Posts Tagged fruit

http://www.hilmywine.com

Hilmy Cellars is a new winery located in Fredericksburg and opened March 17, 2012. It is owned by Erik Hilmy who is also the winemaker producing Texas wines.

Erik Hilmy planted Sangiovese in 2009 which is in a vineyard beside the winery. They also plan on planting a vineyard in front of the winery. In the vineyard on the side of the winery you can see guinea fowl roaming around which makes for excellent pest control. Because of the birds’ appetite for insects, Hilmy Cellars does not need to use pesticides on the vineyard.

We arrived at the winery and opened the large wooden door at the front of the winery. You can see a photo of the door on their website and the hinge on the door is not on the very edge like most doors, so it makes for a unique entry into the winery.

At the tasting bar were two guides and the one who primarily helped us introduced himself as Mark Hilmy, Erik Hilmy’s younger brother. He showed us the tasting menu which included four wines we could taste. All of Hilmy Cellars wines use 100% Texas grapes. If the grapes do not come from their vineyard, then they use either Lost Draw Vineyard or the Young Family Vineyards, both located in the High Plains.

There is a tasting fee which includes all of Hilmy Cellars Texas wines right now, a total of four. If you buy a bottle of wine, the tasting fee is complimentary. Hilmy Cellars use corks and screw caps in their wine and tastings are poured from the bottle. You do the tastings standing at the tasting bar but there are some tables available to sit and enjoy a glass of wine.

The first wine tasted was Doo-Zwa-Zō which is a blend of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc using fruit from the High Plains. There were 330 cases made of this wine.

The next wine was a Muscat Canelli also from the High Plains and there were also 330 cases made. This is a semi-sweet Muscat Canelli which is purposely served in the middle of the tasting so people do not associate a Muscat Canelli as always being a sweet dessert wine.

Before we started tasting, Mark called his brother and during our tasting Erik Hilmy arrived at the winery to say hello.

Erik Hilmy

The red wines came next and the first was called The Temp which is a blend of Tempranillo, Mourvèdre, Sangiovese, and Carignan. The grapes came from the High Plains and 330 cases were made.

Finally was Hilmy Cellars’ Tempranillo made of grapes from Lost Draw Vineyards and 220 cases were made. The Tempranillo used a second generation barrel instead of a first year. We learned Erik does not like a lot of oak in his wines, hence the second generation barrel.

Soon to come is a wine called Persephone which is a proprietary white from the High Plains and Politics & Religion, a proprietary red blend also from the High Plains.

After our tasting, Erik took us to the back of the winery in the production room where the barrels and tanks are located. He pointed out some barrels of wine made from California fruit which he may never make available. He also had a tank with Gewürztraminer and after learning we liked Gewürztraminer, he let us sample some from the tank. It was cloudy but even at the young stage you could tell it was going to be a great wine.

Erik is a perfectionist and it shows with the quality of his current Texas wine. When we had arranged to meet him in December and were unable to, he admitted he was kind of glad because at the time he only had two wines ready. He thought letting us taste four of his Texas wines would give a better impression.

Hilmy Cellars has a gift shop with food items such as crackers, cheese, bread, brownies, soft drinks, etc. A pizza kitchen will soon be available when the permit is done to offer other food to purchase. Also available in the gift shop are paintings, pottery, and books. Noticeable were copies of Russ Kane’s book, The Wineslinger Chronicles, and they said some of his books available to purchase were autographed.

Since there is somewhat of a theme involving birds at the winery, Hilmy Cellars has a wine club called the Flock.

Hilmy Cellars is located on US Highway 290 and when you are visiting the other wineries located on the road, be sure to stop at Hilmy Cellars.

http://www.wacowinery.com

Tehuacana Creek Vineyards and Winery, also known as TCV, is located in Waco and is owned by Ulf and Inga-Lill Westblom, both originally from Sweden. Ulf is also the winemaker. They started planting the first of four vineyards in March 1997 and the winery opened to the public in 2006. To help others, including myself initially, Tehuacana Creek is pronounced like “To-walk-in-a-Creek.” The name of the winery comes from the creek which runs on the border of their land.

When I visited, Jenny greeted me on my way up to the winery. Inside were the Westbloms but Jenny handled my tasting. Tastings are done while standing at the tasting bar and the tastings are free for all available wines. I was able to taste nine wines when I visited the winery. The wine bottles are corked and the wines are poured from the bottle. You can buy food while at the winery which you can enjoy while drinking their Texas wine.

