Medium ruby color; cherry, raspberry, plum, strawberry, dried herbs, chocolate on the nose and palate.
Dry; genteel tannins and acidity (3.97 pH). Medium body. Fermented in large oak fermenter for 12 days. Aged separately in 90% neutral oak and 10% iin new French oak for 29 months. Single vineyard, 100% grenache. Purtell Vineyard is part of Lahey Vineyards, the largest grape-growing operation in Texas at more than 1,000 acres. The farm was established more than 60 years ago, then in 2013 added grapes to their large, existing planting of peanuts and other crops. Elevation of 3,300 feet; Amarillo fine sandy loam over clay sub-soil and calcareous sub-soil. Located just southwest of Brownfield in Terry County, the heart of the Texas High Plains AVA. 14.2% ABV
The vineyard website noted their most recent improvements: “Lahey decided to stop gambling with the West Texas weather. Our team has implemented 90 wind machines to prevent plant freezing and 700 miles of hail netting to protect our vines in inclement weather. It’s only the latest step we’ve taken to keep our promise of producing Texas’s best wine grapes.” The vineyard has more than 3,000 rows of grapes, some 780 miles of drip irrigation, and grows 40 different grape varieties.
William Chris is a major player in Texas wine ascendency with the quality and quantity to be taken seriously. The winemaking facility and tasting room are located in the tiny hamlet of Hye, 20 miles east of Fredericksburg on US 290, the wine road in the Texas Hill Country that is analogous to Napa’s Highway 29. The Texas Hill Country AVA is the second-most visited AVA in the United States, behind Napa. There are clear differences: the Napa AVA is 789 square miles; the Texas Hill Country AVA is more than 14,000 square miles. Well, things are bigger in Texas.
While the Texas Hill Country AVA produces some grapes, the AVA is much more famous for its wineries and tasting rooms. Most Texas grapes—85%—come from the Texas High Plains AVA, a region of more than 12,500 square miles on the Texas High Plains (Llano Estacado) centered between Lubbock and Brownfield (Terry County). With elevations ranging from 3,000 to 4,000+ feet, hot days and cool nights, the High Plains developed into a major grape producing region in the past 40 years. The winery founders are firm believers “the best wines are grown, not made, and should be an expression of their native Texas terroir.” All William Chris wines are made with Texas-grown grapes.
The Texas Hill Country AVA is an easy day trip for the more than 1.5 million people living in San Antonio (seventh largest city in the U.S.) and the one million people living in Austin (11th largest city in the U.S.). Throw in 2.3 million people in Houston (4th largest U.S. city) and the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area with 2.5 million people. The Texas Hill Country AVA is comfortably reachable for some eight million people in a less than a four-hour drive. Texans don’t blink about four hour drives, and the Austin/San Antonio drives are 90 minutes or less.
The wisdom is you go to Napa for vineyard beauty, pricy restaurants, and tony tasting rooms. You go to the Texas Hill Country if you want welcoming tasting rooms, good food, thigh-slapping fun, and outrageous characters. You also go there to enjoy the soaring quality and sophistication of Texas wines. William “Bill” Blackmon and Chris Brundrett—William Chris Vineyards—are part of that inspiring story. You also have more than a passing chance of visiting with Chris—his mother always refers to him by his full name “Christopher”, BTW—in the tasting room.
William Chris Vineyards Purtell Vineyard Grenache, Texas High Plains 2020 is smooth, easy drinker from a top Texas winemaker and leading Texas wine grape grower. Delivers the svelte sophistication of grenache. Very approachable. Clean, fruit-forward. Can pleasure a profusion of palates. Pair with beef dishes; lamb; wild game—venison, boar, wild turkey. Tomato ragout, umami-heavy dishes. Cheese—very versatile; camembert, brie, manchego, gouda, feta, mozzarella, aged cheddar, parmesan. $21-25
