Fredericksburg Food and Wine Fest

Texas wine month has come to a close. But during its thirty-one days, I found myself swept up in the excitement and activity (that, Sean's and my birthdays, and midterm grading). This weekend I have some time to catch-up and finally sit down to write, so I thought I would start with the grande finale, the Fredericksburg Food and Wine Festival.

This twenty-two year old tradition took over the last weekend of Texas wine month. Held in the Marktplatz, this festival brought together twenty-nine wineries and other great Texas specialties (craft beer, food, and crafts). The event covers the entire weekend with a multitude of different events, but the main focus is the Saturday afternoon festival. Sean and I went to taste some wines from wineries we have not visited and meet up with a large group of wine bloggers and wine enthusiasts. The day had nothing but promise, and it delivered.

The Wine

Our first stop was the pavilion where the wineries set up. This area was a good fit for it all. The wineries had decent size tables with a bit of room between one another, and there was a large space in the center for people to congregate and enjoy their wine and all the great company (something I appreciated after the cramped space at Dripping with Taste). The weather also proved to be on our side. The grey morning had a nice chill in the air, making the stuffy places more comfortable; the mid-day sun evened things out to a mild and pleasant day.

The Winery Pavilion

The wineries present were also an interesting array: large, established wineries -- such as Becker, Llano Estacado, Messina Hof, Fall Creek, and the three wineries of 4.0 Cellars -- the hill country locales -- a list that goes on forever -- and wineries from hither and yon across the state. I avoided my regular haunts, except a visit with Jen from Bending Branch, so I could try the wineries I never get a chance to go out to. Unfortunately, the tasting price (between $2-$4) stopped me from having any selection at the wineries and even missing some. But Sean and I bought a great collection of tickets and made our way through the wineries.

Haak Winery

And just as the tasting price was a bit of a shock -- Dripping with Taste does a fine job here with the one ticket ($1 cost) per taste -- so were the wines. We found most of the wines we tried mediocre. There were a few worth mentioning, though. The port-style Blanc do Bois from Haak was as everyone has said; this rich, honeyed wine was smooth and sweet. The Crump Valley Merlot was a knock-out red that was complex and flavorful; a perfect Texas Merlot. And the most wondrous surprise was the mead from Rohan Meadery. Though we had very wished it was a Lord of the Rings reference, we were still happy with the mead they brought. Sean enjoyed a more traditional mead and I indulged in their raspberry blend. After that tasting, we had an itch to go to a Ren Fest and hunt down the other Texas meaderies.

Vintner's Experience

Sean and I also decided to take in the brand new Vintner's Experience. It was advertised as a special event with the winemakers from Fredericksburg Winery, Becker, and Grape Creek. The wineries would present either a white, red, or rose. Well, the chance to speak with winemakers was one I didn't want to pass up, especially for only $15.

Dr. Richard Becker and Bunny Becker

Though the idea was a great one, it fizzled out. The company was good: we had a great group of bloggers and friends to enjoy the time with, and we also met a group of people who live near us. But, the event was not as we expected. First, there was only one official winemaker (Fredericksburg Winery). Three generations of Becker came -- Dr. Becker and Bunny, as well as their son Joe and his wife and son. They all had great stories to tell, but I had hoped to learn more about the wineries wine making process. The upside was that the guests were readily available afterwards. It was nice to get a chance to do have a bit of one-on-one time, and the Becker's were the most gracious of all.

Esor Ed Ehcnarg

The wine available to us, the Esor Ed Ehcnarg (Rose de Granche) from Fredericksburg Winery, the Prairie Rotie from Becker, and the Cuvee Blanc from Grape Creek, were all good wines, but these wineries could have really wowed us if they wanted to. In fact, the Esor (as they call it) had a caramel hue -- rather than a pink one -- which put me off a bit. The current Prairie Rotie is a solid wine, but there are much better options in the red category from Becker. The best of the day was Grape Creek's Cuvee Blanc. This is one of their strongest whites and a fine example of the drier flavors found at the winery.

Empty Cuvee Blanc with a untouched tasting in the background

The "After" Party

Sean and I headed out pretty early and found ourselves making a few stops at our favorites. We had a quiet tasting at 4.0. We ended our evening with a group of fellow Texas wine lovers at Pedernales Cellars. Jeff Cope made arrangements with winery owner Julie Kulhken to allow our group to stay a bit late. We all enjoyed their wonderful hospitality -- Julie and Whitney spent a large amount of the time chatting with the group -- and wine. Honestly, it was the highlight of my day. It was so nice to just sit and talk to so many people; the ability to share our passion for Texas wine and our experiences was great. By the time we left, Sean and I were happy knowing that many of our experiences were ones shared by many of our new friends -- good and bad experiences.

