Alternative blanc

Dry Creek Dry Chenin Blanc ($10)

I recently found a newspaper article about wine from 1977, which noted that wine was so confusing that most people just gave up trying to figure it out and always drank the same thing. Which helps explain the American fascination with chardonnay, which has been the most popular white wine for as long as I have been writing about it.

This is not a knock on chardonnay; it accounts for some of the world’s best wine, and I drink a lot of it myself. But it’s not the only white wine that’s versatile, goes well with food, and is widely available.

The next time you want to drink the same old thing, consider these alternatives:

• Dry Creek Dry Chenin Blanc ($10): If chenin blanc is known in the U.S., it’s as an indifferently made sweet wine. The Dry Creek, on the other hand, is well made and not sweet. Look for lots of white fruit aromas, a little lemon peel fruit, and a sort of slate-like, fruit-pit finish.

• Château Magence Blanc ($9): This French white blend includes semillon, a grape used in Bordeaux to blend in white wines but little used in the U.S. This wine is crisp and lemony, with an interesting, almost salty flavor in the back.

• Yalumba Riesling ($10): Australia hasn’t always been known for massive, manly red wines. It was once famous for riesling, and the Yalumba shows why. Look for pleasant petrol aromas, some lime zest, not much sweetness, and an almost spicy finish.

—Jeff Siegel

Ask the wine guy

I found an old bottle of wine in the house. How can I tell how much it’s worth?

The easy answer is that it’s probably not worth anything. Being old doesn’t make a wine valuable; rather, it needs to be a high-end wine that benefits from aging, and those are rare. Also, it should have been stored properly, away from from heat and light. If it meets those conditions, you can check on a site like wine-searcher.com.

ASK The Wine Guy taste@advocatemag.com

With Your Wine

Lentil soup

—Jeff Siegel

Lentils are the easiest dried beans to use – they usually cook in 30 minutes or less and don’t require soaking before use. You can use any lentil here, but the French du puy lentils are the best and worth the extra cost. Add some Tabasco, and this will pair with the chenin blanc or riesling.

Grocery List

1 cup lentils

6 cups stock or water

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 stalk celery, diced salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Put everything in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Serves 4, Takes 30-45 minutes

A father’s long-ago gift to his daughters still impresses

A block apart on Gaston Avenue, two houses stand with graceful regality.

Though they don’t mirror each other, there are striking similarities — bold Georgian structures accented by elegant Italian Renaissance trim. House No. 5450 and house No. 5422 have been affectionately called the “Sister Homes” of Junius Heights for decades. Both homes were designed by popular architect Bertram Hill in the early 1920s, but it isn’t their shared design and style that earned them the nickname; it’s their history.

Although some of the details have been lost over the years, the story goes that well-known private banker William Oscar Womack built the houses for his daughters, Pink and Willie. The family moved to Dallas from Farmersville around 1907. Various newspaper clippings from the time show that the sisters were exceptionally social and practically inseparable. Pink Louise married Wade Holsonbake in February 1909. Willie was married to Dr. R. C. Ferguson in June 1910. Even after they were married, it seems Pink and Willie continued to enjoy each other’s company, so it was convenient that they lived only a block apart Pink in 5450 and Willie in 5422.

William Oscar Womack also owned a home nearby. His house at 5736 Swiss shares the same Italian RenaissanceGeorgian blend that marks his daughters’ homes. Why he built the houses for his daughters is anyone’s guess. He died in 1932, not long after the houses were completed in 1923 and 1925.

The similarities between the homes don’t stop at the outside. The Sister Homes currently are owned by neighbors Glenda and Robert Finnegan at 5422, and Ann Miller and Raymond Smith in 5450. Both couples offered a coveted peek into their beautiful homes.

The arched French windows, which flood the downstairs rooms with sunlight, reek of Bertram Hill’s influence. Historian and neighbor Virginia McAlester (who, by the way, lived in 5736 Swiss as a young girl) claims French windows were one of think he had really graceful proportions to his rooms. The size and the scale of them feels very good when you’re in them.”

Hill’s “favorite motifs,” as were the open rooms that flow effortlessly from one to another. “I just think he had really graceful proportions to his rooms,” McAlester says. “The size and the scale of them feel very good when you’re in them.”

Both houses also have Hill’s signature sunrooms — tiled with popular, and expensive, Rookwood tile — on the first floor on the northeast side. (Interesting factoid: Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati came out of the American Art Pottery Movement during the Victorian era. The company began in 1880 and defied the trend of failing after a few years by staying in business until 1967.) Both sunrooms are anchored by elaborate Rookwood tile fountains, and Miller and Smith’s house at 5450 also has the original statue, which is signed, dated, and entitled “Boy and Dolphin.” The Finnegans’ home has a newer statue replacing the original. Glenda Finnegan says their sunroom, which was used as a reading room of sorts, has slowly become her office where she bases her real estate business. “It’s got good energy in here,” she says, looking around. “The sun is just so pretty, the way it comes through these beaucouphome.com

2815 N. Henderson Ave. 214.823.7906

635 W. Campbell, Richardson 972.235.7906