Touring the Texas Independence Wine Trail

There is a wine trail in the state which is turning into a destination to visit and that is the Texas Independence Wine Trail. The wine trail is conveniently located near I-10 about 90 minutes from either Houston, Austin, or San Antonio, and it makes a perfect day trip. We recently visited some of the wineries on the wine trail.

The first thing I discovered while planning the route we wanted to take on the wine trail of eight wineries, is it is impossible to do them all in one day. Part of the reason is some are 30 minutes from each other, but the primary reason is most of the wineries do not open until noon and then close at 6:00 p.m. That only gives six hours to enjoy a winery, drive to the next winery, enjoy, and repeat.

One tasting room we had not been to yet is the Braman Winery tasting room in Hallettsville so that had to be included on our day trip. Planning that in the route got us starting our day trip at The Weimary in Weimar. Looking at our past post to The Weimary, I realized it had been over two years since we had last visited. Time sure flies!

We arrived soon after noon to The Weimary and met Lindsi Graham who started leading us through a tasting. We were last at the winery when it first opened and owner Sue Gibson had handled our tasting. She is a very bubbly person and we had a great time. Lindsi was doing an excellent job describing the wines we were tasting and in walked Sue Gibson along with her husband Patrick Gibson. Somehow Sue remembered us and her bubbly personality was the same as we remembered. She called Patrick from the back and we all had a nice conversation while we finished our tasting. Haak Winery still helps The Weimary make their wonderful wines while Sue is learning with their help.

It had been another fun visit at The Weimary and if the rest of the trail was going to be like our first visit, it was going to be a great day. Our next step was Whistling Duck Vineyards & Winery. The winery opened earlier in the year so it had not been that long since we were there last. When we were there before, only three of the owners were there but this time all four were there, so it was nice to be able to meet everybody.

Some good news is that Whistling Duck has been doing great this year. When we were there last, winemaker John Cooke said the adjacent room was going to be converted into the production facility soon since the winemaking is currently taking place at Texas Custom Wine Works. But John said since business has been so great, they are now probably going to expand the area into a larger tasting room.

After Gloria took a jalapeno shooter (candied jalapeno and a mix of their Pura Vida (Muscat Canelli) and Blanc du Bois) and then convinced me to do the same, it was time to say goodbye and move to our next stop. During our drive to Braman Winery – Hallettsville, it started pouring. The roads started getting a lot of water running across them but we made it to the winery without a problem.

The Hallettsville location for Braman Winery opened in April and is the warehouse for Braman Winery including the main location in Richmond. I did a tasting of the selection of wines they had which included Braman wines, Eaglefire wines, and Aldonza (Spanish) wines. I will have more information about the location in an upcoming post. The tasting room’s gift shop was also already stocked with a wonderful selection of Christmas gifts and décor.

Fortunately the rain had slowed and we began our trek toward the last winery we were going to visit, Majek Vineyard & Winery. We were picked up again like last time at the top of the hill in a Kubota four wheeler to bring us down to the winery. Owners Randy and Lynne Majek were there to greet us and we went into the tasting room and we all sat down at a table. We tried some new wines they had since our last visit including a wonderful sparkling Blanc du Bois. I am convinced this is a great use of Blanc du Bois as we have always had great sparkling Blanc du Bois wines.

Since it was near the dinner hour, we were fortunate to have a cracker and cheese tray to snack on while enjoying some excellent wine and having a great conversation with Randy and Lynne. The time passed quickly as it went past the 6 p.m. closing time and it got dark outside, so it was time to brave the darkness and make our way home. We said goodbye to the Majeks and promised we would be back.

As expected, it had been a fun day even with the bad weather on the Texas Independence Wine Trail. Next time we will try to visit some of the other wineries and especially a new winery which should be opening in the next few months. If you are in Houston, Austin, or San Antonio, I would recommend to take a day trip to the south central Texas area and visit the wineries of the Texas Independence Wine Trail.