Vingo Vineyards

Steven and Pamela Yoder started with a five-acre vineyard in 2015 which has now grown to 31 acres with seven varieties of grapes. They have now expanded into a winery and tasting room in Dalhart in the panhandle of Texas. Vingo Vineyards is the northernmost Texas winery and the railroad town of Dalhart has embraced the winery that opened in January 2019. The winery is located in the historic post office in Dalhart built in 1934.

You may be wondering what Vingo means. It is the name given to one of the soil types on the Yoder’s farm by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Vingo is characterized by deep well drained, undulating soils with a top layer of loamy fine sand.

I drove to Dalhart from Lubbock, and Dalhart is about one hour and 30 minutes north of Amarillo. The winery was very easy to find in downtown Dalhart. It is currently open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the evenings. On the Saturday I visited, a private party was being held so it was open to the public later. That’s another note to make to always check with the wineries you are visiting either via social media, email, or phone call to ensure the hours they are open. As I learned, Vingo Vineyards does allow renting the winery for private parties.

The private party was just finishing up, but the Yoders were very accommodating at the tasting bar and allowed me to look at the large list of wines and select my choice of wine. Tastings are done with a full flight of six wines or a short flight of three wines, and the wines are preselected weekly. If you would prefer to just buy a glass or bottle, that is possible too. I opted for a glass of wine. Since I had not yet had the opportunity to have dinner, I asked if they sold food. They do offer charcuterie trays and I promptly ordered one. Vingo Vineyards also allows you to bring in your own food to enjoy while drinking Texas wine.

Since the party was finishing up, I took my glass of wine and walked around the winery to check out the different rooms.

Starting where the tasting bar is, the tasting room is very large with an expansive fireplace. Besides comfortable couches, there are tables available to sit and enjoy your wine. To the right of the fireplace is what was the large safe in the building, now converted into a nice place to showcase the wines that are available for purchase.

There are multiple rooms in the front of the winery either with tables, a television for viewing events like sports, and a children’s room. That’s right, there is a room to bring your kids and allow them to play with toys while you sit at a neighboring table and enjoy your wine.

In the right side of the winery in the rear is another large room with tables and comfortable chairs in front of another fireplace. Since the room was currently empty because the public had not started arriving, I sat at the table to enjoy my glass of wine. Soon Pamela Yoder came to visit and bring my food tray. Steven had mentioned that Pamela makes wonderful bread, but since I was on a low carb diet, I had to forgo the bread during this visit. The selection of food on the tray was incredible!

Soon more people started arriving to enjoy the comfort of the room. I had taken photos of the tasting menu while I was at the bar, so I started looking at the selection of wines offered. Only Texas wines are available, and there are currently over 40 Texas wines on the menu represented by 12 different wineries/brands serving whites, rosés, reds, canned wine, sparkling, and dessert wines. Vingo Vineyards is always looking for the next great Texas wine to offer to their customers. The winery is currently working with a winemaker to bottle their first wine which is a blend with Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine should be coming out mid-summer.

There is a small gift shop with clothing, Coravin products, and other wine accessories.

I met a few local people while I was there, and you could tell they were excited about having the presence of Vingo Vineyards in Dalhart. If you are passing through Dalhart and especially if you live nearby, plan on making Vingo Vineyards a winery you need to visit to enjoy a great selection of Texas wine.