Although most of our recent visit to Texas was centered around the Dallas metropolitan area, my husband and I did get to spend two days in the lovely Hill Country west of Austin. The main focus of this jaunt was to visit my sister-in-law Barbara’s brother Jim and his wife, Kathleen, at their beautiful home and vineyards outside the small town of Hye, Texas. If you have not heard, Texas does, indeed, produce wines from Texas-grown grapes and has actually done so since the 1880s. We were eager to sample some Texas vino and also get to see this part of the state, especially as we would be visiting when the famous bluebonnets (of the lupine wildflower family) would be blooming.

Our drive took us through some lovely country which went from relatively flat in Dallas to rolling hills, ravines cut by rivers and streams, and bluffs covered in pines and oak trees. When thinking of Texas before I ever visited there, I always pictured flat prairies covered in grass and sagebrush with nary a tree in sight. Our four-hour drive dispelled those images and showed me a range of landscapes and flora that kept me entertained and delighted with the variety outside my window.

We passed through Waco and then continued west and then south to the town of Burnet, not far from large Lake Buchanan, a popular recreation area for water sports and vacation cabins. Burnet is home to one of the tasting rooms for Wedding Oak Winery, which has been producing a number of wines, all from Texas-grown grapes, since 2012. It also buys some of its grapes from Barbara’s brother, making it perfect for our introduction to Texas wines. The tasting room is in a beautiful old stone building (ca. 1888) and offers several different options for events and tastings: the large main tasting room with a beautiful bar, an outdoor patio out back, a rooftop terrace and a cozy upstairs room with intimate seating and views over the town’s courthouse square.   Rather than tasting small pours of the wines on offer that day, we each got a glass of a different wine and shared sips of each. Wedding Oak makes several red and white blends as well as individual varietals including Tannat, Temperanillo, Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon, Aglianico, Albarino and Graciano. We especially appreciated the darker, heartier reds and overall found the wines a little lighter and less fruit-forward than the California and Pacific Northwest wines we usually drink.

From Burnet we continued south and west on our way to Jim and Kathleen’s Hye Top Vineyards. Throughout our drive we had spotted purple-blue swaths of bluebonnets in the medians and at the roadsides, but just as we entered a small town close to our final destination, we discovered a large field filled with the pretty blooms, and brother-in-law John kindly pulled over to let us take in the sight and snap some photos. The scene was made all the more picturesque by the old stone farmhouse which sat in the midst of the flowers and the rusted farm implements scattered here and there. We finally climbed back in the car and made our way up into the hills, finally arriving at the hilltop home and vineyards of the Murphys.

After such a long drive, we were eager to stretch our legs, and our host was kind enough to walk us through the vineyards and around the property.   Jim explained the current work needed on the vines: pinching out the unwanted buds and training the remaining shoots within the confines of supporting wires. So much work to be done in the spring!

We took in the long-distance views of the hills and the graceful oak trees which dotted the land.   Jim pointed out some of the tiny wildflowers   peeping out of the grasses at our feet while also warning us to watch out for the spiny cacti which also made their home in the tangle on the ground. However, we also found a specimen that was growing from a higher perch:    right in the crotch of an old oak, about five feet off the ground!

Later that evening, after dinner, we adjourned to the poolside terrace outside to watch an incredible lightning storm off to the east towards Austin, our perch on the ridgetop making for a perfect grandstand. On the other side of the house, some of us also took in the dazzling display of the stars, as the sky overhead was clear and the lack of city lights allowed us to see them in all their infinite wonder. It was the perfect end to the first day of our introduction to this beautiful part of Texas.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor