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Texas Wine for your Valentine

Looking for Texas Wine Recommendations?

Whether you’re a connoisseur or a novice you are bound to find a Texas wine to suit your palate.  I am no connoisseur, which is why I always ask for recommendations from those with more ‘cultivated’ tastes.  So I will point you to the people who I would look to for advice and share a few of their recommendations.

Look to the Experts

SaltandPepperWine
Todd & Cheramie of Salt and Pepper Wine (photo courtesy saltandpepperwine.com)

Cheramie & Todd of Salt & Pepper Wine started their passion business as kind of self-appointed Texas Wine Ambassadors.  They started visiting the local wineries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and by using the power of social media and the internet, they steadily grew their following and currently boast an audience over 6K. Now they visit wineries all over Texas and have been invited to talk about Texas Wine at the 2019 Oscars Gifting Suite 😮 . Yeah, pretty impressive.  Their plans for 2019 include spreading the word on Texas Wine across the US.  I was really taken with their story because my dream for Totally Texas Gifts is quite similar.  I want to be an ambassador for Texas artists and makers and help them connect to new customers & merchants with the idea of eventually taking Totally Texas Gifts on the road, nationwide, like a mini gallery on wheels 🙂 .

But back to the subject at hand.

If you are looking for expert information and first-person recommendations about Texas wines, subscribe to the SaltandPepperWine.com blog, follow @saltpepperwine on Instagram & Facebook and look up Cheramie and Todd on YouTube.

Some of our favorite Texas Wines

One of Salt and Pepper Wine’s recommendations is Burklee Hill Vineyards.

Burkley Hill Vineyard Wine & Dark Chocolate Truffles
Red Wine infused Dark Chocolate Truffles by Burklee Hill Vineyard’s Elizabeth Hill (click image for recipe)

Good news for those Texans not from the Levelland or Lubbock area, you can order Texas wines online and have them shipped to you or anyone else in Texas. NICE!

Click here to visit BurkleeHillVineyard.com and shop their amazing wines, join their Wine Club or check out one of their special events if you are lucky enough to be nearby.

Learn the art of winemaking

Looking to make a day of wine tasting or perhaps you’re interested in the art & science of winemaking and blending?  One of Trip Advisor’s top 10 Texas wine tasting tours, Kuhlman Cellars in Stonewall, also has some very unique Valentine’s Day Specials (click to view).  I saw several mentions on Trip Advisor about their Herbed Almonds which seem to be almost as popular as their wines.  You can purchase both their wine and the almonds, as well as make reservations, online.

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Photo courtesy of KuhlmanCellars.com

Just click here to visit Kuhlman Cellars website to reserve a spot at the Wine & Food Pairing table or shop their Valentine’s Day Specials. 

My last recommendation for this post comes from Dripping Springs and is one of my favorite “by their bootstraps” stories.  Read the story of Hawk’s Shadow Winery & Vineyard here and see what I mean. They too offer online shopping and in-state delivery.  Click here to shop their secure online store.

I just received an email today about an upcoming live music event on Feb. 22.  No reservations required and it is FREE!  Click here to get the deets.

Hawk's Shadow Wine Selection for Valentines Day
Photo courtesy of HawksShadow.com

I could go on and on listing great Texas wines but I think I will leave off for now and instead start working on a permanent selection of Totally Texas Wines and the folks that create them.

Cheers y’all,

Cami

 

 

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14 Days of Valentine Ideas – Texas Chocolate

Totally Texas chocolate for your sweetie just in time for Valentine’s Day

Maggie Louise Confections, Austin

When I first saw Maggie Louise Confections I thought they were too beautiful to eat.  Each delectable piece is a work of art, but then I read the descriptions and couldn’t resist the urge to nibble.  See for yourself at MaggieLouiseConfections.com and shop their full selection of handmade Texas chocolate.

“Handcrafted confections combining nostalgic flavors, modern design, and meaningful bespoke details. Made in Austin and packed with personality, our gourmet chocolates and candies are gifting perfection.”

