Every so often, the Texas Hill Country Wineries put on a “trail event.” Last weekend was the harvest wine trail. There were 25 wineries, and the object was to get to all of them in a two weekend period. Due to some schedule conflicts, we ended up doing almost all of them in 3 days. The ticket on the trail website will get you a complementary tasting at all the wineries, which is worth the price, since tasting can vary from $5 – $20 a person. The Fredericksburg / Comfort area takes about a day to do. The wineries are clustered together so the driving is minimal. Two days should be devoted to the area south of Lampasas on highway 281 down to New Braunfels. The real time sync for this area is going to be the driving time. Some wineries are an hour or more apart so look at the map provided to you with your ticket and plan accordingly before hand.
I was a bit pressed for time so I only took some limited tasting notes. The most detailed set came out of Fall Creek.
Fall Creek Tasting Notes:
Chardonnay: Dry and crisp. It was good, but decided not to buy it.
Sauvignon Blanc: Good, but not overly impressive. Dry with no aftertaste.
Chenin Blanc: Sweeter than the Sav Blanc. The winemaker ferments it a shorter amount of time, so it’s roughly 3 – 5% sweeter, which makes a big difference, but keeps the wine from tasting like a sugar bomb.
Riesling: Semi-sweet and dry, which is the kind I prefer. Not many wineries make it this way and iI really never bothered to ask why. Most of the time it’s sweeter, and I tend to avoid them when they are.
Gotas de Oro: This is a new one for me. It’s a Muscat Canelli, which is another very sweet wine with a honey taste to it.
Merlot: Not impressed. It left me with a feeling of meh. It’s flavor profile was very flat, even for a Merlot. As a footnote to that statement, Merlot is generally considered an introductory wine to those that haven’t been exposed to, or don’t like, more complex wines like Cabernet Sauvignon.
Ed’s Smooth Red: Exactly what the name says. It’s a blended Merlot/Cab mix that had very soft edges, and really goes down smooth.
Wines I decide to get:
- Fall Creek Vineyards: Granite Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
- Fall Creek Vineyards: Chenin Blanc
- Pillar Bluff: Viognier
- Rancho Ponte: Triple M Blend
- Solaro Estate: 2009 Tempranillo
- Texas Legato: Petite Sirah
- Alamosa Wine Cellars: 2004 El Guapo
- Grape Creek Vineyards: Cabernet Blanco
- Torre di Pietra: Blanc du Bois
- Perissos: 2009 Newsom Cabernet Sauvignon
- Singing Water: Pinot Grigio
- Bending Branch: Texas Tannat
