Best Texas Wines

The best Texas wines of 2015: Syrah and Viognier

We partnered with the Texas Wine Journal to bring you the best Texas wines of 2015.

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You call yourself a locavore. You like to eat what’s grown nearby — not only to follow the seasons but also to support your fellow Texans. Maybe you want to support local wineries too, but you don’t know where to start.

Enter Texas Wine Journal, which is devoted to building awareness for Texas wine through independent, credible, and objective ratings. That means the journal relies on consensus, rather than the opinion of a single taster, to make recommendations.

The journal held its first tasting in December 2013. It now packages all ratings from the year in a consumer-friendly, best-of list broken down by varietal. And we have partnered with the Texas Wine Journal to publish its panels picks for 2015.

“In no other time in our 360-plus year history of making wine in Texas have the wines been better, more expressive, more rooted to their place, and more appreciated and sought after,” says tasting director Daniel Kelada.

“The industry is advancing at every level. Growers both big and small are not just farming grapevines, they are wine growing. And producers are simply crafting better wines, with better quality fruit, better understanding, better tools and resources, and more experience.”

The TWJ scores range from 75-100, and wines are rated as average, good, very good, excellent, and extraordinary; only wines scoring 80 points or higher are published. In addition to pointed ratings, consumer ratings are provided in the form of “recommended” and “highly recommended” wines. The complete methodology is available on the Texas Wine Journal website, as is a list of judges.

We are presenting the list of the best Texas wines of 2015 in four batches, with the top three in two varietals per batch.

A caveat about where to buy and price information: Some of these are sold out, or they are available only at select locations of the places mentioned. Plus, the price can vary. But this gives you a good idea about where to start, and we mention wine retailers around Texas, not just in Dallas-Fort Worth.

First up: Syrah and Viognier. In cases where the wines received the same number of points, they are presented in alphabetical order.

SYRAH

Lost Oak Winery, Texas Shiraz, Gold Label, NV
92 points, $30
This wine is a bit closed at first but opens with air, says Jim Cubberley, who also calls it “chewy,” “intense,” “balanced,” and “classically structured.” It’s a full-bodied wine, but it’s not heavy.
Where to buy: This one is sold out, but a new vintage is coming this summer.

Perissos Vineyard & Winery, Texas Hill Country, Estate Syrah, 2013
91 points, $68
This well-made wine is “just plain delicious,” according to Jim Cubberley. Although not the most complex, this Syrah is “nicely concentrated, slightly floral, with juicy black plum and blackberry fruit.” A lack of oak “adds to the allure.”
Where to buy: Houston Wine Merchant (Houston), The Vintage Cellar (Fredericksburg)

Salt Lick Cellars, Texas Hill Country, Maile’s Vineyard, Syrah, 2013
89 points, $55
“This is a rare and exceptional expression of Texas Syrah,” writes Jennifer Beckmann in her tasting notes. Aromatics of flowers and baking spice are followed by flavors of rich blackberry, anisette, white pepper, and earthy wet soil.
Where to buy: Spec’s, Total Wine

VIOGNIER

Blue Ostrich Winery, Texas, Viognier, 2014
91 points, $22
“A brilliant pair for warm weather,” writes Rae Wilson, who also notes the wine’s pale straw color, clean tropical fruit, hints of aromatic garden herbs, and flinty texture.
Where to buy: Checkered Past Winery (Dallas), Wine Styles (Keller, Mansfield, Flower Mound), Metzler’s (Denton), Silver Dollar Winery (Bedford)

Lost Oak Winery, Texas High Plains, Bingham Family Vineyard, Viognier, 2014
91 points, $21
“Don’t let the light, clear color of this wine fool you,” writes Jim Cubberley. “This Viognier is definitely the fuller-bodied style.” He goes on to note flavors of stone fruits, honey, and minerals, with a fine acidity that balances the richness. He suggests pairing with cold soups or ceviche.
Where to buy: It is currently sold out but will be rebottled.

