North Texas Uncorked

By Henry Chappell

Texas wine choices continue to grow along with the state’s wine industry. Today, Texas is the fifth-largest grape and wine producer in the United States, with 160 wineries and 220 family vineyards covering 3,700 acres.

Much of the recent growth has occurred in North Texas, where producers are learning to match grapes and growing methods with challenging weather and varied soils.

Brushy Creek Vineyards

As we trundled along in a golf cart between the rows of Brushy Creek Vineyards near Alvord, owner Les Constable called out grape varieties you’re unlikely to find on the average wine list: Roussanne, Mourvèdre, Tannat, Tempranillo.  The vines in Brushy Creek Vineyards rise from "promising" ground, but to produce grapes with character, Constable says, vines must be stressed. Coddle them in fertile soil, and you’ll get lots of leaf and vine and little else.

Brushy Creek Vineyards sits in the Cross Timbers region northwest of Decatur. What grows here naturally? Mesquite, cedar, post oak, blackjack oak, and tough, native midgrasses—species that thrive in well-drained, gravelly, sandy, calciferous soil. Nothing gets coddled here. Growers in Spain and other rough, dry places in the Old World would approve.

Wichita Falls Winery

Alton Gates and his wife, Lana, opened their winery in 2003 after spending several years learning to grow grapes on their land just south of Wichita Falls.

Originally, Alton, an executive with Lone Star Gas, and Lana, a schoolteacher, planned to farm the land after he retired. But a PBS television special on the Texas wine industry sparked Alton’s interest in viticulture. Several established winemakers in Texas directed him to the Viticulture and Enology Program at Grayson County College.

Although Alton continues to look to California for many of his grape varieties, he believes that the future of the Texas wine industry depends on individuality and local tastes. His flagship wine, the award-winning Wichita Red, a semi-sweet blend of Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Cabernet, Sauvignon, and Ruby Cabernet, remains the winery’s best seller.

Homestead Winery

When Gabe Parker planted his first vines in 1983, he was looking for a way to diversify the family’s farming operation.

“I got tired of getting beat up with wheat prices and commodities I had no control over,” he said. “I’d been making homemade wine and going around to different vineyards, trying their grapes. We started there, and just grew.”

Early on, Parker tried to grow most of the popular varietals, but in recent years he has stuck with two that consistently grow well in northeast Texas: Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. “Both are very hearty, small, strong-skinned grapes, so they can take these hot, humid nights,” he said.
He also buys grapes from other Texas vineyards and makes a powerful, dry, smoky California zinfandel.
But his bestseller far and away—and my favorite Homestead offering—is Rose of Ivanhoe, a semisweet, fruity blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, Ruby Cabernet, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

“I think we’re seeing a rural renaissance built around wine—not just here, but all over Texas,” he said.  
Wine-loving Texans can toast to that.

Before you go, check out these essentials!

See the full article in the August 2008 issue.

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