INTERVIEW:
ED & SUSAN AULER
CELEBRATING THE HARVEST
Ed
and Susan Auler cultivate the roots of regional winemaking.
Dressed every bit the country gentleman in crisp blue shirt and pressed blue jeans, Fall Creek Vineyards co-owner Ed Auler strides easily between cabled rows of vines off Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country. Wife and co-owner Susan Auler, outfitted in all beige, walks gingerly in the tracks her husband’s cowboy boots are making in the red sandy loam soil. He pauses and takes her hand as they make their way to their sports utility vehicle at the end of the row.
A chorus of birds empties its songbook on this overcast morning, interrupted only by the rattling of a large truck down the farm road in front of the winery. A lukewarm breeze tugs at the vines.
“Looks like an Austin morning,” Ed says, surveying a gray, hazy sky that is begging for the sun to burn it clear. “We usually don’t get haze like this.”
What the Aulers do usually get are prime conditions for growing grapes, the focal point of most of their adult lives. Fall Creek, founded in 1975 with a quarter-acre of plantings, is the vanguard of the neophyte modern wine industry in the Hill Country, about 80 miles northwest of Austin. After mushrooming to about 60 planted acres prior to a near-crippling freeze in 1991, the third-largest wine producer in a state that claims about 30 wineries now harvests a variety of grapes from 31 acres of plantings.
The Aulers, active members of the Metropolitan Club in downtown Austin (for which they host an annual wine tasting at the vineyard), are taking a break from an amicable yet tedious early morning photo shoot in the vineyards. Soon, the Aulers are ensconced comfortably in their on-site residence, ready to talk about how wine, family, and chemistry pervade their lives.
What
was your original business interest?
Ed
Auler: I came from a family of
doctors on my father’s side and a family of cattle ranchers on my mother’s
side. I went to the University of Texas, started out pre-med. About the time
Susan and I met, she was an interior design major while I had shifted to law
school. I graduated from law school, and after a clerkship with the Texas
Supreme Court, I practiced law in Austin and she did freelance interior design
work for a while. Since I was operating the ranch here, we decided to find
something — not in lieu of cattle — but something in addition to cattle, to
make the land more productive.
Actually,
in the early ’70s, Susan developed an interest in wine, which I didn’t
really share too much.
Susan
Auler: When you’re at the
University of Texas, you drink beer or beer. I just was always avoiding the
calories, and it was a great time to get interested in wine.
EA:
Susan wanted to take a trip to Europe and learn more about wines, and I had been
experimenting with some French and European cattle breeds here, and I wanted to
see them firsthand. As we’ve often told people, we went to Europe and spent
three weeks in chateaus — and two days looking at livestock. We fell in love
with wine, and acquired a very rapid appreciation for it.
SA:
Ed started noticing similarities between the red sandy loam soil that we’d see
in Burgundy or the South of France, and limestone hills and granite hills. All
of a sudden, it looked mighty familiar; it looked a lot like the Hill Country.
That’s really what gave us the idea.
So
then the learning process took over. How did that work?
EA:
It’s a lifelong process.
Basically, there are certain things that are probably common to all
grape-growing areas. The basic chemistry of winemaking is the same. After having
said that, the variables on both are just extraordinary.
SA:
It’s farming first.
EA:
It’s farming first, but it’s farming in particular areas. The European
vinifera grapes are real site-specific about whether they’ll grow. Then, if
they do grow, will they yield a grape for quality winemaking? There are lots of
soils and climates here in Texas that are total disasters for grape growing, and
then there are many that are promising and many that have proven already to be
quite good. But even when you find those that are quite good, the questions are
now, “What if we change this or if we change this? Then what will happen?” I
think that eternal quest for quality and the fact that there are so many
variables involved help keep this endeavor going from generation to generation.
At
that time, were you out here by yourself, as far as the vineyard?