In addition to information from Jenny, Ulf also talked with me and gave me a history of his wine making and the winery. Ulf explained how he came from a wine making family. Not professionally, but his mother made apple wines and his grandfather made barley wine. So it was just a natural while he was in college in Europe he made his first wine in 1974. In the tasting room, he still has the very last bottle of the very last wine he made in college unopened. It was called Krökarvin. Ulf said every time someone who understands Swedish comes into the winery and sees the bottle, they start laughing because they know what it means: “Wine to get drunk on.”

Tehuacana Creek Vineyards and Winery uses about 75% Texas grapes. The first varietal grown was Norton and they were the second Texas vineyard to plant Norton in 1997. They followed that by planting Blanc du Bois and Black Spanish which they use to make a port. The winery has two acres of vineyards where they also grow Favorite, a clone of Black Spanish, and Herbemont. Tehuacana Creek Vineyards and Winery makes over 18 different kinds of Texas wines, all blends. When the wine is oaked, they use American oak barrels.

Both Ulf and Inga-Lill have 35 years of experience of being semi-professional wine tasters by being wine judges, wine critics, and teaching wine courses. Their philosophy on creating their wine blends come from the consumer point of view and they would never blend anything they wouldn’t buy themselves.

Tehuacana Creek Vineyards and Winery also makes Mulsum which is a white wine sweetened with honey made from a 2,000 year old Roman recipe and it is their number one seller. During the holidays, a warm Swedish Glögg is made which is very popular. The winery produces about 500 cases of Texas wine a year.

Free tours are available of the production facilities in the nearby building. There is a nice gift shop and in fact I bought two waiter’s corkscrews which I had been looking for. There are also jams and cheeses available in addition to wine accessories and other gifts.

Tehuacana Creek Vineyards and Winery has a wine club. They also hold wine tasting classes and wine tasting gourmet dinners.

Live music events are held at the winery in addition to private parties. They plan on building a bigger tasting room and event room for weddings and parties.

If you are in the Waco area, you will not regret stopping by and visiting Tehuacana Creek Vineyards and Winery.

http://www.georgetownwinery.com

Georgetown Winery is located in historic downtown Georgetown and is owned by Dan and Becca Marek with Dan providing the winemaker duties. The winery opened in 2007 and is located on the square in Georgetown in a 126 year old building.

The first time we visited Georgetown Winery was at night. We arrived and the winery had quite a few people present sitting both at tables and the tasting bar itself with the sound of live music filling the winery. We found a place to sit at the tasting bar and met Dan and Becca Marek working behind the bar. Fortunately we were able to talk to both of them and had a fun conversation for the rest of the evening.

There is a tasting fee for a selection of three wines. For a little more money, you can get a Georgetown Winery souvenir glass. The bottles are corked and the tastings are poured from the opened bottles. Food is available for cleansing your palate and you can also purchase additional food which will pair well with your chosen wine.

Georgetown Winery has a large selection of wines available to choose from to taste or enjoy a nice glass, especially while listening to the live music which is held every Friday and Saturday night. The winery has won many awards both in and out of state.

The winery also offers private events, wine club, personalized labels, and a very nice gift shop with wine-related gifts and cigars.

Months later we made a trip to nearby Salado and were sitting in a winery doing a tasting. In walked Dan and Becca Marek to visit and imbibe in that winery’s wine. There really isn’t the notion of competitiveness among wineries and they all seem to help each other when possible.

We said hello to Dan and Becca and their opportune arrival allowed us to ask some questions. 65% of the grapes Georgetown Winery uses in their Texas wines come from Texas with the remaining usually from California. This year, 2011, they are buying some grapes from Chile for the first time. All of the Texas wine is produced at their location in Georgetown. In 2009, Georgetown Winery did their first planting of Black Spanish and Blanc du Bois on their 3 acre vineyard in Rockdale.

Georgetown Winery is part of the San Gabriel Wine Trail. Next time you’re in the Georgetown area, or driving along I-35 between Austin and Fort Worth, stop in and say hello to Dan and Becca and enjoy their Texas wine.

