The Cellar Door

November 30, 2012 by 1 Comment

http://www.cellardoorkaty.com

The Cellar Door is located in Katy and is owned by Ron and Don Ray Holsomback.

Cellar Door - outside

When we first visited The Cellar Door, we were immediately impressed with the winery as it has one of the most beautifully adorned tasting rooms we have seen. The furnishings and décor make it a place where you can feel comfortable relaxing. There are many high tables in the center of the room with booths also around the room. A lounge area with televisions is available for customers in addition to a banquet room which can be rented and can hold up to 60 people.

Cellar Door - inside

You can sit at the bar to do a tasting or at one of the many tables. There is a tasting fee for three wines and buying a bottle of wine will waive the tasting fee. You can buy food from The Cellar Door’s menu which includes tapas, meat and cheese trays, and more. You can also order from nearby restaurants which will deliver to the winery.

The wines offered are the winery’s own wines plus wines from other wineries. Grapes used are from vineyards in Texas, California, and other countries.

Cellar Door - owners

Ron and Don Ray Holsomback

Tours are possibly available and the last time we visited, we were able to see the back room which is the production facility. At that time they were bottling their port and helping bottle was their brother Andy who is the winemaker. The bottling process used corks for the bottles.

Cellar Door - winemaker

Andy Holsomback

Personal labels are available if you want to label your own bottle of wine. There is a wine club with two memberships available. Events are held at The Cellar Door such as open mic nights, live bands, and wine classes.

If you are in Katy, stop by and visit Katy’s first winery.

Filed Under: Wineries Tagged With: , , , ,

Water 2 Wine

November 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

http://www.water2wine.us

Water 2 Wine is a custom winery offering a wine experience with wine tasting and making your own private label wine. Water 2 Wine was started by John McFadden and the first Water 2 Wine opened in 2003 in San Antonio. In 2005, John opened another Water 2 Wine in Austin. That location became the corporate headquarters and training center. Water 2 Wine continued to expand its franchises across the country through franchising and today there are locations in Colorado, Texas, and Wisconsin. Potential franchises are available.

Since Water 2 Wine is a franchise, most of the wineries are very similar. One key feature is you can get involved to make your own personalized wine with your own custom label. Water 2 Wine offers grapes from vineyards around the world for you to select the type of wine you want to make. Their wine making team then works with you to make and bottle your wine which is approximately 29 bottles. From start to finish, the entire process takes about 45-60 days.

Today there are ten Water 2 Wine wineries in the country. I have been to the following locations.

Fredericksburg

http://www.water2wine.us/fredericksburg

Water 2 Wine - Fredericksburg outside

Fredericksburg

The Fredericksburg location was opened in 2007 by Mike and Kathy. The winemaker is John who provided me some information about the winery.

No Texas grapes are used at the winery. Instead must is sent to the winery at about 75% volume and they have to add water back to then use the juice. They have access to more than 100 wines from 13 countries.

Water 2 Wine - Fredericksburg inside

Fredericksburg

Tastings are done while sitting at a table. There is a tasting fee for four wines but the fee is waived with the purchase of a bottle. The tastings are poured from the bottle.

Houston

http://www.water2wine.us/houston

The Houston location is owned by Al and Vickie King, along with partners Sandra and Juan Mangini.

Water 2 Wine - Houston outside

Houston

Tastings are done sitting at tables or at the tasting bar. For groups under five, tastings are complimentary for five wines and then there is a tasting fee for every wine after that. There is a tasting fee for different size groups above five people for seven wines. The tasting fee is waived if a bottle is purchased. Crackers are available to cleanse your palate. Cheese and wine flights can be purchased and the selection changes every week. All wines are open for tasting.

Water 2 Wine - Houston inside

Houston

As with other Water 2 Wine locations, personalized labels are available to custom make your own wine. The winery is available for rent to private parties after regular business hours. A wine club is available where you get two bottles of wine per month.

Austin North Central

http://www.water2wine.us/austin

The Austin North Central location of Water 2 Wine opened in October 2005. Since the Water 2 Wine locations are very similar, I will not repeat what has been said earlier.

Water 2 Wine - Austin North Central

Austin North Central

Austin South

http://www.water2wine.us/southaustin

The Austin South location opened in 2008.