EA:
Oh, no question about it. Texas has an extremely fascinating history with grapes
and wines, which most people don’t realize. We had European wine grapes
growing here 150 years before California did [Spanish missionaries planted the
first vineyard near present-day El Paso in 1659], and had the potential for an
industry, but history didn’t turn that way. And, in fact, due to a number of
flukes [and Prohibition], this industry went out of existence. In the scant time
it was tried, it was tried in the wrong places.
In
the 1970s, The University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech
University, and then a handful of people like myself wondered if this might not
work in the Hill Country and the High Plains and Big Bend and the Trans Pecos
regions of the state. We were the first in the Hill Country, in ’75. Llano
Estacado started in 1976 out on the High Plains. The University of Texas started
an experimental operation in ’76, which later became Ste. Genevieve. Then
shortly after, numerous other wineries followed. Many have come and gone. The
count changes.
As
children, a lot of us are told either to do something different or do something
better, or both, and I think we were trying to do something different because we
love the land here; it’s really in my blood. This held a lot of challenge and
romance, which the public sees, and also a lot of work that the public doesn’t
necessarily want to see. It’s certainly been a challenge, and it’s still
exciting. It’s got a very bright future.
Ed
Auler leans back on one of two facing dark blue sofas in the living room of his
Fall Creek residence, occasionally glancing out a large window behind him that
looks out at neat rows of grapevines. Susan Auler sits in an Italian wood-carved
chair nearby, facing two large American-made antique tapestries hanging high on
the wall. The tapestries, depicting scenes from the Trojan War, seem right at
home with the room’s other eclectic, tasteful appointments — an antler
chandelier, brown marble and wood fireplace, a large St. Francis of Assisi
statue surrounded by dried flora, and a large telescope. Across a large,
sun-splayed courtyard, a German couple stands in the winery’s airy, bright
tasting room, sipping the fruits of 25 years’ labor. They will soon putter off
to their rental car, a case of Texas wine in tow.
Texas
produces about 1 million gallons of wine annually — which ranks it fourth or
fifth in the United States, depending on just what is counted — in its
federally designated wine-producing areas. Fall Creek, which produced 30,000
cases last year, attempts to blend the best European winemaking techniques,
California technological innovations, and Hill Country grapes into world-class
wines. The medals strewn across the walls of the complex testify to some success
with that mission.
What
did the disastrous freeze you suffered in 1991 teach you?
EA:
When we did our homework on this, we
had determined that zero is about as cold as it’s supposed to get here. The
general consensus was that under most conditions, grapevines could survive zero.
We had actually experienced around zero three times without any vine difficulty,
but in ’91 it got to minus-12 here. A lot of the vines were just killed
outright, cracked open. The survivors were in such bad shape that they were
producing very meagerly, and we decided to rip them up and start over.
Oftentimes,
you get a chance to do something better the second time than you did the first.
We had adopted a fairly traditional trellis system; we were getting good
results, but not as good as we felt we should be. For a number of reasons, we
had vines getting bigger and crop yields getting smaller each year.
Tom
Barkley, our vineyard manager, went to California and visited with [winemaker]
Zelma Long at Simi Winery [in Sonoma County]. She had been implementing a
variation to a lighter system. Tom came back convinced that we should change
likewise, with a couple of modifications. And we’ve been able to drastically
increase our fruit quality. That was the silver lining.
We
replanted our vineyards, and as they were coming back, we were encouraging other
Hill Country vineyards in the area, ones where we had seen quality prevail.
Initially, you hear winemakers stand up and say, “I’m nothing but a farmer.
My wines are made in the vineyard.” That’s true to a point. But more often
than not, the great wines of the world are blends, even if they’re very small.
So
oftentimes by having these varied vineyards you have different fruits, much like
a chef having all sorts of things to make a creation out of rather than just one
or two ingredients. You may not use some of your ingredients, or you may choose
to use them in a different way.
How
have your goals changed? How do you compete on a larger scale?
