Know a Houston-based blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below.

Blue State Carpetbagger's Red State Wine Blog: Good things come to those who wait. Tom "big house" Casagrande's blog is always a great resource for great value in the wine market today. He seems always to be trolling Houston wine shops for forgotten and overlooked gems like a wonderful little Côtes du Rhône that he found over at Whole Foods on Bellaire. He sat on the wine for a year or so and was rewarded by "Soft, mouthfilling flavors of inky, ripe blackberries, along with lots of gravelly minerals." Always a great resource for value despite the blog's title.

Vintage Texas: If you've been following along here at Eating Our Words, you know that Russ Kane is our favorite Houston-based wine blogger, the world's leading expert on Texas wine, and the No. 1 wine geek in the Lone Star State. This week he illustrates cold soaked or extended maceration -- a must read for anyone trying to expand their technical knowledge of winemaking.

Water 2 Wine: Houston "urban winery" Water 2 Wine offers some excellent words of wisdom written in plain English, giving insight into what makes a wine last. With the onslaught of the Texas summer, truer words couldn't have been blogged: "Even the best wines can't age well if they're stored improperly." That means: Make sure your wines are stored in a cool place, out of direct sunlight (and ideally in a temperature-controlled environment) if you want them to last.

Robert Parker (via Dr. Vino): We don't have access to the "emperor of wine" Robert Parker's subscription-based website. But we were able to read a summary and commentary of his recent post on "who's to blame when a wine fails to age" thanks to Dr. Vino, who writes: "Can you successfully sue a synthetic cork producer for a wine's inability to age? Robert Parker suggests yes. In the context of a discussion about how 2001 California wines are tasting ten years on, he posted on his web site's discussion board that synthetic cork producers would have 'serious liability issues' if the closure is the cause of the 'failure' of a ten-year old wine."

Decanter.com: Snotty British wine writer Andrew Jefford calls proponents of Natural wine "charlatans" and claims that they hide behind "dogma." He even compares their wines to people who don't wear underarm deodorant. To this, I answer (in Yiddish): Fey! We'll be waiting for champion of Natural wine Alice Feiring's response; stay tuned. David, meet Goliath. Goliath, eat dirt!