Located one hour from downtown Houston in Sealy on the way to Austin is Amsler Hills Winery. Amsler Hills Winery is owned by Kevin and Lisa Lange, and the winery had its Grand Opening on October 21, 2023.
The winery is located on 80 acres of land from Lisa’s family (the Amsler family) who have owned the land dating back to the 1840s. Kevin and Lisa planted a vineyard in 2023 consisting of Blanc du Bois and Black Spanish, about 50% each. They have 2/3rd of an acre now and more will be planted next year. As is common with Blanc du Bois plantings, they will be using the Watson trellis system developed by Jerry Watson. Texas Wine Lover interviewed Jerry Watson at his Austin County Vineyards back in 2015 for the podcast Texas Wine Lover had at the time.
Kevin grew up in Northern California and his family has land in Napa growing grapes. Kevin handles the winemaking duties for the wines in the small winery. Because there are two regions providing grapes, both estate and Napa, Kevin does blends using both regions.
I arrived at the winery when they were to have opened according to the hours on their website and Texas Wine Lover mobile app on a Saturday, and the winery was just getting set up for the day. But in fact, they were getting set up for a wedding that would be taking place in the tasting room. The building currently doubles as both a wedding venue and a tasting room. They were not ready for tastings, but I met Kevin Lange, and he graciously provided his time to sit with me to discuss Amsler Hills Winery.
Kevin explained the vineyard information and then started going through the different wines. He makes small batches of wine, and when they first opened, they sold out of four wines within four weeks. The popularity was better than what they had expected.
The winery makes these wines:
- Bluebonnet Blend (California Sauvignon Blanc and Blanc du Bois from Cat Spring, Texas), off-dry. Kevin said the wine makes you feel like you’re sitting in a field of flowers which is why the name is Bluebonnet Blend and the photo on the bottle is of bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush. While this was being described, I looked out the window at the vineyard and the field full of wildflowers. Kevin said the photo from the label was taken there.
- Alma’s Grape Jelly (Black Spanish and a splash of California Merlot), sweet. Alma is Lisa’s great-grandmother, and the wine is said to taste just like the grape jelly she used to make.
- Albert’s Moonshine, port style. Albert is Lisa’s great grandfather and he used to make moonshine on the property with his neighbor during prohibition.
- Castilleja (rosé blend of Cat Spring Blanc du Bois and Black Spanish, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and California Syrah and Malbec). This is about 80% white, hence the rosé. It is made in a Côtes du Rhône style.
- Tres Amigos Red Blend (California Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley Syrah, and Cat Spring Black Spanish)
- The Last Straw. This was a funny story told by Kevin. At the local 2022 Austin County Fair’s Non-Commercial Wine Competition, he received a Bronze medal and lost to a “strawberry wine.” Out of spite, he created a concoction of strawberry-flavored white wine using Blanc du Bois. The really funny thing is I was a judge at that wine competition and remembered that strawberry winner.
- Peach Crisp, sweet. Peach-flavored wine.
The last three flavored wines are made “just for fun” and two sparkling options are also made especially for use at weddings. The wines are a little unique creating blends from different wine regions, but they work, and the locals and wedding parties are enjoying them. As I mentioned, they were setting up for a wedding, so Amsler Hills Winery provides a nice country setting for a wedding.
Kevin and Lisa Lange
Leave a Reply