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Austin came to Houston last week on a rolling food and beverage tour promoting the upcoming Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival.

The biggest news? “Now you can drink from morning way into morning again,” announced Stephanie Bailey, who is handling the sponsorships for the April 10-13 event. In order to attract a younger crowd to the merits of fine wine and dining, they’re planning on piling on more late night events than ever before. Those should go especially well when followed up by a Hair of the Chihuahua breakfast (with drinks of course) on that Saturday.

Held at a luncheon at Reef (Travis and McGowen), the preview event had Houston chefs pitching in to show what they will be taking to the Austin festival, which usually attracts between 9,000 and 11,000 visitors. Jason Gould of Gravitas used native ingredients to make a Texas Goat Cheese Strudel and pickled mushroom salad. Mark Cox of Mark’s presented Texas quail stuffed with forest mushrooms, foie gras, and squash. Bryan Caswell of Reef provided the Grand Ilse Sheepshead in an oyster broth and Maria Ela of Reef cooked up a roasted pear bruschetta and gelato. (Of course, they’ll cook up this stuff for you here if you don’t want to travel to Austin.)

My favorite wine expert, Karen MacNeil, passed through Houston not long ago, and I was honored to join her for lunch. MacNeil’s 910-page paperback, The Wine Bible ($20 Workman, 2001), is the only reference book on wine that I keep on my desk. As the name suggests, it’s a comprehensive guide to famous wineries and wine styles, regions and varietals, with a healthy dose of trivia and humor thrown in.

MacNeil is especially knowledgeable on the subject of Texas wines, and she told me she had tried some very interesting ones lately. Texas has long been a wine region in search of signature varietals. Some Texas wine mavens think that Viognier and Sangiovese might be the grapes we’ve been looking for, and MacNeil admits to being impressed by the few she’s tasted.

“Wines blow my mind when the purity of the grape is in the glass, and when the winemaker knows that it’s his or her job to accurately reflect the conditions of that vintage year -- not to interfere with what the earth gave us,” says Antonio Gianola, wine wizard at Catalan Food & Wine and former wine guy at Da Marco.

Here are his picks:

$15 or less
2006 Domaine Skouras Moscofilero
Peloponnese, Greece

“This wine just astounded me. As a grape, Moscofilero is the Blanc de Gris of Greece. Since it’s light and refreshing, it would be great as an aperitif, but it has tart acids. This is a perfect wine for when the day is hot, the sea’s a deep blue, and lunch just came from the water.”

Shepard Ross, general manager and wine guru at Glass Wall, offers up some of his teeth-staining favorites:

$15 or less
White
2005 Lo Brujo, Macabeo
Calatayud, Spain

"Fun, easy to drink, crisp, with hints of citrus and banana. Soft, round mouth feel, but still has some nice acidity."

$30 or less
Red
2003 Russian Hill Estate Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley

"Punches your nose with boysenberries, a bit of earth and a bright-red raspberry note, finishing with some plum. Nice layers and complexity for the money."

“What blows my mind is the passion of great winemakers trying to bring out the truth of the grapes,” says Andrea Lazar, the Wine & Spirits Director at t’afia. Here’s some of her favorite examples:

$15 or less
McPherson
2005 Rosé of Syrah
Lubbock, Texas

“Kim Mcpherson is growing some of the best grapes and making some of the best wines in Texas. His focus is on Rhone grape varietals that love the North Texas landscape. This rosé is a perfect way to end the day and start a meal, any day of the year.”

$30 or less
Summers Winery
2005 Charbono
Calistoga, California

“This is a rare varietal from a family winery -- they only produced 2,000 cases of Charbono in 2005. The grape is thought to have originated somewhere along the French-Italian border but is now found in only 100 acres of California. I love this wine – which has flavors of jammy plum, candied apple and anise -- on its own or with duck or venison.”

Robb Walsh has been busy interviewing local experts on their favorite wines for his newest recurring column, “Five Wines That Will Blow Your Mind,” which first appeared in the Houston Press Menu of Menus guide. Look for it in the paper and on HouStoned. For this installment, he offers up his own picks.

The European white wine revolution is inspiring both American wine drinkers and American winemakers to get over their Chardonnays and start experimenting with something new. Try some these and you’ll see what we mean.

Under $15: Esporao Reserva Branco, Alentejo, Portugal
The white wine deal of the year. An innovative blend of several obscure Portuguese grapes.
$14 (retail) at Cova Hand Selected Wines