Fiesta Winery

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 enjoy their Texas wines. On our last visit, the majority of wines are still sweet but they have also started producing drier wines.

We entered the tasting room on our last visit and met Sally Baxter again. She directed us to a table in order to do a tasting. Like I said before, their wine list has grown so now you need to select five wines from a two-sided menu for your tasting fee. The uncorked wines are then brought to you when you are ready and poured with a measured pourer. Crackers and water are available to cleanse your palate during the tasting. If you choose to taste their Port-style wine, chocolate is also served. They offer trays of cheese, sausage, olives, and crackers if you want to eat some food while visiting Fiesta Winery.

We told Sally about the first time we visited and she admitted they had mostly sweet wines at that time. Being a little different, they sweeten their wines with fruit instead of sugar. She explained though there wasn’t any special marketing plan to produce sweet wines. Her daughter and she like sweet wines and her husband likes dry, so the majority ruled.

During our tasting, Stephen Baxter came in and said hello. He ended up taking over the rest of our tasting while Sally handled other customers who came in. From their website, it states that Stephen and their daughter Savannah are the winemakers at Fiesta, however, Stephen said his son-in-law is doing more winemaking than he is right now.

For a little background on Fiesta Winery, the Baxters were looking to expand production at their ranch and decided to plant three acres of vines in 2010 and experiment with winemaking in their kitchen for fun. After winemaking classes and touring tasting rooms around the state, they decided to turn their game room into a tasting room and part of the barn became the winemaking room. Since our first visit, the entire barn is now used for the winery.

In their vineyard, they grow Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvèdre, and in 2012 they planted Tempranillo. They hope to expand their grape growing into the 100 acres available on the ranch. They use about 70-80 percent Texas grapes and the rest of their grapes come from New Mexico.

Tours are available if they are not busy and fortunately, at least for us, we were lucky to be able to take a tour of the winery. Stephen showed us the converted barn into winery and pointed out where the first part was they had converted and how it fits into the entire converted barn.

Also within the winery were store displays and cases of wine ready for distribution. Fiesta Winery has done a magnificent job of distributing themselves to local and farther locations. Their Texas wines are available in many cities and the distribution locations are growing.

In fact, they are growing so much that a second tasting room for Fiesta Winery will be opening on September 1st in downtown Fredericksburg. They have a fantastic location they will be opening which is located among the stores on Main Street where most people usually shop.

Fiesta Winery produced 1,400 cases of wine their first year and are expecting to produce 3,800-3,900 this year. They hold events and parties of any type such as weddings, showers, and reunions. Live music events are often held. There is a large patio where you can enjoy a glass of wine, bring a picnic, and relax with a scenic view while sitting beside the swimming pool by the winery.

Fiesta Winery has a wine club that offers members many benefits. A gift shop in the tasting room is present with gifts, wine accessories, jellies, and more.

Fiesta Winery is on the following wine trails: Way Out Wineries Wine Trail, Texas Hill Country Wine Trail, and the Top of the Hill Country Wine Trail.

We recommend visiting their ranch location and after September 1st their second location in Fredericksburg.