Need a quick getaway from Austin for a romantic weekend, girls weekend, or solo weekend? More importantly, do you need great wine? If so, Highway 290 from Dripping Springs to Fredericksburg has got you covered. Did you know that the Texas Hill Country is now the second most visited wine region in the country just behind Napa Valley and Sonoma, California? I didn’t believe it when I heard it either, but the proximity to Austin and San Antonio make it an easy trip with an abundance of winery and dining options.
I have been going out to Fredericksburg since the mid-1990’s when I was in graduate school in San Antonio. At the time, it was an easy 1 hour and 10-minute drive from San Antonio, with cute boutiques for shopping, reasonably priced B&B’s for me and the beau, and great German beer and food. What there was not was much decent wine. Don’t get me wrong, we still went tasting, but it was largely sweet red wines or wines that you really shouldn’t even call wine, made of Fredericksburg peaches and such. I had no knowledge of wine at the time, but I knew enough to know there weren’t going to be any awards won save for very few producers who had just begun making worthy wines.
What a difference a decade makes. Over the course of two and a half days, I visited 11 wineries or tasting rooms, and was impressed by the quality offered at all of them. If you are planning a visit to the area, the Texas Hill Country Wineries website offers tons of useful information regarding the tasting rooms, nearby accommodations, and maps.
Several times throughout the year, they offer a “passport” which is a discounted ticket purchased in advance that covers tasting fees at numerous wineries. The Christmas Wine Affair, extending from December 1-17 got me to almost all of the 11 rooms. At $45 per individual or $70 a couple, it was well worth the price. The passport allows you to taste for “free” at any of the 42 participating wineries, up to four per day for the entire duration of the event. With tasting fees typically around $15 per person, this ticket is worth it if you plan to visit at least three. Similar events take place during wildflower season in the spring and during Texas Wine Month in October.
The maps on the Texas Hill Country Wineries website helped me to plan a seamless trip and minimize driving for safety’s sake. I began my odyssey an hour west of Austin on Highway 290 at Lewis Wines. I had first experienced Lewis wines the month prior at a Texas Wines in New York event and knew I had to spend some more time exploring their wines. I happened to be on my trip on one of the coldest days of the year which made my trips from car to winery unpleasant, but also provided a private tasting experience at almost every winery I visited. Sheridan, a jack of all trades at Lewis, greeted me for the first tasting of the morning where we began with their Swim Spot, a blend of Blanc Du Bois and Verdelho. Blanc Du Bois is a hybrid grape that was developed at the University of Florida for its resistance to Pierce’s Disease. It is grown across the Southern United States where Pierce’s Disease is more common due to the humid climates. Swim Spot was a perfect summer wine, with a tiny bit of fizz to it, fresh acidity and citrus flavors. Verdelho is a grape native to Portugal, and from what Sheridan tells me, Lewis is banking on many Portuguese varietals for their future vintages. On the property, they have newly planted blocks of Tinta Cão, Arinto, and Touriga Nacional.
Their current portfolio of wines are produced largely from Spanish and French varietals grown in the Texas High Plains, near Lubbock, Texas. We continued the tasting with three different Tempranillo blends, a Chenin Blanc, a Mourvèdre Rosé and a Mourvèdre. I fell in love with the Chenin Blanc, a relative rarity in Texas wine. The Chenin was grown in the Texas High Plains at the Leahy Vineyard, the largest single vineyard in the state. This was a perfect example of a Chenin with Asian pear and freshly washed sheets on the nose. It had a silky feel in the mouth and tasted of juicy peaches and ripe pairs offset by a ravishing acidity. This bottle found it’s way into my trunk without any additional thought. As we continued through the wines, Sheridan chose tunes to create playlists and told me about the psychedelic funk band that he was in a few years back. Funk is my favorite, so we continued to jam out while tasting.
Speaking of funk, my favorite red of the day, the 2013 Terry County Red Wine, had a bit of it on the nose in the old world style. 100% Mourvèdre from Lost Draw Vineyards in the Texas High Plains, this wine spends 18 months in neutral French oak. It opens with notes of candied red fruits, plums, and an earthiness, and tastes like a liquid cherry jolly rancher with purple fruits and a touch of spice. This one joined the Chenin in my trunk as I packed up, bid Sheridan goodbye, and headed 3 minutes down the road to Ron Yates Wines.
