19 Oct Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Drinking Wine in Houston, Texas at Three Wine Bars – Light Years, Montrose Cheese & Wine and A’Bouzy

When spending a few days in Houston with a fellow wine lover and wine writer friend, what else would we do but drink wine. Houston is a pretty happening scene and its food scene has been steadily getting buzz. And the wine scene is also pretty exciting. After spending a day heading from one wine bar to the next, drinking wine in Houston is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Light Years Wine Bar (1304 W. Alabama Street, Houston, TX 77006)

Located in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, Light Years Wine Bar and Shop focuses on natural wines. While I am a fan of minimal-intervention wines, natural wines is not a term that resonates with me. But, I loved Light Years Wine Bar. Located in a charming stand-alone building that looks like an old house, Light Years has a long wine bar, as well as tables and chairs inside, and a patio outside. There are more than 200 bottles of wine on the wine shelves available for purchase. And at the bar, there are close to 40 bottles available to order by the glass. This list is not printed out and changes daily. The staff is friendly and after asking us what we were in the mood for, offered a few wines to taste to see what we preferred.

We ended up having a couple glasses of wine, starting with Vigneto Saetti Il Cadetto 2017 Lambrusco, followed by a glass of VN Vinel-Lo tinto 2017 from a magnum bottle and then a glass of Gekuhlt Servieren Puszta Libre 2018, a Zweigelt/St Laurent blend from Austria.

Montrose Cheese & Wine (1618 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77006)

With two Master Sommeliers (David Keck and June Rodil) behind Montrose Cheese and Wine, it is no surprise there are more than 125 wines for sale and approximately 20 by the glass. Primarily a wine and cheese shop, there is a small wine tasting bar between the cheese display and wine displays, as well as outdoor seating on a small patio.

We took two seats at the wine tasting bar and decided what we were in the mood for. My friend opted for a glass of rose while I selected a glass of Riesling and then we paired our wines with a cheese and charcuterie board.

A’Bouzy (2300 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77098)

We ended our wine bar crawl at A Bouzy, a Champagne bar in the River Oaks area. With a comprehensive bottle list of Champagnes, the bottle list is a bit short. But we selected a glass of Pol Roger Champagne and of course, washed it down with an order of duck fat fries….the perfect pairing.

A special thank you for my fellow wino and guide Sandra Crittenden for introducing me to these places!

I loved checking out these three wine bars while in Houston and look forward to heading back to Houston to try more places because these three definitely pleased the palate!