Visiting the Great Texas Wineries and Enjoying Wine
http://www.lavacabluffs.com Lavaca Bluffs Vineyard and Winery is located in Lolita and is owned by Doug and Beth Reed. In 1998 they purchased the Frels Landing homestead and first planted grapes in 2006. The winery was opened May 2011. I had wanted to make the trip to visit for a while but my available timing never coincided with the winery’s open hours. Finally the chance came and after confirming with Doug Reed that the winery was going to be open, I {Read More}
http://www.texassouthwind.com Texas SouthWind Vineyard & Winery is located in Refugio and is owned by David and Regina Staggs. Both owners take part in the winemaking. The winery opened in December 2009. I first visited Texas SouthWind before this blog started and after seeing them at the 2012 Houston Wine Fest, I knew it was time for a return visit. I made the trip south and pulled into the driveway where the Quonset hut style winery is located. Tastings are done {Read More}
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 {Read More}
http://www.bellmountainwine.com Bell Mountain Vineyards is located in Fredericksburg. They planted their vineyard in 1976 and the winery opened in 1983. The winery is owned by Robert (Bob) and Evelyn Oberhelman. The winery was originally called Oberhellmann Vineyards but they then changed it to Bell Mountain Vineyards. When we first went to Fredericksburg, we visited the Bell Mountain Tasting Room which is located on Main Street of Fredericksburg. We were under the wrong impression that you could not visit the actual {Read More}
http://www.clearcreekvineyard.com Clear Creek Winery, Vineyard, & Resort is located in Kemah and is owned by David Skinner. Dee Pedraza is the general manager. Bob Besgrove and Samantha Choate share the winemaking duties with David Skinner. Clear Creek Winery has a luxury bed and breakfast called the Clipper House Inn & Vineyard which is located at the rear of the winery. David Skinner and Kristen Hopper bought the bed and breakfast in 2006. The bed and breakfast has seven antique filled {Read More}
http://www.dancingbeewinery.com Dancing Bee Winery is located in Rogers and is part of the Walker Honey Farm Store. It is owned by Janice and Clint Walker and their son Clint is also a vintner at the winery. Dancing Bee Winery opened in September 2011. Dancing Bee Winery specializes in honey wine or better known as mead. The name “Dancing Bee” came from one of the ways honey bees communicate with one another which is with a dance language. I easily found {Read More}
The start of the Autumn wine festivals is about to begin in Texas. We think we will be attending at least five festivals and the first one will be the Dripping with Taste Wine & Food Festival at the Texas Hill Country Olive Company in Dripping Springs on September 8th. It will be over a 3 hour drive for us but the lineup of wines, beers, foods, artisans, and events looks so great we can’t pass it up. We have {Read More}
http://www.fiestawinery.com Fiesta Winery is located in Lometa and is owned by Stephen and Sally Baxter. The winery opened September 25, 2010 and we happened to visit Fiesta Winery the first week they were open. I say happened to because we were at Alamosa Wine Cellars and they told us about the new winery which had opened nearby. When we first visited the winery, most of the wines were sweet wines and since we do not shun sweet wines, we did {Read More}
http://lilylakevineyards.com Lily Lake Vineyards is located in Lorena, TX. Rick Wendt is the vintner, Patty Wendt is the winery manager, Carol Oliver is the events coordinator, and Lary Oliver is the sales manager. The winery opened in April 2012. Our GPS had problems directing us to the winery but we eventually found the location. The winery is located next to the Wendt’s home. In the front of the winery is one of the vineyards on the property. Behind the winery {Read More}
William Chris Vineyards had a special event on June 23rd, the first Summer Saturday night, called the Watermelon Thump & Chef Throwdown. Four regional chefs competed for the title of Chef Thump King in the first annual event. Upon arrival we met other wine writers and personalities. Some we had met before and it was nice getting reacquainted. We enjoyed meeting others for the first time including some people we have been waiting to meet. Chris Brundrett and Bill Blackmon {Read More}
