Colorado River Winery – Bastrop, Texas

The historic downtown Bastrop area provides an ideal location for one of the newest wineries to open in Texas.  December 21^st, 2013 was the opening day for owners Brad and Sylvia Cook.  Apparently, it’s been a dream of Brad’s to have a winery since his young wine making days.  Now he gets to "retire" and do what he loves.  The long slender tasting room has Tuscany style décor with a relaxed, cozy and welcoming atmosphere making you feel at home. The winery offers a selection of wine related gift and gourmet food items, along with a selection of jewelry. Wine making is done on the premises.  You may get a scent of CO2 in the air as part of the experience.  That’s just to get your brain ready for some good wine tasting!  They get their juices primarily from California and Washington, though their Tempranillo is Texas sourced.  There are currently eight wines available for tasting. The unoaked Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio are quite refreshing as the temperatures outside begin to heat up. The sweet white is a Riesling blend that is bright, clean and quite good. The Sweet Blush with hints of raspberry, tastes great chilled.  For the reds, the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wines are soft enough on the palate for most to enjoy.  Their best dry red is the Tempranillo.  The top seller by far though has been something that was just supposed to be a seasonal variety for the holidays, their Seasonal Bliss. The Seasonal Bliss has just a hint of cranberry and sweetness married in this good medium bodied wine to create a great “bliss” to cap off your tasting session.  This is a great spot to bring your friends to swirl and chill.  Have fun, stay a while and enjoy the wines, staff and the comfortable tasting room. We think you'll enjoy the visit! Cheers!

www.coloradoriverwinery.com

Sandstone Cellars II - 2005: Sandstone Cellars; Mason, County

This well aged red wine is super delightful treat for your honey.  It is a Touriga/Mouvedre/Syrah blend with a little bit of five other grapes which are all sourced from Mason County.  There is that strong aromatic scent that only enhances your anticipated tasting experience.  The wine is a good dry deep red, with peppery notes  in the middle, and a long smoky finish at the end.  It's very well balanced from beginning to end.  It also has managed to retain its deep red color for its age.  The quality of the wine has held up very well over the years and could have easily lasted a little longer in the cellar. We were very happy to enjoy this one recently and note how well it tasted for its age as well as how well it aged. WOTM fans will be very pleased with this one! This was fabulous with a rich Italian dinner and would likewise pair nicely with steaks. Cheers!

 

www.sandstonecellarswinery.com

Dank Lights Out - 2012; Fly Gap Winery; Mason, Texas

The Black light illumination of the label is a great eye catcher and it gives a whole new meaning to artistry in wine label designs.  The craftsmanship of the wine is as equally impressive for this newer winery.  The Syrah/Mourvedre blend (71/29) is just delicious!  No fancy terms are needed to describe this wine.  It just has that great overall mouth feel of a good quality wine, with medium body, some acidity and a nice slightly oaked taste to this dry red. Though the oaked "woodsy" taste comes through initially when you sip this wine, when paired with food those notes fade as the wine pairs nicely with a wide variety of dishes. This wine also has the potential to age well over the next few years.  Stay tuned to this wine channel when we open that second bottle...at some point in the future! Fly Gap has hit a home run right out of the box, so we're looking forward to more great offerings from this winery in years to come.

www.flygapwinery.com

Cabernet Blanc – 2006; Grape Creek Vineyard; Stonewall, Texas

This is a great tasting rosé that hits all the high points of your tasting experience.  Made from Cabernet Sauvignon, it has hints of ripe berries and a honeysuckle aroma.  It has just the right balance of a good semi-sweet wine, yet sufficient sweetness to please those who prefer sweeter wines.  Sip, swirl, and smell all it has to offer as you take in the beauty of the pale raspberry hue and the lovely fruit forward taste. This is a good wine for every course and would pair nicely with something a little spicy and definitely is very enjoyable on its own too.

 

www.grapecreek.com

Lily Lake Vineyards – Lorena, Texas

After being opened for two years, this small family boutique winery is producing some good local handcrafted wines.  What began as a hobby for owners Rick and Patty Wendt is now an upcoming winery business.  They have about four acres of grapes planted in the estate, plus a few peach trees.  The varietals include: Merlot, Black Spanish, Marechal Foch, and Blanc du Bois.  The vines range from two to six years old.  Other grapes/juices used to make their wines are sourced from around Texas and California.  This may be the only vineyard in Texas trying out Marechal Foch.  They have a lengthy menu of offerings to sample in their tasting room.  At this time there were ten available to try. You will get a fairly good range from whites to reds with some dry, but their focus is on more sweet wines, as they are focused more on producing what they like. Most of their wines will be in the 375ml bottle.  One unusual notable one was the “bubbly” cabernet sauvignon.  It was made that way on purpose as Rick experimented with champagne yeast on this one.  It’s actually quite good and fruit forward.   The Blanc du Bois is quite tasty when chilled.  You’ll also be fortunate to try a vertical of their Black Spanish ports from 2008 to 2011.  A fine example of how Texas climate can change the flavor of the same grape annually depending on our wonderful weather conditions.  Unfortunately, in years past they offered a peach wine as well however, the last freeze of 2013 didn’t fare well for their peach crop, so there was no peach wine for us to try on this visit.  Rick likes to experiment and try different things with wines, so check back from time to time to see what he has created.  This place has a great panoramic view of the countryside. The owners have a back area where you can enjoy live music and events and a lake view.  They are a great couple to chat and sip with, so go ahead and travel that gravel road and sip a spell.

www.lilylakevineyards.com

Blackberry Wine – NV; Poteet Winery; Poteet, Texas

Extra fruity with both sweet and tart notes, this fruit wine gives a whole new meaning to blackberry pie.  Berries are locally sourced to make this sweet wine.  The alcohol content is not high and it’s not syrupy sweet.  You get the sweet side first, quickly followed by the berries tart side across the top of your tongue. This deep plum colored wine is a well balanced fruit wine you can enjoy all year round, but sure does tastes especially nice in Spring.

www.poteetwine.com

Private Cuvee - NV; Rancho Ponte Vineyards; Fredericksburg, Texas

This delightfully sparkling wine is a pleasure to enjoy for almost any occasion.  It has just the right amount of “bubbles” and just a tad bit of sweetness, making this an easy sipping sparkler.  It does taste like a blend of different whites rather than a single varietal, but doesn’t distract from the experience, in fact we thought it added nice character.  Although the back of the label says that it was made by Woodbridge Champagne Cellars in California, it really doesn’t matter where it came from. What we want you to focus on is how it tastes, looks and how it can compliment any occasion you want to celebrate.  It’s good and enjoyable for all! Cheers!

 

www.ranchoponte.com