October is officially Texas Wine Month, designated by the Texas Department of Agriculture in recognition that this is when most vineyards complete harvest and usher in the next steps of winemaking. With cooler days settling in across the state, it’s the perfect time to get out and explore, whether that means following wine trail passports, attending winery events, joining harvest festivals, or just sipping your way through a scenic drive. In this post, we’ll spotlight some of the best celebrations, events, and experiences happening across Texas this month, so you can plan your wine-loving adventures with ease.
Use a Wine Trail Passport
Wine Trail passport events are great to use to celebrate Texas Wine Month because they offer a chance to visit multiple wineries for the price of one ticket. Texas Hill Country Wineries offers their passport good for the entire month. Ticket holders can taste up to four wineries per day over the course of the month and select from over 45 unique Hill Country wineries. During the October Texas Wine Month passport event, you can use the Texas Wine Lover mobile app to plan and guide your visits to the Hill Country wineries you want to visit using a special Trip created for the event.
The North Texas Wine Country Fall Wine Trail event runs throughout the month of October, plus the first weekend of November. You can visit over 40 award-winning wineries throughout the event. Your passport grants you access to a minimum of three tastings at each of the participating wineries.
Visit Wineries from Texas Fine Wine
Texas Fine Wine has four member wineries that will be having events during the month. Pedernales Cellars will host live music every Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and you can sit on the Pedernales deck with one of the most spectacular views in the Texas Hill Country. Spicewood Vineyards is hosting college football watch parties every Saturday, so you won’t miss any college football while you sip on wines like The Get Together, Texas’s first premium boxed wine.
Bending Branch Winery has a new and expanded tasting room where you can taste the first Texas wines aged in Texas white oak. That’s right – Texas terroir at its best! Oh, and did we mention that Bending Branch also has two bourbon brands? Duchman Family Winery will be having Music on the Lawn on October 11 with Monte Rose, and the weekend of October 25-26 will be market days with a pumpkin patch for the kids.
See all these and more suggestions from Texas Fine Wine on their website.
Visit a Local Texas Wine Restaurant or Wine Bar
Texas Fine Wine suggests grabbing some friends and eating at a local restaurant or visiting a friendly bar that carries Texas wine. One of their favorites and ours: Cabernet Grill in Fredericksburg with an all-Texas wine list. If you want to make an enjoyable night, plan on staying at the adjacent Cotton Gin Village on the same property.
Wine bars that carry Texas wine are also an excellent place to celebrate Texas Wine Month. Two of our favorites in Fredericksburg are Barelle Vineyards and Six Twists. Barelle Vineyards features wines from women winemakers, and you’ll have a sparkling good time at Six Twists since they specialize in sparkling wines and Champagnes. If you are outside the Hill Country, Wineaux in San Marcos features Old World wines after you have had Texas wines during the day.
Attend a Texas Wine Festival
There’s no better way to celebrate Texas Wine Month than visiting a wine festival where multiple wineries are pouring their wines for you. There are over 25 wine festivals listed on our regular Texas Wine Festivals list for October! With the weather getting cooler, there’s no better time to look at the list and make plans to visit one.
The Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival from October 21 – 26 is always popular to attend. Some events are already sold out, but there are still openings, so order your tickets today.
Even though November 1st is slightly out of October, the wine festival in the Hill Country to attend is Texas Wine Jam. Twenty-six wineries will be present in Johnson City pouring their wines. Besides spotlighting Texas vintners and amplifying wine culture, proceeds will support the Texas Wine Community Scholarship Fund and local families impacted by the July floods. Texas Wine Lover will have a booth there, too, so stop by and say hello!
Hill Country Wine Tours
Take a Texas Wine Tour
One of the best ways to visit multiple wineries in one day is to let someone else do the planning and driving. That means using a reliable tour company. There are many wine tour companies in Texas, and we list some of them in our website Guide and mobile app. In the Hill Country, we love Hill Country Wine Tours. They have a wide range of cities where they can pick you up and can take you to where you want to go, whether that be sipping on Texas wine to celebrate Texas Wine Month or visiting local distilleries.
If you are in the North Texas Wine Country, Red River Rides can take you there, whether that be for a date night, girls day out, or celebrating Texas Wine Month.
More events are happening during October’s Texas Wine Month. Search through more events on the Texas Wine Lover’s website Guide Events page and calendar, in addition to the Texas Wine Lover mobile app, using the Events menu.
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