Frio Canyon Vineyard: Estate Wine, an Underground Cave, and the Frio River

There are winery visits, and then there are those rare opportunities when you have enough time to really understand a winery, the people behind it, and the place they call home.

Frio Canyon Vineyard invited Brenda and me to visit them in Leakey for what we originally thought would be a Saturday winery visit. That quickly turned into an entire weekend that included walking both of their estate vineyards, tasting current and unreleased wines, helping process freshly harvested Grenache grapes, touring their underground winery production cave, exploring downtown Leakey and, of course, spending an afternoon sitting in the Frio River with a couple of bottles of Texas wine.

We certainly received more access than someone would during a normal tasting room visit, but the longer we stayed, the more I realized that you don’t need our behind-the-scenes experience to appreciate what makes Frio Canyon Vineyard and this part of Texas special. Make a reservation for a tasting, spend some time exploring Leakey, and add the Frio River to your plans. It creates a Texas wine experience that feels very different from anywhere else in the state.

The first thing I learned is that the town of Leakey is pronounced LAY-key.

Frio Canyon Vineyard

Frio Canyon Vineyard is owned by Tim and Amy Leach, who live in Midland but have strong ties to Leakey. In addition to the vineyard, they own several commercial properties in town and have been restoring them with an eye toward preserving and bringing back some of the historic character of Leakey. We had a chance to see some of those properties while walking around downtown during our visit.

Their daughter-in-law, Kim Leach, is also involved with the winery and happens to be the person who manages Frio Canyon Vineyard’s listing in the Texas Wine Lover guide.

The two people visitors are most likely to meet, however, are Sara Shook and winemaker Lood Kotze. Sara started working with Frio Canyon Vineyard in 2014, and her father was instrumental in planting the vineyard. These days, Sara does just about everything that needs to be done, including vineyard work, running the tasting room, delivering wine, and hosting guests. Sara and her husband, Shad Bedford, spent much of the weekend with us.

Lood Kotze is the winemaker and also helps manage the vineyards. His first name, by the way, is pronounced similarly to “fluid.” Frio Canyon was looking for a permanent winemaker who would be willing to uproot their family and head to the town of Leakey. Lood was willing to do so, and his family enjoys the small-town feel of Leakey, including the six-man football team at the high school.

Frio Canyon Vineyard produces 100% estate wines, meaning the grapes are grown there, the wines are made there, and they are bottled there. From the vineyard until a finished bottle is ready to leave the property, the entire process takes place on the estate.

And the place where much of that process happens is unlike anything I had previously seen at a Texas winery.

The Tasting and the Cave

When we first started planning the visit, Sara told us they had a cabin where we could stay. We later learned that Sara’s family calls it the Shook Shack. When I contacted her the week before the trip to ask what time we should arrive on Saturday, Sara surprised me by asking if we could come on Friday instead.

The reason was harvest.

They were expecting to hand-harvest Grenache on Friday night and hoped we could participate. The harvest crew unexpectedly came Thursday evening instead, but the Frio Canyon team decided to hold the grapes and wait until Friday night to process them so we could still be part of the experience.

We arrived at the cabin Friday evening and were greeted by Sara, who explained what the weekend would look like. Before heading to the winery cave, though, there was dinner and wine.

Sara welcomed us with the Frio Canyon Vineyard 2024 Rosé, which was excellent after arriving on a hot Texas afternoon. A lineup of their other estate wines was waiting on the kitchen island, and we knew there would be plenty more tasting ahead.

Sara grilled steaks while Lood arrived, followed by Shad. We all enjoyed dinner together while talking about the vineyard, the wines, and the winery. Eventually Lood left ahead of us to begin setting things up for processing the Grenache, and then we headed to the cave.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I heard the words “winery cave.” I pictured something closer to one large underground barrel room. Instead, Frio Canyon Vineyard has constructed an entire underground production facility.

The cave is 10,338 square feet and took approximately one year to build. Outside the entrance is a large covered crush pad where the Grenache bins were waiting for us. Along portions of the crush pad and cave entrance are cages filled with broken brick, creating both an attractive design element and a functional way to hold the surrounding soil in place.

Inside, the cave branches into multiple hallways, with different areas serving different purposes. Near the entrance are rows of stainless steel tanks. Another hallway is used for barrel storage, while bottling equipment is located farther inside. Another large room is currently being used for storage, but plans call for converting it into a wine club member tasting room. A second entrance to the cave near that room should eventually make it easier for members to enter without going through the production area.

The limestone surrounding the cave helps keep the production area naturally cool and provides the stable environment wineries want for fermentation and barrel aging. Frio Canyon Vineyard says it is the first operational cave specifically used for wine production in Texas.

What impressed me just as much as the cave itself was how completely it allows Frio Canyon Vineyard to keep its winemaking on the estate. The grapes are grown there, brought in from the vineyard, processed outside the cave, fermented and aged underground, bottled there, and eventually leave as finished Frio Canyon Vineyard wine.

