Salt Lick Cellars

Salt Lick Cellars is located in Driftwood next to the famous Salt Lick BBQ Restaurant. The winery is owned by Scott Roberts and Jay Knepp is the winemaker and vineyard manager.

Scott Roberts planted the first vines in 2006 which was a total of 35 acres of different grape varieties including Tempranillo, Mourvèdre, Sangiovese, and Syrah. Today five acres are present at the winery and the rest of the vineyard is by Onion Creek near Driftwood.

Salt Lick Cellars bottled their first wines in 2008 and in 2009 the tasting room was built. Since the restaurant is a bring your own alcoholic beverage restaurant, customers can visit Salt Lick Cellars next door to buy wine or beer to bring to the restaurant. We have enjoyed the restaurant before and have stopped in the Cellars to get some drinks for the restaurant. One of our last visits was our infamous camera dropping incident but we got the pleasure of meeting Alphonse Dotson and his wife Martha Cervantes. They make a fantastic Muscat Canelli under the label of Dotson-Cervantes which is produced by Fall Creek Vineyards.

When we visited Duchman Family Winery one time, they had their bottling machine set up with Salt Lick Cellars wine labels. Duchman Family Winery used to make Salt Lick Cellars Texas wines but now that Salt Lick Cellars has their own vineyard, Duchman Family Winery only bottles for them.

We arrived at Salt Lick Cellars the last time and there were a few people at the tasting bar. We found a location to do a tasting and we then met Jay Knepp who handled our tasting. We stood at the tasting bar and there is a tasting fee for 5 wines and they are poured from the bottle. The wine bottles use both corks and screw caps. Wines included for tasting are Salt Lick Cellars wines plus other wineries such as Duchman Family Winery and La Diosa Cellars.

Crackers are available for cleansing your palate and you can buy cheese plates and various nuts to enjoy.

Jay explained they use 30-35% Texas grapes. They get California fruit for two out of their ten wines. Salt Lick Cellars produces about 7,000 cases of Texas wine a year. Various wineries help with producing, bottling, and labeling including McPherson Cellars, William Chris Vineyards, Fall Creek Vineyards, and the aforementioned Duchman Family Winery. McPherson Cellars makes Salt Lick Cellar’s two white wines.

A gift shop with wine accessories is present in the small tasting room. We also learned you can order food from the restaurant “to go” and eat your meal outside the winery.

Next time you are in the Driftwood area and want some delicious barbecue, stop by the Salt Lick Restaurant and Salt Lick Cellars. Even if you aren’t hungry, stop by Salt Lick Cellars itself to enjoy their wines.