Duchman Family Winery

As you probably recall, last Valentine's Day weekend Beth and I, along with our husbands ventured to the Texas Hill Country to check out the wines and enjoy the weekend away from our harsh Illinois winter.  As we searched many books and websites to determine which wineries we wanted to try, due to limited amount of time, we had to narrow our choices to only  a few a day (yes, we were trying to be responsible too).

One of the very first wineries I jotted down on my "must see" list was the Duchman Family Winery.  Several things caught my attention about this winery, starting with the ambiance of the drive up to the tasting room.  It looked like a slice of Tuscany in the little Texas town of Driftwood!

More importantly, the owners Lisa and Stan Duchman's goal was "to craft wine in Central Texas using exclusively Texas-grown fruit"(Spectacular Wines of Texas). Their philosophy is "100 % Texas Grapes 100% Texas Wines".  Fortunately, the Texas warm summers mimic the Mediterranean climate of Italy, meaning that grapes that fare well in warm and often arid climates thrive. Native Italian grape varieties like sangiovese, agliancio, and vermintino grow in the vineyards.  In addition to experimenting with Italian grapes, the winery sources the majority of its fruit from the Texas High Plains appellation, where cooler temperatures and a more moderate climate prevail.

They offered a variety of white wines which include Trebbiano, Pinot Grigio, Viognier, Vermentino, and Bianco (a blend of Trebbiano, Vermentino, and Pinot Grigio). Thanks to my most convenient WineCheck, I was able to bring home my top three choices: a 2011 Trebbiano, a 2011 Pinot Grigio and a 2012 Vermentino.  Yes, they are all winners in my book-perfect by the pool!

Next, we tasted the reds chosen from Sangiovese, Dolcetto, Rosso (a blend of Sangiovese and Dolcetto), Montepulciano, Tempranillo, Aglianico, and Canto Felice.  Again, I limited myself to only a couple of tastings but thoroughly enjoyed the Sangiovese, the Montepulciano and the Tempranillo.  As you can see, we even enjoyed a bottle of the 2011 Tempranillo while sitting outside soaking up the lovely warm weather as the sun was starting to set. They even had a Bocce Ball court! (Aw, I remember last year's California trip.)  For more detailed information about their wines, check out their website at duchmanwinery.com.

All in all, the Texas Hill Country was quite a success and I'm looking forward to visiting again- hopefully soon!

Cheers!

Lisa

Tuscany in Texas! Grape Creek Vineyards

As you may have read in one of Beth's previous blogs, she and I, along with our husbands took a trip to the Texas Hill Country back in February.  Though we visited several wineries and loved them all, one of my favorites was Grape Creek Vineyards.

They ARE a little Tuscany in Texas!  With it's limestone bell tower at the entrance and the beautiful Tuscan-style Villa tasting room, the ambiance was the perfect setting to taste some award-winning wines.

Grape Creek Vineyards is located just 10 miles east of Fredericksburg (which is about 70 miles west of Austin on Hwy 290).  Since we were there visiting on a Saturday afternoon, the place was hopping!  It was actually a Texas Wine Trail tasting weekend too.  With live music playing outside on the patio we mosied on inside to taste the wines.  They have their Black Label wines which include Bellissimo, a Super Tuscan style red wine which is a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mosaic is a full-bodied blend of traditional Bordeaux grape varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and a splash of Syrah.  The Black Label also includes a Port and a Petite Sirah. The 2010 Epiphany Estate is a combination of Estate Montepulciano and Aglianico.  The 2010 and 2011 Serendipity blend wines complete the Black Label line.

The list doesn't stop there.  Grape Creek also includes more dry red wines, a variety of white wines and even a couple of sweet wines.  Check out their website at www.grapecreek.com for more details.





 As you can see, the grapes weren't really in season while we were there but the warm sunshine did wonders for us wearied from the long winter!

Enjoying a bottle outside while listening to the music was such a good time. The winery also has a wonderful shop filled with all kinds of fun wine related items.  One thing we didn't get to experience was the Bed & Breakfast.  The 2 bed/2 bath villa sits atop the Ambassador Tasting Room and has wonderful views of the vineyard, the banks of Grape Creek, the rolling hills and natural landscape of the area.  I think we will have to check it out on our trip back!!

 

 

 

All in all, we had a great time on our Texas Wine Trail wine tasting and I'm ready to return!

 

 

Cheers!

Lisa





Texas Wine Country-Pedernales Cellars

      

     This past Valentine’s weekend fellow wino Lisa, myself and our husbands escaped this cold, snowy winter for a quick trip to the Hill Country of Texas. The sun was shining with temperatures in the 70s! It was perfect weather for exploring Texas wineries. One of my favorites was Pedernales Cellars in Stonewall, Texas-the heart of Texas Hill Country.

The view from Pedernales

     Pedernales Cellars is just an hour drive from both Austin and San Antonio and only 15 miles from Fredericksburg. It is situated on a sprawling property that overlooks the beautiful countryside. Pedernales owns and operates vineyards in both the Hill Country and the High Texas Plains. They  specialize in Tempranillos and Viogniers.  They proudly produce 100% Texan wines and pride themselves on developing wines from grapes that can survive the hot Texas summers like Tempranillos and Rhone blends.


     As beautiful as the property at Pedernales is, the tasting room is also a thing of beauty. It is airy, well lit with plenty of space to enjoy a tasting. We loved all the natural light that our winter weary souls were desperately seeking. The tasting itself was relaxing, led by a knowledgeable young man who not only knew his Pedernales wines, but had great knowledge to share on the Texas wine industry. Our favorite wines were the Tempranillos, that Texas is becoming known for producing, and Block Two Tempranillo blend. Of course a wine trip would not be complete if we didn’t purchase a few bottles to take home with us (we did bring our wonderful Wine Check bag). We purchased Block Two Red Blend and Texas High Plains Tempranillo to enjoy at home. 

     And then there is the outdoor space! A huge deck shaded by old oak trees with plenty of seating to enjoy a bottle of their delicious wine. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and shared good company and a Tempranillo after our tasting inside. It was a wonderful, relaxing way to spend an afternoon with our sweeties on Valentine’s Day!

Enjoying some wine from the deck at Pedernales

       I would say our first adventure to Texas wine country was a success. The people were fantastic, we enjoyed some wonderful wines, and it will be interesting to see how the region takes off in the next few years.

Cheers,
Beth