Winery on the Gruene

Winery on the Gruene is located in Gruene and is co-owned by John Czajkowski and Dan Parker. The winery was opened November 2008.

I visited the winery with friends Mike and Carol and we sat outside the winery under an umbrella covered table. John Czajkowski helped us during our tasting. You can also do a tasting inside while standing at the tasting bar or seated at tables.

There is a low tasting fee for four wines. The tastings are poured from the uncorked bottles and pretzels are available to cleanse your palate. There are over 30 wines from which to choose from to do a tasting or buy a glass of wine to enjoy.

We learned that a Canadian broker provides all the grape juice which comes from Italy, Canada for ice wine, Washington, and California. No Texas grapes are currently used. A small vineyard of Black Spanish grapes has been planted outside the winery but it will be mostly for show. About 550 gallons of wine is made per month which is approximately 3000 bottles a month.

All wine is made at the location in plastic tanks. This is a similar concept used at other custom wineries. Speaking of custom wineries, you can also design and make your own wine. They will take care of it for the next 8 weeks. After that you then go back to bottle and label your wine with your own custom label.

Winery on the Gruene has a nice gift shop with clothes and wine accessories. A wine club also exists at the winery.