In unseasonable cold, the San Antonio Express-News Wine Festival gave residents of the historic city a chance to try Texas wines--and compare them to wines from other parts of America and the world.

The festival, which benefits local public television station KLRN, attracted fans to three events: a black-tie premium tasting Friday night plus a Champagne brunch and giant wine and food tasting on Sunday.

The first two events were held at the venerable Sheraton Gunter Hotel in downtown San Antonio, within a short distance of the famed San Antonio River Walk, its historic houses and, of course, the mission and adjacent fort that came to be known as The Alamo. The big tasting for more than 3,000 crowded the nearby Alamodome sports coliseum. All venues featured local food as well as wines, reminding outsiders that wines aimed at Texas might have to stand up to BBQ, chile verde and sushi with red chili paste or jalapeño peppers, and some did that exceptionally well.

It was also a good opportunity for writers to try a wide selection of Texas wines, and the city and Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association (TWGGA) took advantage of their presence to provide a tour of historic sites and a visit to Becker Vineyards, arguably the state's best-known winery and a favorite of First Lady Laura Bush. It also arranged a press conference to bring the media up to date on the state's wine industry.

Texas now has 109 wineries, with another 23 wending their way through legal channels toward opening. According to Paul Bonarrigo, CEO of another top Texas winery, Messina Hof, that's twice the total of six years ago.

Bonarrigo is the president of TWGGA, and served as an eloquent spokesman.

In addition to the growth in number of wineries, Texas vintners are celebrating a new bill that provides $4 million for wine marketing and production assistance. Half the total is allocated for wine education and research and half for promotion, a significant amount given the money available previously.

The funds will help pay for the state's first official enologist, perhaps two. Until now, Texas A&M, home of the famous Aggies, and Texas Tech have taught grapegrowing, but not winemaking other than basic wine chemistry, so this is a significant change. Grayson Community College in Dennison also offers a two-year degree in viticulture, and it has been responsible for the education of
many current vintners.

Texas is expanding the number of field agents to help growers maximize quality and increase yields, which tend to be low compared to California. Bonarrigo says the state's growers average less than 2 tons per acre.

Money will also go into research in controlling Pierce's disease, a huge issue in many of the state's vineyards. State vintners also have to figure on untimely rains, fungus, locusts, hail and the mockingbird, the protected state bird that loves ripe grapes.

The funding is a one-time deal, but could loosen future purse strings if it results in higher tax revenue.

The wine education allotment is for food and wine pairing and a healthy lifestyle, not anti-alcohol messages that might be expected in this still-conservative state.

Though wine has been made in the state since before Prohibition at Val Verde Winery in Del Rio, the recent history began about 20 years ago, and yields are starting to decline as the vines get older.

The genesis of today's Texas wine business occurred in 1977, when Texas A&M performed pilot tests in 13 locations around the state, planting 50 varieties at each. This led to vineyards around Fredericksburg in the Hill Country, in the High Plains around Lubbock at 3,400 ft., some around Dallas and a large planting in west Texas deserts that became Ste. Genevieve, sometimes called Texas' Gallo for its large volume of inexpensive wines. That reputation is likely to change however, as new ownersup the winery's sights.

More recently, vineyards are expanding near the Oklahoma border north of Dallas, around Mason and at Del City on the New Mexico border south of Lubbock. Many cotton farmers are switching to winegrapes, since they don't have to be subsidized and require much less water than cotton crops. The state pays the farmers up to 50% of the cost of switching to grapes.

In general, Texans tend to like sweet and spicy wines that complement their signature foods, and Muscats, Chenin Blanc and Riesling are successfully grown and well liked. However, the state grows almost every popular commercial vine, including Spanish and Italian varieties, and seems to do particularly well with Rhône varietals. Economics and demand, however, encourage the state's growers to plant Cabernet, Merlot and other popular varieties, some in possibly marginal locations.

Chardonnay, one of the most popular varieties, is among the more challenging grapes to grow, due to the variable weather. Just before the festival, the temperature in Lubbock soared to 92°F, then plummeted to 0ºF a few days later. Fortunately, the vines were dormant, but premature warm spells can cause untimely bud break, and a following freeze can be disastrous.

Bud break naturally varies throughout the huge state, averaging Mar. 7 at Messina Hof in Bryant Station in the southeast to Apr. 10 in Lubbock.

One of the most important developments in the Texas wine business occurred last year when the state opened its doors to direct shipping by outside wineries. Not surprisingly, it benefited other regions far more than Texas: "Texas is shipping a few hundred cases to other states," Bonarrigo says, "but California shipped 50,000 in."

Texas wineries hope to expand their shipping to adjoining and more distant states, but challenges loom because of the stiff competition. Within the state, Texans only consume about 1.5 gallons of wine per capita each year, but that's up from 0.4 gallon 12 years ago. The state produces 1.5 million gallons annually, and a study by MKF Research funded by the state wine association claims a $200 million per year economic impact from wine.

Of course, a major purpose of the event was to allow consumers and the trade to taste the wines, and many of them are excellent. Because of the continental climate, many of the reds exhibited a touch of herbaceousness like that found in many European wines, rather than the lushness of top-rated California and other New World reds. They also tend to be a little lower in alcohol, which is good, since few vinifera grapes reach sugars above 24° Brix. The best of the wines, however, could compete among fine wines from elsewhere.

Some of the whites are delightful with delicate flavors, good acidities and subdued rather than overwhelming fruit flavors. They're excellent with much of the food, including heavy but spicy meats. The off-dry wines, notably the Muscats, were especially appealing and understandably popular with consumers.

Virtually all the wines are made from vinifera grapes, but a few wineries make Port-style wine and some reds from a native or hybrid of unsure origin, variously called Lenoir or Spanish Black. Like another native, Norton, it's resistant to Pierce's disease and can make a palatable table wine without the objectionable flavors of Labrusca grapes.

Unlike the situation you would find in most West Coast tastings, more than a few wines suffered from winemaking defects that I suspect resulted from inattention to sanitation, dirty barrels and lack of expertise and experience. It seems to take 20 years or so for new wine regions to overcome these issues, but there's little question that many Texas wineries have reached that point. If few of their wines can compete with the best in the world, enough do to show the potential is there, and plenty of other wines are perfectly good companions for a meal or party.