Pontotoc Vineyard

http://pontotocvineyard.com

Pontotoc Vineyard is located in Pontotoc with a tasting room in downtown Fredericksburg. The winery is owned by D. Carl and Frances Money. We visited the winery under construction back in May, 2013, and our last visit was to the tasting room in Fredericksburg.

A vineyard is located at the Pontotoc winery location which was first planted in 2006. Carl’s uncle Ronnie Money helps manage the estate vineyard. Winemaker Don Pullum provides the winemaking skills for Pontotoc Vineyard. Pontotoc Vineyard bottled their first vintage of 300 cases from the 2011 harvest.

The Pontotoc location is being converted into multiple tasting rooms including the Wines of Dotson-Cervantes. The Moneys were originally planning on having the winery be their only location, but since they live in Fredericksburg and Carl Money is still practicing law, they decided to open a tasting room in Fredericksburg to be closer to home. The winery location will still be used for special events though.

We arrived early on a Saturday at the tasting room and Carl Money was already in the process of providing a tasting to a couple. The couple was sitting at the tasting bar and we sat in a pair of adjacent chairs.

Carl said he currently had three wines for tasting and in an unusual situation these days, the tasting fee is complimentary. The tastings were poured from the uncorked bottles and we enjoyed the wines in addition to the conversation.

Pontotoc Vineyard only does vintage wines and the first wine tasted was the 2013 Estate Tempranillo which is 100% Tempranillo. Carl decided to enter this wine in our Battle of the Texas Tempranillos and the wine was rated 5th best out of 28 Texas Tempranillos.

The next wine was the San Fernando Academy 2013. This win is made from 60% Tempranillo, 20% Alicante Bouschet, 13% Syrah, 6% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot.

The last wine was the Smoothing Iron Mountain Tempranillo 2013 which is made from 75% Tempranillo, 21% Malbec, and 4% Petit Verdot.

Pontotoc Vineyard only used Hill Country fruit in 2013 and Carl doesn’t think there are too many 2013 wines from the Hill Country because of the weather problems in 2013. Pontotoc Vineyard produced 500 cases of wine in 2013 and expects to produce 1,200 cases in 2014.

Pontotoc Vineyard has a wine club called Vino mas Fino.

The tasting room for Pontotoc Vineyard is bristling with activity since the building has five families with businesses in the one location. In addition to the wine, businesses also present provide coffee, bread and breakfast tacos, beef, and produce. Make plans to stop by the Pontotoc Vineyard tasting room in Fredericksburg.