Bear Dalton, Spec’s fine-wine buyer and a man whose Stetson-adorned visage belongs on the Houston wine community’s metaphorical Mount Rushmore, has long championed a theory about “regional palates.” And that’s why, when he began kicking around the idea of launching an international wine competition as a fundraising mechanism for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo nearly two decades ago, he favored utilizing local tasters rather than “celebrity judges” from elsewhere in the wine world.
It’s important to understand that Dalton’s all-abiding passion for wine is matched only by his love of horses and horsemanship, which explains how two such disparate worlds wound up becoming intertwined. He was also troubled by the fact, his friend from way back, Kyle Britt, recalls, that Houston, home to one of the world’s richest, most famous rodeos, was also “the largest city in North America that didn’t have an important wine competition.”
But first Dalton had to sell the rodeo honchos on the concept and, initially, the skeptics far outnumbered the supporters. Wine and cowboys? Really, Bear? So ultimately, it took several deep-pocketed friends agreeing to put up $25,000 apiece and lots of pushing from within by Dalton’s then-new best friend, Jim Janke — Janke had been given no choice but to become a major player in the rodeo after marrying then-president Tommy Vaughn’s daughter Jeanie in the mid-1970s — to get a deal done assuring breaking even was the worst-case scenario.
Instead, of course, it turned into a Grand Champion Best of Show cash cow for the rodeo’s scholarship fund. (Last year’s wine-auction dinner brought in more than $1 million, and that surprised no one.) It would also prove Dalton right about the “regional palate” thing.
The 18th Grand Champion Best of Show wine, recently selected from among some 2,600 entries by an almost completely local (socially distanced, too) group of judges, is the 2014 Alexander Valley Vineyards CYRUS. It’s a boldly expressive, fruity Bordeaux-style red blend from the lovely Sonoma County valley that trapper-turned-California-agricultural-pioneer Cyrus Alexander settled in the mid-1800s.
This is the fourth time the CYRUS has taken top honors in Houston. It won the inaugural competition in 2004 (the 1999 vintage that time), then prevailed again in 2011 (2006) and 2013 (2008). Twelve of the first 13 Grand Champions and 15 total arguably shared flavor profiles similar to the CYRUS. The only outliers have been the two sparkling wines that somewhat prevailed in 2019-20 — the Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne and the Graham Beck Brut Rosé from South Africa, respectively — and the 2003 Hang Time Pinot Noir way back in 2005.
Dalton called CYRUS’ completing its Texas Hat Trick “amazing” yet pronounces it anything but blind luck. Think CYRUS and you think of black cherries, cassis, chocolate and vanilla notes from the toasty oak barrels.
2021 major-category champions in the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s International Wine Competition
Grand Champion Best of Show: 2014 Alexander Valley Vineyards CYRUS, Alexander Valley
Reserve Grand Champion Best of Show: Le Chemin du Roi Brut, Champagne AOC, NV
Top Texas Wine: 2017 Ron Yates Tempranillo, Friesen Vineyards, Texas High Plains
Top Red Wine: 2015 Famiglia Pasqua Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG
Top White Wine: 2017 William Hill Estate Winery Chardonnay, Napa Valley
Top Sparkling Wine: Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut, Champagne AOC NV
Top Dessert Wine: Harveys The Bristol Cream Solera Sherry, Jarez DO NV
Top Region Wine: 2017 Three Sticks Chardonnay, Durell Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Top Value Wine: 2018 Private Selection Robert Mondavi Riesling, California
Top All-Around Winery: Wilson of Dry Creek
Top Wine Company: E & J Gallo Winery
Top Region Wine Company: Matrix Winery
Top Texas Winery: Messina Hof Winery
“These are the kinds of wines Houstonians love to drink,” he said.
Janke calls Dalton “the mother goose” of the competition, saying: “The idea was Bear’s, all his. I helped pull it together from the rodeo side because I know how the rodeo works. Hey, I’m the vice president for life. But Bear brought all the wine expertise.”
The smashing success that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Wine Competition became is Dalton’s greatest legacy because of how many kids’ lives have been so positively impacted by all that cash generated through the myriad wine-centric events, from the hugely popular Rodeo Uncorked Best Bites evening at the NRG Center to the Wine Auction to the nightly Wine Garden wine bar on the NRG grounds. Fingers crossed that all of the above will return at some level in 2021.
However, Dalton has also impacted so many onetime wine novices — present company included — with his deep reservoir of knowledge and ready eagerness to share same with anyone interested enough to ask. I’m writing this today with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat but with gratitude in my heart, too, because, sadly, he’s not holed up in a good place right now. Bear has battled colon cancer valiantly for the past couple of years, but his medical team has run the gamut of options, and he recently went into hospice care.
“I’m in God’s hands at this point,” Dalton admitted. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”
He’s not alone on this brutally tough journey, though. Hardly. Britt’s wife, Robin, a medical professional of the highest rank, has stayed at his side since the ordeal began, and Dalton calls his wife, Carol, “my health care pit bull. She’s been so great.”
Might I propose we all raise a glass to Bear right now? I do believe I’m going to fill mine with some CYRUS.
sportywineguy@outlook.com
December 03, 2020
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Bear Dalton's rodeo competition put Houston on the map, top wine announced - Houston Chronicle
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