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Coping with the 2013 late freezes...
McPherson Cellars gets it right. They are on top of the curve and truly committed to quality and honest labeling.
From McPherson Cellars -
"The current controversy in the Texas wine industry over the use of For Sale In Texas Only and the GO TEXAN program has affected even those of us who do not use the GO TEXAN logo and use FSITO as a last resort. That’s why, when the 2013 harvest produced few white grapes due to the late freezes, we were faced with three hard choices:
- Produce a very limited amount of our three major white wines, which was not practical.
- Label the wines as American, which meant they couldn’t have a vintage date and would incorrectly imply they didn’t contain any Texas grapes at all. We believe vintage is crucial for McPherson wines and we didn’t want anyone to think we had forsaken Texas grapes.
- Use FSITO as the best of a bad lot
"We found what we think is an approach which adds a unique twist to FSITO and highlights the effort we make to be true to Texas wine. Kim’s younger brother Jon is an award-winning winemaker in California and Kim called on him to help with a solution. By working together and combining grapes sourced by Jon with the Texas grapes Kim had available, they created three wines with the quality our customers expect from McPherson Cellars. The wines are called “Brothers Blend.”
In 1986, Double Gold was awarded to the 1984 Llano Estacado Chardonnay at the San Francisco Fair Wine Competition.
Horticulturist Thomas V. Munson of Denison, Texas is credited with saving the vineyards of Europe from Phylloxera in the mid to late 1800s. The French city of Bordeaux erected a statue honoring Munson in the 1970s and Denison is recognized as the sister city of Cognac, France, which also has a statue honoring Munson.
"The three white wines – Viognier, Roussanne and Les Copains (a white Rhone varietal blend) - are all labeled on the front with the varietal or proprietary name and Brothers Blend just below. The back label tells the story of the grape loss in 2013 due to the freezes, how Kim and Jon worked together to make the wine and that we hope to have TEXAS proudly back on the front label next year where it belongs. All our other current and new releases are TEXAS appellation.
"We hope you will support our decision and feel, as do we, that this was an honest way to address a difficult issue. McPherson Cellars is proud to be a part of the Texas wine industry and we believe the best is yet to come.
If you have questions or need further information please contact:
John Bratcher
214-202-6433
or
Emily Simpson
806-687-9463