-Winery-

     Our Texas Hill Country Winery was built in 1999 in time for the harvest that year.  We had taken our 1998 crop to Texas Hills Vineyard where our friends Gary and Kathy Gilstrap allowed us to use their facility to make our first wines.   When we received our winery permit in 1999 we moved our wine to the new facility and began selling wine wholesale. We constructed the winery as a production facility only because at the time, retail sales in our area were prohibited.  Jim, using his expertise from his former occupation as a procurement specialist, equipped the winery with tanks, barrels, crusher destemmer and press and the requisite hoses, pumps, clamps, etc.  Its proximity to the vineyard allowed us to pick grapes into buckets and take them directly to the crush pad for processing.  We built an insulated barrel storage room cooled with a 10 ton cooling unit to properly age our wines, and enough room in the tank room to hold up to 10 tanks.  A fully equipped lab completed the original building.

     In 2001 the Texas Legislature passed laws which allowed wineries in “dry” areas to sell their wine and we began retail sales shortly afterward by clearing a space in the tank room and setting up a temporary bar for our open weekends.   In 2004, we expanded the winery to include more barrel storage area and a large tasting room.   We chose San Saba sandstone from the surrounding area for the exterior trim and our large fireplace.  The beautiful blue walls are reflective of the Hill Country sky and the lavender planted along the road to the winery.  We’ve used antique fixtures from Karen’s parents’ mercantile store to furnish the room and serve as our tasting bar.  The covered veranda invites visitors to stay and enjoy the views of the surrounding hills with a glass of wine or a picnic.

Our  wine tasting room is the  focal point of the winery.  We opened it in December of 2004.
The bar is a fixture from the mercantile store owned and operated by Karen’s parents. Norman and Vivian Billings ran “Billings of Nixon” Department Store for over 50 years in Nixon, Texas. Other antiques from the store are also in use in the tasting room. 

Another great feature of our new room is the large stone fireplace. The San Saba Sandstones used in the fireplace and for the rock trim on the exterior came from a ranch just a few miles away. Large cedar posts support the roof over a 10 foot wide veranda…just waiting for you to sit in our cedar chairs and enjoy a glass of wine. 

We are enjoying this  space for dinners and parties as well as for greeting our customers for complimentary wine tasting.
We are open every weekend for tasting and wine sales.  You’ll find a wonderful selection of gifts, wine accessories, gourmet food products and interesting finds from around the world and the Texas Hill Country.  Our hours are 10 to 5 on Friday and Saturday and on Sundays noon to 5.  Watch our events page for special happenings at the winery and throughout Texas.