You don’t have to go to France or Italy to find decent wine. You don’t even have to go to California or Oregon. There are about 3,000 commercial vineyards in the United States and there’s at least one winery in every state (even Hawaii). Many of the wineries obtain their berries (grapes) from across state lines, but the vinification takes place in state.
Texas produced about 675,000 gallons of wine in 2009, dwarfed by California (675 million gallons), New York (about 26 million gallons), and Washington (about 24 million gallons). Even states like Florida (1.8 million gallons) and Missouri (just over a million gallons) out produced Texas. But I’ve tasted wine from a lot of states and I can tell you that, while the “Big Three” wine producing states aren’t in any danger of losing their top billing from any of the other states, Texas wine fares better than any of the bottom 47 with the possible exception of New York state.
Not only are Texas wines eminently quaffable, the Texas wine country is accessible for a long weekend from all the major cities in the state without having to go through security at DFW or IAH! In addition, the wineries in Texas realize that wineries are for more than just “tasting” so they have added quaint restaurants, B&B’s, etc. Couple that with the knowledge that Texas wine is produced in some of the most aesthetically pleasing geography in these United States, and you discover the “experience” that is Texas wine.
I may have mentioned in a previous blog post that the seductive contours of the Texas Hill Country and the lonesome blue of the state flower and the stately skies conspired against me one weekend several years ago with the result that we came home with five cases (sixty plus bottles) of Texas wines in the trunk, back seat, and floorboard of Lisa’s Acura. While it’s true that our palates have developed beyond the capacity of most Texas wines to challenge us, we still enjoy driving through the Texas Hill Country and the Pines of East Texas a couple of weekends every year sampling the latest “crush.” Sometimes the grapes are grown locally, sometimes they’re imported from the Llano Estacado in West Texas, and sometimes they come from California (or even Australia in the case of one Lake Travis area winery). But always . . . ALWAYS . . . there is something uniquely “Texas” about the experience.
One of our favorites (I’m mention several in later blog posts) is nestled in the pine covered rolling hills just south of Tyler and east of Bullard. It’s called Kiepersol Estate and we were introduced to it by some very old, very good friends . . . Debbie and Gary. Truth is, they didn’t introduce us to the wine, but to the Bed and Breakfast. Even more specifically, it was the breakfast! The first time we went there, the B&B was full . . . and they normally don’t serve breakfast at the restaurant to non-B&B guests. But Debbie talked them into serving us. And what a breakfast it was! Eggs Benedict, but instead of Canadian Bacon it was a big old chunk of estate-bred sirloin. Amazing!
As we got to know Kiepersol better and better, we began to appreciate the wines more than the B&B. Kiepersol Estates was founded by South African Pierre de Wet in 1984 and is one of the few Texas wineries to use estate grown grapes for the bulk of its wine. Oddly enough, there is a micro-climate in a small area there in East Texas that contributes to the healthy and flavorful growth of three red and two white varietals. Pierre’s daughter, Marnelle, became the family winemaker after an internship at Trefethen Vineyards in California. She does a remarkable job of creating an Old World style wine right there in rural Texas.
It’s well worth the drive over there if you live in Dallas or Houston, and it’s only one of the many wineries in Texas that are interesting enough to warrant a visit. I could go on and on about other Texas wineries like Becker (a favorite of George W. in the White House) and Flat Creek (a beautiful Tuscan-like setting) . . . but I think I’ll save those for another post.
Drink up, friends. As a good friend just informed me (he’s on a visit to the Texas Hill country and sent me a picture of this sign by SMS), “Wine drinkers make GRAPE lovers.”