When I take a look at the amount of wine produced, the number of wineries, and the economic impact; they are coming out far ahead from more traditional wine producing states like Virginia, Washington and even Oregon.
It's traditionally not a region I envision producing great grapes due to the extreme weather patterns and high humidity. What gives?
by GeneracisWhack
17 Comments
I live in Texas and feel our wine is insanely overpriced for what it is. We do Italian style whites well but that’s about it.
Been to Fredericksburg lately? It is hoppin’! New wineries popping up weekly at this point.
Also if you ever go, check out Chocolates El Rey. Amazing chocolate from Venezuela! Every time I visit Fredericksburg I bring back so much chocolate.
It’s one of the nicer areas in the whole state and it makes for a fun weekend getaway. I’d bet most people going don’t know much about “real wine.”
The main grape growing areas are out on the high plains near Lubbock. In the last decade or so, the largest number of wineries are now located in Gillespie and Blanco counties to the west of Austin. These often buy in grapes from the high plains producers. They sell to day tripper tourists for pretty high dollars considering the quality of the wine produced. We’re talking lots of $40 to $60 bottles. Here’s an example of a pretty decent winery. Check out their prices.
https://www.hilmywine.com/
Texas has a fairly strong history of wine. None of em are outstanding, but they’re all decent. I’ve found way better on the “warm” climate varietals. https://northtexaswine.com/about-the-region/#:~:text=The%20European%20wine%20industry%20imported%20native%20labrusca%20rootstock,in%20France%2C%20Germany%2C%20and%20other%20regions%20of%20Europe.
Side note: the idea of a French delegation coming from Paris and going to nearby(ish) Paris, TX has me giggle.
It’s an enormous state with huge variation in geography and climate, there are bound to be all kinds of microclimates you wouldn’t expect if your idea of the area is just the Gulf coast and the desert.
I don’t know if they’re producing *great* grapes out there–you rarely ever see Texan wine exported out of the state (the one I’d ever see on shelves in NYC, Southold Farm + Cellar, has apparently closed down with the winemakers moving their business to Bordeaux instead). But I did talk to a farmer once who told me he planted vineyards solely because he learned he could sell off wine grapes for higher prices than the vegetables he had been using the land for previously, so maybe it just makes sense as a cash crop for now while they try to get the quality sorted out.
What else is there to do in Texas but drink? I went to a few wineries in Texas recently. They all bought grapes from out of state. The wine honestly wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t good
Personally not a fan of Texas wine but do love visiting the area. Great restaurants and things to do.
Besides the Trump orange wine, what’s coming out of Va.?
McPherson Cellars makes good stuff and you *can* sometimes find them in other states. I got a somm with a super-traditional palate to love and appreciate their sparkling Chenin Blanc, which blew him away on the QPR.
Texas is great for Iberian i.e. Spanish & Portuguese varieties alongside warmer Italian varieties.
I’d rather take my budget elsewhere.
It’s from the high plains region
[https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/texas-high-plains-wine-country/?srsltid=AfmBOook1LMK6lnu9ZXA8M7TuD5wQj1Hklf3320KBrAn9WY26Ucy6jfn](https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/texas-high-plains-wine-country/?srsltid=AfmBOook1LMK6lnu9ZXA8M7TuD5wQj1Hklf3320KBrAn9WY26Ucy6jfn)
Ok so, I used to work for a vignieron in the Hills Country, both in the vineyards and in the winery. There are a handful of great producers growing and/or buying good grapes and making good wine. This is by far and away a minuscule collection of producers.
As u/comments_suck pointed out, most producers are buying either from the High Plains, or worse, California from large farming operations that are more concerned with quantity over quality.
Their play is for bachelorette/cougar parties. They’ve got between .25-1 acre planted and well tended to for those instagramable shots, but their trucking in fruit and making sub-par wine that they’re hawking off for between $40-60.
Again, there are a small handful of surprisingly good producers, but their productions are tiny and their bottlings are relatively expensive to cover their costs.
It’s an interesting area to explore and get to know; is it the best qpr? No, but I’m happy to DM you names of producers to start your journey, I just don’t want to inadvertently dox myself here.
TL;DR?
Don’t believe everything u/HRslammR says; they are right about the long history and lackluster average quality of Texas wine, but there are gems out there.
There is a lot of money in Texas and Fredericksburg is 45-1 hr from Austin and San Antonio. I would say at least half of the wine served there is imported though from CA southern OR and overseas. There are good wines if you know what to look for though. Tough to find outside of the state but Dan Gatlins’ Marie La Rose is a sub-label under Inwood estate that makes very legit Bordeaux blends. He has a contemporary doing a cool thing at Kalasi as well. Tannat, Sangio, Temperanillos and petit verdot can be solid and found for $40 or less. There are no good white’s but Texans like sweet moscato en masse so they don’t care. Very little acid in the soil and nearly everything is machine harvested and hammered pretty rough in the cellar for the most part. The Dicamba used by the cotton growers in the high plains is slowly but steadily destroying the yields and livelihoods of the farmers that grow the wine up there which is only going to increase the land and fruit value of hill country.
I have no clue what you are talking about…Looking at the link YOU provided,
1) **Texas ranks 5th** with ~4.3 million gallons of wine in 2018. California, Washington State, New York and Oregon all produce more.
2) **Texas ranks 5th** in the total number of bonded wineries with 352 in 2018. New York (with 403), Oregon (792), Washington (793), and California with 4,501 wineries all have more.
3) The ONLY area — in terms of the link you provided — where Texas is “ahead,” if you can call that, is **Texas ranks 3rd** in economic impact with $13.1b. That speaks to the large and diverse economy of California and the relative strength of the other states. The seven most populous **states**, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio are also the seven biggest contributors to U.S. GDP, according to the Bureau of Economic Statistics — and that would be expected, wouldn’t it?
Wines are produced in all 50 states. It is my sincere belief that Texas has *potential* to make some very good wines. IMHO, they need to do two things: a) stop bringing in grapes from California, and b) stop trying to make Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay and work with grapes better suited to the specific locations with the state. The best wines I have personally had have come from the Hill Country, but I want to be honest here: I certainly don’t drink lots of Texas wine, and what I have tried (which I do every time I’m in Texas), I’ve yet to find one I would buy for my own personal consumption.
In my personal experience, I have had better wines from — in random order — CA, OR, WA, AZ, NM, NY, PA, MI, and MA. But I still try Texas wines every time I’m there…
Citing a different source than yours, the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the US Dept. of Agriculture reports that:
>Texs grape growers produced 14,180 tons of grapes from 5,020 bearing acres in 2019. Production was up 22 percent from 11,660 tons produced in 2017. Bearing acres in vineyards for 2019 were up 11 percent from 4,541 acres from the last survey conducted in 2017. The average yield of 2.8 tons per acre was up 0.2 tons from the previous survey. The total value of wine grape production in Texas for 2019 was estimated at $22.7 million, compared with $18.9 million in 2017.
[https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Texas/Publications/More_Features/tx-wine-grape-varieties-2019.pdf](https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Texas/Publications/More_Features/tx-wine-grape-varieties-2019.pdf)