The winery has approximately 300 oak barrels, although Lood prefers a lighter oak treatment rather than allowing oak to dominate the wines.

That philosophy came through in what we tasted.

Tasting Frio Canyon Vineyard Wines

Over the course of the weekend, we tasted our way through a good portion of the Frio Canyon Vineyard lineup.

The wines included:

• 2024 Rosé
• 2023 Estate Grenache
• 2023 GSM (48% Syrah, 37% Mourvèdre, 15% Grenache)
• 2023 Tempranillo
• 2020 FCV Cuvée
• 2022 Reserve Mourvèdre
• 2022 Reserve Syrah

The 2023 Estate Grenache was particularly interesting because it was the first time Frio Canyon Vineyard had released Grenache as a varietal wine.

We were also treated to several wines in the cave that had not yet been released:

• 2024 GSM (50% Syrah, 30% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache)
• 2024 Merlot
• 2024 Stepladder Farm (53% Syrah, 27% Tannat, 20% Merlot)

Stepladder Farm takes its name from the property’s history. The original property was known as Stepladder Ranch, so the winery decided to recognize that history with the wine.

Then Lood gave us a taste of something that wasn’t even finished yet.

Lood loves sparkling wine and was the winemaker who began producing sparkling wine at Reddy Vineyards and Winery while he was there. He is now bringing that same experience to Frio Canyon Vineyard.

We sampled a traditional-method sparkling wine being made from Grenache and Merlot. Lood took a bottle outside the cave to demonstrate opening it during this stage of production. The result was considerably more dramatic than the quiet pop you normally hope for when opening a bottle of sparkling wine.

Helping With Processing

After the tasting at the cave, it was time for us to earn our keep.

Bins of Grenache harvested the previous night were waiting on the crush pad. Our job was to stand along the sorting area and remove MOG before the grapes went into the destemmer.

MOG is winery shorthand for “material other than grapes,” which can include leaves, pieces of stems or anything else that came in from the vineyard but shouldn’t continue into the winemaking process.

I’ve been fortunate over the years to participate in many different parts of grape growing and winemaking, but this was my first time working a sorting table. Brenda and I joined the Frio Canyon crew and worked our way through all of the Grenache bins before finally calling it a night.

Of course, our night was finished before theirs. The Frio Canyon team still had all the cleanup that comes after processing grapes.

It was another reminder that harvest is long, physical work. When grapes are ready, the schedule is determined by the vineyard and not necessarily by normal working hours.

The 2026 growing season made that work even more difficult. Sara described it as the most challenging year Frio Canyon Vineyard had experienced, beginning with a late frost and followed by the heavy rains that arrived in July.

By the time of our visit, though, harvest was underway, and the grapes were making their way underground into the cave for another vintage.

The Original Vineyard

Saturday morning began with a walk to the first of Frio Canyon Vineyard’s two vineyard sites.

The OV, or Original Vineyard, is approximately 10 acres and was first planted in 2008. It sits tucked against a rocky hillside above the Frio River at an average elevation of about 1,600 feet.

The vineyard location was chosen in part for its soils and drainage. Frio Canyon Vineyard also points to the surrounding canyon walls and hills, which help create steady airflow through the site and moderate the growing conditions. The rocky limestone and caliche beneath the vineyard are very much part of the landscape here.

Sara walked us through the rows and talked about the grapes being grown there. Among the varieties are Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, along with some newly planted Chenin Blanc.

Seeing the vineyard also helped connect everything we had experienced the previous night. The wines we had been tasting weren’t made from fruit being trucked in from some distant vineyard. We were standing among the vines that produced them.

Exploring Leakey

After our vineyard walk, we left Sara and headed into downtown Leakey for a little exploring. I had never visited the town, so I was curious to see it. Downtown isn’t very large, but that is part of its appeal. We spent some time walking along the main street and visiting several of the shops before meeting Sara for lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, it was time for something completely different.

Wine and the Frio River

The plan for Saturday afternoon was to return to the cabin, walk across the road, and spend some time in the Frio River.

I wasn’t completely convinced.

My only real “river thing” had been tubing the Guadalupe River about 17 years ago. Brenda, on the other hand, has talked many times about trips with friends around Concan where they would sit in the river for hours and simply enjoy the day. Anyone who knows me knows sitting around doing nothing isn’t exactly one of my specialties, but I was willing to give it a try.

We changed into swimsuits, grabbed some wine, and headed to meet Sara, where she showed us two places near the cabin they usually go. We carried chairs to one of the locations that had a little more shade. The chairs went directly into the water, which was only about a foot deep in that area.

The July rains had helped refill the river, and locals told us it was looking better than it had in a long time.

Brenda started out floating in an inner tube while I chose one of the chairs sitting in the water. The river was cold when we first got in, but it didn’t take long to adjust, and soon it felt pretty darn good.

We opened a bottle of the Frio Canyon Vineyard 2023 Estate Grenache, and sat there listening to the slow-moving water while occasionally talking with people tubing past us.

