"It has become an expensive hobby, but there is so much potential in Texas wines especially in this area, " said Pruitt, who grew up in near California's wine-rich Santa Ynez Valley and still sources much of his grape juice from there.

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One of its properties, Calistoga Ranch, leverages not just the local waters but its Napa Valley location with its Vineyard Crush treatment, starring a grape-seed massage and tea bath.

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But the important piece of news here is not so much that Pinot Gris has an international identity crisis, but that, purely on its own merits, the grape has come to be cherished by wineries from New Zealand to Napa Valley.

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The big red-grape-growing regions of South Australia, such as Coonawarra and the Barossa Valley, get enough sun and heat to ripen the fruit every year.

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While California has its big cabernets and buttery chardonnays, Willamette Valley winemakers have become famous for the finicky, cool weather pinot noir grape.

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Chenin reaches its greatest heights in the Loire Valley, but in keeping with French practice you won't see the name of the grape on the bottle, but rather the village or region where it's grown.

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