A Range of Wine and Now Beer at Fat Ass Ranch & Winery and Brewery

Gail and Jenny McCulloch opened Fat Ass Ranch & Winery on Highway 290 near Fredericksburg in 2014. Since then, the brand has grown, tasting areas have expanded, and a new brewery has just opened in the spring of 2023.

From the beginning, the brand has focused on Texas-sized fun! Old truck tailgates make up seating benches. Grain silos make up each of the restroom spaces. And all kinds of witty phrases on t-shirts, ball caps, and kitchen towels offer a nice selection of merchandise to commemorate your visit.

But what about the wine? Frozen peach wine is probably the best seller during these hot summer days. And since Fredericksburg has long been known for peaches, many tourists like to stop in simply to try the peach wine. Surprisingly, the peach wine and frozen drink are peachy but not syrupy sweet. A bottle of peach is a fantastic gift to take back home to your dog sitter or to save for a holiday present for your housekeeper. This wine will appeal to nearly every drinker.

But Fat Ass Ranch & Winery isn’t just about peaches. The majority of the wines are created to appeal to folks who like sweet wines and don’t take things too seriously. But they also have dry wines and now beer. Just west of the original tasting room is a small vineyard and a newer metal building which was first created to be The Wine Garage. Gail is a car enthusiast and used this space to house his car collection and to offer a selection of dry wines for people to enjoy while meandering around the cars.

Before long, it was realized guests wanted to have the sweet and dry wines offered at both tasting spaces. At the same time, some of the groups and couples who stopped in were asking for the closest place to buy a beer. So, the Wine Garage concept shifted to brewing beer to offer more variety. The car collection has been moved out, but the garage theme is fully intact.

Visitors can park at either building and pop in for a drink or relax and stay a while. Most weekends feature live music in the outdoor covered seating areas. And one fun option is to park at the original Fat Ass Ranch tasting room to start your tasting, then take a tram through the vineyard to the brewery for another tasting and grab a refreshing frozen drink for your tram ride back. It’s a great opportunity to see all the ranch has to offer. So, whether you like sweet or dry, wine or brew, Fat Ass Ranch & Winery has a little bit of everything for folks looking for a tasting with no pretension.