Eventually, another couple came floating down the river toward us. It was Sara and Shad.

Since they already knew Frio Canyon Vineyard’s wines pretty well, I opened something I had brought along for the weekend, a Red River Wines 2024 Clareté made with 60% Roussanne, 31% Montepulciano and 9% Tempranillo. Everyone agreed that a cold rosé was pretty hard to beat while sitting in the Frio River on a Texas afternoon.

And I have to admit something. I really enjoyed doing nothing.

After years of Brenda telling me how relaxing it could be to spend an afternoon simply sitting in a Texas river, I finally understood.

That afternoon also helped me see Frio Canyon Vineyard as more than simply a destination for wine tasting. Visitors won’t experience the harvest weekend that we did, but anyone can make a reservation at the Frio Canyon Vineyard tasting room, explore Leakey, and make the Frio River part of the same trip.

After experiencing all three, that is exactly how I would recommend doing it.

Deer and Fireflies

Saturday evening was considerably quieter. We returned to the cabin and sat outside on the back patio with more Frio Canyon Vineyard wine as deer began appearing around us. At one point, we counted 11 deer at the same time.

Then came something I hadn’t seen since I was a child. Fireflies. We had been told we might see them around the property, but I wasn’t sure if we actually would. As darkness settled in, they started appearing around us.

After beginning the day walking through a vineyard and spending the afternoon sitting in the Frio River, watching deer and fireflies with a glass of wine seemed like a pretty good way to end it.

The Aggie Vineyard

Sunday morning brought another surprise when Sara dropped off breakfast for us before we headed out to meet her again.

This time our destination was the AV, or Aggie Vineyard. The 11-acre vineyard sits on another portion of the Frio Canyon Vineyard property at the base of the hillside that contains the winery cave. It gets its nickname because Texas A&M students sometimes come out to work in the vineyard.

Along one side of the vineyard is a large tree with tables underneath it. Sara sometimes brings guests there for tastings, which would be a pretty nice place to sit with a glass of wine while looking out over the vineyard.

Between the Original Vineyard and Aggie Vineyard, Frio Canyon Vineyard now has approximately 21 acres under vine.

Visiting the Frio Canyon Vineyard Tasting Room

After leaving the Aggie Vineyard, we returned to downtown Leakey to visit the Frio Canyon Vineyard tasting room.

Coincidentally, Brenda and I had already been inside the same building the day before. She wanted coffee Saturday morning, so we stopped at Common Grounds at Leakey Drug. The coffee shop closes at noon, and later the space becomes the Frio Canyon Vineyard tasting room.

Sara and Lood are currently the only two employees at Frio Canyon Vineyard, which explains why reservations are required. Depending on the day, one or both of them may be working in the vineyard, at the cave, delivering wine, or handling one of the many other things required to operate a small winery.

Requiring reservations ensures someone will actually be available to conduct your tasting, which is currently available Wednesday through Saturday.

Frio Canyon Vineyard wines are also available for purchase at Common Grounds and several other businesses around Leakey. If you can’t make it to Leakey, their wines are available at H-E-B as well.

The winery offers three wine club levels: Madrone, Cypress, and Live Oak. One thing that stood out to me was the entry-level Madrone club. Members receive only three bottles twice a year, which is a low commitment compared with many Texas winery clubs. For someone who wants wine club access without committing to a large number of bottles every year, that makes it a particularly attractive option.

Apparently, Brenda agreed. By the end of the weekend, she had joined the wine club.

A Different Part of Texas Wine Country

By the time we left Leakey on Sunday, we had spent three days learning about Frio Canyon Vineyard from just about every angle.

We walked both vineyards, toured the cave where the wines are made, tasted current releases and upcoming wines, sampled sparkling wine still in production, helped sort Grenache during harvest, explored Leakey, and finally learned why people are perfectly happy sitting in the Frio River for hours at a time.

But what impressed us most throughout the weekend was the wine.

We tasted a lot of Frio Canyon Vineyard wines, and there wasn’t a wine in the lineup that made us wonder how quickly we could pour it out when nobody was looking. Quite the opposite. I remember publishing a Facebook post and mentioning the wines were “above phenomenal.” I still stand by that.

Our weekend was certainly not a typical winery visit, and Frio Canyon Vineyard hosted us with lodging, meals, and wine. As always, our opinions are our own.

We are extremely grateful for the time Sara, Lood, and everyone at Frio Canyon Vineyard spent with us. Their hospitality gave us an opportunity to see much more than the average visitor normally would.

But you don’t need our experience to enjoy Frio Canyon Vineyard.

Make a reservation for a tasting. Walk around downtown Leakey. Taste wines made from grapes grown just outside town and produced underground in their winery cave. Then find yourself a spot in the Frio River.

Just don’t be surprised if you discover, as I did, that doing nothing for a while can be pretty enjoyable.

We definitely plan to return.

183 US-83, Leakey, TX 78873