Gloria and I wanted to volunteer to help harvest grapes for a winery this year since we have never done it. Many wineries harvest their own grapes to make their Texas wine, but either they do not know exactly when they will be harvesting until close to the time, or they have a festival associated with the harvesting and a fee to participate in the harvest.

When we were confirming our VIP Private Tasting for 20 with Messina Hof, I asked if we could just volunteer to pick grapes. I received an email back from Messina Hof co-owner Paul Bonarrigo to contact him. He suggested if we just wanted to harvest grapes, we should arrive near the end of the festival guest harvest picking and then we could continue harvesting with his regular crew. Doing it this way would give us the most experience and we could also stop at any time. This sounded good so we agreed.

The day arrived and we learned it was going to eventually get to 102 degrees near Messina Hof. Oh boy, this was going to be interesting.

Paul Bonarrigo leading workers and festival guests

We arrived at Messina Hof and could see Paul and the other guests harvesting. We went to the group where Paul greeted us and showed us where to start and what to do. We had expected to be given pruning shears, but Paul said the grape clusters were so tender they could just be plucked from the vine. It wasn’t too difficult but Gloria later did ask for shears since some clusters were hard to get off the vine. Instead of the expected shears, she was given a curved knife to use.

Gloria and Randy Herron

Yours truly

The grapes grown at Messina Hof’s 42 acres vineyard are Black Spanish (Lenoir) and are used in making their port and another wine called Sophia Marie Rosé. After Paul and the other festival guests left to do grape stomping, we continued picking grapes with the Messina Hof crew.

Randy Herron took the lead in instructing us and the other workers on where to pick. We talked with Randy and learned he had recently worked at Messina Hof in 1994. He then left to work at E. & J. Gallo Winery in California and Yellow Tail wines in Australia. He came back to Messina Hof recently and is now the second winemaker besides Paul Bonarrigo.

Even though it was hot outside, fortunately there was an occasional breeze which would arrive to cool us down. The other workers were very friendly and were probably appreciative there were two new people to help harvest. As we would fill up a bin with grapes, someone was always there to give us a new one, and take our bin to add to a larger tub. We learned the workers would be harvesting the 42 acres of grapes daily. On top of that, a trailer arrived with white grapes which needed to be processed too.

While we were picking, we encountered a speaker system which played sounds of a hawk attacking. This is supposed to scare off birds so they don’t eat the grapes. A worker said the system wasn’t working too well because there was one area of the vineyard in which the birds had eaten quite a bit.

I mentioned some wineries used netting for the same reason and he said netting works great, however there are some negative things with it. Besides being more expensive, the netting has to be removed either the day before harvesting or has to be hung higher than the vines so the grapes can be harvested easier.

Paul Bonarrigo had mentioned on the phone his workers would probably be harvesting until noon, but it was around 11:00am when it was time to call it quits. That was fine with us since it was hot and I ended up getting a blister on my finger from pulling the grape clusters. If there is a next time, I’m bringing pruning shears to make the job easier. We both had a fun time but we also agreed we enjoyed bottling better, especially since it is a lot cooler!

Destemmer

All tubs which were full of the grapes from the smaller bins were taken to the crush pad. We watched as a forklift took the tubs and poured the contents into the destemmer. As it sounds, this machine removes the stems from the grapes. The last tub poured was mostly full of juice so we assume this was the tub used by the grape stompers during the festival.

Our work was done and since we were going to attend the VIP reception later in the afternoon, we had previously found a motel in town where we could shower and get ready for the reception. After doing that and returning to the winery, we met up with our two guests for the reception and had a great finish to a fun day at Messina Hof.

The last day to harvest at Messina Hof for their Harvest Festival is August 14th. You can check the calendar of events at http://www.messinahof.com/harvest2011. If you are going to be in the area, we would recommend signing up and also having fun at Messina Hof!

There has been a lot of discussion lately on Texas wine competitions, the best Texas wineries, and so forth. Since we have visited over 100 Texas wineries, we decided to put together a quick list of the first TX Wine Lover awards to highlight the Texas wineries we feel is best in a certain category. Please realize these awards include only the wineries we have visited. We are also going by memory, some of which is over a year ago, so we apologize if we may have misplaced a winery with the same characteristics as one discussed. The next time we produce an awards list and have visited more wineries or re-visited favorites, the list may change.

