96˚ West Winery

Update: The winery is now closed.

96˚ West Winery is located in Wylie and is owned by David and Kari Hunt. The winery opened December 1, 2012. The name of the winery is derived from the longitudinal coordinate of Wylie, Texas which is 96˚ 31’44”W.

When I arrived, Monte invited me to have a seat at the tasting bar. There is a tasting fee for five wines. The bottles are uncorked and then poured with a measured pourer. You can select five wines from a White Flight, Red Flight, or select any five wines from either flight. Along with each wine is a recommended food pairing and you can buy samples of the food pairings too for a wine and food pairing. They give water when changing from sweet white wines to red wines.

David Hunt is no stranger to a winery as he used to be a partner with Calais Winery for 3.5 years.

Homestead Winery at Ivanhoe is making the wine right now for 96˚ West Winery. Only 100% Texas grapes are used in their wines. They are estimating to produce 1,200 cases of wine this year.

Wines available for tasting at the time of my visit were:

• Dry Muscat
• Viognier
• Chenin Blanc
• Gewürztraminer
• Muscat
• Rosé
• Red Blend (Ruby Cab, Syrah, Tempranillo)
• Tempranillo
• Compass (Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon) – named because for wherever it takes them in the blend. This one is 60%, 30%, 10%.
• Sweet Red

There is a food menu to buy chocolate truffles where you can buy 5 truffles for $10 including:

• Raspberry
• Champagne
• Pumpkin Spice
• Triple Chocolate
• Chocolate Mousse
• Black Forest Cherry
• Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate

In addition you can buy other food such as a cheese and fruit platter. The gift shop has tapas and appetizers and you can bring your own food into the winery. Ben E. Keith, a food and beverage distributor, provides tacos to the winery.

There is a wine club called the Explorers Wine Club. Wine dinners are held every month at the winery. All of the art in the tasting room is for sale through the Wylie Art Gallery.

96˚ West Winery’s belief is to make sure the customer’s experience is the best and to that end, I did have a great experience and can highly recommend stopping by 96˚ West Winery.