Arch Ray Winery

A large resort is coming to Fredericksburg that has been in the works for the past couple of years. Arch Ray Resort is the creation behind Stephen and Sally Baxter, owners of Fiesta Winery. The name Arch Ray Resort comes from blending their family names Archie and Ray. After ten years of Fiesta Winery with their successful four tasting rooms, the idea of Arch Ray Resort is coming along on U.S. 290.

First to open was Arch Ray RV Park in September 2021 providing an essential campground for those visiting the Hill Country. Next was Ogle Brewery which was based on their Ogle family side. Soon thereafter came Arch Ray Winery May 2022 which shares the same tasting room as Ogle Brewery in the barrel room.

We visited the winery and noticed the upcoming buildings are still under construction. As we learned, the fall of 2022 will bring Paul Bee Distillery and a restaurant. Spring/summer of 2023 will have an amphitheater and a Windham hotel.

The women in our group decided to take a break so Lucho, Gloria’s brother, chose the beer flight and I opted for the wine flight. Rhonda took care of the tasting we were able to do side by side. She explained the tasting room which we could see was a production area too was only temporary. The tasting room is currently being built in an adjacent building and when that is complete, the production room will return as only being production.

Here is the beer flight at the time of our visit:

• The Yaloo (American Lager)
• Creekfield Wheat (American Wheat)
• Creekfield Watermelon (Creekfield Wheat with a little watermelon)
• Broken Trees Black Lager
• Hoppy Humor (American IPA)
• Alpine Porter (dark, light, smooth Chocolate Porter)

Lucho gave a thumbs up during the tasting. We were also able to meet the brewmaster of Ogle Brewery too during our tasting.

The wine tasting is your choice of six wines. These are some of the wines available at the time of our visit:

• 2021 Viognier – Texas High Plains
• 2021 Gewürztraminer – Texas High Plains
• 2021 Pinot Grigio – Texas High Plains
• 2021 Arch Ray Rosé (estate blend)
• 2019 Sangiovese – Texas High Plains
• 2019 Tempranillo – Texas High Plains
• 2019 Tannat – Texas High Plains

All of the wines are Texas wines and Weston McCoury is the winemaker, and also provides the winemaking for Fiesta Winery.

Keep watching the progress of Arch Ray Resort, but you can visit Ogle Brewery and Arch Ray Winery now.