THE MCBEE WINE BLOG DIARY

My mother, Camille McBee, partnered with Bobby G. Smith, Winemaker, in North Texas for over 30 years. Together they worked to develop a National and International name for Texas Wines. In 2009 she passed away too young, but she left behind a Texas Wine Industry that was better because of her dedication and she left a family with a deep rooted love and appreciation for wine and entertaining. This blog serves as a diary of my adventures in wine and as a lasting toast to my mother. -Cheers!

This blog is NOT intended to be the authority on tasting notes, or a professional guide for wine experts; it's simply a place for me to share some of my opinions and findings about wine with my friends and other wine lovers.

I truly hope you will use this blog to help you the next time you are thinking about what to buy at the wine store or deciding what to order at a local restaurant or when you travel to the wine country. ENJOY!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Whole Foods Dallas - Wine Shopping

I was picking up some dinner for the family this week at Whole Foods Market in Dallas.     I don't always shop here for my wine, but stopped but the wine isle and stumbled upon some decent deals.     One notable selection for the money was a Est. 1975 for $24.99.  

A creation of the Beckstoffer family, Napa Royalty, this is a really good wine for a very reasonable price.    IF you have read some of my older bolt comments, this will make sense, but this is a "Wednesday Night Wine" for sure...   affordable, drinkable and enjoyable, for no other reason that it is Wednesday night and your feeling a little thirsty.    So, check it out, Whole Foods Market, Central @ Park, $25 bucks, let me know what you think!

P.S. - As I was walking off with my selection, I looked down at the floor I noticed and interesting painting.    There was a bottle of wine in the shape of a wine bottle painted right on the cement.    It just made me laugh, and I had to mention it.   Whoever painted the little wine whale - Good stuff!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Al Biernat's Dinner


Had an amazing dinner last night at Al Biernat's in Dallas. Shared some good laughs with my partners, Mike and Mike, Cody Lummus, Brittany Smith and our good friend Morgan Palmer.  I hadn't been there in a while, but wow!, what a great call. We all shared the crab cakes, calamari and ..., get this... rabbit sausage with tortillas. The steaks were superb,  we added scallops and lobster Mac on the side for good measure.  This may be a new steakhouse favorite for me in Dallas.    Waitress was awesome and a lot of fun...  Overall just a great experience!

Now... On to the wine. The wine list was extensive and thoughtful. I mean I saw some selections you don't see most other places. Most of the selections were priced pretty reasonable, don't get me wrong, no fire sales going on, but too many places in Dallas are getting out of hand.

We started with a 2005 Eponymous, from Napa. I have had this before thanks to my membership at Napa Wine Co., so I was familiar with the wine and super excited to find it on the menu. This was everyone's favorite of the night.  For the money, this one is a big winner.  We also had a 2007 Corison Napa Cabernet. I had recently visited Corison while in Napa and was also familiar with this one as well. Peschel liked this one the best.  It is a nice big Cab, with plenty of fruit, which matched well with Peschel's "million once" monster ribeye.   Our last bottle was a 2004 Heitz Cellars' Cabernet.   A Napa classic, Heitz is consistently a good choice.   Although this was a good one, consensus was: this was the least favorite of the night.  Two thumbs up from all on the Eponymous.