Parzen family doesn’t visit the Johnson Space Center as much as we used to. After nearly six years of living in this Gulf Coast town, Georgia and Lila Jane (ages 7 and 6) are more interested these days in Houston’s natural science museum with its awe-inspiring dinosaurs, the city’s excellent zoo, and its superb art museums (mostly the Museum of Fine Arts and the spellbinding Menil Collection).

But the hullabaloo marking the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing this month (an expedition where Houston — Space City — played a major role as home to Mission Control) re-ignited the girls interest in astronauts (the “real astronauts” as they used to call them).

Grocery and wine shopping was also on the agenda last Saturday. But the heavy summer traffic prompted this mission’s commander to avoid the city’s congested inner solar system. The grocery shopping would be no problem in Clear Lake where the Space Center is located.

But the wine? That was another question. Down in that part of greater Houston, there are no progressive wine shops. At least, that’s what the enonaut thought.

A Google Maps search revealed a number of wine shops and liquor stores. But none showed much promise until the flight navigation directed him to NASA Liquor on East NASA Parkway, a stretch of road populated seemingly by strip malls, smoke and vape shops, faded Mexican restaurants, and military-industrial-complex chains.

Scrolling through the otherwise pedestrian establishment’s Google business page photos, the pilot discovered a smattering of classic European and forward-looking American wines among the shop’s offering.

The venue’s facade (above) didn’t raise expectations. In fact, the crew wondered why on earth were they making a stop at an anonymous strip mall where the pavement was as steaming hot at the waning off-beige color of the stucco walls. The bullet-proof glass that protected the cashier made the outing feel even more far-fetched.

Undaunted, Parzen family made the return journey with a bottle of skin-contact Minimus 2017 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris Antiquum Farm in tow. With its ripe cherry and berry fruit flavors, vibrant acidity and restrained alcohol, it was throughly enjoyed by the pilot and his commanding officer as they watched the third episode of “Chasing the Moon,” a documentary about the moon landing by America Experience on PBS.

It just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover or a wine shop by its shingle, especially when you’re looking for natural wine in all the wrong places.

It was a true honor and pleasure for me to lead a tasting of wines from 19 members of the Grandi Marchi (Top Estates) Institute winemakers yesterday in Houston. And it was amazing to see how many of the “principals” made the trip.

From Piero Mastroberardino (the institute’s president) to Federica Rosy (Pio Boffa’s daughter, the new generation of the Pio Cesare winery, and the youngest person to present), it felt like Italy’s wine aristocracy had bivouacked along the Gulf Coast.

Today, the group is on its way to Boston to present their wines and then it heads to New York where it’s going to host a luncheon at the New York Wine Experience.

Before the event, Piero showed me a letter his grandfather had received in 1932 from a Texas-based importer. Prohibition would soon be repealed, it declared, and said importer wanted to order wines from the family’s estate. Galveston and New Orleans would be their ports of entry.

Piero’s 2011 Taurasi showed gorgeously as he shared notes on his favorite vintages of the wine stretching back to the 1930s.

Another highlight yesterday was the 2014 Barolo Conteisa by Gaja, the second release of this cru from the winery since it reclassified it as Barolo in 2013. It was my first taste of the new designation.

And I was really impressed by Giovanni Gaja, who has stepped up recently to join his sister Gaia in traveling for the family’s properties. In his presentation, he offered some interesting insights into how their vineyard management team has been responding to the challenges of climate change.

Another highlight was the Umani Ronchi 2011 Conero Riserva (above).

I remember tasting these wines back in New York in the late 1990s. Their Verdicchio and white blend also really blew me away. it’s a mystery to me why American lovers of Italian wine haven’t discovered these yet. Great wines.

And dulcis in fundo, Alberto Tasca treated me to a bottle of Tasca d’Amerita 2008 Nozze d’Oro over dinner and a lively conversation on sustainability and the legacy of organic farming in Italian viticulture.

For Americans, the 2012 vintage of this wine — a blend of Inzolia and “Sauvignon Tasca,” a spontaneously mutated clone from clippings planted on the estate during the first world war — is available only in New York, he said.

But last night the 2008 was thoroughly enjoyed in Houston. Ten-year-old white wine from Sicily, still showing fresh and with vibrant fruit? This wine has “enohipster” written all over it. I loved it.

As I read the morning’s New York Times feed over breakfast with the girls and Tracie, I laughed out loud when I stumbled upon Mimi Swartz’s column Jeremiad.

“Non-Texans,” she wrote, “are still stunned to discover that even people who don’t live in Austin know about Tuscan blends and Karl Ove Knausgaard.”

We tasted a good Tuscan wine or two yesterday in Houston. But Cesare Pavese was the novelist we discussed at the event, not Knausgaard.

A big shout-out to IEEM USA for putting on this great event. And thank you for thinking of me as presenter!