The Traveling Winers on Texas Wine Trail
Grape Creek Vineyards has built their winery resembling Tuscany, Italy, complete with clay tiled roof and a very welcoming patio with large oak trees shading your relaxation area. This winery was founded in 1984 and is one of the oldest vineyards on Wine Road 290. The new owners, Brian & Jennifer Heath, bought the place in 2006 and have brought the production up to 29,000 cases per year. Although they only have 5 acres planted currently (Chenin Blanc), they do pull grapes from Texas Vineyards (almost exclusively) and only a small amount from New Mexico when extra is needed for production. And amazingly enough, of that 29,000 cases, only a few local restaurants carry their wine, and the rest is all sold exclusively at their tasting room! Busy place!! This would be the perfect place to come bring your picnic lunch, purchase a bottle from their 29,000 cases of wine, sit on the patio, listen to music (check their calendar!) and enjoy the Texan sun!
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail
The Traveling Winers on Texas Wine Trail
Get ready for this one! This is Texas, through and through! Although only 1 acre of grape vines, Chisholm Trail Winery is located on 80 acres of land, ranch style, with animals roaming free (well, not the steer) and just the most serene place you could ever find.
And the winery itself is a very large building, countrified decor, just waiting for people to attend (which might have been the case if we hadn’t arrived only 20 minutes before close – Sorry Rebecca!) It is actually reminiscent of some 2-steppin’ country western dance bars from the past. Memories!
The wines have some really cute names such as “Showdown”, “The Outlaw”, “High Noon II” and “Smart Ass Blush”. They also serve stone-fired pizza on the weekends, so plan a trip out. We suggest you make it a little earlier than 20 minutes to close, however! This was you can take in the whole experience. They even have wine-a-rita’s made for you ladies that like a fruitier drink.
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail
The Traveling Winers on Texas Wine Trail
Fall Creek Vineyard….WOW!!! The name is very demonstrative of the actual scenery! Our first view when pulling into the property on this December morning was a very long drive almost entirely covered with golden pine needles….absolutely gorgeous!
James, the tasting room manager, was our host and has a pretty interesting story of his own about his history here at the vineyards. We will let you go for your own visit and ask James directly! :-) James told us that Fall Creek Vineyards produces about 70,000 cases per year, and as we have come to find out, is about the third largest in sales in Texas. They currently plant about 15 acres, with their only estate grown wine being the Lenoir Rose’ (gosh, did I get that right, James?). Otherwise they source their grapes almost entirely out of Texas, and we’d say that’s a lot of grapes for 70,000 cases! James also informed us that they were the 1st vineyards in Texas, starting in 1975!
We believe this would be a lovely place to come in the springtime when all the vines are flowering. Must be amazing! And don’t forget to ask James to tell you his history at Fall Creek Vineyards!!
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail
The Traveling Winers on Texas Wine Trail
Another really fun and intimate vineyard is Pillar Bluff! We say intimate because it is only small in stature, but big in heart and soul. Gil, the owner, is a character! Very fun to chat with, patient (sorry we were so late, Gil!!), and educational to boot! Gill gave us a demonstration about the size and structure of grapes depending on how long they are kept on the vines, all the while using dear antlers (I think?!?) to illustrate his points. It was very educational and entertaining.
Turns out Gil is a retired Army helicopter pilot (Thanks for your service, Gil!) and started his vineyards over 17 years ago, and opening the winery 3 years after that. He currently runs the whole show at the tasting room with his trusty mate, Rudy, a VERY beautiful dog (not sure why we didn’t get any pictures). And of course, Gil’s wife is involved at some level, one of which we know about is making a scrumptious Blue Cheese Dip! Sorry, can’t give out the recipe. Promised Gil we would take it to the grave!
Definitely check out this quaint winery. Ask Gil to teach you about the timing of harvesting grapes AND to sell you the secret Blue Cheese Dip recipe! It is only $1 and well worth it!!! Yummm!!
