May Wine CLub 2026

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Jet Wine Club, May 2026: International Dino Day

I like dinosaurs, and International Dinosaur Day is held annually on the 3rd Tuesday of May. I can’t think of a better reason for a dino theme for this month’s Wine Club. While this isn’t the reason for the timing of the day, another great reason to have this be dino month is that Sue - the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever found – was officially unveiled at its home in Chicago’s Field Museum in May of 2000. “Sue” remains the most complete adult skeleton ever found, and is also one of the biggest. Sue is estimated to have weighed around 7-8000 kg, or about 16-17000 lbs. The bones show that as a teenager, Sue gained 35-45 lbs per week!

Fun Fact: Though the dino’s name is Sue, it is of unknown sex. But there are some indications that T. rex females were larger than males. The larger sex is often the aggressor in competition for mates, and so the larger size of females may indicate that females competed with each other for male mates.

Anyway, though dinosaurs are the biggest fossils we find, and are the most popular, they certainly are not the only fossilized animals.

Let’s explore! Oh, and let’s explore the wines in this month’s Wine Club: McPherson Albarino from Texas, and Thistledown Grenache from Australia.

Texas

Texas has plenty of remains from the Age of the dinosaurs – the Mesozoic era – including fossils of T. rex. But it also has important fossils that lived alongside dinosaurs. Dinosaurs came to be in the Triassic period (the beginning of the Mesozoic), following the major extinction event at the end of the preceding period, the Permian; this event is aptly termed the Permo-Triassic extinction, and known colloquially as “the Great Dying”. This event wiped out an estimated 90%-96% of the known animal species, leading to the emergence of dinosaurs. Among the taxa that did survive were species of vertebrate Synapsids, from which the Cynodont arm ultimately led to mammals. The Dockum Group fossil beds of West Texas feature a Cynodont from the late Triassic: Adelobasileus cromptoni. This particular taxon is thought to be close in lineage to the ancestor of all mammals, and is one of the earliest mammal forms. It was an insectivore that was about the size of a mouse, probably with a similar tail. So, the earliest mammals were insectivorous rodent-like animals whose ancestors survived the “Great Death” at the end of the Permian, and lived and evolved alongside dinosaurs.

McPherson Cellars Albariño High Plains, Texas

Yes, Texas has fossils and wine. Those of you who’ve been around Jet for a while may remember McPherson wine from about a decade ago! It has always been a favorite of mine, and I’m thrilled to drink it again.

McPherson is owned and operated by Kim McPherson, the son of legendary pioneer of Texas wine, Doc McPherson. The urban winery is located in Lubbock, in the High Plains AVA (American Viticultural Area); this is one of 8 AVA in the state, and the only one that is larger is in the Texas Hill Country between San Antonio and Austin. Kim’s Dad, Doc, helped create that AVA. The High Plains vineyards are at high altitude, generally between 3-4000 feet. The AVA’s eastern edge is marked by the same escarpments that host the Dockum Group fossil beds, where Adelobasileus cromptoni was excavated.

This wine is 100% young-vine Albariño from the Castaño Prado Vineyards, at ca 3000ft elevation. This fresh wine is fermented in stainless steel, and the juice has no skin contact, almost a rarity these days! The High Plains are very different from the coastal Atlantic of Portugal and Spain, and it is evident in this Albariño!

It has a beautiful, aromatic nose fitting its high elevation growth. The mouth has tons of citrus – kumquat, lemon, lime pith – that drinks fresh and clean. Notes of wildflower and honey come through in a slightly lush finish.

South Australia

There are some very famous fossil sites in South Australia, including cenotic sinkholes on the coast, and inland regions with all sorts of now-extinct Pleistocene vertebrates. One famous site – Nilpena Station in the Flinders Range – has possibly the most amazing fossil find: the precursor to all animals. The Ikaria wariootia is worm or slug-like in appearance, and it lived in the ground where it burrowed for food – about 555 million years ago during the Precambrian eon. It goes without saying that everything is bigger in Texas, but the I. wariootia was waaaayyyy smaller than our Texas fossil; it was smaller than a grain of rice. Most importantly, it had bilateral symmetry! That means its body had a front and a back, right side and left side are of the same shape and proportion, and it had an opening to receive nutrients and expel waste, with an organ to process them in between! This is important for a lot of reasons, one of which is that there is an organization on which more complex entities can build. It is also important for purposeful movement and locomotion. Onward!

Thistledown Wines Gorgeous Grenache, South Australia

South Australia is also known for its wine, with the well-known wine regions of McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley located here. Located in Adelaide Hills, Thistledown Wines was founded in 2010 by two friends (and Masters of Wine), Giles Cooke and Fergal Tynan. They are both obsessed with Grenache, which fortunately grows well in South Australia! The Gorgeous Grenache is mostly Grenache, with tiny amounts of Mataro (2%) and Shiraz (2%). The grapes are sourced from McLaren Vale and the Riverlands, from vineyards practicing Certified Sustainable farming. Grapes from those individual parcels are separately wild fermented and rested in large-volume oak.

After tasting this wine, I understand the Thistledown obsession with Grenache. It is, well, gorgeous. The backbone is strawberry – those beautiful, small, wild strawberries that are found in sunny fields. Aromatic notes of anise, mint, and pepper join the light and juicy fruit.

Enjoy! And if you are seeking out more dinosaur and wine fun, join us for our Dino Fest on June 6th! More info coming soon!!!

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