From Vineyard to Table with Two Experiences by William Chris Wine Co.

Texas Wine Lover was invited for this coverage. All opinions, experiences, and photographs are entirely our own.

Most wine lovers when visiting a winery for the first time will do a wine tasting to determine if they prefer the style of wines from the winery. This may also be true for the second and repeat visits to the same winery. There comes a time though when it is time to try something more elevated and William Chris Wine Co. has done that for two of its brands, Lost Draw Cellars and William Chris Vineyards.

Grape to Glass: A Texas Vineyard Experience

As most wine lovers know, a bottle of wine starts in the vineyard. There is no better way to learn about a vineyard than taking a tour and learning from a vineyard manager firsthand. The first elevated experience I had the chance to attend was Grape to Glass: A Texas Vineyard Experience held at Lost Draw Cellars at Johnson City.

We have a few vines in our backyard, so attending this experience was also a way to get more knowledge to manage our “vineyard” better. The instructor is Evan McKibben who I first met back in 2011 at Red Caboose Winery where he worked with his father Gary McKibben. Evan learned his love in the wine industry was in the vineyards instead of a tasting room. He is currently working at Pedernales Cellars overseeing the extensive replanting of Kuhlken Vineyard.

I joined up with Evan and a wonderful couple at 10:00 a.m. on a very hot Saturday at Lost Draw Cellars in Johnson City for a 90-minute tour. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be walking in the vineyard and sipping on wine, but Evan always found some shade and the wind was blowing nicely at that location in the Hill Country.

We started with a Lost Draw Cellars Gemütlichkeit in the tasting room which was a great start to start the tour with a nicely chilled white wine. As we learned during the tour, Evan had selected wines that were chilled, even some red wines, and it all was perfect. Evan strapped on a backpack filled with the wine bottles and we started our short trek to the vineyard.

The estate vineyard was originally developed with the help of Evan in 2019 when he worked for William Chris Vineyards. The vineyard is seven acres and is growing Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Tannat. Evan explained how the vineyard was planted with high-density planting and 8×4 spur pruned. Then for the layman, he explained that meant planting more vines in an area, with the rows of grapevines spaced eight feet apart and the vines within the row spaced four feet apart. Most vineyards are commonly planted north to south to better handle the sun from dusk to dawn.

We know chemistry is important when making wines, but it is also important when growing a vineyard. For example, a cover crop of grass or other vegetation is usually planted between rows in a vineyard to facilitate the health of the vineyard. We learned growing turnips, radishes, and legumes as a cover crop helps to get more nitrogen in the soil to help the vineyard.

Evan showed how the vineyard was using side netting rated for both bird and hail. Certain things need to be accounted for with netting in a vineyard, and they are trying to determine the best netting to use for all possible hazards. The particular netting being using is rated for 10 years.

During the vineyard tour, we had the chance to enjoy these wines:

• 2022 Lost Draw Cellars Picpoul Blanc
• 2022 Lost Draw Cellars Counoise Rosé
• 2021 Lost Draw Cinsaut
• 2020 Lost Draw Cellars GSM (44% Grenache, 33% Syrah, 23% Mourvèdre)

Evan McKibben also makes some wine of his own with the label Broken Grape. The last wine we tasted was the 2017 Broken Grape Loyal Valley field blend (60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Tannat).

I could go on and on about the vineyard education learned from Evan which included knowledge on pruning to how the windmill in the vineyard helps during the cold weather, but this post would be much longer. The experience of learning from Evan would be much more valuable to learn firsthand.

As mentioned earlier, I was concerned about the hot weather, but I was surprised it was much more tolerable than expected. The vineyard experience will also be very nice to enjoy during the fall when the weather is nice or in the winter/spring when pruning is taking place, but even with the extremely hot summer Texas has been having, it turned out the experience works well any time of the year.

The Vineyard Table Experience

After grapes are harvested from the vineyard, they end up at the winery where wine production happens to create that wonderful bottle of wine we all enjoy. Tastings are then held at the winery to showcase the wines. One elevated tasting experience I attended was at William Chris Vineyards for The Vineyard Table Experience.

I arrived at William Chris Vineyards and as is common when attending tasting appointments, the welcome center gives you a glass of wine to enjoy. The glass of wine in this case was the 2022 William Chris Vineyards Mary Ruth (Muscat Blanc, Blanc du Bois, Sauvignon Blanc, Malvasia Bianca). The group I was with was led into the wine club member’s building and a room in the rear overlooking the vineyard. We then met Jon who was going to lead our experience.

Jon explained that The Vineyard Table Experience tasting changed quarterly and we would be doing a food and wine pairing. I have attended other Texas wineries’ food pairing tastings, so I thought I was expecting what this one would be like. Thankfully, I had scheduled the 11 a.m. tasting because the food and wine pairing was more than others and enough for lunch.

For the new people attending the experience, Jon gave the history of William Chris Vineyards and explained the many vineyards used to make the 100% Texas wines. Currently, the wine club membership has a waiting list, but that is done on purpose to ensure the wine club members can get the wines produced. The wait time is usually not too long though.

The Mary Ruth wine we were first given was paired with a Gazpacho A’Mano made from estate tomatoes. We learned the vegetables and greens came from the estate vegetable garden. As each course was presented, Jon would explain about the wine and also the food. He was very knowledgeable about both wine and food which made the experience very enjoyable.

These were the rest of the food and wine pairings:

• Seared Tuna Niçoise Salad paired with 2019 Mourvèdre (La Pradera Vineyard)
• Selected Cuts Hill Country Beef paired with 2019 Petit Verdot (La Pradera Vineyard) and 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (Hill Country AVA)
• Traditional German Shortbread paired with 2022 Petillant Natural Rosé

For the Mourvèdre, Jon explained that William Chris Vineyards is the second largest producer of Mourvèdre in the country. We also received a treat during that course as we were able to do a side-by-side comparison of the Mourvèdre with the 2022 La Pradera Vineyard Blend. The group was split as to the preferred wine with that pairing.

It was explained that the beef came from Hill Country Beef which is known for its tipsy cows. Besides the typical hay, they are raised with local wine grape pulp and local distillers’ grains. I think it works because the beef was great!

When it came to the German Shortbread for dessert, I do not think I saw an empty plate. I’ll be coming back just for that!

Conclusion

William Chris Wine Co. keeps providing elevated experiences which help people to come back, and that is not a bad thing at all. I would highly recommend reserving these two experiences and looking at the other ones offered.