After taking October off from my roundup so I could share all the details from my most recent wine tasting and resort stay in the Hill Country, I’m back for all the upcoming November fun. Let’s check out what’s happening in Texas Wine Country.
William Chris Vineyards Supper Club
Join William Chris’s in-house culinary team every Wednesday (except the 23rd) for an expertly crafted dinner experience paired with Texas wine. Chef Daniel Todd will prepare a new menu each week and is inviting wine and food lovers to partake in this Hye dining experience. Dinner includes glasses of William Chris wine that are hand selected to pair with the courses served. All wines featured will be available for purchase at the dinner. I so love that the wineries are doing these “chefy” type experiences. I am all about it!
Tickets are $85 per person. Arrival is at 6 PM with the dinner service starting at 6:30 PM.
Kuhlman Cellars “Taste of Texas: The Dirt on Texas Wine” Series
On Fridays and Saturdays in November, Kuhlman Cellars is sharing its story – and the story of Texas winemaking – with visitors. Tasters will enjoy a comparative tasting of Kuhlman Cellars wines from some of the best-known Texas AVAs as a way to better understand the uniqueness of Texas’ designated wine regions. And why not learn from Kuhlman, which truly pays homage to the dirt by naming its blends after soil types and geological structures.
Tastings take place at 11am every Friday and Saturday through November 19 in their Wine Garden. Tickets are $35 per person.
Pedernales Cellars Gloggfest
Head out to Pedernales Cellars and join them for 2022 Gloggfest. Glögg is a port-style wine infused with spices. In Sweden, drinking glögg is the traditional way of hanging out with family and friends during the holiday season. The name comes from the Swedish word “glödga,” which literally means “to heat up,” and is a nod to the long Swedish history of drinking warm spiced wine. Swedes typically drink glögg with raisins and blanched almonds, accompanied by crisp pepparkakor (thin, crunchy ginger cookies). The Pedernales Stonewall Glögg featured fortified local Texas wine with aged brandy and infused with organic spices to make a delectable holiday treat.
Join them on Saturday, November 5th to kick off the holiday season! And if you have a tasting reservation with them, they’ll do a bonus pour of Glögg, paired with ginger snaps to complete your experience.
Domino Day at Siboney Cellars
Growing up in a trash-talking, domino-playing family, this event really got my attention. Siboney Cellars puts on a monthly event called Siboney Domino Day and Pig Roast and it looks like so much fun! It takes place on the third Sunday of each month and features a domino tournament, live music, a pig roast, cigars, Cuban coffee, and yes – wine! One of the owners, Miguel Lecuona, is Cuban and he brings much of his background to the winery. Growing up, the only people I saw play dominoes were black people, so I had no idea Cuban dominoes was even a thing! Well now I know!
The next event is Sunday, November 20 at 11:30am and tickets are $40 per person.
Pebble Rock Cellars ‘Journey of o início’ Tasting
On my recent visit to Pebble Rock Cellars, I got to taste their o início wine. The name of the wine is Portuguese, which they chose to pay homage to Portugal as the wine is made in a Madeira style. But this is the USA and we can’t legally call it Madeira here. They first made this wine back in 2015 and it became a big hit. Pebble Rock makes their version of the wine with 100% Blanc du Bois and the barrels sit outside in the Texas heat for four years before bottling. They initially thought that the use of Blanc du Bois was a great way to hedge their bets as there is always a freeze somewhere in Texas. But Blanc du Bois grows along the Gulf Coast and is rarely impacted by a freeze, so it looks like the hedge paid off. This month, they are doing a reverse vertical tasting of o início to celebrate the release of the 2018 wine. The tasting will be a fun way for tasters to see how the wine evolves each year until it is bottled. The tasting will start with our youngest o início, the 2022, which hasn’t yet been bottled followed by each consecutive year leading up to the recently released 2018 o início.
This unique tasting will take place November 25th and will feature two sittings – one at 1:00 pm and one at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $40 and must be reserved in advance.
Fall Creek Vineyards Supports The Alamo
OK, so this isn’t really an event, but it’s such a cool thing that I had to share. Fall Creek Vineyards just released the 2021 Mission San Antonio de Valero, Alamo Cabernet Sauvignon, a limited-edition wine that celebrates Texas heritage.
Ed Auler, Fall Creek Vineyards’ co-founder, was inspired to create a special wine to pay homage to Texans, such as William B. Travis, who fought on the hallowed ground of the Mission San Antonio De Valero, a.k.a. the Alamo. This new wine captures history in a bottle as some of the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for the wine were grown at Oxbow Vineyard, Fall Creek’s Vineyards Driftwood estate, which is situated on land originally owned by William B. Travis. The winery was granted special permission by the Texas General Land Office to use the “Alamo” graphic and name. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each bottle will support the Texas General Land Office’s restoration, operation and maintenance of the Alamo. The wine is available for purchase at Fall Creek Vineyards as well as at select retailers and restaurants across Texas.
Texas Hill Country Wineries Christmas Passport Event
Tickets are now on sale for Texas Hill Country Wineries Christmas Wine Affair passport event. Tickets include a complimentary wine tasting and a 15% discount on 3+ bottle purchases at each of the 40 participating wineries in the beautiful Hill Country.
The event begins on November 28th and runs through December 23rd, with 26 days to visit up to four wineries per day. Tickets are $65 individually, or two for $100. With the average tasting fee around $20, each passport ticket has a value of over $1,000 if you got to them all!
Messina Hof’s Cooking Party with the Chef
I was not in the know, but apparently Messina Hof hosts a Cooking Party every month that features a special demonstration focusing on a specific cuisine or technique. If you’re a beginner, they’ve got you covered with beginner lessons and if you’re already quite the chef, you’ll appreciate the huge selection of information on spices, cuts of meat, tools, and more. As part of the experience, each guest will receive a recipe booklet to take home and will have a chance to register to win awesome culinary door prizes.
This month, the event will take place at both their main location in Bryan at the onsite Vintage House Restaurant on November 20 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Tickets are $70 plus an added gratuity. There is also a Thanksgiving themed party at their Harvest Green location just outside of Houston (and which I am yet to make it to) on November 15 from 6:30-8:30pm. Tickets are $50 plus an added gratuity.
Lewis Wines Feast & Merriment Library Wine Dinner
Join Lewis Wines for their Feast & Merriment library wine dinner. They’ve been making wine for 14 vintages now, and have always stashed away a few cases of their favorites. Well, they are raiding their stash and have chosen 6 wines that they feel are drinking like a million bucks. This dinner menu looks amazing!
Dinner takes place on Saturday, November 19 at Feast and Merriment in Stonewall. Tickets are $150 per person.
Well, that’s all I have for now, but I’m already looking ahead to some really cool holiday events for next month. Until then, keep drinking Texas wine.
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