The Thirsty Mule - Liberty Hill, Texas

Up along the countryside stretch of U.S. Highway 183, you'll find one of the newer wineries in Texas.  Located just north of Liberty Hill, this location has a very unique side to it --- the fact that the tasting room is underground.  What a great idea! Especially under the infamous Texas summer heat.  The Marek's from Georgetown Winery have been working on this site for the last several years.  Built on an old 40 year old home site, they've constructed their winery  from an old underground house.  Seems the former owner decided they wanted to carve their home out of the limestone hillside and seek some cooler shade and temperatures over the years, so fast forward a number of years and the derelict underground former residence is slowly remodeled into one of the newest and more unique tasting rooms in the state. The tasting room and bar is quite spacious and a COOL area of about 3400 square feet. Take a look at the back where they have windows with views to the cave area as they left a few spots for you to view the sides of the cave the place is built into. Their eight acre estate is not only the location of the new tasting room, but also houses their winemaking facility which doubles as the facility for Georgetown Winery too.  However at this site, the wine selection is different.  They've been open since May and have a well rounded list of wines from white, to red, to sweet.  There are eleven wines currently available for tasting of which you can select four in a regular tasting.  A number of them have already won awards from the Lone Star competition.  For the whites, they have a Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay.  Good chilled whites to have in the afternoon.  For the reds, you'll get to try a nice range from Tempranillo, Malbec, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon.  For the sweets, you might get wrapped up with the Sweet Blush which is rich with strawberry flavors.  It's better than iced summer time lemonade!  There is also a sweet red to enjoy, and a white with hints of pear as well as a Muscat. Lastly, there is a pretty darn good Sweet mule port. No need to fortify this port as it's quite tasty on its own.  Dan can be found running things around the site engaging with customers.  With picnic tables out front and lots of great big shade trees, you get the feeling of a nice relaxed country setting to help you unwind and escape into your wine sipping mood. Although they get a number of their grapes from their Rockdale vineyard site, there are plans to put a vineyard on the front of the property.  Check this place out on your next 183 wine trekking adventure.

www.thirstymule.com