McPherson Cellars, Texas, Viognier, 2014
91 points, $16
In his tasting notes, Rob Moshein remarks that this wine has a pretty, floral nose and flavors of rich, peach-toned fruit. He also notes a nice viscosity, bright acids, full flavors, and long finish.
Where to buy: Spec’s, H-E-B, Central Market, Whole Foods, Total Wine

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Coming up next: white blends and red blends.

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Noodle News

YouTube critic Mike Chen ranks his favorite noodles in Dallas

Pho Pasteur

YouTube food critic Mike Chen, who travels the world spotlighting mostly Asian restaurants for his Strictly Dumpling YouTube channel, recently dropped into Dallas to rank his favorite noodles in town.

Titled "24 Hours Eating The Best NOODLES + DUMPLINGS Around DFW," the video follows Chen as he visits five restaurants, ordering noodles and dumplings at his favorite places as well as new discoveries.

The visit marked a return to DFW for Chen, who briefly resided in North Texas in 2021 and who has previously posted videos covering ramen, Vietnamese food, sushi, and barbecue.

Here's where he ate:

Chef Sun's Noodle and Dumpling
The video starts out with him noting that "there's a lot of new noodle places around the Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Frisco area," before entering Chef Sun's Noodle and Dumpling, a Chinese Halal restaurant that makes its own noodles, with locations in Plano and McKinney (which CultureMap covered in May — do you think he saw our story?!).

He raves over the extensive menu, featuring not only noodles but "a bunch of dumplings" and many other options like walnut shrimp and mapo tofu.

He also raves over the price. "Wow — $10 for Biangbiang noodles" [a dish featuring flat noodles with minced garlic, green onion, chili powder] — "only in Texas," he says.

He orders the Big Plate chicken, like a chicken stew with flat noodles, chunks of soft potato, carrots, yellow onion, green onion, bell pepper, and cilantro; as well as a variety of dumplings, including beef, pork, chicken & corn, veggie, and soup dumplings, heaping praise on their light chewy wrapper.

"My philosophy is always, eat the worst first and save the best for last, so let's start with the veggie dumplings," he said.

Pho Pasteur
On Day 2, he goes to Pho Pasteur, a longtime highly acclaimed family-owned chain with locations in Richardson, Arlington, and Carrollton, the location he visits.

"I've been thinking about this place for a long long time," he says. "I remember when I was living here, this was one of my favorites."

He orders pho with fatty brisket — "because here in Texas, whenever you see brisket, you get the brisket," he says.

After taking a sip of the broth, he proclaims, "This is the stuff — I've always said that this place has one of the best, if not THE best broth in America, with such a concentrated beefy flavor, and it's got so much depth."

"This might be one of my most-missed food items after I left Dallas," he says.

z.TAO Marketplace
His next destination is the z.TAO Marketplace, an Asian grocery store and food court in Plano which oddly has not updated its social media presence since 2020. He oohs and aahs over the supermarket's bounty including the many different Asian flavors of Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Fanta, then orders a bowl of hulatang, a traditional thick Northern Chinese soup, hand-pulled dan dan noodles, and a sandwich with chopped pork.

Moriya Shokudo Ramen & Curry
He also visits Moriya Shokudo, which started out in a food court in Koreatown before opening a stand-alone restaurant in Richardson in 2024, and which has won local awards for its ramen and curry.

He orders the garlic ramen and marvels at its garlicky-ness, with a black garlic-flavored tonkotsu broth along with roasted whole garlic cloves.

"This is a really intensely garlicky bowl — to call it intense would be an understatement," he says. "I would say this is a must-try."

Pho Big Bowl
His last place is Pho Big Bowl, a Vietnamese restaurant which started out in Watauga before opening a location in Carrollton in 2022.

He likes the lightness and yet potent beefy flavor of the broth. "I feel like when I'm here in Texas, I don't add nearly as much sriracha as I would at places in New York or Seattle," he says.

"I am really jealous of all the good pho places you have here in the Dallas area," he says. "I feel like, of all the cities in Texas, this area has the best pho, hands down."

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