Me after my first stop: Bending Branch

In the end, I was so glad Sean and I finally had the chance to go to the Fredericksburg Food and Wine Festival. I had the chance to debut my new wine hat, but best of all was all the people we met. The sad part, though, was that we didn't get to do as much with everyone; we didn't stay in town and were only there Saturday. It seems the entire weekend, at least from Friday forward, was a non-stop party with good wine and good friends. My one day will be enough until next time.

A Festival

The glass fills, recedes. 

Voices ebb and flow, a mate

to the wine: a song.

Memories -- the best souvenirs --

expressions in garnet, gold.

35: A Saturday Afternoon Tour (Touring Grape Creek)

This Saturday was a big day on 290 for me. The focus of my day was San Antonio's Culinaria event Rambling Rose' at Becker Vineyards (coming up in a post later this week). Afterward, we headed back down the road to take the tour at Grape Creek Vineyards. Sean and I took advantage of their online special -- tasting and tour for $15. This tour was educational -- much like Wine Words from Jeff, a regular Facebook post from Grape Creek -- and fun. By the time I left, I knew a bit more about wine and a lot more about Grape Creek.

The tasting rooms and courtyard at Grape Creek

Quick Tour Info

Special: Through today, visitors to the website can purchase this great offer ($15). Normally the barrel tour is $20 with an additional tasting fee for $10, making it $30 total. For those wanting to take advantage of this special, it must be done TODAY, Monday, August 13 and online. One advantage though is that the certificate is good for any day and any time during August, meaning there are two more weekends and a total of eighteen days to take the tour.

Basics of the Tour: Guests hop on a tram to drive by the vineyards where they are dropped off at the crush pad. From there, a lesson on the crush occurs before heading into the tank room. After that, guests visit the barrel room where they get to taste the same wine from three different types of barrels. If the tour includes a tasting, guests move into a section of the barrel room where they enjoy the normal Grape Creek tasting but done in private with the group. This entire journey lasts about an hour.

A Saturday Afternoon Tour

A quiet vineyard

means a bustling winery:

grapes change into wine  

We left the beautiful Tuscan patio near the Grape Creek tasting rooms at 3 p.m. The summer sun didn't stop the small group of eight from getting on the tram. Our guide, Gordon, pointed out key areas of the vineyard as we drove by, especially the Montepulciano, harvested the week before, and the Aglianico. These two Italian varietals are combined at Grape Creek to make their Epiphany wine; Gordon told us that in Italy, this blending is not allowed, making Grape Creek's wine a unique one.

A picked line of vines

The Crush Pad

As we came upon the crush pad, we were provided a little history. Grape Creek is one of the oldest wineries on the 290 trail. But the Grape Creek many now know and love is not the same one. In 2006, Brain Heath bought the winery and moved it forward. I remember the winery back around the change. The tasting room, now part of the B&B, only held about 10-12 people before it became uncomfortable. Besides the space, I also felt uncomfortable visiting, and the wines didn't draw me back. Sean and I made a return visit (four years later) in 2010, and found the wonderful winery that Brain helped to build. The entire area has been expanded: two beautiful tasting rooms, patio/courtyard, and a new production facility. While the old tasting room is now the B&B, the old production facility, with space below it, is now the barrel room. The expansion was also in varietals, as the winery switched to more Texas friendly grapes and unique blends. And of course the addition of Jason Englert as winemaker aided the winery. Now, there is a lot more here; and best of all, this is a friendly and beautiful location with great wine.

Merlot debris post-crush

 At the crush pad, we got a chance to see the remnants of the de-stemming and crush of estate Merlot (done that morning). The residual debris from the harvest rested in the blue bins: stems, leaves, and small berries. Before our crush lesson, we were informed that Grape Creek likes to rely on their estate grapes, but also purchases grapes from Mason and the High Plains; about 80-85% of the grapes they use are from Texas. They do have one non-Texas grape; their Reisling is purchased from a vineyard in New Mexico.

Gordon explaining the crush process

This lead into the crush process. At Grape Creek, they start with one machine to loosen everything up. From there, the grapes are removed from the stem. The machine used for this starts by having the heavier items -- in this case the grapes -- fall through a grate and drop into a bin below. After that, the grapes and juice are separated. A machine uses a bladder to press the grapes so that the clear juice can come out and be piped off to a holding tank. In the case of red wines, the skin is kept around to add color, flavor, and tannins. As of right now, Grape Creek can process 10,000 pounds an hour.

