The Lone Star State brims with historic breweries and modern-day distilleries, but viticulture came first, dating to grapes planted by Franciscan missionaries around 1659 at the Ysleta Missions near El Paso. By most accounts, these were North America’s first vineyards.
Nowadays, with eight growing regions, the state is the nation’s fifth-largest wine producer. Grapevine is the headquarters of the Texas wine industry, offering urban wineries and tasting rooms, wine trails, trains and tours, and each September, its signature Grapefest event, the largest wine festival in the Southwest.
Grapevine’s Urban Wine Trail is adding three new wineries, including a new outpost of highly regarded Messina Hof, opening in late 2014.
Along with its event-capable flagship Messina Hof Winery & Resort in Bryan, Texas, the winery has another location in the Texas Hill Country hub of Frederickburg. While this is arguably the state’s best-known wine region, groups might be surprised to discover that 70 percent of Texas’ total wine grape production comes from Lubbock and the High Plains region.
Home to five award-winning wineries, including Llano Estacado, Lubbock hosts several annual wine events, such as the summertime Wines & Vines Festival. Along with some two-dozen Texas wineries, the event features chefs vying to win the Hub City Master Chef Competition.
Perched atop the Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Bar Z Winery is a premier Panhandle choice offering High Plains’ wines, mesmerizing views and event space.
From homegrown roots in 2005, the Texas Sommelier Conference, hosted annually by the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas in Irving, is now a nationally acclaimed event attracting wine professionals and wineries from across the globe.