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail
The Traveling Winers on Texas Wine Trail
Warmth was the name of the game at this winery! From the beautiful, blazing fire (built by Renee) to Renee, our hostess, herself, we were welcomed into the tasting room with bright smiles and a ready-to-go attitude! Renee was simply amazing! She was so prepared for us, having set up all the wines on the counter ahead of time. And we’re telling you, her attention to detail and ensuring the wines were of quality to taste was simply spectacular! (You really have to read our individual blogs to hear the great details!) We learned that Renee has only been at the winery for about 8 months, so my question that I had was, is Renee such a stickler for details or was she VERY well taught by the owners, Jim and Karen Johnson? Something tells me, it is a bit of both. Message to Jim and Karen: you would have been VERY proud!
Alamosa Wine Cellars has some very nice wines. Jim and Karen first planted in 1996 and had their first harvest in 1999. They currently have 10 acres planted and grow tempranillo, verdelho, and graciano grapes and produce about 3,000 cases per year, mostly estate grown, but definitely 100% texas. Tidbit is that Jim was the first vineyard to plant tempranillo on a commercial basis in Texas!
We really enjoyed our visit to this winery, both for the wines, the company of Renee, and the warmth of the fire on a cool day. We hope that you will stop by and give them a try and let us know what you thought! Make sure to ask them how their wine, El Guapo, got its name!
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail
The Traveling Winers on Santa Barbara Wine Trail
This experience is by appointment only. And what an experience it was! We all felt like we arrived as patrons and left as friends.
The owners, Dan Kessler and Ellen Haak Kessler, bought the property in 2005, had their first harvest in 2008 and first bottle in 2009. They started with 140 cases and now are producing about 2,000 cases per year. They have 40 total acres with 30 of that being planted in vines. Their daughter is also involved in that she has a fine arts degree and designed their labels.
Also part of the family are two dogs, a black lab and a golden retriever (sorry puppies, didn’t catch your names!), a
VERY noisy and hilarious Moluccan Cockatoo named Waldo, and the farm little itty bitty toads that were very, VERY loud. It was way cool. Waldo was a riot….laughing, singing, etc.
Dan shared with us his flight of wines paired with cheese, crackers, sausage, grapes. It was quite a nice experience, sharing good wine with new friends and enjoying the night air. We recommend this stop to all! Read our blogs below to learn about each “winers” personal experience!
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail
The Traveling Winers on the Santa Barabara Trail
Cute, Cute, Cute! Carhartt Tasting Room, located in Los Olivos, California is known as the “smallest tasting room in the world”. And it IS small! Tiny, tiny bar…don’t blink as you walk through the front door and out the back as you might miss the hosts! The back patio area, however, is quite spacious and inviting with awesome barrel stave patio furniture.
The Carhartt’s started the winery back in 1998 with 2 barrels. They now produce about 5,000 cases per year, all exclusively sold at their itty bitty tasting room and through their wine club. They have two vineyards and use about 50% estate grapes and 50% sourced. They are a small family owned operation and like to call it the “ground to glass concept”, meaning they do everything from grow, make, bottle, label, and pour.
This was a very fun experience! We met with Joe, the wine club manager, and Evan, staff, host, family friend since about 5-years old. Really nice, fun and friendly guys! Good wine too!! Oh…and for a bit of history, the little room/building/shack they are in used to be a ticket booth for the stage coach back in the days of old. This place may be small, but its personality and history are HUGE…so don’t miss this one!
The Traveling Winers of The Vineyard Trail
The Traveling Winers on Santa Barbara Wine Trail
Rancho Sisquoc Winery is a location where, if you are so inclined, you might consider dressing for the occasion in your western ware because this place is a Rancher’s Ranch! 37,000 acres of land, a cattle ranch with a mere 300 acres of grape vines. When you pull into the property you see a number of homes that immediately make you wonder…”hmmmm, those obviously aren’t the tasting room, but then what are they?” As it turns out, the homes at the entrance are lodging for the cattle manager, ranch manager, winemaker and assistant winemaker. It is only with a tiny bit more driving down the gravel road that you find the tasting room welcoming your arrival.