The Tank Room

We were then ushered into the tank room and wine facility, which is going strong on its second harvest (one of the newest members of the Grape Creek family). Since it came online, it has doubled Grape Creek's production. In the tank room, we were able to get a look at the tanks in action -- one was covered with frost. The liners on each tank -- the bumpy texture -- is actually what is used to control the temperature of the wine during fermentation. At Grape Creek, they send the wine down to 24 degrees for 12-72 hours in order to kill the yeast. Gordon provided a neat fact at this point that Louis Pasteur didn't come to this technique from working with milk but with wine (and some of his other techniques were learned by experimenting with beer, or so many of the TexSom tweets seemed to say). After this, they add a yeast that best suits the varietal in the tank to help with fermentation.

Learning about tank fermentation

It is in the tanks that the skin and no skin issue is resolved. For whites, the skin is not kept around. But in order to add color to the rose's and reds, the skin is needed. For rose' wine, the skin is kept around for 6-7 days, but for red wine, it is kept around for 7-9 weeks.

The tank process continues depending on the wine. For a lot of whites, many wineries will keep it in the tank through the entire prcoess, staying in for 11-15 months. Some whites will be moved to barrels -- Chardonnay is often barrel-aged -- but most will stay in the tanks at Grape Creek. The reds don't spend much time here. Normally, they keep the reds in tanks for 10-12 weeks (and of that, only 1-5 are without the skin). From there, the reds move on to resting in the barrels where they will age.

At Grape Creek we saw another building/room but did not enter it. The recovery room is used to store wine after it is bottled. They keep this room set at a constant 67 degrees to help avoid bottle shock. How long it stays in this important resting place will depend on the wine. All of this is a necessity for good wine straight from the bottle, as bottle shock can damage a wine. In the movie Bottle Shock, the Chardonnay in question turns brown because of the light exposure to oxygen the wine got while being bottled. Luckily for them, it just needed time. After the wine recovered, it was beautiful, clear, golden wine. To avoid this and similair probelms, Grape Creek stores their wines for a bit after bottling.

The Barrel Room

The imposing barrel room at Grape Creek

As we stepped into the barrel room, the racks of full barrels loomed over us. We learned there was more in a downstairs facility, and we would later find out that there were more barrels hiding behind a sliding door. At Grape Creek they use three types of barrels -- American Oak, French Oak, and second vintage American Oak (aka used once before). All the barrels are toasted on the inside. This technique can add flavor and sugar to the wine, and it is used by other neighboring wineries like Becker. What was great about this part of the tour was the lesson in how the barrels were different and how they affect the wine.

Three barrels -- American, French, and second vinatge American oak -- of Cabernet Franc

Barrel Characteristics:

• American Oak: These $600 barrels are easy to acquire. They are ready to go and tend to do best when used to age wine 11-15 months. They are also good to use a second time (and Grape Creek does that).
• French Oak: The $1200 price tag is a result of transportation and growing (the trees used for the barrels take longer to grow than American Oak). However, this growth is great for aging wine, as the tighter grain positiviely affects the wine. These barrels are best used to age wine 15-24 months.

Cabernet Franc

In order to help us see the differences in effects, the tour has a comparison tasting of the same vintage from three barrels. We were tasting a Cabernet Franc that was put in the barrels in late December of last year, where it will stay for at least a six more months.

• New American Oak: This wine was the earthiest of the three. The wine was strongest mid-palate and focused on the richer flavors of smoke, earth, and minerals.
• Second Vintage American Oak: This one was the most fruity of the three. The fruit was strongest on the aroma, but strong alongside the earthy flavors that were more powerful in the aftertaste. This one was showing interesting complexity, making it one to watch for in the future.
• French Oak: At this point, this barrel provided the most balanced and clean wine. In the aroma, the fruit is more pronounced than the earthier flavors, but the two are smoothly combined and mingle more during tasting. At this stage, this is the one I would likely drink right now.

Private tasting with Gordon and Shawn

As we were on the special tasting tour, Sean, I, and our group were brought into an adjoining barrel room to enjoy a tasting of six wines. We moved towards the end of the table and found oursleves being lead through the tasting by one of Grape Creek's wine club members, Shawn. She told us that she helps out from time-to-time because Grape Creek is her favorite winery; that and they pay her in wine. She provided an enthusiastic journey through the wines, sharing stories of Grape Creek and her other wine experiences. I have to admit that I love doing tastings in groups. In a group, you can get great ideas from others, but you also get to share. Every group tasting I have been a part of ends up getting loud, filled with stories and laughter. That is exactly how this time ended, and I couldn't be happier.