EA:
I don’t really think our goals have changed, except that we realize now we
need to be much, much larger than we envisioned when we started this operation.
Our first vintage at Fall Creek — we thought we were the smallest winery on
the planet. We had about 250 cases, and this past year we were at about 30,000
cases. And if you’d asked me 15 years ago, I would have thought we certainly
wouldn’t get any bigger than that, but 30,000 cases is not even a drop in the
bucket of where we need to be.
Although
the Texas wine industry has made significant strides with its products, it still
doesn’t hit the radar of wine gurus like Hugh Johnson [author of Hugh
Johnson’s Modern Encyclopedia of Wine]. What’s needed to do so?
EA:
Texas wines have proven themselves.
Fall Creek has certainly had its share of wine competition recognition. In many
of these wine competitions, we have turned out some incredible results. That
doesn’t seem to really sink in with the folks. Apparently, the real focus of
marketing now comes from the push of your distribution system. Plus, let’s
just be honest: Wine Spectator has
become probably more important than all the wine competitions put together.
SA:
We have sold out every vintage, and we’ve got much more demand. So we’ve
achieved success in the marketplace, but we need more of the [Texas] wineries
doing as well as the three of us [Ste. Genevieve, Llano Estacado, and Fall
Creek] are doing. We need more successful players.
EA:
Several months back, a Fall Creek
sauvignon blanc won a Wine Spectator
Best Buy Award; it was the first Texas
wine that has done that. I’ve had innumerable people tell me that that meant
more for the future than anything that we had ever done. Apparently, [the
magazine’s] recommendations affect a lot of marketing decisions. Of course,
there are others. A combination of good press in these forms and whatever push
your distribution system tends to give is what gives your wine its ultimate
credibility.
SA:
Our biggest problem is we don’t have enough product for the demand.
EA:
But when we have the product, we need the commitment not just in Texas but
outside it as well. Take a wholesaler in Illinois — I’m just picking that as
a hypothetical — he’s got wines from all over California, from Europe, all
over South America and Australia that he’s trying to get somebody to push.
Well, if he decides to promote Texas wine, push it through the system, it gains
credibility. It’s not a thing that we can’t overcome. We will overcome it
out of state when the volume is there to justify it. Right now, it’s
uneconomical, to be honest with you. We sell wine — a smattering — in New
York, Boston, New Orleans, London, Geneva, and Monterrey, Mexico. It’s too
small an amount to be of any real profit, but it helps create a bit of an
awareness, so that when we do have the volume we’re not just, “Here we are,
world.” They at least know we’re coming.
We
need a lot more growth here, and like I said, about five or six wineries are
making all the noise. But the distribution industry is doing well with Texas
wines now, and therefore those Texas wineries are doing well.
The
same phenomenon will occur out of state. When it does, then people in New York
won’t be saying, “Well, gosh, I think I saw a wine from Texas on that wine
list where I was the other night.” They’ll see it at Sherry-Lehmann, at the
Park Avenue Liquor Shop, and at all the rest of them.
It’s
been 24 years since we stuck the first vine in the ground, and this will be our
20th year since we’ve had a winery. It took 500 years before the French
accepted burgundy. These things don’t happen overnight.
What
is your favorite wine you’ve produced so far?
SA:
I’ve always been a fan of sauvignon blanc. That’s one of our flagship wines.
Of course, I’m pretty excited about what we’re doing with the reds, now that
we finally narrowed our Bordeaux choices to cabernet, merlot, and malbec. I
think that’s where our real promise lies.
You
are expanding your reds and blends. What’s your goal there?
EA:
Well, this is still unfolding somewhat, but a marketplace phenomenon _is having
a profound impact on our _marketing strategy.
Probably
20 years ago, men bought most of the wine and most of it was purchased from
package stores. A lot of it was going into wine closets or wine cellars to be
consumed at a later date. No one knew very much about the merlots. Chardonnay
wasn’t on the map at that time. Anything sold at the grocery store had a screw
top.
