The last time I was in East Texas, I was near Kilgore so I had to visit Britts Wine + Dine. The winery opened in 2021, and upon first hearing about it, I wasn’t sure if it was a restaurant or a winery. Owner Britt Davis confirmed it was both!
Britt Davis grew up near Napa Valley, California, where he became a fine wine and food connoisseur after attending UC Davis. He would often visit the wineries where his older brother worked in Napa Valley. After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a business degree, Britt found his first job in Frankfurt, Germany. He began to travel the world visiting six of seven continents and exploring the wine and food of nearly every major wine region of the world. All that knowledge of wine and food was the basis for Britt opening Britt’s Wine + Dine.
I arrived at the winery that has a vineyard in the front. I learned later the newly planted vineyard included four of the new Pierce’s Disease resistant grapevine varieties from Dr. Andy Walker. Also planted are some muscadine grapes that will be used for U-Pick. The winery is located in the back of the old Elder School, and in fact, the winery is remodeled from part of that school for phase one of the winery. The school was located outside of city limits, so as Britt said, the roughneck kids would go there. The school closed in 2012 and Britt bought it in 2019.
I met Britt Davis and being early afternoon, since the food and dining crowd had not yet arrived, I was able to get a tour of the winery’s tasting room. He described the remodeling of the old school and how certain features of the school were left to give that rustic charm to the tasting room. He was preparing for a private event that night and the room was already ready. Britt explained how his concept was to do wine-pairing dinners and provide wine education.
I was then able to do a tasting of his wines. The wines are made in West Texas and as I learned through the tasting, all of his wines are Texas wines except for two. The winery currently produces around 250 cases a year. One nice thing about the tasting of Britt’s wines are they are served in Riedel glasses to provide the best experience.
These are some of the wines available at the time of my visit:
- The Blonz – Dry Rosé (100% Mourvèdre) – named after Britt’s mother
- The Old School – semi-sweet Moscato
- House White – dry or semi-sweet Viognier
- Dear Judy – Sparkling Rosé – not Texas
- Bravo Gusto – (Alicante Bouschet and Tannat)
- Texas Tuscan – (Sangiovese, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon)
- Britt’s Paramour – (100% Cabernet) – not Texas
- Sparkling Britt – Dry or Sweet sparkling – Texas High Plains
- Summer Blues – sweet blueberry
All the wines were very good, and you could tell that Britt has his expansive wine experience involved in the making of them.
Britt Davis
In addition to wine and food pairing events, Britt’s Wine + Dine also has bourbon and whiskey tastings every quarter. The winery has an impressive list of events that are held, so check out their website and the Texas Wine Lover listing and mobile app for any events they have added.
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