Touring Wineries in the Texas High Plains

It was a big Saturday in Brownfield as the West Texas Wine Tour bus came to town. The tour bus, based out of Lubbock, sold tour tickets for the six hour tour for $95 each and participants were not disappointed.

The first stop was Trilogy Cellars in Levelland where the group was able to taste the spectacular wines created by and for Trilogy. From there, the group headed to Brownfield where Texas Wine Lover met up with them.

First stop for the group was at the Triple D Restaurant and Winery. The Triple D is owned by Mary and Ty Wilmeth, and fast becoming a go to destination for great food, wine, and fun.

Mary and her staff greeted the 15 plus participants with light snacks and great wine tasting. The group was offered three tastings and got to keep the glass. Numerous wines were offered, among them the newly released Mary’s Viognier and Ty’s Viognier plus the Triple D Dolcetto.

These Viogniers are spectacular and the taste difference is subtle. Mary’s is less sweet than Ty’s and has a smooth, easy quality that makes it pair well with light snacks or a full meal. The slight sweetness of Ty’s Viognier lends itself to the dessert wine family, but it is not quite as full fledged sweet as a Muscat. The Dolcetto was pleasingly easy on the palette, even for those who are less inclined to choose a red. Look for these wines to develop a great following.

The great wines, along with the friendly and helpful staff, plus the relaxed homey atmosphere offered by “The D” and its owners made the time spent there fly by for these lucky guests.

From The Square in Brownfield, the group headed out to Whitehouse Parker for the final stop of the day. With the huge personality of Katy Jane Seaton and her husband Nick, and Traci Seaton Furguson and her husband Anthony, missing for the day, hosting duties fell into the capable hands of the parents of Nick and Traci, Mike and DeAnn Seaton, along with DeAnn’s mother, Peggy Bingham. Also on hand was Dianna Seaton.

Mike and DeAnn greeted the bus as it drove up with a tray of C.L. Butaud for the participants to enjoy as Mike narrated a tour around the Farmhouse Vineyards which surrounds the historic old Whitehouse, just on the edge of Brownfield. Any tour given by Mike is one to be remembered with his humor and his knowledge of the area.

When guests arrived back at the house, Peggy and Dianna had poured the yet to be released Farmer’s Wife into waiting wine glasses, and had giant chocolate covered strawberries for them all. Guests were offered three tastings of wine from the Farmhouse bounty. If you have not had the opportunity to taste any of the Farmhouse Vineyard wines, you need to get with the program. They are always working hard to improve on their wines, as well as develop new ones. The newly released Farmer’s Wife is a dry white 100% Malvasia Bianca. Their West Texas Sweet (with a label painted by the talented Peggy Bingham) is a proprietary white wine blend of estate fruit that provides just what the name implies – a wonderfully sweet wine.

Also on hand was the Texas Scribe, Marshall Allen, to engrave any wine bottle purchased.

Whitehouse Parker is not just a place to buy wonderful wines. There are also many gift items and wonderful things you did not know you needed until you stopped in.

Guests took leisurely tours of the house and the grounds before heading back to Lubbock where their tour had begun.