Texas Winos

 

Who knew wine tasting in Texas would be so informative, fun and tasty?  None of us had great expectations but we had discount coupons for a tour, tasting and free glasses of wine from the Lone Oak Winery in Burleson and given that we are all up for an adventure now and then, we piled into our Dodge Caravan van and hit the road.  The winery, from the outside, is very small and there is evidence of very few vines.  Although the tasting room was small and a bit crowded with wine paraphernalia, the greeting from our tour guide was warm and welcoming.  Since she was still in training, we were also accompanied by the owner of the vineyard who was a quiet yet articulate guy.  We got a little history of the place and then a walk-about around the small vineyards they have at that location.  Maybe only 15 acres of grapes planted there, many different varietals.

I think they were happy to have people from California and Oregon, people who actually knew a lot about wine and asked good, intelligent questions.  We were given lessons in pruning, in pest control, in blending, in the inherent problems of growing grapes in Texas weather.  We were also given a bit of the history of viticulture in Texas, where it was ten years ago and what they predict for the next decade.  Those involved in wine making and grape growing (two totally different entities, by the way) are anxious to see the industry grow even more than it has recently.  They are encouraging new capital investments, new farming techniques, new marketing techniques.  Texas is the fifth largest wine-producing state in the US and they intend on keeping that ranking. 

Before ending the tour in the wine tasting room, we stopped in the wine-making area and got to taste three white wines out of the tanks.  Delicious!  They don't oak their white wines at all and even have a varietal that was specifically cloned for Texas.  On to the tasting room where we tasted several wines and loved them.  I mean,  they were really good.  Some crisp white, some truly intense Viogner, outstanding Tempranillos, a very good Cabernet, and even some aged Madeira.  Needless to say, we all bought a few bottles.  

Then they poured us a generous glass of whatever we wanted and we retired to the outdoor patio, heat lamps on, and sat there for an hour sipping, talking and eating the picnic snacks we had brought with us.  The day was sunny and chilly, the company was great and a good time was had by all.  

Today we are venturing to Ft. Worth, as I mentioned previously.  There is an entire historic section called something like "Stockyard Stations" and another Cultural District with museums, etc.  It seems there is plenty to see and do, lots to keep us all occupied for a couple of hours, beers to drink, cattle to view, and maybe even some history lessons to absorb.  Yee-Haw!