Lightcatcher Winery & Bistro is located in Fort Worth and is owned by Terry and Caris Turpen. Caris Turpen is both the winemaker and chef. The winery was opened in 2003.
When I entered the winery, Amber greeted me and I was directed to the tasting bar. Tastings are done while standing at the tasting bar. There is a tasting fee for three wines. The tastings are poured from the uncorked bottles. Pita chips are provided for cleansing your palate.
One interesting thing on the bar is an aroma wheel which is available for people to review different aromas they may pick up in a wine. Every day they make their special pecans and they are offered for sale at the tasting bar.
Lightcatcher uses 100% Texas grapes in their wines. They currently grow 50 vines of Lenoir in their vineyard and use Newsom Vineyards and Canada Family Vineyard. 3,000 cases of wine are produced a year. One interesting tidbit was Caris Turpen went to school with Raymond Haak of Haak Vineyards & Winery. That friendship is probably the reason Lightcatcher offers Blanc du Bois from Haak Winery.
When we did our Battle of the Texas wine Orange Muscats last year, I had hoped to get a bottle of the Orange Muscat from Lightcatcher, however $100 was too expensive for me to include it in the blind tasting. The bottles of Orange Muscat are getting rarer and they now cost $200 a bottle.
Some of the wines available are:
- Sunflower Blanc du Bois
- Roadrunner Viognier
- Yellow Rose Chardonnay
- Remuda Red (Cab/Merlot blend)
- Bobcat Syrah
- 10 Point Cabernet Sauvignon
- Happy Cat Semi-Sweet Wine (Chardonnay/Viognier blend)
- Texas KISS Merlot Rose
- Summer Sangria
- Laughing Goddess – full bodied port made with estate Lenoir
- Amour de Chocolat – chocolate port
I got the chance to meet Caris Turpen who was present. She is a noted cinematographer in her past and actually has a 1997-1998 Daytime Emmy Awards statue behind the tasting bar which she won for graphics and title design. Caris is also an artist and designs all the wine bottle labels. She is also a painter and sculptor and a statue bust which she created is outside the winery.
Caris Turpen
The bistro in the same building is available for meals. They have a garden which provides fresh herbs for their food.
There is a nice gift shop which has wine accessories. Tours are available by request if someone is free to give one. Lightcatcher Winery & Bistro also has a wine club.
Live music, weddings, dinners, and other events such as grape stomping are held at the winery. Jazz is played on the first and third Sundays. The winery has a large patio where you can sit and enjoy a glass of wine.
Lightcatcher Winery & Bistro is on the Cross Timbers Wine Trail.
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