Review of Fiesta Winery’s Back Porch Sittin’

Fiesta Winery… Laid back, fun and inviting, yet serious enough for the discerning wine aficionado. There are a handful of wineries I have yet to visit and taste in the Texas Hill Country and Fiesta was one of them. A conversation about sparkling wine between Karen Sportsman Taylor “KK” and I turned into a planned trip to visit the tasting room in downtown Fredericksburg for a tasting and a review of a wine.

I have been sending guests with the sweeter palate over to Fiesta Winery for some time now. I knew enough about the tasting menu to confidently make that recommendation. Now that I have finally been to the tasting room and tasted the wines, I can better educate my guests on what to look for while there.

Of the 10 wines I tried, a few of them really stood out to me and I ended up taking home a few bottles. The wine I chose to review this time around is the “Back Porch Sittin’.” This is the one that started it all. The very wine that began as an easy drinking wine made by and for the Baxter family in their kitchen, which grew into a full on winery with multiple tasting rooms in central Texas (For more information about the Fiesta story, please read Jeff Cope’s write-up on the winery).

The one style of wine I have a hard time appreciating as a sommelier are very sweet wines with high residual sugar. If I want the mouthfeel of corn syrup, I can just go make some pancakes with maple syrup. Knowing that a good majority of Fiesta’s wines are on the sweet side, I planned for the high end of sweet but ended up pleasantly surprised. Having said that, I was happy to see a dry Chenin Blanc and five dry reds including a Merlot, Malbec, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a red blend on the menu as well. Now, let’s discuss that wine, shall we?

This Cabernet is about as balanced as you could ask for in a semi-sweet wine. What makes it so integrated is not just solid winemaking, but being backed with blackberry instead of relying on just residual sugar for sweetness. This wine has a supple and elegant mouthfeel. The color is a very light ruby red with little to no rim variation. On the nose blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries dominate the senses, with subtle notes of vanilla and spice confirming this wine was in fact aged in oak. The palate confirms the nose with a slightly buttery mouthfeel as well, which is quite pleasing. I consider this wine semi-sweet to sweet but nowhere near corn syrup territory. The retained acidity is soft yet very present, my mouth waters with every sip, hence my medium plus rating. The finish is also quite long. The structure is light and the wine caresses the entire palate as it flows rearward toward the inevitable descent down the hatch. Yum!

• Fiesta Winery Back Porch Sittin’ – non vintage
• Alcohol 10.0% by volume
• Clarity/Brightness: Clear/bright with no detectable flaws
• Tannins: Low
• Acidity: Medium Plus
• Alcohol: Low
• Finish: Medium plus

If you are looking for an easy going wine with unique character and 750ml of class, the Back Porch Sittin’ from Fiesta Winery may be just what you need!

Sip, savor, and enjoy my fellow aficionados.