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Feature Article
Bobby Cox is a Texas vineyard pioneer in the High Plains AVA.
Texas Pioneer Vintner
Bobby Cox:
How The West Was Won
The High Plains AVA covers millions of acres and the elevation varies from 2,900 feet to over 4,100 feet. The higher areas are substantively cooler and favor a different variety set than lower, hotter portions of the appellation. There is not just one variety which spans this appellation.
~ Bobby Cox
by
Wes Marshall
January 9, 2007
Wes Marshall (WM): Bobby, welcome to Appellation America. How are you doing?
Bobby Cox (BC): Well, I am still planting vines up here, so that’s something of an accomplishment.
WM: I think the Texas wine industry owes you and Kim McPherson a great debt. Before you two won in San Francisco, no one paid much attention to Texas wines. But I wonder, what do you think your main accomplishment is?
BC: Gee, Wes, this is hard, I guess my major accomplishment over the last 34 years was recognizing the inherent depth and quality of the High Plains appellation.
WM: You not only recognized it, but you were among the first. Back then, French vinifera was on everyone’s mind. You won for your Cabernet Sauvignon, and I remember, back in the 1980’s, you were best known for your Cab and Chenin Blanc. What are the main varietals now?
BC: Viognier is working, both in the field and in the market. But most Texans who have limited experience with traditional wines find the flavors of the Muscat family of grapes quite pleasant and easy to get into. As the market for Texas wine grows, and we get better access to our ultimate consumer, I think the market for our Muscat will explode.
By the way, I noticed Appellation America has not developed a "Varietal Character" yet for Orange Muscat. This variety is really gaining ground in Texas. When I was working over in the Metroplex (that’s Dallas-Fort Worth to non-Texans) this season, I noticed considerable strength in the Muscat category.
I have a small, funny side story. Some very dear friends of ours visited a Wine Spectator Top 100 winery in the Napa valley and bought a couple of bottles of the $100 Cabernet Sauvignon. Then they bought a case of splits of Orange Muscat to bring back to Lubbock. The wine was not made at the famous Napa winery. Instead, on the label it said, "Vinted & Bottled by" which means the fruit was almost certainly from Lodi. I guess everyone needs a Muscat.
WM: I agree. And High Plains Muscat, especially the Orange Muscat from Neal Newsom’s vineyard, is so vibrantly fragrant and easy to drink. What other grapes are popular?
BC: People are planting everything. Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Syrah, Viognier, and the Muscats. We are planting other vines also but there is no strict consensus on what growers should plant. Whatever vine ends up as the most popular, it will have won this planting race by a nose.
WM: I know you had a lot of luck with your Dry Chenin Blanc, but the grape seems a tough sell in the United States. What are the best white grapes for your area?
BC: Chenin Blanc is still the most adopted vine in the High Plains in general. It makes better wine here than anywhere else that the vine is grown. This makes the wines surprising to most of the wine-drinking world.
Viognier is being planted at a very high rate and even though it’s not the easiest grape to grow, the wines are wonderful and people are starting to look for Texas Viognier in stores and restaurants.
WM: You’ve had obvious success with Cabernet Sauvignon, but the California versions are tough to compete with. What are the red grapes which work best in your area?
BC: Sangiovese makes remarkable wine up here. Our climate gives the wines a dimension which California wines lack. Otherwise, there are scads of red grape varieties which make very fine wine.
The biggest problem is the size and variability of the area. The High Plains AVA covers millions of acres and the elevation varies from 2,900 feet to over 4,100 feet. The higher areas are substantively cooler and favor a different variety set than lower, hotter portions of the appellation. There is not just one variety that spans this appellation.
But the answer to your question is that the cooler areas are planting Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo . The warmer areas are planting Sangiovese and Mourvedre. Of course, there are experiments with a lot of other varieties.
WM: Any interesting new trends that you see?
BC: Wineries are writing long-term contracts for fruit which they find interesting. This provides a much needed boost to High Plains grower confidence.
WM: Texas winemakers are in a funny position. While regions from California to Australia to France are facing gluts of grapes, Texas winemakers can’t get enough Texas fruit. And since the High Plains has so much farmland, many Texas winemakers are going from farm to farm to see if they can get the vines in the ground for the grapes they want. I heard several farmers say they’d plant a vineyard for a five year guarantee. That sounds like a no-brainer to me. If you had the opportunity to predict five or ten years from now, what do you think your appellation will be best known for?
BC: Viognier should be our star but red wines blended from Mediterranean varieties will be known also.
WM: What is the biggest issue facing growers in your area?
BC: Our biggest issue is fitting into the agricultural community at large. 2,4-D spray drift is the single most damaging factor confronting High Plains winegrowers (2,4-D stands for 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, the most commonly used herbicide in the world, but on the High Plains, it is sprayed from planes mostly by peanut farmers). Area growers have lost more fruit to 2,4-D than any other single factor, including hail, freeze or frost. We must educate our neighbors on how vulnerable our crop is to 2,4-D exposure.
WM: And finally, what is the biggest issue facing winemakers in your area?
