Salt Lick Cellars – Driftwood, Texas

Central Texas BBQ lovers already know Salt Lick BBQ for their great BBQ.  With their own wine labels and vineyard, Salt Lick is making a name for themselves in the wine industry as well.  Located next to the BBQ joint, the tasting room blends nicely into the décor.  Nothing fancy and nothing odd, as it’s just a good place to sip wine and talk.  Across from the tasting room, beyond the parking lot, you’ll notice about 5 acres of vineyards in the country side.   More vineyards are located not too far away by Onion Creek.  As you step up to the wine bar, you’ll have the option of trying out a number of Texas wines as well as Salt Lick’s own selections.  Currently, there will be about 4 or 5 of the wineries own creations you can try depending on availability and vintage releases.    Let’s just cut to the chase.  Their 2010 Tempranillo is wonderful!  Red wine lovers will be very pleased with this one.  It’s full of bold strong flavors with a touch of fruitiness to the nose.  And yes, it has good legs!  The Tempranillo grapes are proving to do quite well in the unpredictable and extreme weather of Central Texas.  Among the other reds you might be interested in are Hill Country Blend (Cabernet/Syrah blend with a touch of Sangiovese) and the Ranch Road Red.  They also offer a Sparkling wine based on the Chardonnay grape.   We look forward to new releases in the future as well as some great BBQ!

www.saltlickcellars.com

Cabernet Sauvignon – 2000; Biltmore Winery; Asheville, North Carolina

This cabernet wine has it all: full body, well balanced, fruit and complex bouquet, and just damn good.  The story goes something like this.  You open the bottle and deeply inhale the initial strength of the bouquet.  Being a patient and disciplined wine lover, you let it breath.  In the meantime, you enjoy the aroma in the room as the wine aerates.  At the right time, you pour just a tad and swirl the glass as you note its color and texture.  Finally, you sip and enjoy all the full flavors that this well aged wine has to offer.  The big smile on your face says it all.  You go ahead and pour a glass for you and your honey.  Next thing you know, what timing, as dinner is ready!  Afterwards, your only thoughts are how much more of this wine will you be able to enjoy today and how much if any will you save for tomorrow? Only you know the answer to that question. Seriously, you should try the wines produced by Biltmore. They are well crafted and now available on a broader national scale versus exclusively from their Ashville location. This is a truly bold, full bodied cab with strong tannins yet a lovely clean finish.  A fabulous selection for an Italian dinner.

www.biltmore.com

Wedding Oak Winery – San Saba, Texas

A warm welcome to one of the Texas Hill Country’s newest wineries!  Mike McHenry & friends have started up a fine winery in downtown San Saba. The investment represents a huge boom for San Saba and a positive effort at revitalizing downtown businesses there.  They have already done justice to their winery by bringing Penny Adams on board as their winemaker.  Many Hill Country vineyard owners will be all too familiar with her as the Viticulture Advisor for the Texas Hill Country area.  Her expertise in growing grapes in areas of Texas, once seemed impossible, has been a great benefit for the industry.  The inaugural releases, produced at the McPherson facilities in Lubbock, have helped jump start this winery with some lovely wines.  With just over 1200 cases, there are currently five wines available for tasting with most of the grapes coming from the Texas High Plains region.  We haven’t had a bad Texas Viognier yet and their 2011 vintage just adds more proof that this grape will be, if not already, a shining start for white Texas grapes.  The Wedding Oak White is a crisp blend of Vermentino, Trebbiano and Pinot Grigio with just a tad bit of sweetness.  They’ve started off their initial reds with a fine Sangiovese that would make the ancient Romans proud.  The red blend, Tioja, is a blend of 60% Tempranillo and 20% Mourvedre and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. It would make a fine compliment to some meaty dishes.  The blush has just a touch of Ruby Cabernet for a very nice raspberry tint and makes a great hot afternoon chilled wine!  If you stop in now, you’ll notice that the wine labels have San Saba Wine Cellars on it.  Unfortunately, just as doors were about to open, news that another winery already had that name prompted the name change. It does, however, give rise to an opportunity to get as many bottles as you can with the San Saba name on it before the labels change!  The current name comes from the history (400 years ago) of the Wedding Oak tree located just north of town.  Have a glass of wine with Mike and he’ll tell you more.  The winery has a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere with chairs arranged in cozy seating areas toward the storefront, and large lovely oak paintings on the walls. Great care was taken to accent the “old/historic feel” of the building, with a more modern, understated elegant twist.  There is a roomy tasting bar and an outdoor patio off the back. You’ll notice next to the tasting room will be the new wine fermentation room (large tanks already there) that will eventually be able to produce 10,000 cases!  Eventually, they will be sourcing grapes from the Hill Country, as well.  We can’t wait to return again in the near future to see the progress in the fermentation room and see this winery in full production as well as to sample new creations.  The Pecan Capital of the World now has a fine winery to likewise brag about! We’re certain come the holidays, there will be some wonderful wine you can pick up to compliment your pecans and holiday meals.   San Saba may be a long drive for some, but this place is definitely worth the trip.  So, stay a spell and enjoy some Wedding Oak wine!  You’ll feel very welcomed by the staff.  They have done the Hill Country winery region proud.

www.weddingoakwinery.com

Mirtillo – Texas Legato Winery; Lampasas, Texas

This semi-sweet blueberry wine could easily slip (or sip) past a wine lover as a traditional red wine.  It initially presents as an off dry but then unleashes it’s bold, big ripe berry flavors.  We’ve been told that the winemaker uses similar processes as those used for reds, which appear to have made the difference in helping this wine stand out among other blueberry varieties.  It has a wonderful flavor and aroma that could make a nearby bottle of red wine jealous. It isn’t a syrupy blueberry wine at all. For those that think fruit wines aren’t “real” wines, this one will help make you reconsider and then convert! A wonderful after dinner sipping wine to enjoy and linger over as you unwind after a busy day. We look forward to having more of this one!

www.texaslegato.com