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Texas Wine: 5 Top Stories of 2026

Decanter Medals! Hill Country bubbly! Hybrids!

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The imperfect art of assigning numbers to taste…we do our best.

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What to do (and drink) in North Texas this month.

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” So that you may not be the martyred slaves of Time, get drunk; get drunk, and never pause for rest! With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you choose! ” – Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)

” Wine is sunlight, held together by water. The light of a sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, that can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. ” – Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

” I rather like bad wine … one gets so bored with good wine. ” – Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–1881)

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About Michelle

I’m Michelle Gruben, a wine writer from Dallas, Texas. My blog celebrates the wines I encounter through tasting, travel, and service. I’m currently pursuing the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines.

Past awards and certifications: WSET Level 3 with Distinction, Certified Texas Wine Ambassador, Wine Writers’ Symposium Fellow (2026), 67 Pall Mall Awards Longlist for Long-Form and Short-Form Wine Writing (2026).

The Wine Fairy on Instagram (@winefairymichelle)

https://www.instagram.com/p/DdZQ2CoxY25/ I recently returned from a short summer wine trip to the Texas Hill Country--a place I love and have traveled to many times since childhood. We dropped in on some new places this time and had a blast! The 2026 Costco wine advent calendar has landed in Texas! 👀 Wines? Tasted. Friends? Hugged. Learning? Unlocked. https://www.instagram.com/p/DcemqvCyyXS/ It's #MerlotThursday--and today's bottle is BriO de Cantenac Brown, at the technically permissible 50% Merlot. (The referees have allowed it.) 👍 Happy #MerlotThursday! What a great day to share a Bordeaux with your buddy. 🍷🍷 Pond faery photos by the Another Thursday, more thoughts about Merlot! Today, we're re-visiting a wine that was everywhere in the '90s.