Planning a Wine Tour

Wine tours can be a blast! Especially if you take a little time to plan.

Wine tour is a vague term. For this series, wine tour means visiting more than one wineries and/or vineyards within a short period of time, like a day or a weekend. 

The first decision to make is whether you want a self-guided tour or if you’d like to hire a wine tour company to take you around to wineries. Here are some considerations for each:

Wine Tour Company

Around the Texas Hill Country (where I live), you can hire a limo or shuttle bus to take you to three or four wineries for about $100 per person. Tours vary. Some include a meal or snack. Others do not. In choosing a wine tour company, gather referrals from friends then scout websites.

+ great for out-of-area get-togethers, like bachelorette parties and reunions, or when no one in your group wants to drive

+ pick up and drop off at your hotel or wherever you happen to be

+ details, such as notifying wineries when your party is larger than six and seeing your purchases safely into the limo and back to your hotel, are handled for you

+ professional driver who knows the area’s history, upcoming events and what-to-expect at the wineries; who knows where the wineries are located (usually ~ we had a driver once who was not local and had to ask directions); perhaps most importantly, who will not be drinking 

Self Guided Tour

A Self Guided wine tour allows you to set your own schedule, can save you money and requires more research on your part.

+ great for smaller groups, like couples, and those who seek adventure

+ start and end wherever you please

+ flexibility in scheduling; you can stay as long as like at a winery or bail before you step foot out of your car (note: most of Texas Hill Country wineries close by 6:00 p.m. so be sure to get an early enough start. More tips like this one coming in part 2.)

+ itineraries and routes are easily mapped online or with a smartphone

Tally up your pro’s and con’s. If you choose to hire a wire tour company, book as soon as you know your dates so you can have your choice of companies. If you are planning your own wine tour, we’ll soon have more tips for you.

Cheers!

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