Best Tasting Room

Flat Creek Estate (http://www.flatcreekestate.com). This tasting room is reached entering the winery from a top level and taking a set of stairs down. The tasting room has tables where you taste instead of standing uncomfortably at a tasting bar. A person helps you select which wines to taste. If you want to enjoy the fresh air, you can exit the side door to an outdoor patio where you can enjoy more wine.

Most Unusual Tasting Room

Fawn Crest Vineyards (http://www.fawncrest.com). The tasting room is actually in the owner’s house and is in the bar area. It is a nice pleasant experience but not your usual tasting room.

Best Wine Tasting for the Price

Colony Cellars (http://www.colonycellars.com). The best wine tasting for the price is obviously free. Most wineries now charge a fee and if you want the better wines it is kind of expected to have to pay a little. If all you care about is getting the most tastings for free, then Colony Cellars is the way to go. There you can get 12, yes 12, tastings for free. And they’ll even throw in some crackers to help you cleanse your palate during your tasting.

Best Palate Cleansing Food

Cross Timbers Winery (http://www.crosstimberswinery.com). Cross Timbers Winery in Grapevine gives cheese and crackers during your tasting. It helps make the transition between wines a little easier.

Best Live Music

Torre Di Pietra Winery (http://www.texashillcountrywine.com). A lot of wineries have live music happening most weekends so it is tough trying to decide on the best, especially since we haven’t had the opportunity to listen to a music event at every winery. Most wineries seem to have their music events Sunday evenings which makes for a nice end to a weekend, but a little tough to get up the next morning to go to work. However, Torre Di Pietra Winery has music every Saturday during the day, in addition to an occasional festival.

Best Events

Messina Hof Winery & Resort (http://www.messinahof.com). Messina Hof always seems to have something going on, whether it is festivals, dinners, wine bar events, and even wine classes.

Best View

Driftwood Estate Winery (http://www.driftwoodvineyards.com). There are some beautiful wineries with views but we believe Driftwood has them all beat. You have to drive up a dirt road to get to the top of the hill where the winery is but once there, the view overlooking the valley and surrounding hills is breathtaking, especially at sunset.

Best Vineyard Next to a Winery

Tara Vineyard & Winery (http://www.tarawinery.com). A lot of wineries get their Texas grapes from the Lubbock area or other parts of Texas. Most wineries, if they are able to, have at least a little vineyard near the winery. A lot of vineyards look great next to the winery, especially during the summer when the grapes are growing. This award is a tough one to call. Enoch’s Stomp Vineyard and Winery almost took this one with its winding road up through the vineyard to the winery. However, we like the view of the vineyard at Tara Vineyard & Winery. The view from the entrance with the vineyard leading up to the old beautiful home nestled among the vineyards is a great sight to see.

Best Entrance

Fall Creek Vineyards (http://www.fcv.com). If you have not had the chance to visit Fall Creek Vineyards, just go to their website and you’ll see right away why we think this is the best entrance to a winery. The tree lined road leading to the winery is a picture out of a book, especially when the trees are in full bloom. You’ll find yourself stopping at the entrance and taking a photo.

Best Prices

Fall Creek Vineyards (http://www.fcv.com). Most Texas wineries have to charge more for their wine since they make smaller productions. These are the prices we were used to until we arrived the first time at Fall Creek Vineyards and saw the prices of their wines. Even though they do make wines which cost more, you can still find a considerable number of wines under $10. A couple other wineries have been able to reach this price point, but we’ll give the nod to Fall Creek Vineyards where we first encountered great wines for under $10.

Best Restaurant

Messina Hof Winery & Resort (http://www.messinahof.com). Not all wineries have a restaurant, and for those that do, we have not had the chance to eat at every one. Savannah Winery & Bistro had very good food, but as far as atmosphere and excellence in food, it has to be Messina Hof. The atmosphere with the dining tables surrounded by the wine barrels is fantastic. If you want to really splurge, try the Chef’s Table where you will get a five course meal especially prepared for your likes and each course is paired with a different wine.

Best Gift Shop

Tie: Haak Vineyard & Winery (http://www.haakwine.com), Grape Creek Vineyards (http://www.grapecreek.com), and Torre Di Pietra Winery (http://www.texashillcountrywine.com). This category is so difficult to decide. Most wineries have some form of gift shop and it is difficult to determine the best gift shop. Ideally you want to have a gift shop where customers can spend time looking at the various items including tasting some jams, jellies, and salsa. You want to have useful items like wine accessories but not have too many items which are just plain unusual. These wineries have enjoyable gift shops.