I had the privilege to visit Ron Yates Wines before it had opened to the public and got to experience their big barrel room and their back patio on a lovely spring day. When I arrived on this trip, I discovered they had built a brand new tasting room and patio in order to separate the production and the tasting areas. Dan helped us out and poured us seven wines. My favorite white was the 2015 Viognier from the Texas High Plains. It had oodles of stone fruit and citrus and a zippy acidity. They were discounting the cases of this to make room for the new vintage, so this was a no-brainer for an upcoming holiday party. The red that stole the show was not on the regular tasting menu, and only available for purchase to wine club members. The 2015 Oso Estrella Pinot Noir was sourced from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma, and it was simply one of the best Pinots I have tasted. I was able to cajole Dan into selling me a bottle claiming membership in their sister club at Spicewood Vineyards, but I can’t promise he’ll give you the same deal. Ron Yates, owner extraordinaire, happened to pull into the parking lot as I was pulling out, and sent me on my way after a brief chat in the cold weather.
Another mere 4 minutes down the road was William Chris Vineyards. I did lament a bit that I was there on a cold day since the outdoor tasting area is such a gorgeous Hill Country spot under massive old live oak trees. However, Lisa took good care of me and I got to taste next to the tall Christmas tree that had just been decorated. Of the tasting menu, the 2016 Mary Ruth White Blend caught my attention. It is likely not suited to everyone’s taste, but I prefer whites and don’t mind a touch of sweetness if done right. This was a nice blend of Muscat, an aromatic grape widely found in Texas, along with Blanc Du Bois and Malvasia. Due to the Muscat, the nose was beautifully perfumed with flowers and ripe Fredericksburg peaches. There was just a touch of residual sugar, but it was balanced nicely with the acidity and there was a tiny hint of bitterness on the back end, lending a bit of complexity. I noted “pretty damn good” in my little wine journal and had a glass with a chicken salad lunch. William Chris is a must visit during the spring, just be sure to book your visit ahead of time so that you don’t get lost in the crowd.
My final visit of the day was to Kuhlman Cellars. I was so lucky to get to schedule a tasting with fellow sommelier, Heather Mackin. Heather has a fantastic fund of knowledge about the wines and the pairings that come with the signature tasting. She’s also super cool, sweet and fun to be around. The pairings were merely one bite each, but they were so perfectly matched to the wines, it made me want to meet the chef who concocted these divine little tastes. The first pairing may have been my favorite. A plantain chip was topped with a parmesan sour cream and kernels of roasted corn that had been seasoned with chile, lime, salt, and cilantro. The 2016 Calcaria, an aromatic blend of Trebbiano, Roussanne, Viognier, and Albariño had the body to match the creamy bite and a nice blend of fruit and honeysuckle that provided a counterpoint to the spice and saltiness of the hors-d’oeuvre.
As we tasted through the rest of the menu and a few extras, what struck me the most was the genius of these blends. The winemaker, Bénédicte Rhyne, studied in France and had a career in Sonoma before joining Kuhlman in 2012. Of the seven wines, four were blends of three or more grapes. She has been able to locate the best grapes that Texas has to offer, but some of the blends are just downright strange on paper and all delicious in practice. The Alluve for, example, was a blend of Mourvèdre, Tempranillo, Carignan, Grenache, Malbec and Petit Sirah. “Easy breezy tannins” came into my head on this one and the pairing with their signature almonds seasoned with salt and Herbes de Provence was perfect. Of the four wineries, I thought Kuhlman had the most solid lineup and definitely my favorite selection of reds for the day.
Just as a rare Central Texas snow began to fall, I headed out to the car, almost thwarted by the very lovey (and cold) winery cat. 8 minutes later, I was cozy and warm in my cute B&B, The Italian Place, in Stonewall, TX watching the snowflakes fall over the Pedernales River.