 

Totally Texas Chocolates by Maggie Louise Confections
What’s Inside (1) Texas in White Chocolate filled with Hazelnut Cream (1) Cactus Flower in Milk Chocolate filled with Peanut Butter Candy (1) Textured Heart in Milk Chocolate filled with Pecan Pie (1) Message Tile in Solid White Chocolate

 

Artisan Chocolates by Maggie Louise Confections
Our Sunset Sweetheart chocolate box with a variety of milk, dark, and white chocolate made in Austin, Texas. It is the perfect gift for the chocolate lover in your life. If you didn’t already know the way to a Texan’s heart, it’s “tacos”, in white chocolate to be exact.

 

Gillen’s Candies, Blanco

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Gillen’s Candies in Blanco is born from a family legacy reaching back to the early 1900s.  Their family history is entwined with the history of our country.  Before Russell Stover, there was Gillen’s Candies.

The Blanco store carries on the family candy traditions and adds some flavor of their own with wines, craft beers, and award-winning, preservative free, beef jerky.  While I did not find any items available for purchase online, a trip to the store would definitely make for a great date.  Click here to see what I mean… Bonnat-Bon-Bons-DSC01321-300x199

From Gillenscandies.com

“Steve W. Gillen, great-grandson of Frank E Gillen and grandson of Tillie and Frank R Gillen, has decided to continue the family business but with a little twist. “My grandfather, Frank R Gillen, believed in excellence so I am trying to continue the excellence in the chocolate and the products that I purchase.” Gillen’s Candies has evolved from just chocolate to also including wines, jerky, craft beer, and other artisan products.”

“Steve scoured the nation for the top chocolatier’s that meet the quality expected by you. “

Dude, Sweet Chocolate, Dallas

“At Dude, Sweet Chocolate we concoct, manufacture, distribute, and retail dark chocolate inspired creations as our core business. Our product line is very fluid and seasonal, but usually contains fudges, truffles, toffees, nuts, artisan chocolates, and basically anything else our chef decides to improve by introducing it to cacao.

Dude, Sweet Chocolate traces its roots to a dive bar just south of downtown Dallas, Lee Harvey’s, where co-founders Chef Katherine Clapner and Redding May were regulars. Heading towards the holidays in 2008, he partnered with her to send unique artisan chocolates as client gifts while working with Merrill Lynch. After that, she ran with the idea – pushing her chocolate creations in the summer heat at farmers markets and the like. Mid-year 2009, she brought up the idea of opening a store, and the first small kitchen/store was built-out and opened in early December that year.”

They have a nice selection available online.  Click here to shop.

Chubby Nuts Spilled

 

One Night Stand Chocolate Sauce

Looking for a unique date idea?  How about touring a chocolate factory?  Well, it is a 4-hour drive from here in Lockhart, but you could make a weekend of it 😉  Not up for the drive?  No worries, click here to shop their online selections.

Mozna-Logo-Color

Mozna Chocolate, Hidalgo

An artisanal bean to bar chocolate factory in Hidalgo Texas, established in 2015 with a mission to make high-quality dark chocolate. They use only single origin cacao beans in their products.Chocolate-Sauce

“Our dream is to empower your body, mind, and soul with our one of a kind chocolate bars”

“Mozna Chocolate uses only two ingredients, cane sugar, and cacao beans, to manufacture 70% single origin cacao chocolate bars. By using these two ingredients the original flavors of the cacao beans remain intact, giving our consumers a unique, flavorful and nutritious experience. Mozna Chocolate sources cacao beans from Mexico, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Just like coffee and wine, cacao beans inherit specific flavor characteristics according to the region they are grown, creating unique flavorful chocolate bars.”

And what goes perfect with gourmet Texas chocolates?

Texas Wines of course!  Check out our Totally Texas Wine recommendations here!

Cheers y’all,

Cami