Third week of winery/tasting room notes from Fredericksurg:
• Pedernales Cellars: Twenty miles east of Fredericksburg. Worth the drive. Larry and Jeanine Kuhlken are Texas wine pioneers. Their two children with their spouses imagined and created a boutique winery successfully focused on small-lot Spanish and Rhône style wines. They clearly and admirably succeeded. The tasting room is comfortable, the views outstanding, the wine wonderful. Visit. Link to Pedernales Cellars website
• 4.0 Cellars: Four wineries in one stop—joint effort of Brennan Vineyards, Lost Oak Winery, and McPherson Cellars. The fourth is joint 4.0 Cellars label. The tasting room on Hwy 290 is commodious, the wine delicious and widely available. Wine tasting lists change every two weeks, emblematic of the depth of the wineries involved. 4.0 Cellars can treat you so many different ways, you are bound to enjoy one of them. Link to Four Point Wine website
• William Chris: Located in Hye on the Hwy 290; collaboration of two serious Texas wine makers who believe wines are made by farmers in vineyards, not by chemists in lab coats in the winery. Amen to that. Bill Blackmon delivers 30 years of Texas winegrowing experience. Wine Enthusiast Magazine noted Chris Brundrett as a winemaker “changing the face of American wine” in 2018. Serious venue serving serious wine. Visit. Link to William Chris Wines website
• Narrow Path: In contrast to Pedernales, 4.0, and William Chris, Narrow Path Winery is a boutique winery with limited, but quality, production. The tasting room on Main Street in the heart of Fredericksburg features an honest and entertaining somm, Bill Krietiz. He will educate you on what to do and not do in Fredericksburg: Walk on the sidewalk with open container, OK. Jay walk—$300 fine. He also will tell it exactly like it is when you enter. If you like sweet, fruit-infused wine, Bill directs you to Fat Ass Ranch & Winery at the other end of the block. If you came for serious wine, he knows what to pour. Link to Narrow Path Winery website
• Signor Vineyards: Magnificent tasting center built as a private home in 1998, designed by noted architect Isaac Maxwell. The Signor family purchased the property with the goal of creating a winery and tasting venue. On Hwy 290, it is spectacularly elegant. The principals have winery interests in Oregon, and today grapes are grown and wine made in Oregon, but vines were planted in Texas two years ago and a winery started, so first Texas vintages are just around the corner. Link to Signor Vineyards website
Last round: If you’ve got Texas wine, honey, I’ve got the time.