What Happened at Lubbock Uncorked 2024?

As we say in Lubbock, if you don’t like the weather, just give it five minutes and it will change. Leading up to the Lubbock Uncorked wine festival, the weather was in Fake Spring #4 or Faux Summer #2 mode with beautiful clear skies, temperatures between 58-84 degrees, and the added bonus of no wind or blowing dirt. With the weather forecast for Saturday with anticipated 50+ mph wind gusts, the Chamber announced on the day before that the event would be 100% indoors.

Kudos to the Chamber of Commerce team for making the quick switch and modification to the event! As far as I could tell, the event ran just as smoothly as in years past. I personally didn’t object to the event being 100% indoors as I ran into more fellow wine lovers and friends this time. The American Windmill Museum is a perfect venue as the wineries are spaced well, and the vendors and assorted merchants are scattered throughout. By keeping it indoors, I noticed more people taking advantage of looking at the various static displays throughout the facility.

I was excited to see so many familiar faces but was just as excited to see there were several wineries that I hadn’t visited or tried until today.

The 2024 Lubbock Uncorked Participants were:

• Adelphos Cellars
• Bar Z Winery
• Bingham Family Vineyards
• Château Wright
• English Newsom Cellars
• Esperanza Winery
• Farmhouse Vineyards
• FireSky Vineyards
• Idalou Harvest
• Landon Winery
• Llano Estacado Winery
• McPherson Cellars
• Messina Hof Winery
• Prairie Chick Winery and Milieu
• Reddy Vineyards
• The Triple D Winery
• Veesart Vineyards
• Williams Ranch Vineyard
• Yellow House Cellars

Each ticket provided you with 10 tastings. Additional drink tickets could be purchased if needed. I started my tastings with new participant, Château Wright. I did some preliminary reading about the vineyard and learned that it is the highest elevation winery in Texas located in the Davis Mountains. In my book, they should get double points for traveling the furthest! I learned that their wines were unfiltered, and they let the grapes speak for themselves. I bought a few bottles and utilized the free Vino Valet service. This service was a blessing as I opted to rescue a few more bottles from other wineries to take home.

My next “new” vineyard to try out was FireSky Vineyards. Several of us wine friends got to talking in line and were thrilled to know that they were another hidden gem in the Lubbock area. The most popular question when we got to our tastings was “when will you have a tasting room?” I can’t wait!

Uncorked is not just for visiting and tasting wines. You could attend, for an additional fee, two different classes. Perfect Pairings paired bites highlighting a different Texas staple with expertly paired Texas wines. You could learn how to pair foods with wine for yourself and your friends. The Wine 101 class offered a guided tasting experience with an expert where you learned through tastings and discussion about the history of Texas grapes and the state’s growing wine industry. This class was a fun way to learn about the evolution of the Texas wine industry, and the varieties that are prevalent in Texas today. They also had two breweries represented, but unfortunately, their placement made them difficult to find.

At the end of the wine festival, Farmhouse Vineyards was announced as the People’s Choice Award winner.

If you haven’t experienced Lubbock Uncorked, please put it on your to-do list for next year. Information can be located not only on the Texas Wine Lover’s page under Fun Stuff\Texas Wine Festivals, but at www.lubbockchamber.com/lbkuncorked.