Fast-forward
to the last few years. Women are buying two-thirds of the wine, and about
three-fourths of that is being bought in a grocery store. Sixty percent of that
is consumed within 12 hours of purchase. Chardonnay, merlot, and white zinfandel
are buzzwords. Packaging is more important than ever. Brand loyalty is at low
ebb; packaging and perceived value is at high ebb.
This
is what’s given rise to our Granite Reserve red. We usually take a cabernet,
merlot, malbec, occasionally a cabernet blanc — although we don’t grow
cabernet blanc here, a couple of our growers have some small amounts of it —
and blend the wine that’s not real tannic. It’s soft and easy to drink in
its youth, with a good fruit character. That builds perception, which is
incredibly important as far as we’re concerned. It is meant to go head-to-head
with the wines from Chile, Argentina, or Australia. People can drink it on a
daily basis, but it also can be served at a party or a catered function.
You’re trying to get it ready relatively young.
Now,
above that, you develop wines in which you put all your muscle and soul. This
approach gave rise to our Fall Creek emeritus, a wine made in 1996 with 54
percent merlot, 40 percent cabernet, and 6 percent malbec. Those percentages
were not by accident; they were what we perceived to be the best blend of those.
We made it to have some longevity. These are our two basic red wine strategies.
We’ve also planted tempranillo and syrah. We want to do some experimenting
with these grapes, and may try them as varietals or as blends with these others.
We want to try to be adventuresome.
In
your fondest of outlooks, what do you see at the end of the tunnel? Do you see
another Napa Valley here?
SA:
I do. I think that it certainly won’t look like Napa-Sonoma, but whether
it’s the Duero Valley in Spain or Bordeaux or the South of France or the
Piedmont or Tuscany, the Hill Country is a developing wine region.
And
I think the big step is to get some more good chefs into the area working with
the vineyards and the wineries. I know chefs love to come to the Hill Country;
they’re blown away when they come for the first time. So many people aren’t
aware of the Hill Country and the beautiful lakes and valleys and rivers. And of
course the fabulous recreational opportunities, and enjoying good wines and good
food. And I think people are seeking the rural areas a lot more today, thinking
about the advantages.
When
we walk into the vineyard, we see vines, dirt, and cable. What do you see?
EA:
Oh, I walk out there and see the
same things you see, although probably with a different eye. I’m looking at
the cloudy skies and thinking it’s a little bit more humid today than it ought
to be. I’m looking out there and saying, “These shoots need to be just a
little bit longer so you can tuck them between the trip wires so that the wind
won’t blow them.” I’m seeing the spaces where we’ve got to replant some
vines that haven’t gotten planted yet, that the guys are working on today. I
see the same things, but I’m seeing a bunch of different things.
SA: I guess [I see] growing a new business from the ground up. It’s not just building Fall Creek, but building a new industry. We don’t have the advantage that there was an established industry here. I think that has been part of the challenge, certainly. But I also feel the opportunity and the excitement of doing something new and different that really hasn’t been done before.
FALL CREEK FOUNDERS
AT-A-GLANCE
Hugo Edwin (Ed) Auler
Born: 1945.
Education: University of Texas at Austin School of Law, B.A, 1967;
J.D., 1969 (Law Review editor). The Napa
Valley School of Cellaring, Napa, California, 1984.
Professional: Fall Creek Vineyards, Tow, Texas, president and
winemaker, 1975-Present. Ranch operations in Llano, San Saba, and Presidio
counties, 1969-Present. Civil law practice, 1970-1980.
Notable: American Vintner’s Association, legislative committee,
1996-Present. Associated Wineries of Texas, vice chairman, 1992-Present. Texas
Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, co-founder, 1987.
Susan
Teeple Auler
Born: 1945.
Education: The University of Texas at Austin School of Interior
Design, B.S., 1967.
