Shitload of wineries in the area. Heading to McCallen for my moms 90th and driving from our home in AZ. I’ve heard the city is pretty cool and I’d love to taste some serious wines. Anyone know what does well there.
1 Like
I have enjoyed Kuhlman’s food pairing. People like William Chris, but I find them over oaked. Becker is a pioneer and they have lovely lavender fields. I have had some with 20 - 30 years on them and they showed very well. Young? Too much American oak for me. There are also tons of new wineries I have never been to, so take my recommendations for what they are worth.
What I can say is you should not miss the National Museum of the Pacific War. It is more than worth a few hours of your time.
2 Likes
I think Texas does Spanish and Italian varietals best. So I’d focus there myself. However everybody down here still loves their Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays so you’ll stumble across those still. I tend to shy away from those myself.
Some of my favorites are Kuhlman, Calais, William Chris, Heath (sparkling), Farmhouse, Ron Yates and Pedernales. There are others but those are the first off the top of my head.
4 Likes
btw Fredericksburg has really grown and gotten really popular, particularly since the pandemic, so I’d make reservations for restaurants and wineries where they take them. You can still pop into both but you very likely will wait or turn around and leave at some places these days.
3 Likes
You are correct there are a ton of vineyards. Most you will be disappointed with the quality of the wine.
With that said, the hill country and Fredericksburg specifically are beautiful, especially now through early May.
Most of the vineyards mostly survive, on the premise of being a charming experience, rather than a high-quality wine.
One exception, I would make to this is William Chris Vineyards. I’ve never been to their vineyard, but I have had their wine multiple times, and to me the quality side-by-side to Napa reds was very comparable. I’m not sure how reputable this rating site is but last two years they are named one of the top 100 vineyards in the world. The only Texas vineyard to ever be named that list.
2 Likes
Thanks fellas. Making plans. Not expecting to be blown away, but it should be fun. I shipped some Cabernet See clone budwood to Llano winery many moons ago. I might follow up on that
1 Like
We’re here and everything’s different in TX. As we drove thru the town of Fredericksburg, it looked like Healdsburg on a super busy day… people all over the streets.
The winery area seemed to be south of town. Local told me the wine thing is quite new here. Smarter planning than St Helena I’d say. Very nice 4 lane road WITH a center turn lane. You won’t see that crazy backup like y’all do South of Yountville!
Small blue road signs showing the facility. Most tasting rooms are big, newish and very fancy. It’s like they’ve got the hospitality part first, which for business is prolly smart. Didn’t hardly see a vineyard!
William Chris was a disaster for us anyway. Too many thirty somethings playing corn hole and screaming, a guy playing guitar and singing turned up way too loud. Sweet gal trying to tell me about the wines. She tried.
Had a Chennin that sucked, a Mouvedre that was ok, and a cab…that at least wasn’t vegie. We did sign up for the picnic lunch at $25 each and it was a good deal.
Went to Heath Sparkling…first name of my stepson. Four sparklers all made at Rack & Riddle but mostly from TX fruit. One Blanc de Blanc was fairly nice at $54. The other 3 offerings were thin and simple. They said the only way to walk out with a bottle was to join the club…ok later!
I think tomorrow we’ll do some non wine activities.
Update: we did do a few more tourist things around Fredericksburg and one more wine stop. Safari winery. The owner is a hunter and features wines from South Africa and South America. Claims he has agreements with producers…not buying bulk stuff. We did a tasting of five different wines and they were all quite good. It was club pickup party day and the place was humming.
I can see the allure of the town. It’s a place where folks from Austin come and play. Lots of fun bars and eateries. It kind of had a Carmel feel to it. Art galleries and fancy stores with expensive stuff. I could have bought a full life size African leopard for $15k! Also lots of stores with boots and hats. I tried to get Lynne to buy a purse…but at $450 she said no.
If we lived an hour away, I’d come a couple of times a year. Kind of what we did in the town of Mendocino when we lived in Ukiah.
1 Like
One more thing about the Fredericksburg area. There’s a complete transition from peaches and other orchard fruits to wine.
My mom…now 90 years old told me about picking prunes across from what is now Queen of the Valley hospital on Trancas Street, where I was born.
1 Like
If your reference is Texas wine from 20 years ago or Becker’s it’s definitely time to revisit. The traffic on 290W is not bad even with all the construction around the Y in Oak Hill. It’s an easy day trip from anywhere in Austin. You don’t need to go all the way to Fredericksburg, either. I can recommend several places to try a bit closer to Austin between Johnson City and Stonewall.
There’s plenty of good wine being made in Texas Hill Country, especially if you look for Spanish, Rhone, and Italian varietals. There’s been a lot of changes for the better since early 2010’s. The real problem is that prices are on the high side because there’s still not enough grapes grown in Texas relative to demand from the wineries. By the way, about 80% of grapes come from the High Plains and other West Texas areas. Their weather there is more like Paso compared to Hill Country.
It’s unfortunate that Texas wine has to overcome old stereotypes and struggle against the crappy impression that people get from TX wines in HEB/TW/Specs. If you go with open mind you’re likely to be surprised.
Just had our first trip to Texas wine country. Only visited two wineries—William Chris and Narrow Path.
Bought a bottle of the William Chris 2021 “The Hunter”, a blend of Malbec, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, and Cab Sauvignon. It smelled more Old World, and sort of leaned that way in the palate initially. It ended up being more NW in style after an hour of being opened. In the inflated scoring of 2024 I’d give it 80-85 points.
At Narrow Path we did a full tasting. The Roussanne was actually pretty tasty—call it 90 points. It was the only Texas wine I’ve yet had that I’d buy and serve at home. The Roussanne/Marsanne blend was off—tasted oxidized. The Cinsault rosé was tart and bright but would be fine around a pool. The Sangiovese was the only Texas red I’ve had that I’d be willing to drink again at home—call it 88 points, although different from any other Sangiovese I’ve had. There was a Cab and a Cab blend that were fine.
Wines aside, the hospitality was awesome. I’d go back again just for the fun experience.
I did not know that most of the grapes were sourced from the high plains—is that because there’s too much heat and/or humidity in Hill Country?
1 Like
Yes, we were in Hill Country for the eclipse and I was told the heat in Hill Country was the reason to source grapes from the high plains.
2 Likes
I did not know that most of the grapes were sourced from the high plains—is that because there’s too much heat and/or humidity in Hill Country?
The humidity also keeps night time temps higher and we don’t get the diurnal shift that vines like. However, there’s more HC fruit last couple of years than ever before.
If you go again my current favorites are Tatum (in JC), Ron Yates, Siboney, French Connection, and Pedernales Cellars. Check out Calais if you’re into BDX-style wines.