Jeff and I in the tasting room

After returning back to the hustle and bustle at the main tasting rooms, I did get to end my day with a very special meeting. Gordon introduced me to Jeff, the wine educator of sorts at Grape Creek. It was a delight to finally meet him in person after regularly following his Facebook posts (if interested, just like Grape Creek on Facebook). I also got to meet the vineyard manager. She informed me that they have been very busy as of late, but things seem to be calming down. These last two introductions topped off a great expereince that I think I will do again soon.

4. Vineyard Residents

4. Vineyard Residents

Spring showers’ weeds swell,

screeches drift through swaying stalks,

Guinea Fowl bug hunting.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to visit the newest winery on Highway 290 between Fredericksburg and Johnson City, Hilmy Wine. I have been waiting for them to open and was rewarded for my patience. This newest installment along the busiest wine road in Texas is a good addition to the neighborhood.

The first quality to look at, when judging a winery’s potential, is the wine. Hilmy’s wines are engaging and tasty. Most often, when I visit new wineries, their wines seem to be weak. This is natural, as the winemaker is still experimenting with the grapes to craft a quality product. The best wineries show potential from the start – like William+Chris – and some take awhile. Hilmy is already past potential and is on track. And as I found out,thanks to the folks at William+Chris and PedernalesCellars (two of my favorite wineries). So what do they have going for them? Muscat Canelli. This white can easily go wrong. Sometimes it doesn’t have the required “bubbly feel” fond in Muscats. Some are way too sweet and are hard to drink. Others are too dry and lose the sweet quality. Hilmy’s Muscat is not plagues by these issues. The sparkle is there, the sweetness is present, and it has a nice balancing dryness. In fact, for a red drinker like me, it is nice. I am easily overpowered by sweet wines; a family member of mine seems to like wines that I find to be almost syrupy sweet. This wine is crisp and refreshing. The dryness that the sweetness seems to rest upon allows the sweetness to be mild. When I drink it I am reminded by lighter fruits, especially dry, cool apples or even cucumbers. I cannot wait till summer, when I feel this wine may be my sipping wine.

Now that isn’t to say the other wines are worth writing about. Their Tempranillo belongs with the other great Texas Temps – Pedernales Cellars is the leader here (and they were even mentioned on the Today Show). It is bold and flavor. It also harkens to Spanish Temps with its spicy, robust flavor. When I was at Hilmy, I shared a glass of the Muscat and Temp with my husband. These two very different wines proved to be a tasty match. In addition, two unreleased wines show promise. The blend that makes up Persephone stands to be quite a treat; I’ll just have to go back and see.

As the poem suggests, the environment was wonderful. As we sat in the shade on Hilmy’s back porch, we looked out past a field of weeds –right now they are generally inescapable due to the mild, wet winter and regular spring rains we’ve had – into the vineyard. So few wineries have the vineyard so close and a direct part of the view – Grape Creek is one that comes to mind. At the far end of the vineyard, we saw an  interesting group of whitish specks milling about. I later found out that these were goats; they are used to keep the weeds around the vineyard under control. That is my type of herbicide. In fact, that is a part of their greater philosophy; they use animals to decrease the use of harsh methods. The Guinea Fowl of the poem are the pesticide; they roam the grounds munching on bugs. On my visit, they kept wandering past the porch, so we got a great look at them. And their crazy calls called over the music and spurred conversation.The winery also keeps two dogs for deer control and a cat to curb rodent infestation. Honestly, I am a huge animal lover, so this won me over. It also gave me something to watch and enjoy while sipping wine.

I’ll end on the tasting room itself. The tasting rooms in Texas strive for their own personality – at least the best ones do. Hilmy is striving for a relaxed sophistication. Their large wooden door swings out in an odd way; something I found a surprising delight. The tasting room has a comfy area – nice couches and chairs for relaxing. The tasting bar feels like it belongs in a nice restaurant, especially one with a homier feel. The entirety is decorated with diverse, bright, bold artwork that matches well with the wine. But the best part of the tasting room was the staff. They were all very friendly and knowledgeable. Before I left, I had the chance to chat with all of them, sharing stories and experiences. This is definitely a place you can spend a day in – as their site suggests.

One of my goals this year is to go to new (at least to me)wineries. Hilmy gave me a completely new winery. I am eager to see where they go, as well as eager to go back and see the dogs and the cat and try the unreleased wines.