TDWine

Patron Brunch

Last weekend Andrea and I headed off to the Texas Hill Country for the 19th Annual Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival. We had a fabulous time and the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce couldn’t have asked for better weather. Highs in the upper 60’s to lower 70’s with low humidity. A perfect ‘cool’ Texas Fall weekend.

The main event for the festival was the Patron’s Brunch at Marketplatz in the center of downtown. We had some excellent food and several good wines. Below I’ve subjectively provided grades both for my overall impression of Texas Wine as well as individual grades for wineries and their wines.

Criteria:

• Winery Property: ambiance, views, architecture, landscaping, etc.
• Tasting Operations: ability to handle crowds, approach to tastings, layout, adequate staffing
• Wines: Overall impression of portfolio, sight, nose, palate
• Knowledge of Staff: understanding of viticulture, enology, pairing recommendations, etc.
• Staff Service: welcoming, friendly, courteous, attentive, common sense, combined with knowledge

While I would prefer visiting properties that aren’t geared up for the general public, and while it’s more enjoyable to have a one-on-one tasting with a winemaker, for most folks visiting wineries the experience is based on the property and tasting operations. From there it’s up to the staff and the wines to round out impressions. This is what I tried to keep in mind in producing this report card and as I mentioned above, these results are subjective.

Overall we had a successful trip. We’ll definitely go back to the beautifull Texas Hill Country and will track progess of the wines. I’m entertaining purchasing land in the future and giving it a whirl. One of the most interesting facts at all the wineries we visited was fruit source. Each time I asked, “where’s your fruit sourced?” the resounding answer was, “High Plains Texas near Lubbock.” The High Plains is the best grape growing region in Texas. Basically, most of the grapes that grow in the Hill Country do not stack up, yet. More experimentation with soils and varietals along with knowledge sharing will help alleviate that.

Overall Texas Wine Report Card: B

• Winery Properties: B+
• Tasting Operations: B+
• Wines: B
• Knowledge of Staff: B-
• Staff Service: B

• Best White – Becker Chardonnay: B+
• Best Red – Mandola Zinfandel: B+

• 1st Place Winery – Mandola Winery, Driftwood, Texas: A-
• 2nd Place Winery –  Becker Vineyards, Stonewall, Texas: B+
• 3rd Place Winery – Torre Di Pietra, Fredericksburg, Texas: C+
• Last Place Winery – Grape Creek Vineyard, Fredericksburg, Texas: C-

We sampled 40 to 50 wines between the Patron Brunch and 4 individual winery visits. Along with the wines, after taking into consideration my impressions of the wineries themselves, my overall grade for the Texas Wine Industry at this time is a solid B. Because there were so many wines I did not have enough time to fully evaluate them according to the Guild of Sommeliers blind tasting format, but I was able to form an overall impression.

Best Overall Winery and Wines

Andrea at Mandola

Mandola Winery, Driftwood, Texas: A-

• Winery Property: A
• Tasting Operations: B+
• Wines: B+
• Knowledge of Staff: B
• Staff Service: A

The Mandola Estate Winery is a little slice of Italy in the Texas Hill Country. The grounds were inviting, relaxing, and a perfect venue for corporate or family events. We did not have time to visit their restaurant. With Damien Mandola’s 30+ years in the restaurant business I’d expect nothing but greatness. The tasting room was not that busy when we visited late Friday afternoon so we received attentive service from the staff. I would like to visit again on a busy Saturday to see if they’re able to keep up. Overall we liked there wines the best.

2nd Place Winery and Wines

TD at Becker

Becker Vineyards, Stonewall, Texas: B+

• Winery Property: B+
• Tasting Operations: B+
• Wines: B
• Knowledge of Staff: B+
• Staff Service: A

Becker is a long-time player in the Texas wine business so we expected great things. Though our favorite white was their Chardonnay, we weren’t that impressed with the reds. The tasting attendant who waited on us was a part-time employee who’s also a consultant in the wine business and had spent many vintages in Northern California. Because of this he was very knowledgeable hence the highest ‘Knowledge of Staff’ grade out of all the wineries. Overall the property was nice with plenty of room and as the busiest winery we visited, we didn’t get the ‘Disney’ effect that we received at other wineries. It was a well run operation.

3rd Place Winery and Wines

Torre Di Pietra

Torre Di Pietra, Fredericksburg, Texas: C+

• Winery Property: B-
• Tasting Operations: C+
• Wines: C
• Knowledge of Staff: C
• Staff Service: B

Torre Di Pietra wines rated lowest on our list. The property was nice and they had live music and an outdoor covered dance floor where, you guessed it, folks were Texas Two-Steppin’. Good stuff. Though the service staff was attentive and courteous, they kept pouring water in my glass between tastings (even between different reds). When water is poured in a wine glass unless you completely dry it out with a cloth, you’re basically diluting the wines. Big pet peeve. Maybe this affected the taste though not as much as what I deemed plain quality issues.

Last Place Winery and Wines

Grape Creek Vineyard, Fredericksburg, Texas: C-

• Winery Property: A-
• Tasting Operations: C
• Wines: B-
• Knowledge of Staff: C-
• Staff Service:  D (1st visit C, 2nd visit F – see below for detail)

Then there’s Grape Creek. Behind Mandola my favorite property. It has a Tuscan feel, they had live music, and the view from the back veranda under the oak trees and out to the vineyards reminded me of Andretti winery in Napa. That’s where any similarities ended. They were busy. But to make matters worse, they lined up everyone like cattle as you entered, took your money at the door, handed you glasses, and pushed you down the line to taste their lower line ‘white’ labels.

The staff was courteous, but not very knowledgeable on the wines. Once you were done with the white labels you went back to their normal tasting room to taste their ‘black’ labels. Our attendant was efficient but their information delivery seemed too rehearsed. The wines are OK. This was our first visit.

Late in the day we headed back over to Grape Creek because we wanted to sit on their veranda and enjoy a glass of wine under the oak trees and watch the sunset. Well, we got their about 5:45pm and they closed at 6:00pm. I had Andrea scope out and save us a seat with a great view. By the time I made it back to the tasting room to get us glasses of wine, the hurried tasting room manager looked down at her watch and said, “I’m sorry, it’s 10 minutes ’til six so we can’t serve you a glass.” I asked if I could purchase a bottle. The answer was, “yes, but you have to take it with you.” In other words, leave our property and go find another place to enjoy the sunset.

Seriously? I understand they need to wrap things up, but on the veranda was some 40 other people with varying degrees of full glasses and half-full bottles enjoying the beautiful end to a beautiful day. I highly doubt they finished up by 6:00pm. Seeing all the other folks enjoying themselves and being pissed about the poor service was my last impression as we walked back to the car. Sorry Grape Creek, you get an F for service. Last impressions last a long time.

Winery Links:

• Mandola Estate Winery
• Becker Vineyards
• Torre Di Pietra
• Grape Creek Vineyards

NB: I received absolutely NO FREE SAMPLES nor special treatment as a part-time wine professional; i.e. impressions are unbiased (put that in your pipe and smoke it FTC).