The tasting room is quite small, as is the actual tasting bar, however there is plenty of room outside on the patio to enjoy a glass of wine and the California sun. When we drove up a few folks were doing just that. This busy ranch produces about 20,000 cases per year, only using 35 acres of their own grapes for estate wines, and selling the other 265 acres of grapes to other wineries.
They have a nice selection of wines to taste – one in particular is worth your time. That is 2012 Sylvaner. Rancho Sisquoc Winery is the only California producer of the Sylvaner varietal. It really is interesting as it starts out smelling like citrus but then tastes sweet on the tongue! Very different and interesting!
We rated this winery a 4-grape winery and therefore would totally recommend that you stop and have a look-see. Perhaps pack a picnic lunch to bring with you, buy a bottle of wine, put on a pair of shorts (with cowboy boots for the ladies!), pull up a chair on their patio and soak up the bounty and relax! And remember, the VT “winers” said “Cheers!”
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail
For those of you that saw the film August: Osage County starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, upon visiting Gander Way you may feel as if you have stepped into the casting set. We sure did. The countryside around this area is “Oklahoma-breathtaking” and really leaves you feeling a sense of calm and relaxation. This, our friends, is “Oklahoma-breathtaking”.
The winery is owned by Mike and Jan Trower and is a true family affair. They have enlisted the help of their daughter, son, son-in-law, grandparents and nephews! In Mike’s past life he was in the telephone bussiness of sorts. He told us that he had some land that was sitting there doing nothing and wanted to find an endevour that the whole family could work together and enjoy. He gave us a chuckle when he said, “Well, I went crazy one day!” when referring to taking the leap at starting their own vineyard and winery.
They began their journey in 2005, readying the vineyard and planting 2,200 grape vines in the Spring of 2006. Mike said that he wouldn’t recommend this approach of planting so many vines at one time to someone just starting out, but in their case, they had no choice. They had placed an order to be delivered in staggering fashion, but were surprised to find them all delivered at the same time. Of course, the vines had to be planted or they would die and the lost investment would have been tremendous. So off they went, planting, planting and more planting. The Trower family grow six different varietals (Villard Blanc, Concord, Niagra, Cynthiana, Chambourcin, Chardonel), use all of their fruit in their own wines and have to purchase grapes and grape juice from other Oklahoma and Arkansas vineyards. They currently have 5-1/4 acres planted of their total 20 acres.
If you head out for a visit, we recommend that you go on a Saturday and come around lunch time….and hungry. They serve a mean spread! Jan Trower prepares a home cooked meal that currently goes for $9.50 and includes several choices for the main entree, salad and a desert choice. Of course we had to give it a try…..delicious! Check their website for the latest menu. And don’t forget to sample the wine!
So, for you fellow Oklahoma wine lovers, you should definitely take the time to visit Gander Way. It’s in your own backyard! And for anyone else passing through Oklahoma with a bit of time on your hands, give this winery a try. Maybe then you will see what we mean by “Oklahoma-breathtaking”.
And don’t forget….come hungry and thirsty!
The Traveling Winers on Missouri Wine Trail
Cooper’s Oak Winery – two distinctly different locations with two distinctly different feels! We only knew of, and therefore visited, the downtown tasting room location in Boonville, but would love to return and visit their Higbee location as we learned that here they showcase their historical barrel making operation. It seems to be a “thing” in Missouri for wineries to bring their tasting room away from the actual vineyard and winery, and to a more central location, I’m assuming to make available to more visitors. Although this may be a good business strategy, in our opinion, it really takes away from the overall experience. This particular location, in a small downtown main street area, really lacked the ambiance we desire when out and about tasting wines. However, we did learn that the tasting room had only be open for 3 months, so we will give them a “bye” and allow a bit of time to see how and if the ambiance develops. Guess that means we will have to come back for another visit, doesn’t it?! Or maybe you can help keep us up to date…if you have been to this tasting room, leave us a comment below on your experience! We would love to hear about their progress!
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail