A Day at Select Texas Hill Coutry Wineries
Dripping Springs, Stonewall, and Frederickburg, TX
Tasted February 23, 2019 by wmccone54 with 115 views
Introduction
Enjoyed a day trip to the Texas Hill Country to visit a couple of wineries I had visited in the past few years, and to get acquainted with some of the new comers. In the last fifteen years, the area between Johnson City and Fredericksburg along U.S. Highway 290 has grown from a handful of small wineries to well over sixty wineries, ranging from small, single room tasting rooms to very elaborate facilities reminiscent of what you would find in California.
Flight 1 - Bell Springs Winery, Dripping Springs, TX (6 notes)
First time I'd visited this winery. A rustic, very simple, single room tasting facility, something you might expect to find in what the Hill Country was twenty years ago. Although they offer a couple of wines sourced from Texas, the majority of their releases were based from grapes/juice sourced from either Washington State or California. Welcoming staff, but unfortunately, not very knowledgeable about some of their products.
Red
N.V. Bell Springs Winery Reston Superhero Red
USA, Texas, Texas Hill Country
Winery tasting sample. Over the top jammy red fruits sourced from California. Black Cherry and plum. Comprised of a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah.
Red
2017 Bell Springs Winery Syrah
USA, Texas, Texas Hill Country
Winery tasting sample. Sourced from Yakima, WA. Smokey dark fruits but very tart palate. High acid and tannin. Long finish. Seems a bit disjointed currently.
Red
N.V. Bell Springs Winery Needy Bitch Purebred
USA, Texas, Texas Hill Country
Winery tasting sample. Nebbiolo based blend, along with Freisa, and Petite Sirah.with strawberry and sour cherry flavors. Tart in the mouth. High acidity. Sourced from California grapes. Needs lots of additional time to integrate.
Flight 2 - Pedernales Cellars, Stonewall, TX (8 notes)
I'd been to this winery within the last three years. The winery facility sits on the top of a hill, with a scenic view of the Hill Country. The facility itself is modern, but reflects the ambiance and feel of Texas. There is a nice out door patio. The tasting format was well thought out and the staff extremely knowledgeable, courteous and helpful. All wines are sourced from native Texas grapes either from the Hill Country or the Texas High Plains. Highly recommended.
White
2016 Pedernales Cellars Roussanne
USA, Texas
Winery tasting sample. Minerality and medium plus acidity. Lots of citrus, lemongrass and vanilla on the palate. Sees some wood with small amounts of Viognier in the final blend.
White
2016 Pedernales Cellars Viognier
USA, Texas
Winery tasting sample. Medium lemon color, displaying medium floral aromatics and stone fruits on the nose. Peach and apricot flavor profile with some underlying stoniness. Medium acidity, with a medium plus body. Finishes medium plus. Well balanced, decent length.
Red
2015 Pedernales Cellars Texas Family Reserve
USA, Texas, Texas High Plains
Winery tasting sample. Blend of Hill Country and High Plains grapes. Displays mixed red fruits and some evolving complexity. Well integrated and more elegance than the 2016 Texas Hill Country Tempranillo Reserve. Long finish.
Red
2016 Pedernales Cellars Newsom Vineyards North Block
USA, Texas, Texas High Plains
Winery tasting sample. Bordeaux style blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 15% Malbec sourced exclusively from Newsom Vineyards in the Texas High Plains. Lots of tannin, structure and black fruits. Should be really good in a couple of years with additional cellaring.
Red
2013 Pedernales Cellars Kuhlken-Österberg
USA, Texas
Wine club only tasting sample. Comprised of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo and other estate grapes. Not as good as some of their standard High Plains or estate bottlings.
Flight 3 - Barons Creek Vineyards, Fredericksburg, TX (10 notes)
This was my first visit to this winery which opened approximately three years ago on Highway 290. Very new, clean and modern facility, similar to what one might find in California. Although all the wines were better than average, only one was sourced from Texas produced grapes, almost all the wines were sourced from either California, Washington, or Spain. The staff was very knowledgeable and the very experienced wine maker, D. Russell Smith was available to answer questions. There was quite crowd on a mid Saturday afternoon. Recommended.
Rosé
2017 Barons Creek Vineyards Rosé
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
Winery tasting sample. Grenache based Rose/ Upfront palate of sweet jammy red fruit with decent acidity. Although dry, it was just too fruity for my palate.
Red
2016 Barons Creek Vineyards Hippo
USA, California, Central Coast
Winery tasting sample. Sourced from the California Central Coast. Comprised of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah. Very jammy and red floral aromas, but much better balanced on the palate with mixed red fruit and spices. solid finish
Red
2016 Barons Creek Vineyards Velvet
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
Winery tasting sample. Right Bank look alike blend of 60% Merlot / 40% Cabernet Franc. Cherry and bell pepper aromas and flavors. Well balanced and smooth mouthfeel. Finishes long.
Red
2016 Barons Creek Vineyards Zinfandel
USA, California
Winery tasting sample. Sourced from the Lodi, CA AVA. In spite of my expectations of a jam fest, this turned out to be nicely balanced with black cherry, blackberry, and blueberry fruits. Nice finish. Aged in American Oak.
Red
2013 Barons Creek Vineyards Montsant D. Russell Smith
Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant
Winery Tasting sample. Grenache and Carignan blend sourced from the Montsant Region of Spain by the wine maker. Well balanced with flavors of briary red cherry, plum and vanilla. Full bodied with a great finish. Should cellar for a few years.
Red
2017 Barons Creek Vineyards Le Baron
USA, American
Winery tasting sample. This is a big wine comprised of 70% Petit Verdot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. Violets, blackberries and blueberries wrapped around a solid structural base. Still very right and could use more time in the cellar. Medium finish.
Red
2016 Barons Creek Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
Winery tasting sample. Sourced from Columbia Valley, WA. Still very young and should develop with further cellaring. Black currant, and rich blackberry wrapped around a big tannic core. Long finish.
White
2017 Barons Creek Vineyards Viognier
USA, Texas, Texas High Plains
Winery tasting sample. Sourced from the Texas High Plains AVA. Stone fruits with a creamy texture. Excellent quality, medium plus acidity and a long finish.
Flight 4 - Grape Creek Vineyard, Fredericksburg, TX (10 notes)
This is a very long established Hill Country winery; one of the first wineries in the area opened in the early 2000's. All of their grapes are sourced from within Texas. I have been here a number of times over the years and up until this visit, the winery was always welcoming and friendly. Since my last visit three years ago, the winery has set up a very stringent system at entry from the time you enter the parking lot until the time you finish the tasting. I almost felt like I was going through a a series of TSA security checkpoint starting from the time I entered the property. The "non-member" guided tasting was fine, but the tasting facilitator was only marginally knowledgeable, and was more interested in selling a wine club membership than answering questions.
Red
2016 Grape Creek Vineyards Mosaic
USA, Texas
Winery tasting sample. Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend look alike. Displays blackberry, black cherry, and plum. Noticeable structure which may support a few years of cellaring. solid finish.
Closing
Interesting day in the Hill Country where there seems to be a new winery opening about every mile between Johnson City and Fredericksburg. Although not quite as "dense" as Highway 29 in Napa, it's just a matter of time before the area reaches capacity. Lots of choices, style variation, grape origin, and quality among the wineries visited. I was disappointed that only the more established wineries are sourcing Texas grapes...if I wanted California wine, I'd go to CA, not Texas!
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