Roadside Bo Peep

I stopped to take bluebonnet pictures near Blanco, Texas and was greeted by this cutie...

Mhaaaa!

Hilmy Cellars

Hilmy Cellars is a boutique winery located between Fredericksburg and Stonewall, along the Texas Wine Corridor, Highway 290.

My husband Brian, and I visited Hilmy Cellars during a private wine tour arranged for his office. There were ten in our group. Hilmy was the third stop on our tour and our favorite.

The good people in the Hilmy Cellars tasting room were welcoming and knowledgeable. Our pourer, Josh, told us about helping with the grape harvest, gave us a brief history of the winery and dazzled us by demonstrating how their titanium infused wineglasses didn’t break when bounced off the concrete bar (several in our group unintentionally repeated the test, demonstrating the brilliance and foresight of Hilmy Cellars to purchase the glasses before our arrival). 

All their wines are made with 100% Texas-raised fruit. Which is great to know because a wine can be called a ‘Texas Wine’ with as little as 75% Texas-raised fruit. Their wines are listed on the tasting sheet dry to sweet. White before red.  

I like sweet wine, what can I say? My simple method of rating wines during tastings probably would have clued you in to that...

[ Our tasting was in December 2012. A link to Hilmy’s current tasting room menu can be found on their website. ]

I liked how vested everyone at Hilmy is in the wine-making process. Sounds like they all participate in the harvest, the bottling and serving the wine in the tasting room. Each person we spoke to, seemed genuinely interested in being there and sharing their creation with us.

Hilmy Cellars is a winery I have already recommended to friends and I wholehearted recommend it to you. They have struck a nice balance between friendly surroundings and nice wines. 

Hilmy Cellars

12346 E US Hwy 290

Fredericksburg TX 78624

830.644.2482

Finding Hilmy Cellars is easy. You can see their vineyard and their building from 290, north side of the road. Their sign is rock and weathered metal.  

Participating member of Wine Road 290 and Texas Hill Country Wine Trail

Merry Christmas!

The one million lights at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative in Johnson City, Texas, are a must see for so many in the Texas Hill Country. Me included. Walking the grounds on a chilly December evening, glowing with your loved ones, gives a peaceful feeling that is so hard to find in the chaos of the holiday season.

May your Christmas be merry and bright! And your New Year full of excellent wine and peace in which to enjoy it!

Winslow's Wine Cafe

Winslow’s Wine Cafe is located west of downtown Fort Worth, in the groovy Camp Bowie historical district. 

Winslow’s is a cafe favored by my friend Amber. She lives in Fort Worth and we had a birthday to celebrate!

Winslow’s Wine Cafe has a cozy, trendy indoor space. The lighting and the layout are both inviting and interesting. Or as the website says, “an intimately sized venue...ambiance conducive to good conversation and the feeling of familiarity”.

But it was November in Texas, so we sat outside. Outdoors, we found ourselves in an intimately sized courtyard with tables and a fire-pit. There were four of us and we were able to laugh and talk without a single “what?”.

We ordered a bottle of 2012 Mohua Sauvignon Blanc, based on our waiter’s suggestion when we asked him about a light white wine. Lovely! He was absolutely right about the hints of grapefruit.  Finishing the bottle proved not to be a problem.

I’d recommend Winslow’s Wine Cafe in Fort Worth as a place to enjoy friends or to take a date. The atmosphere is casual but not loud. The servers were nice and knowledgeable and the restaurant offers valet parking if you don’t feel like parking your own car (we used the valet parking : )

Winslow’s Wine Cafe

4101 Camp Bowie

Fort Worth TX 76107

817.546.6843

You’ll find Winslow’s Wine Cafe at the corner of Camp Bowie Boulevard and Clover. 

Construction on 290

For months, the Great State of Texas has been re-topping a portion of Highway 290 between Stonewall and Fredericksburg. Since this stretch of road is becoming known as the Texas wine corridor, I thought I’d give you a construction update.

Disclaimer:  I’m the first to admit I’m not really the best person for this job because I drive by landmarks instead of mile markers but here goes. 

It appeared to me today that construction between Hilmy Cellars and the Wildseed Farms is nearing completion. Yea! The surface of the road is nice and smooth, the lines are mostly in place and there was no construction equipment in sight. However. There are still about a zillion orange pylons in place and I can tell ya, when you drive through there at night, those pylons can be a little freaky. With the curves in the road. And the glowing. Now, I’m not saying it’ll remind you of a Stephen King novel like it did me but I will say the driving experience can only improve along those 3 miles of highway once the pylons have been moved.

Happy trails!

Texas Wine Month

I spent a good twenty minutes searching Texas Wine Month on the web in the sincere hope of discovering an inspired or romantic tale of how a ragtag group of Texans came together on an autumn afternoon and decided Texas wines needed their own month. And that October would be it. 

Sadly, all I’ve found is a mention of the Department of Agriculture and something about harvest being over.

So. Never mind that. Let’s talk about ways to celebrate!

Throughout October Texas Hill Country Wineries (west of Austin and north of San Antonio) wine trail

October 4 & 5 Midland Wine & Music Festival (Midland, panhandle) wine and music festival

October 5-6 & 11-12 Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail (near Houston) wine and sausage trail

October 10-13 Gruene Music & Wine Festival (between San Antonio and Austin) wine, food and music festival

October 12 & 13 Autumn Art & Texas Wine Festival (Old Town Spring, greater Houston) art and wine festival

October 19 San Saba Pecan Jam (San Saba, Texas Hill Country) wine, music and food festival

October 19 & 20 Dallas Town & Country Fall Wine Trail (north of Dallas) wine trail

October 20 Grape Jam Wine & Music Festival (Marble Falls, Texas Hill Country) wine and food festival

October 24-26 Fredericksburg Food and Wine Fest (Texas Hill Country) food and wine festival

October 25 & 26 Wine in the Pines (Mount Vernon, east Texas) wine, food and art festival

Cheers!