@McPhersonCellar

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: Welcome to #SommChat everyone! Tell your friends to join us to learn from #TX #Winemaker Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar!

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: We’d like to introduce you to @mcphersoncellar #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: We're about ready to dive in w/questions, so shout out to #TX #Winemaker Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar to say hello & so he knows you're here! #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: Don't forget that EVERY tweet during this chat should include the #SommChat hashtag in order for everyone to see it!

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: As we ask @mcphersoncellar our Qs, you can ask Kim McPherson your Qs as well! He'll do his best to answer all Qs in the order they come #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: W so many participants lots of gr8 Q's R asked! Even if u dont ask 1--give a S/O 2 @keepercoll & @mcphersoncellar 2 let us know u R here! #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: Let's start talking #wine with #TX #Winemaker Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar #WineWednesday #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: I appreciate being here with Diane Dixon and @keepercoll and so excited to help ppl learn about #TX #wines on #SommChat today

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: @mcphersoncellar What was the inspiration for your father, Dr. Clinton “Doc” McPherson, to be a founder of the #TX #wine industry? #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: My father was at #TexasTech and the nursery was pulling up #grapevines to put in a greenhouse and he said to his friend we need to do something with these vines - they replanted i his friend’s backyard and we don’t know what the red grape was… #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: My father’s friend said we can make fresh fruit or jelly and my dad said NO we will make #tx #wine! They called their grape “patio" #SommChat

Sandy Wasserman @SandyWasserman : Good morning Kim @mcphersoncellar who are your #wine mentors and how did you get your start in the wine business? #sommchat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: One of my biggest #wine mentors was a man I went to #UCdavis with - I just read an article in @NewYorker May issue about him - he is a big #rhone #Winemaker , as I am his name is @RandallGrahm another mentor is Tony Soter... #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: I got my start in biz after getting food science degree and got laid off by a big corp along with another 125 people. My dad told me that I was going to go back to school & study #winemaking & then you will help me #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: .@mcphersoncellar You judged @texsomiwa 2018 #wine competition, can you tell us about this experience and why this competition is so unique? #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: I feel @texsomiwa is the toughest #wine Competition in the #US and it is so well organized. This is a big deal and wineries should submit their #wines - @winejames and @drewhendricksms have raised the bar to the top …. #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: I enter my #wines so that I can make sure we are doing right thing in our #winemaking process - 4 example, I entered my 2nd vintage of Piquepoul Blanc and in the San Fran Int’s Comp it was the best white out of 1900 white wine - what it told me was we can make this grape #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: .@mcphersoncellar It was just recently unveiled that @TEXSOM will be hosting a seminar on #TX #Wines with #winewriter @JDewps , What can an attendee be expecting at this seminar? Can you say if any of your #wines will be featured? #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: I do not know what @JDewps has planned for the seminar or if my #wines will be included but I know that it will be sold out if not already #SommChat

James Tidwell @winejames: Kim, what’s most rewarding & most challenging about making #texas #wine in Texas High Plains? Special considerations? #sommchat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: Hardest thing is to understand chemistry of grape you are growing in this soil and what you need to do to work with the grapes with our varied temperature swings from hot to cold and cold to hot and hail storms and spring freezes #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: @mcphersoncellar Cabernet Griil was named one of the “100 Best Wine Restaurants” by @WineEnthusiast , Which of your #wines are on that list? #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: We have 3-4 #wines on the list and Congrats to Cabernet Grill for making @WineEnthusiast and appreciate their support of our #viognier - it is a big hit on the list #SommChat

Matt McGinnis @MattMcGinnis: The Texas wine industry has evolved significantly in the past 20 years. What are the biggest challenges it faces now? #SommChat #TXwine @keepercoll

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: I think personally that the quality of our #TX #wines has improved but we still need to work on getting more of our #wines outside of #texas at a competitive price #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: Q fr #SommChat #Somm •@mcphersoncellar Your Father, Doc, was the first in #TX to plant #Sangiovese, how has it developed over the past decade?

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: He 1st planted #Sangiovese and we could not give it away and then we would blind taste it and they said this is a great #Italian #wine - it took yrs to dev as a mainstream #Tx #grape and now we sell 12-1300 cases per year and sell out every yr. #SommChat

Ryan Sorrell @ryan_sorrell: Thanks for hosting @mcphersoncellar What makes the High Plains of #TX so well suited for grape growing and what better known/established #wine region would you compare it to? #SommChat #txwine

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: Main thing N High Plains is have low humidity, 3500 ft elev. helps keep cool swings, & get about 16 In rain/snow so we don't have lot of insect R disease pressure - think closest region is Ribera N #Spain - flat area at 3400 ft & heat & cool similarity and precipitation #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: Q fr #SommChat #Somm @mcphersoncellar You have won over 450 medals in #state, #national and #international #wine competitions, what do you feel sets your wines apart to earn these awards? #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: I think we make #wines that R old world in style and varietally correct and drinkable and price appropriate #SommChat

Jason Hisaw @JRHisaw: How large do you see the Texas plantable acreage and production growing over the next 10 years? #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: I see enormous growth potential as I have heard from #washington #wine growers that we have great grape growing areas… #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: but caveat is we are going to have to find outlets/home for the grapes and wines that would be made from this, so again we need to create quality #wines at a very good price #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: @mcphersoncellar How many #wines do you produce and what is ur approximate production? Do you sell your #wine outside of #TX? #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: Do abt 15K cases of our wines about 8 #wines mainstream N mkt, do 8-9K cases 4 other people, & we do TX wines, @LocationsWine which is about 3500 cases and a good outlet for #TX wines - this is what we need > of if we are going to grow industry #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: Time to wrap up! Hope you enjoyed this hour of #wine talk with #TX #Winemaker Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar #WineWednesday #SommChat

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: It was great to have Kim McPherson of @mcphersoncellar join us today for #SommChat. We hope everyone learned as much as we did! #WineWednesday

KeeperCollection @KeeperColl: Please join us in thanking #TX #Winemaker Kim McPherson of @mcphersoncellar for his time #SommChat

Kim McPherson @mcphersoncellar: Thanks to all of you tweeting to me and hope I answered your Qs appropriately and thank you for your interest in #Tx #wines and hope you learned some good tidbits #SommChat