go affair, swing by before dinner, after dinner, even during dinner - just as long as you swing by.

West Meyers - Akin to the unassuming presence of a young John Mayer, when West walks up to the stage, you aren’t quite sure what to expect musically. Then? He begins playing. Prepare to be immediately hooked by incredible vocals, effortless guitar shredding riffs, and an overall cool that will have you looking for the next West Meyers show near you.

So many questions. Where's Aston going? What's in the bag? Why does he walk like that? All will be answered tomorrow.

A true treat for our special wine - The Brij Nithya

Rajat Parr needs no introduction. He's arguably the world's most famous sommelier and has been cranking out some of the most thoughtful domestic (and Spanish!) wines in recent memory.

Brij wines is a negociant series in which grapes are sourced from other meticulously selected vineyards. The Nithya is a 50/50 blend of Cab Franc & Malbec from Massa Vineyards in Carmel Valley. Previously known as Heller Estate, the land has been at the forefront of organic viticulture in the area - using very little intervention in crop management. Though they produce their own wines, Massa has caught the eye of many of California's preeminent contemporary wineries including Margins, Arnot-Roberts, Outward, Broc Cellars, and now Brij.

This wine was inspired by the cool climate blends of the Touraine, and might just be the brisket wine to end all brisket wines.

A face only a mother could love (maybe).

Jean-Marie Rimbert established his eponymous estate in 1996 - striving to make wines that express the beautiful, perpetually underappreciated rusticity of the Languedoc and its subregions.

The Saint-Chinian AOC is found in central Languedoc, slightly inland from the Mediterranean. Like many Languedoc subregions, grapes like Syrah, Carignan, and Cinsault reign supreme. The Petit Cochon Bronze - 'Little Tan Pig' - is made from a blend of said varieties from old (60 years +) vines. Fresh, fruity, and carefree, this is another piece for your pool party arsenal.

June Club Spotlight #1: Monte Rio Lodi Sauvignon Blanc.

From Patrick Cappiello of PAX, Skull Wines, and Monte Rio- we have a fresh, but serious SB from a region rarely associated with it. Sourced from roughly 30 y/o vines and displaying a beautiful salty streak, you might mistake this for a counterpart from Touraine or the Upper Loire- but this is all Cali. A touch of barrel fermentation provides a bit of body for all of the fun phenolics to dance on. A summer chugger if there ever was one.

In need of *slightly* belated Father's Day gifts? We got you.

Red fan? How about one of Paso Robles' most revered producers from its most precious area? One of Santa Barbara's current powerhouses? Or one of the best bang-for-buck Bandol rouges we've had.

More into white Burgundy or Sancerre? We got you all the same.

Just a few of the neat bottles we got on deck. Swing by!

This Saturday at 7:30, Simone Nicole - A true songbird. Simone has been acclaimed as Fort Worth’s Best Musician of 2021, nominated for Best Folk Act by the Dallas Observer Music Awards, and recently crowned Best Female Vocalist and Pop Act in the 2023 Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards. Catch her rare performance at Keller’s best little wine bar. .music

So happy to welcome the wines of (and Populis) into the store. Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig source from both their own managed vineyards and those of other growers from up and the North Coast. Their wines speak of the historic vineyards and fruit they strive to preserve- and range from meticulous blends to some of the most sincere varietal expressions of old-school Cali varieties you’ve ever had.

We’ve brought in their Wabi Sabi Red Blend and Old-Vine Carignane from Mendocino. Both would sit just as suitably by a fireplace as the pool. Come in and try and splash this weekend!

Father's Day 2024 is rapidly approaching. Why not some of the best wines coming out of either side of the Rhone Valley?

Herve Souhaut founded Domaine Romaneux-Destezet in 1993 and has since established a reputation as one of the vanguards for the 'new' Northern Rhone, making sleek and beautiful expressions of Saint-Joseph like the 'Clos des Cessieux.' This wine strikes somewhere between classic and contemporary, with dark fruits, bacon, and floral notes all dancing together in harmony.

The Clos St.-Jean La Combes des Fous is a classic CNdP from a classic producer. This Grenache-dominant cuvee is pure hedonism, but displays the nuance and deftness you would expect from a monolithic producer like St.-Jean.

These wines are reason for every season, and dad would LOVE them (he told me himself!). Swing by and pick up a bottle or two before the big day!

Is there a bottle that screams "chuggable" more than this one here?

Despite the playful appearance, this is a serious Verdejo from Ismael Gozalo at MicroBio. Sourced from 150+ year old vines, this goes into amphorae for fermentation before chilling in stainless steel to maintain its snappy acidity and freshness. Super racy and mineral-driven, it's not for the faint of heart, but it IS for those looking for a true Al Pastor pairing. And the best part? It comes in a liter. We preordered this guy and expect it to go fast. Swing by and pick one up!

Saturday at 7:30: Dev Wulf - An Americana gentleman who has many tricks up his sleeve, Dev has played stages in the grittiest of Deep Ellum with his band, the Midnight Howl, to acclaimed venues where his acoustic original music orchestrated the choreography for a ballet performance. Unwind with a glass of wine, and allow Dev’s storytelling take you on a journey.

T-Minus one day until our weekend rose flight goes live!

From bubbly to racy and structured and back, this is gonna be a fun flight that might just open up your eyes to the more underappreciated styles of the pink stuff.

Swing by after 5 on Friday and Saturday and indulge!

The two bookends of our orange wine tasting. They couldn't be more different, but are delicious in their own respective way.

On the left, the Mother Block: a fresh, zippy blend of various Southern Italian varieties from the Murray Darling basin in SE Australia. Very much a candidate for a gateway bottle for the genre, the nose is fresh, herbal, and tropical - yielding to a palate of guava, citrus peel, and a fresh mineral streak. At sub-$25, it's a great entry.

