Texas Hill Country wineries’ determination a lesson we can follow

It takes determination to have a successful winery in the Texas Hill Country. North and west of Austin, Texas twenty-four wineries show that a stick to it attitude can pay off. These wineries are faced with challenges. Many have small acreage of vineyards near the winery and source additional grapes from growers both in and outside of Texas. Over the past several years, grape growers have had to deal with late killing frosts, hail, at times over abundant amounts of rain and Pierce’s disease. The result is fewer grapes for the winemakers. For the many winemakers who want to use Texas fruit to make Texas wines, having enough grapes to meet their case production needs requires developing connections with growers and dealing with the realities of nature.

The Texas spirit is alive and well in the wine industry. A few years ago a rain bomb dumped over a foot of water on parts of the Texas Hill Country causing severe damage to the winery at Lost Creek Vineyard in Sunrise Beach, Texas. David Brinkman watched as cases and barrels of wine floated away. Others were buried deep in mud. Many people would call it quits, but not so for David. He rebuilt the winery on higher ground. He built a new tasting room and bistro and soon will offer lodging in one of ten rooms. The restaurant attracts large crowds and helped David slowly rebuild a wine inventory.

On a recent trip to visit wineries in the Texas Hill Country, we observed many vineyards next to wineries that were putting forth secondary and tertiary buds. A late spring frost killed many of the primary buds. This killing frost didn’t deter Gary Elliott, owner and winemaker, of Driftwood Estate Winery in Driftwood, Texas. Gary, like many other Texan winemakers and owners we met, is not giving up. He knows that the grapevines will attempt to make up a bad year. For this year, Gary will source grapes from other Texas growers. He is researching the possible benefits that a wind machine might provide for his vineyard.

Many vineyards and wineries with vineyards struggle with the glassy winged sharpshooter, an insect that may infect grapevines with a disease called Pierce’s disease. Infected vines will die. Pierce’s Disease is a challenge for many vineyards in the south from California to North Carolina. We discovered many acres of Black Spanish and Blanc du Bois planted in the Texas Hill Country. These grapes have shown some resistance to the disease. Research is conducted at local and national universities to study the disease and what can be done to combat it.

When traveling to the Texas Hill Country, try to visit as many of the wineries in this region as possible. You will need some of that Texas determination since many of the wineries are some distance from each other. There are nine wineries relatively close together on US 290, but other than that, expect to do some driving. We put hundreds of miles on our rental car in the week we visited wineries in the Texas Hill Country. However the distance between some of the wineries is no excuse not to visit them. Often the speed limit is 70 miles per hour. We had little traffic on the roads and when we encountered a vehicle traveling less than 70 we always noted good manners. The drivers would pull onto a wide right shoulder and allow us to pass.

You can visit these wineries by flying into Austin or San Antonia. The wineries are about a half hour away. If you enjoy driving another option is to fly into Houston. The wineries are about four hours away.

If you would like to learn more about the wineries in the Texas Hill Country read the reviews on the Wine Trail Traveler website.