Raul and I decided to pop over to the Texas Wine Country last weekend – one final hurrah together before our big trips (him: Africa – work; her: NYC, Spain, Netherlands, Canada – pleasure).

Texas is hot. In case you haven’t noticed. And I like to sit outside, pretty much all the time. Which means May – November, in order to have my way, I must embrace the glistening film of moisture coating my body from head to toe.

Here’s another thing you may not know about me. I HATE heat and humidity.

Mmmhmm.

Anywho, we popped on over to Texas Hills Vineyard first, extremely excited to be having a day of wine tours.

Texas wineries are, well….different. And they are so stingy with their pours! Come on guys. You can give me more than 1/2 ounce. I know it’s not fair to compare the two, but in Napa they just eye ball it as they pour. There’s none of this “plastic stopper” nonsense that will only give you a tiny sip. Just sayin….

Texas Hills ended up being a pretty stereotypical Southern experience. Our “pourer” was friendly and chatty. And then she started telling us about an even BETTER wine festival up in Marble Falls, where they serve buffalo wings and chili cheese fries with the wines.

“It’s awesome.”

She asked where we were going to dinner that night, and recommended a place with fabulous fried German food. Raul told her we were going to “August E’s“, a restaurant with a Zagat rating of 27. She scrunched up her nose and said it might be okay, if you like that sort of thing. Good food? Meh. It’s alright.

Raul tasting at Wood Rose…

We opted for the cellar tour at Grape Creek.

This tour consisted of a brief tour of the production process and 3 wine tastings. Three. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know our last cellar tour at Del Dotto was something out of a fairy tale. And we tried about 15 wines that day.

It just wasn’t the same. We hung our heads and left.

After nap time, we head out for dinner at August E’s.

Our wine for the evening –

You can take the kids out of Napa…

I got the New Zealand rack of lamb in a cherry balsamic sauce with whipped sweet potatoes

And Raul opted for the trio of steak, quail and scrimps

I’ll see YOU in New York City….