Dallas 06.04.2009

Wine. Ohhhhs.

Deep Ellum winery pops its cork for you

A: Chardonnay. Enchanté. Ménage à trois.
Q: Name three things that sound better when spoken by a hot, young French guy.

While he may not whisper any of those words in your ear when you come into his Deep Ellum shop, but Benjamin Calais knows wine. And when he speaks about it, you can’t help but lose yourself in his words, or those dreamy eyes. Sigh. But before you jump in your Le Car and rush to Commerce Street, Benjamin corks for the other team. C’est la vie.

For a business open less than a year, he’s created three amazingly sophisticated and enjoyable wines. Each is made on premises (and yes, that’s a real chemistry lab behind the window in back) and all are named after streets in Deep Ellum (with a French translation, of course).

The wines he makes are good enough that he doesn’t even need to sell bottles from other winemakers. But he doesn’t care, because he knows that people have different tastes and he wants them to enjoy wine, whether he’s the daddy or not. So expect some lesser known wines at great prices besides the Calais varietals.

La Cuvée Principale (a.k.a. Main Street) is our pick for summer. This 2007 Chardonnay is mildly sweet without being throat-scratchingly dry. We simply stuck a baby-bottle nipple on a bottle and rested the whole thing on our stomachs while we floated in the pool. (Sophistication comes to us naturally.)

The tiny shop is simple yet utterly charming, perfect to rent out for a private wine-tasting or other intimate gathering. Or head over during regular hours for a tasting of his grapey threesome with the general public. We can’t wait until July when his newest wine debuts. Then we’ll have an oenephilic orgy on our hands (or in our glasses to be more precise).

Calais Winery
3000 Commerce Street, Dallas
(214) 453 2548
www.calaiswinery.com

Tasting Room Hours
Wednesday – Thursday, 4:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Friday – Saturday, 4:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, 2:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Share This                               

Dallas RSS Feed   |     Become A Facebook Fan!