Professional: Fall Creek Vineyards, Tow, Texas, co-owner and director
of marketing and communications, 1975-Present. Fall Creek Ranch, Tow, Texas,
co-owner and operator, 1970-Present. Susan Auler Interiors, interior design,
1970-1985.
Notable: Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, founder and
chairman, 1984-1991; executive board member, 1996; board member, 1991-1995. UT
Fine Arts Council, board member, 1992-1995; chairman, 1996-1997.
PURE
CHEMISTRY
Fall Creek Vineyards co-owner Ed Auler marvels at his partner’s affinity for
matching the proper wine with a meal.
“Susan
is modest about this, but she is an absolutely wonderful cook, and she’s one
of the best at pairing food and wine. It’s almost like a natural instinct with
her; she can taste or prepare a food, and without experimenting, say, ‘You
know, we need this wine.’ Maybe it’s ours, maybe it’s somebody else’s,
but she’s got a remarkable ability to match.”
Which
is exactly what we asked Susan Auler (right)
to do — to share some brief insight on
food and wine pairings with us. The first step in the process, she says, is to
take the age-old white-for-chicken and red-for-red-meat doctrine with a grain of
salt. “There are no rules,” she says.
And
be willing to stray from your favorite wine when the occasion dictates. “I
always cite the example of a New York City restaurateur who called up and said,
‘We want Fall Creek chardonnay and Fall Creek cabernet in our Mexican food
restaurant,’” Ed Auler says. “My response was, ‘Please, spare me and
your customers. It’s a terrible mismatch.’ And he said, ‘Well, you know,
that’s what people drink.’ The guy couldn’t believe that I didn’t want
to sell him wine, but the fact is that lighter _reds and sweeter whites would be
wonderful with Mexican food, but if you want something that’s really bad with
it, serve chardonnay.”
Remember,
it’s all about chemistry, basically balancing the sugar and acidity in wines
with the sugars, acidity, fat, and other ingredients in foods. Here are a few of
Susan Auler’s suggestions.
•
Salads. Many winemakers cringe when somebody serves a vinaigrette salad,
because vinegar can destroy almost any wine. Susan suggests the use of basalmic
vinegar, a kinder, gentler substitute, in the dressing. “And wines need to
have either higher sugar or higher acidity, such as sweet rieslings, chenin
blanc, or sauvignon blanc.”
•
Southwest favorites — chicken-fried steak, Cajun, barbecue, Tex-Mex,
Oriental, ginger-laced influences that have a little bite, assertive flavors.
“Chenin blanc with a little bit of residual sugar gives the wine good body,
good viscosity, to hold up to the more assertive foods we Texans enjoy. Or even
a blush wine or a muscat canelli with good balanced acidity proves a good match
with spicier foods.”
•
Fats and oils — includes oils in fish or even the fat in cheese or
meat, be it chicken, pork, or beef. “Sauvignon blanc, one of the spicy grapes,
made in a dry, floral style coupled with good, crisp acidity, holds up to animal
and butter fats. A great, everyday match to all kinds of foods.”
•
Mediterranean — primarily fish, pastas, tomatoes, and olive oil.
“Think sauvignon blanc or cabernet sauvignon structure for tomato-based,
heavier dishes. Or chardonnay is certainly a wonderful combination with a lot of
the shellfish, veal, and poultry dishes.”
•
Salmon. “Chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, made in the style with good
acidity balanced with fruit and light oak. Or serve a merlot.”
•
Smoky cheeses. “Can be a difficult match. I suggest a dry sparkling
wine or a dry riesling.”
•
Fruits. “Must have wines that are sweeter than the fruit. Generally,
dessert wines match best here. Otherwise the sugar in the fruit will dissipate
the sugar in the wine, leaving the wine too tart.”
•
Desserts. “Serve with late-harvest/ high-residual sugar wines such as
muscat canelli or sweet riesling.”
For more information about Fall Creek Vineyards or its products, visit its Web site at www.fcv.com.