Last week-end I was invited to a blind tasting at Messina Hof Winery and Resort, which was a wonderful event. If you have never been to a winery, Messina Hof makes for a great easy wine and resort experience. Only 90 miles from Houston, they have a great facility, spectacular guest house for you to stay in and a tasty restaurant to dine at. The blind tasting was to show how the Messina Hof wines show against wines from other major wine regions of the world. The tasting was held under the title "Messina Hof Twitter Taste Off". Below is a list of my picks from that tasting, and please search out Messina Hof on twitter to get other thoughts on this fun event. So my hands down favorite wines were:

Messina Hof Barrel Reserve Cabernet Franc 2005 – clean modern style with hints of tea leaf mixed with blackberries and cherries, huge bang for your buck, and from one of my favorite varieties of red grapes

Messina Hof Paulo 2002 – a blend of 49% Merlot, 49% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petite Verdot. As a new world Bordeaux style blend, this wine amazed me with its depth of flavors and balance and it hands down beat a very famous Napa Valley blend that retails for four times the cost of the Messina Hof

Messina Hof Paulo Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 – a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot, another stunner from the little winery in Bryan TX.  Flavors of ripe berries and dark chocolate with super smooth tannins round out this big cabernet that on my score card trounced a well known Napa cabernet with a silver-colored label, that retails for twice that of the Messina Hof.

Messina Hof Private Reserve Port 2005 – Unfortunatly we can not carry this wine because of the byzantine TABC laws which limit our bottle sales to wines below 17% alcohol, but we could sell you this by the glass if you wanted to sip a port style wine and shop. Anyway, this was another pleasant suprise with it's balanced sweetness and yet still had refreshing acidity that made this wine far out shine a major port house.

Overall I was quite impressed with the event and just how good the wines showed, and it is so great to enjoy wines from such great hosts as Paul and Merrill. Please try to go on up and visit with them.

Cheers, Martin the Resident Wino