A Taste of Texas Wine History
Historic vineyard region just west of Houston is undergoing a rebirth
My husband Randy’s family is Czech. They settled in the late 1800s and worked in Cat Spring. Randy’s great-grandfather, Adolph,...
Drink Wine and Enjoy a Taste of History. Take a Weekend Road-trip!
The historic vineyard region just west of Houston is undergoing a rebirth. What a perfect way to spend the day (or weekend) drinking wine while getting a history lesson. The vineyard owners and managers are happy to share both their wines and the story of how each of them ended up growing grapes and making wine. The drive is beautiful and only about an hour west of Houston--plus the tasting rooms are air-conditioned!
Cast Iron Winery—Sean Hume was turned on to wine while in the University of Houston school of restaurant management. With youthful vigor, he and wife, Chelsea, offer a variety of fun wines and blends from local and Texas Vitis vinifera grapes. Sealy
Majek Vineyards—Randy and Lynne Majek’s Blanc Du Bois vineyard and winery south of Schulenburg offers Blanc Du Bois, Black Spanish and proprietary blended wines from dry to sweet and hosts wine events in their artsy tasting room. Moravia
Pleasant Hill Winery—Bob and Jeannie Cottle have a bucolic three-acre vineyard where they grow Blanc Du Bois, Lake Emerald, Black Spanish and Favorite. They make wines from dry to sweet from these and vinifera grapes (Sangiovese, Tannat, Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc, etc.) from the Texas high plains. Brenham
Pipers Creek Vineyard—Newly opened winery, estate vineyard of hybrid Villard Blanc and entertainment/wedding venue by Ryan Meischen offers wines from his local grapes and Vitis vinifera from Texas and New Mexico including Mourvèdre, Viognier and Muscat. Columbus
Rosemary’s Vineyard—After years in a Pearland restaurant business, Emmett and Beatrice Schulze planted a vineyard in memory of Beatrice’s sister with Blanc Du Bois, Black Spanish and Muscadine to provide dry to sweet wines and good conversation. La Grange
Saddlehorn Winery—Stephen and Galin Morgan started as “educated consumers” but now have an estate vineyard on Route 290 with Blanc Du Bois and Black Spanish and offer 19 wines from dry to sweet including a gold-medal Tempranillo. Burton
Texas Star Winery—Jim Chisholm sells his wines (high plains Vermentino, Merlot and Sangiovese, local Blanc Du Bois and even Prickly Pear) in an appealing tasting room tucked into the woods. Chappell Hill
Whistling Duck Vineyards—John Cooke, his wife, brother and sister-in-law planted grapes. John enrolled in college to learn winemaking and in 2014 opened a winery and tasting room at the end of a winding country road offering local Blanc Du Bois, Black Spanish and north Texas Tempranillo and Viognier. Weimar
Yellow Brick Road Winery—A creation of Denyce Treybig, who grows Blanc Du Bois and makes wine and has a restaurant in a converted farmhouse after taking viticulture and winemaking courses. Closed until October 2018 for renovations. Sealy
For an interactive map of these and other wineries only about an hour’s drive west of Houston, go to txwinelover.com/texas-wineries-map.
A Taste of Texas Wine History
Historic vineyard region just west of Houston is undergoing a rebirth My husband Randy’s family is Czech. They settled...
Communities Near You
Related Stories & Recipes