Texas Hill Country Wineries Austin Road Show
The April 2023 event for the Bluebonnet Chapter of the Wine Society of Texas (WSOT) was an opportunity to attend the Texas Hill Country Road Show in Austin on Monday April 17 at the Q2 Soccer Stadium in the Lexus VIP room. It was my first time to be at the stadium, and I found the venue quite impressive. The stadium was well lit and decked out in in FC Austin’s signature green. The attendees were feted in the VIP room, which was packed to the gills with representatives from 30 Texas wineries.
Dexter Harmon, Jim Salles (Houston Chapter of WSOT) and I arrived as the doors opened. We each were given a wine tote bag, engraved tasting glass, and a tasting book with pages that detailed each of the featured wineries and the wines available to taste. With only 200 tickets sold for this Road Show, the room was full, but not uncomfortably so. Initially, we visited the tables closest to the entrance, but as time went on, we realized there were too many wineries and only two hours to check them out, so we became more selective. Well-appointed charcuterie trays of various cheeses, meats and olives were replenished frequently as attendees made sure to not drink wine on an empty stomach.
Each winery featured three bottles of wine for tasting and very knowledgeable representatives. In some cases, the vintner was on hand, and conversations with those folks provided not only interesting information about the uniqueness of the wines, but also first-hand details about the challenges of getting a good product in a bottle.
It would be difficult to list all my favorites, but the Carter Creek Winery’s 2022 Sparkling Tempranillo Rose was really nice. As a member of that winery’s wine club, Jim was greeted by name. A major highlight upon our visit to the Farm House Vineyard’s table was that its representative, Madison Hawkins Murchison, told us she has been a three-time recipient of a WSOT scholarship. She explained the scholarships made a huge difference in the education she needed to work with the vineyard. I found the Farm House 2018 Jack Knifed GSM (50% Grenache) a standout (marked it as “Good!” in my tasting book); its grapes are grown on the Texas High Plains, but there is a tasting room in Johnson City.
A new winery for me was Kalasi Cellars, with a tasting room in Fredericksburg; its 2017 Sangiovese Reserve was among my favorites of the evening. Jim recommended we stop by the Kuhlman Cellars table—a solid choice. We enjoyed tasting both its 2017 Malbec-Merlot and the 2018 Barranca. At the Limestone Terrace Vineyard booth, we all enjoyed the 2020 Estate Mourvedre, which has won double gold. If I’m recalling correctly, its grapes are grown in Wimberley and aged 21 months in neutral oak; we commented that it would be great with barbecue. My notes about Limestone Terrace include “Visit!”
Ron Yates Wines (Johnson City) had an enthusiastic representative, Zach, who encouraged us to try its 2019 The Good Guy, which is a GSM. It tasted great and was very smooth—nothing hanging on the end. At another table, Dexter enjoyed the 2020 Enchante, a smooth Bordeaux blend made by William Chris Vineyards in Hye. It is rated at 92 points and was very smooth. That vineyard’s 2019 Mourvedre was also quite good; the representative called that grape “the Pinot Noir of Texas.”
All in all, this was a wonderful event for learning about and tasting a wide-variety of Texas wines. I look forward to attending this event again in the future. If you have questions about any of the wines, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Dexter, Jim or Paige for more information.