Best Tour

Singing Water Vineyards (http://www.singingwatervineyards.com). If we have time and can catch scheduled tour times, we will take a tour. Even though we have been on quite a few tours, we seem to learn something new every time. We had a very interesting tour at Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards given by the owner Jeff Sneed, but we’ll have to give a slight nod to Singing Water Vineyards. The tour was given by an elderly gentleman from who we learned quite a bit about winemaking.

Best Place for a Wedding

Messina Hof Winery & Resort (http://www.messinahof.com). What would we look for in a winery to hold our wedding? It would have to have a beautiful location or multiple locations to select from. A reception area or restaurant would be necessary after the wedding. Even a place to stay would be great. But to top it all off, how about a famous winemaker who can even marry you? We’re then talking about Messina Hof where owner/winemaker Paul Bonarrigo can legally perform a marriage.

Best Landscaping

Duchman Family Winery (http://duchmanfamilywinery.com). Quite a few wineries are beautiful outside with the landscaping and grounds. We have to choose Duchman Family Winery as the most beautiful with a large fountain, benches, seating under big trees, etc. It is as beautiful during the day as it is at night with the lighting.

Best Fruit Wine

Sweet Dreams Winery (http://www.sweetdreamswinery.com). A number of wineries concentrate on making wine from fruit instead of just grapes. Interestingly, there are a large number of these wineries in East Texas. Hence there lies our favorite winery for fruit wines which is Sweet Dreams Winery. 90 percent of the wines they make are from local fruit and they make wine from almost any fruit you can think of.

Best Unique Wine

Rohan Meadery (http://www.rohanmeadery.com). There are wineries making wines out of a lot of different ingredients but we have to choose Rohan Meadery as the most unique as all their wines contain honey. They started with mead which is primarily made with honey and are starting to branch out with more traditional wine which still includes some portion of honey.

Best Wine Closest to Italian Moscato

Sister Creek Vineyards (http://www.sistercreekvineyards.com). By far Sister Creek has the closest thing to a sparkling Italian Moscato in Texas. Llano Estacado Winery has recently come out with their Moscato which is close but Sister Creek still holds the award. We pulled up to the winery and a member from another winery was there. When we asked why, the answer was they know how to make Muscat Canelli. Who are we to argue with the experts out there? Sister Creek Vineyards make a Muscat Canelli and a Muscat Canelli Reserve. You can probably find the regular Muscat Canelli in your local big liquor store, but not the Reserve. To get that, you will need to visit the winery.

Best Place for a Texas Winery Passport Code

Grapevine, Texas (http://www.grapevinewinetrail.com). If you want to collect some Texas Winery Passport codes, the best place to get a few is in the middle of Grapevine. There you can get a Texas Winery Passport code within walking distance from Homestead Winery, D’Vine Wine (as long as you do not have another D’Vine Wine passport code since they are all the same), and Farina’s Winery. If you feel like doing more walking, you can walk to Su Vino Winery and La Buena Vida Vineyards too.

Most Fun at a Winery

CrossRoads Winery (http://www.crwinery.com). We have had a lot of fun at different wineries but the most fun is when you can interact with the owners. To that end, CrossRoads Winery has to be our number one choice. We visited on a Friday night when they have live music. Darlene Leiker, co-owner, handled our tasting and she was a blast. When you get introduced to jalapeno shots by the owner, and so you don’t feel left out she does them with you, what a fun time! We’ll talk more in a future blog post about CrossRoads Winery, but briefly a jalapeno shot is a candied jalapeno pepper in a white wine shot glass.

Best Pourer

Lone Star Wine Cellars (http://www.lonestarwinecellars.com). Some pourers handling tastings just go through the motions to do the tasting and yet there are others who make your tasting really enjoyable. The most bubbliest pourer we have met is Rubye, an elderly lady at Lone Star Wine Cellars. The next time you’re in McKinney, call ahead and see if Rubye will be working.

Well?

So there is our first TX Wine Lover awards list. What are your comments or suggestions on our choices? Are there any other categories we may have forgotten? We’d love to hear from you.