Fredericksburg

D’Vine Wine

January 23, 2013 by Jeff Leave a Comment

http://www.dvinewineusa.com

D’Vine Wine is a boutique winery specializing in custom wines. Besides enjoying the wine D’Vine Wine makes, the vintners can guide you through the process of customizing your very own wine. You can then create a personalized label for your wine bottles.

D’Vine Wine starts their winemaking process by using the juice rather than using grapes. This gives them the ability to select from a wide variety of wines. All grape juice used is from outside Texas.

If you are interested, franchises for D’Vine Wine are available. Their franchises are committed to being profitable with extensive support offered.

All locations for D’Vine Wine serve similar wines. Today there are 16 D’Vine Wine locations in Texas and Colorado. I have been to the following locations.

Grapevine

http://grapevine.dvinewineusa.com

The Grapevine location is located right on the main street where everyone goes in Grapevine. On the Friday night I visited they were having karaoke. Special pricing on wine is available different days of the week.

Grapevine

http://fredericksburg.dvinewineusa.com

The Fredericksburg location has a large tasting bar in addition to many tables and you can do a tasting at either place. There is a tasting fee for six wines and you get to keep the glass. The tastings are poured from the uncorked bottles. A wine club is available in Fredericksburg.

Fredericksburg

Kemah

http://www.dvinewinekemah.com

Kemah was the smallest location we had visited and they were bottling in the same room where we were doing a tasting. Today D’Vine Wine in Kemah has grown into Clear Creek Winery, Vineyard, & Resort. We recently visited Clear Creek Winery and were impressed into how they have grown. If you look at the website link above, you will also see D’Vine Galveston and after visiting Clear Creek Winery, we discovered that is because David Skinner owns both locations.

Lubbock

http://www.dvinewinelubbock.com

During our trips between other wineries in Lubbock, we stopped in for lunch. Albert Bernal is the owner of the Lubbock location.

We learned the juice comes from California and then they are off to make their wine. You sit at a table to do a tasting and there is a nice atmosphere in the winery. The wines are poured from the uncorked bottles. There are happy hour prices and flights available for the wines.

As mentioned, we stopped in for lunch and they had a nice selection of Tapas and flatbreads which was very good.

A gift shop is available with wine accessories. Live music is also available at the winery.

Lubbock

Granbury

http://dvinewineusa.com/locations/texas/granbury

On our trip of the wineries on the Way Out Wineries wine trail, we stopped in Granbury at the D’Vine Wine located in the center of town.

Granbury

D’Vine Wine Austin

There was a location in Austin but the week before I was planning on visiting, it had closed.

Filed Under: Wineries Tagged With: awards, bottling, custom labels, Fredericksburg, Hill Country, Texas Wine, Texas Wineries, Way Out Wineries

Kerrville Hills Winery

November 27, 2012 by Jeff Leave a Comment

http://www.kerrvillehillswinery.com

Kerrville Hills Winery is located in Kerrville and is owned by Wayne and Carol Milberger. Wayne is also the winemaker. The winery was bonded in 2008 but opened in August 2011. John Tait was hired in the summer of 2012 to be an assistant winemaker.

The winery is located on a little hill overlooking the surrounding area and the 30 acre ranch it is located on. Brenda Hardy, the tasting room manager, greeted us when we entered the winery and handled our tasting.

The winery makes six wines right now with the last three wines being released in September. Those three wines are Cabernet Sauvignons using California fruit. The first three wines Kerrville Hills Winery made was a 2009 Blanc du Bois using Texas grapes from Brenham and a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Merlot wines using grapes from Lake County, California. The Cabernet and Merlot were aged in French oak and American oak barrels at the winery.

There is a tasting fee and you can sit or stand at the tasting bar to do your tasting. The tasting is free with a bottle purchase. The tastings are poured with a measured pourer from the uncorked bottles. Crackers are available to cleanse your palate.

Viewable from the tasting room is the production facility where visitors can view the tank room and winemaking activities. Tours are available and Brenda gave us a nice tour of the production facility, history of the location, and how the winery started. The production facility is very impressive and rivals those of other wineries of the same size if not larger.

The tasting room is located on the concrete foundation of a house which was built in 1960 and lost to fire in 2004. The original double-sided brick chimney was kept which provides a nice dividing architecture to the tasting room. The chimney was too tall for the tasting room with the chimney cap so the chimney cap is used near the gift shop. The rest of the tasting room uses materials from the home and property.

A gift shop has candles, clothing, and other items for sale. The winery has a wine club called the Armadillo Wine Club.

Events have been held at the winery such as reunions, birthday parties, live music, and other events.

Kerrville Hills Winery is on the Texas Hill Country Wine Trail.

Filed Under: Wineries Tagged With: Fredericksburg, Hill Country, Texas Wine, Texas Wineries, Tour, Wine club

Water 2 Wine

November 20, 2012 by Jeff 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

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.

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.

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.

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.