“Texas Wineries: A Guide” book review

The updated Texas winery guide called “Texas Wineries: A Guide” by Barry Shlachter and Amy Culbertson was recently printed in its 12th printing. The guide is designed to be a pocket guide sizing in at a small 5½ inches by 4¼ inches.

The book starts out with a statement I definitely agree with: “What could be finer than sitting on an oak-shaded patio, sipping a refreshingly crisp white wine or a full-bodied red – made just a few feet away?” After the introduction the guide includes a listing of Texas wine trails. I was impressed the Top of the Hill Country Wine Trail was included since it just started. Next in the book is a listing of Annual Wine Events listed by month. I have blog posts with Spring and Fall wine festivals but I learned of more by reading this section.

The biggest section of the guide covers details on 125 Texas wineries. The wineries are organized by regions: Hill Country and Central Texas, Panhandle Plains and West Texas, North Central Texas, Northeast Texas, and Southeast Texas. The wineries are listed alphabetically within each region. The following items are shown for most winery listings:

• Map, address, website, and contact information
• Tasting hours and tours if available
• Varieties of wines
• A nice description of the winery, owners, and history
• Worth stopping for near the winery which includes attractions and restaurants
• Overnight accommodations nearby

Obviously with a printed book and Texas wineries opening and closing quicker than printing, the book is probably outdated as soon as it is available. That is one advantage to getting the latest listings of Texas wineries online like offered on this website. For example in the book, the winery Lost Creek Vineyard is listed and that winery closed at least two years ago and has since turned into a bistro. However there are fairly new wineries listed which opened this past summer which was surprising. The book even has the winery Wedding Oak Winery listed instead of the name San Saba Wine Cellars which is what it was originally going to be called in May. Interestingly though, Lost Oak Winery which was renamed in March is still listed as Lone Oak Winery. Overall though, the listing of wineries and information was very impressive.

This edition adds food pairing guides for Texas wines like Vermentino, Tempranillo, and Mourvèdre written by Dr. Mark Card. Did you know for Vermentino you’re supposed to pair it with smoked/grilled trout or chilaquiles? The corresponding part has a listing of food items and what wines to pair with them.

“Texas Wineries: A Guide” is published by Great Texas Line Press and retails for $7.50 (ISBN 978-1-892588-32-6). You can order a book from the publisher at www.greattexasline.com and Barnes & Noble should have the book available.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary book to review but no promise of a positive review was given.