On the right, the Paolo Bea Santa Chiara. The Bea family has history stretching to the 1500's, and has apparently spent every minute establishing themselves as the flagbearers for Umbria and one of the cultiest Italian producers ever. The Santa Chiara is a blend of indigenous and international varieties that goes through multiple stages of steel, barrel, and ultimately bottle aging til' the family's ready to release. Pouring more auburn than orange, the nose is filled with potpourri, macerated citrus, and angostura bitters. The palate straddles the line between wild and pristine (like many great natural wines) and is truly a life-altering bottle (if you're into that sort of thing).

For the bad news, we have one bottle of each until we can (if we can) restock. Swing by expeditiously!

Another stunner from the orange wine tasting last week!

The 'Smithereens' comes from Tyler Magyar of Monument Wine Co, an urban winery in Portland, OR.

Monument's production is still small (around 1000 cases total) but incredibly mighty. The Smithereens is predominantly Chardonnay with a big splash of Muscat that goes on skins for around a month.

The result is a pretty but powerful wine that smells like walking through an orchard and drinks like the adult fruit cocktail you never knew you needed. A winner through and through. Swing by and pick one up!

The label was too spooky, so we brought in our guard dog.

We had a blast with the orange wine tasting this past Friday. One of the stunners featured was the La Petite Mort 'VMR' from Riverina.

This blend of Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussane is thrown into qveri (handle-less amphorae typically built into or buried in the ground) for 161 days, reminiscent of antiquity-based practices from Georgia roughly 8,000 years ago!

The result is a savory, expressive wine that evolves with air and time. Fresh bundles of rosemary and quince oil on the nose move to orange marmalade and garrigue on the palate. A thought-provoking, beautiful wine that we have very limited inventory on. Pick one up before it's gone!

TONIGHT - Back again to charm audiences, John knows how to set the tone for an amazing evening. From feel-good covers, to originals that might as well be classics, he brings the fun every performance. Start your summer right with a performance from John Hames.

New Coravin Pour!

For the next month or so we will be running the O**m Syrah as our premium red pour.

From the folks behind Big Salt, this Syrah is sourced from a single site in the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge AVA.

The name of the game is delicacy here. 50% Whole Cluster maceration followed by a couple of punchdowns here and there before the free run juice goes into neutral puncheons.

The result is a medium-bodied Syrah with a ton of phenolic complexity and grip all surrounding a piercing core of bing cherry and blueberry.

This won't be around for long. Be sure to experience it while you can!

Our summer red series continues! Enter the Fedellos do Couto 'Bastarda'!

FdC is run by the Taboada family from their estate in Riberia Sacra with a focus on indigenous varieties from up and down Eastern Spain ranging from Palomino to Godello to Mencia.

This bottling of Bastardo (more commonly known as Trousseau) spends time macerating in steel vats before spending a couple months in large neutral oak vats.

The result is an austere, spicy red with loads of tart red berries and a full range of fresh herbaceous and floral notes. As we get closer to BBQ season (are we already in it?), this is a must have for the ice box.

Swing on by and pick one up!

Coffee and a new red BTG lineup. Could you ask for more?

Swing by later this week to try through the new roster.

We'll be updating our white list as well and introducing our first white coravin pour. Swing by!

Bandol!

We recently brought in a bit of this beautiful Terrebrune Bandol Rouge. Going back to the 1960's, the Delille family has been paying homage to the forever underappreciated Bandol via beautiful, erudite expressions of Mourvèdre.

This is an approachable but serious expression that can be enjoyed with a quick decant or put down for a decade-plus.

Swing on by and pick up a bottle before it's gone.

There might not be a name more synonymous with holistic Rhone superiority than Chave.

While many of the wines can be a touch on the pricey side, there's also plenty to love in the daily bottle range.

Enter the 'Mon Coeur' Cotes du Rhone. The 22' is 100% Syrah and offers the perfect blend of hedonism and Chave deftness.

Stop on by!

Next Friday and Saturday we'll be featuring a flight curated by our fearless leader, !

Flights will be available from open Friday till' close Saturday. Swing by.

We've been planning this one for a bit!

On Friday, 5/31, Brian will host an educational tasting focused on the amber stuff that's captivated (and likely grossed out) many a wine drinker.

We'll have charcuterie on deck and plenty of juice to pour. To keep it intimate, we are limiting it to 10 seats.

Look out for the link in bio! DM for any questions.

NEW SUMMER JUICE ALERT

We recently picked up a couple of cases of the Phillipe Raimbault 'Apud Sariacum' Sancerre. This family's history in the region dates back to the 17th century, and every minute has been chock full of steely, zippy bliss.

This is a classic rendition that leans into Sancerre's quintessential green notes while bringing along a nice core of stone fruit and citrus peel. It simply doesn't get better.

We'll be featuring this as a coravin pour starting next week, but we have plenty of bottles available. Stop on by!

Our lone non-Sicilian bottle for May Wine Club: Prima Piuma Monferrato Bianco

Here we have a surreal pic of the Gaia estate where Summer Wolff and Gianluca Ravizza work their magic.

This a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling that leans into the pyrazine character of cool climate SB while showcasing fresh floral accents courtesy of the Riesling.

This is a stunner and a reminder that Piemonte white wines need more love.

Back on our regular stan-ing of Judith Beck.

Today we look at her 'Out', a simultaenously playful and serious 50/50 blend of Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt.

Fresh acidity and soft tannins envelop fresh handful's of blueberry, blackberry, and hints of meaty spice.

Super solid weekday wine.

Stop by and pick up a bottle(s)!