BC: Because very few people live on The High Plains, our customer base is very small and many of our wines must go through the three-tier distribution system. So shelf space and marketing opportunities are the biggest concerns.
~ Wes Marshall, Regional Correspondent
To comment on Wes Marshall's writings and thoughts, contact him at w.marshall@appellationamerica.com
Bobby Cox (BC): Well, I am still planting vines up here, so that’s something of an accomplishment.
WM: I think the Texas wine industry owes you and Kim McPherson a great debt. Before you two won in San Francisco, no one paid much attention to Texas wines. But I wonder, what do you think your main accomplishment is?
BC: Gee, Wes, this is hard, I guess my major accomplishment over the last 34 years was recognizing the inherent depth and quality of the High Plains appellation.
WM: You not only recognized it, but you were among the first. Back then, French vinifera was on everyone’s mind. You won for your Cabernet Sauvignon, and I remember, back in the 1980’s, you were best known for your Cab and Chenin Blanc. What are the main varietals now?
BC: Viognier is working, both in the field and in the market. But most Texans who have limited experience with traditional wines find the flavors of the Muscat family of grapes quite pleasant and easy to get into. As the market for Texas wine grows, and we get better access to our ultimate consumer, I think the market for our Muscat will explode.
By the way, I noticed Appellation America has not developed a "Varietal Character" yet for Orange Muscat. This variety is really gaining ground in Texas. When I was working over in the Metroplex (that’s Dallas-Fort Worth to non-Texans) this season, I noticed considerable strength in the Muscat category.
I have a small, funny side story. Some very dear friends of ours visited a Wine Spectator Top 100 winery in the Napa valley and bought a couple of bottles of the $100 Cabernet Sauvignon. Then they bought a case of splits of Orange Muscat to bring back to Lubbock. The wine was not made at the famous Napa winery. Instead, on the label it said, "Vinted & Bottled by" which means the fruit was almost certainly from Lodi. I guess everyone needs a Muscat.
WM: I agree. And High Plains Muscat, especially the Orange Muscat from Neal Newsom’s vineyard, is so vibrantly fragrant and easy to drink. What other grapes are popular?
BC: People are planting everything. Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Syrah, Viognier, and the Muscats. We are planting other vines also but there is no strict consensus on what growers should plant. Whatever vine ends up as the most popular, it will have won this planting race by a nose.
WM: I know you had a lot of luck with your Dry Chenin Blanc, but the grape seems a tough sell in the United States. What are the best white grapes for your area?
BC: Chenin Blanc is still the most adopted vine in the High Plains in general. It makes better wine here than anywhere else that the vine is grown. This makes the wines surprising to most of the wine-drinking world.
Viognier is being planted at a very high rate and even though it’s not the easiest grape to grow, the wines are wonderful and people are starting to look for Texas Viognier in stores and restaurants.
WM: You’ve had obvious success with Cabernet Sauvignon, but the California versions are tough to compete with. What are the red grapes which work best in your area?
BC: Sangiovese makes remarkable wine up here. Our climate gives the wines a dimension which California wines lack. Otherwise, there are scads of red grape varieties which make very fine wine.
The biggest problem is the size and variability of the area. The High Plains AVA covers millions of acres and the elevation varies from 2,900 feet to over 4,100 feet. The higher areas are substantively cooler and favor a different variety set than lower, hotter portions of the appellation. There is not just one variety that spans this appellation.
But the answer to your question is that the cooler areas are planting Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo . The warmer areas are planting Sangiovese and Mourvedre. Of course, there are experiments with a lot of other varieties.
WM: Any interesting new trends that you see?
BC: Wineries are writing long-term contracts for fruit which they find interesting. This provides a much needed boost to High Plains grower confidence.
WM: Texas winemakers are in a funny position. While regions from California to Australia to France are facing gluts of grapes, Texas winemakers can’t get enough Texas fruit. And since the High Plains has so much farmland, many Texas winemakers are going from farm to farm to see if they can get the vines in the ground for the grapes they want. I heard several farmers say they’d plant a vineyard for a five year guarantee. That sounds like a no-brainer to me. If you had the opportunity to predict five or ten years from now, what do you think your appellation will be best known for?
BC: Viognier should be our star but red wines blended from Mediterranean varieties will be known also.
WM: What is the biggest issue facing growers in your area?
BC: Our biggest issue is fitting into the agricultural community at large. 2,4-D spray drift is the single most damaging factor confronting High Plains winegrowers (2,4-D stands for 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, the most commonly used herbicide in the world, but on the High Plains, it is sprayed from planes mostly by peanut farmers). Area growers have lost more fruit to 2,4-D than any other single factor, including hail, freeze or frost. We must educate our neighbors on how vulnerable our crop is to 2,4-D exposure.
WM: And finally, what is the biggest issue facing winemakers in your area?
BC: Because very few people live on The High Plains, our customer base is very small and many of our wines must go through the three-tier distribution system. So shelf space and marketing opportunities are the biggest concerns.
~ Wes Marshall, Regional Correspondent
To comment on Wes Marshall's writings and thoughts, contact him at w.marshall@appellationamerica.com
