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« BACK Those who are doing the actual grape-growing in Texas have a problem with vinifera grapes, the kind that fine European wines are made from. Viniferas suffer from Pierce's disease in southern climates. To keep the tourists happy, many South Texas wineries plant hybrid grapes, a disease-resistant cross between vinifera and native American species. The hybrid grapes do well in extreme climates, but most of the sweet, foxy wines they yield are unpopular among sophisticated wine drinkers. One wine writer described the typical hybrid flavor as "Welch's grape jelly with a shot of vodka." Nevertheless, hybrids can be quite profitable; the New York Finger Lakes region is planted almost entirely in hybrids, which are used to make wine coolers and sweet, cheap, high-alcohol wines like Wild Irish Rose. The Gulf Coast is a good location for grapes -- it's just not a good location for vinifera grapes. On his acreage, Raymond Haak grows Black Spanish and Blanc du Bois hybrids, which he uses to make port and fruity white wine. In a tasting room, his wines fare well, and they sell at an excellent profit. Haak recently expanded his production by buying hybrid grapes from other local growers. "It's a struggle to get in tune with our climate and soil," Haak said. "I tried to grow vinifera here. I had 150 vines planted. The vines did great for a couple of years, and then they all died from Pierce's disease." Growing hybrids is one thing. Making good wine from them is another -- and one that gets Haak hot under the collar. "Wine is a business," he said. "And quality is arbitrary. The tourists that come here are not discerning buyers. But who says that your taste is better than somebody else's? The better wine is the one that sells the most. Let folks like what they want to like." In a study conducted by Texas A&M researchers, 240 wine drinkers from around the state were asked to compare a glass of French wine with a glass of Texas wine. The subjects were asked which one they preferred, how much they would be willing to pay for each, and which wine they would be more likely to give as a gift. The wine drinkers liked the French wine substantially better, were willing to pay a higher price for it, and were much more likely to give it as a gift. The results were similar regardless of the drinker's age, income, education, or degree of "Texan-ness." But in fact, the two glasses contained the exact same wine -- from the Messina Hof winery in Bryan. "Quality really isn't the problem," said Dr. Tim Dodd, current director of the Texas Wine Marketing Research Association. Dodd doesn't think that hybrids will hurt the reputation of Texas wines. While small producers keep planting them, their wines are hardly ever sold outside of a tasting room because the grapes have no name recognition among consumers, he says. Currently, hybrid wines account for only about 1 percent of the market. Dodd, who is originally from New Zealand, conducted a quality experiment of his own during his last visit to London. He brought five bottles of Texas cabernet in the $15-to-$18 price range with him. And he asked a London friend to purchase five bottles of the best Bordeaux available in the same price range. Then he conducted a blind tasting for a group of London wine lovers. "Texas wines took second and fourth in the top five," Dodd reported. NEXT »
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