Ever since the announcement that Lost Draw Cellars would be opening in Fredericksburg, we have been keeping a watchful eye since we knew the winery had to be good. Lost Draw Cellars is a joint venture between Lost Draw Vineyards owner Andy Timmons, Andrew Sides, and Troy Ottmers.
We knew we were going to be in Fredericksburg for the Texas Hill Country Wineries October Wine Trail event, so I contacted Andy Timmons about the winery. He told me, “Kim McPherson and his assistant winemaker Spenser Igo are making my wine here in Lubbock where I can help in the process and hopefully learn a lot in doing so. My nephew, Andrew Sides, married his college sweetheart from Fredericksburg and her dad has a building we are renovating right behind H-E-B in Fredericksburg.”
Andrew Sides’ father-in-law who had the building was Troy Ottmers, a retired oil and gas distributer in the wholesale fuel business. Troy’s family has been in the oil business for years when his grandfather purchased Ottmers Oil in 1936.
Matt White and Troy Ottmers
We made plans to get a sneak preview of the winery with Matt White, General Manager of Lost Draw Cellars. It was an early morning meeting and as fortune would have it, it finally decided to rain in Fredericksburg and it was pouring. We arrived at the winery and the building along the street is going to be the offices for Lost Draw Cellars. We were very pleased to learn the man waiting on the front porch was Troy Ottmers.
Production building
We introduced ourselves to Troy and then we met Matt White. We decided to venture back out into the rain to the rear of the office building to walk to the winery. The first building behind the winery will be the barrel room. As we arrived at the winery, Troy explained how the street we were on used to be a big center for oil and gas for different well-known companies. A railroad behind the buildings would arrive, get loaded up, and make a return trip. Troy said he had retired five years ago, but when the idea of selling wine instead of wholesale fuel came along, he decided to get on board.
Lost Draw Cellars is planning on having a couple local Fredericksburg people to be tasting guides and after we heard the very interesting story about the wholesale fuel business and the railroad, I asked if the guides would know the story and be relaying it to the customers. Indeed they would which will make Lost Draw Cellars even more of a draw (no pun intended).
Troy and Matt described the tasting room which was under construction and how it would be decorated along with local art on one of the walls. Troy mentioned a couple times how they wanted the winery to be quaint, but I gave him a little warning that if you build it, they will come, and I can envision many people wanting to visit.
As we were heading back to the office to say goodbye, another gentleman arrived to say hello to Troy. We learned there is a dedicated coffee group who have met in the office every morning for over ten years, and they were all hoping that would not be lost in the opening of the winery.
Lost Draw Cellars is currently planning a soft opening around Thanksgiving this year. With the quality grapes from Lost Draw Vineyards and the winemaking skills initially from Kim McPherson, there should be no doubt that Lost Draw Cellars will be a winner.
This is exciting for Fredricksburg and the rest of Texas, but it is especially exciting for us who were born and reared in Terry County where Lost Draw Vineyards are located. The labels are beautiful, and I know the wine will be, too!
I agree and can’t wait to visit when the winery is complete!
Sounds like they might need to put in a coffee bar, too 🙂
Congratulations to Andy and all involved! Best of luck – Randy
Perhaps a map of Terry County showing “Lost Draw” clearly marked needs to be included so people can see how Lost Draw angles across the county. The geological Lost Draw has been an important feature in our landscape from the beginning of Terry County’s history. Since we don’t have natural rivers and streams in West Texas, “draws” or “arroyos” are distinguishing features of our terrain. To quote the “Terry County, Texas” (2002) history book. p. 3: “In spite of no surface water, the draws have been an important part of Terry County’s history. Nomadic bands of early man followed the draws in their travels, as evidenced by recorded artifacts. In an area where there are no visible landmarks, the draws provided a trail. When ranchers and early settlers arrived, they, too, used the draws as roads to travel to Big Spring, the closest reailhead at the time.”
We who have grown up here in Terry County have been taught that when we have some of our occasional heavy rains (or, in our terminology, “gully washers”), the water that flows down Lost Draw feeds into the headwaters of the Colorado River. Lost Draw Vineyard adjoins and overlooks that historical geographical feature and continues the tradition of being an important part of Terry County history.
If you have a link to a website that had a map, I would be happy to include it here. The only reference I could find was this description: LOST DRAW
I don’t have a web site, but I can send you a couple of .jpg scans from the history book if you can use that?.
I could use that but it is probably copyright protected. If you find something online that would be better because I could link to it.
The copyright in the front of the book says all copyright is reserved by the Terry County Historical Commission OR by the individual who submitted the article or picture. The drawings of the maps were done by an artist friend and her name is on the map. I’ll ask her if I can share the maps with you. I have two — one of the geological features (the draws) and one that also includes all of the little communities that once settled the county along WITH the draws. Perhaps I can get our CofC to put the maps on THEIR web site and then you can link to them that way.
Sounds good!