When the opportunity arose for me to take Dr. Erika Szymanki, author of From Terrain to Brain: Forays into the Many Sciences of Wine, on a tour of the Texas Hill Country in late November 2024, I jumped at the chance. I have been working with a small group of Texas winery entities for over a year on a sustainability initiative so, based on those connections, and, based on my general knowledge of the area’s fermented landscapes, I knew just where I wanted to take her. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day, so I had to make some tough choices from among my favorite Hill Country wine destinations.
Given that we were arriving from San Marcos, TX, I concentrated our visits in the Stonewall/Hye/Johnson City portion of Highway 290. We visited three wineries in that district, but there are several others in the proximate area that I would have loved to take her to as well. Plus, of course, if we had focused on the other end of the Texas “wine road” (in and toward Fredericksburg, TX), a whole other array of great options would have opened up. However, tradeoffs are almost always necessary, and, in the end, our itinerary included just three stops: William Chris Vineyards, Ab Astris Winery, and Siboney Cellars.
Three Worthy Stops (Among Many) for Great Texas Wine
Our first stop was at William Chris, and we had an excellent time talking with their Director for Education, Kelsey Kramer, and Co-Founder/Winemaker, Chris Brundrett, and we were, of course, were very happy with the selection of 100% Texas wines they poured for us. My main goal for the day was to show off Texas wine to a knowledgeable outsider, and, in several senses, William Chris sets the standard for quality wine in the state. This visit was no exception; we found the wine, site, and staff ready to impress.
Next, we spoke with Mike Nelson at Ab Astris, who provided lovely scenery, smart commentary, and very tasty wine. We especially appreciated the Fiano, a little known grape, which made an immaculate crisp lemony white for us to enjoy on the patio. However, whether you prefer white, red, or rosé, it is always a treat to enjoy such high quality wine from a clearly knowledgeable craftsman. In other words, a visit to Ab Astris is a real pleasure every time.
To wrap up our “Texas Hill Country Fermented Landscapes” tour, we spent the evening at Siboney Cellars’ infamous “Twilight Tasting,” an experience that offers a level of welcome, dazzling ambience that is hard to beat. While we were there, winemaker Barbara Lecuona offered us a peek into the production space and Miguel Lecuona, head of “Service and Culture,” made sure our plates and glasses stayed full. Any day you can make it, Siboney consistently offers incredible hospitality; well-crafted wines; and unique, tasty bites. A visit to Siboney is always 100% worth the trip.
How to Find “Good” Texas Wine
I often get asked which wineries in Texas are “good,” and while I know I have my favorites (including, but certainly not limited to, those listed above), the short answer is that there are many great places to try. I recommend that people new to the Texas wine world be open-minded, thoughtful, and curious. There are a wide array of grape varieties grown in the state (a topic which deserves a whole different article), not all of which are super familiar to novice—or even experienced—wine lovers. In other words, Texas wine has a lot to offer, even if it feels a bit unfamiliar at first.
Thankfully, there are a number of excellent consumer education resources available to aid in anyone’s Texas wine journey. Check out Texas Wine Growers, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and protecting Texas terroir, or the Texas Wine Lover website/app, which provides location and other details about Texas wineries across the state, or the This is Texas Wine podcast, which offers insightful commentary and reporting on the people, places, and processes of Texas wine. Or, if you want to get a bit more nerdy about the topic, you can take a deep-dive into the geographical elements—and development—of Texas wine, by reading “Texas in Transition: Considering the production of ”Grapes, Wine, and Place” (Myles et al. 2022), an open-access academic article on the state of Texas wine.
Resources abound, but my basic rule of thumb for drinking wine in Texas is: drink (real) Texas wine. The industry has grown immensely in the past 10-20 years (being hailed as a $20 billion industry in 2022) and, largely, has made the “quality turn” (see recent related commentary here)—including taking crucial steps to protect its provenance, identity, and integrity. So, if you haven’t yet done so, it’s a great time to start drinking Texas wine, and, if you are not sure where to start, here’s one itinerary I know I can recommend.
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