Water 2 Wine - Austin South

Austin South

New Braunfels

http://www.water2wine.us/newbraunfels

The New Braunfels location is located in the middle of New Braunfels.

Water 2 Wine - New Braunfels

New Braunfels

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Texas Hills Vineyard

November 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

http://www.texashillsvineyard.com

Texas Hills Vineyard is located in Johnson City and is owned by Gary and Kathy Gilstrap along with their son Dale Rassett. Dale manages the vineyard, Gary is the winemaker, and Kathy manages the tasting room.

Texas Hills Vineyard planted their vineyard in 1995 and the winery opened in 1999. We have been to the winery more than a few times and as you arrive at the winery, the large vineyard is located along the driveway. Grapes grown at Texas Hills Vineyard include Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese, Orange Muscat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Syrah. Wines produced from the estate grapes include a Chardonnay done in a European style, Rosato di Sangiovese, Volare which is a sweet red wine, and a port from the Cabernet Sauvignon. Texas Hills Vineyard holds the distinction of being the first producer of Pinot Grigio in Texas.

Texas Hills - outside

They grow 40% of the grapes they use in their wines which are of an Italian influence and the rest are from elsewhere in Texas so the wines are made with 100% Texas grapes. Other grapes used come from three other vineyards in Texas: Newsom Vineyards, Reddy Vineyards, and the Drew Tallent Vineyards.

Tastings are done while standing at the semi-circle tasting bar. There is a tasting fee for five wines and the tastings are poured using a measured pourer. After a tasting, you can enjoy a glass of wine on a nice patio overlooking the vineyard.

Texas Hills - inside

There is a nice gift shop with shirts and wine accessories. Texas Hills Vineyard has a wine club called the Circolo Wine Club, Circle of Friends. During the Fall they offer a grape stomp and other events are held throughout the year.

One time we arrived to do a tasting and briefly met Kathy Gilstrap. During our tasting we asked about a tour. They checked with Gary Gilstrap who happened to be upstairs, and he came down to give us what turned out to be a very interesting tour.

Gary prefers to use non-traditional methods to make his wine. He said, “If there’s a better way, I’m going to use it. What we don’t use is barrels. What we do is use micro-oxygenation.”

In oak barrel aging, the natural properties of the wood allows for oxygen to enter the barrel over a prolonged period to aid in the softening of tannins in the wine. Micro-oxygenation mimics the barrel aging process within a shorter period of time and enables more control over the process. It also eliminates the need to store barrels and the cost involved with replacing the barrels.

Behind every tank in the Texas Hills Vineyard production facility is a box which infuses oxygen into the tank and wine. Oak chips are used in the tanks to get the oak flavor in the wine. The end result of this aging process is the wines taste like they have been in a barrel for two to three years.

There is a special racking tank and three times a year they rack the wine out of the tanks and into the racking tank. All the tanks are tied together with lines controlled by a central station with thermostats to control the valves and temperature during fermentation and everything is computer controlled.

Texas Hills - tanks

After making the wine, it of course has to be bottled. To do the bottling, Texas Hills Vineyard owns a mobile bottling line which travels to about 20 Texas and Oklahoma wineries to help the wineries do their bottling. When using the mobile bottling line, they filter down the wine first, the bottle can be rinsed if desired, nitrogen fills the bottle followed by the wine, and then corks or screw caps are used to seal the bottle. Texas Hills Vineyard uses both corks and screw caps for their wine bottles.

It is commonly understood that oxygen in a wine bottle is not good. Gary explained that a manual bottling process usually leaves about .35 microliters of oxygen in the bottle, but by using their bottling line only .03 microliters is left. The bottling line has the ability to bottle 200 cases an hour which keeps five people busy manning the machine.

The winery produces 16,000 cases of wine a year. Before the tour was over, we saw the lab where Gary enjoys being and he explained he was previously a pharmacist. Overall, Gary had given us a very informative tour of the winery and production facility.

Texas Hills - owner

Gary Gilstrap

We highly recommend the next time you are in Johnson City, take a little detour and visit Texas Hills Vineyard. Texas Hills Vineyard is on the Texas Hill Country Wine Trail and the Wine Road 290 Wine Trail.

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