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Texas Wine Country
by Paris Permenter & John Bigley

Dawn breaks over a dew-crystallized vineyard. Nearby, the vintner arrives for an early start to the day. In the distance, pickup trucks meander down the ranch-to-market road, greeted by the calls of onlooking cattle and goats.
It’s another day in Texas wine country.

The Lone Star State’s fast-growing wine industry is centered in the Hill Country north of San Antonio, a region shaped by an earthquake that buckled limestone and granite into rugged hills and valleys. Today the area is a favorite vacation getaway, one textured by majestic live oaks, tinted by wildflowers, and home to wineries, parks, antiques shops, and historic attractions.

Many consider Fredericksburg the heart of the Hill Country. This community remembers its Old World heritage with German-style buildings, shops and restaurants. Those roots are also evident at the downtown Fredericksburg Winery, where signature labels like the Texas Chardonnay “Adelsverein” (named for the Society of Noblemen formed by German princes to help emigrants to the newly-formed Republic of Texas) feature artwork and a little history.

Like many local wineries, this is a family-run operation, headed by no-nonsense Cord Switzer (look for the man in the gimme cap), along with his wife Sandy, brothers Jene and Burt, and mother “Oma,” charged with labeling each bottle by hand.

The Switzers are happy to give travelers a taste of the fruits of their labor, helping to assist with wine selection before sending visitors off to explore Fredericksburg’s over 150 boutiques, many found along Main Street. Here Homestead offers antiques while Zertz tempts with items like flattened wine bottles transformed into cheese trays. Nearby, eateries Altdorf and the Fredericksburg Brewing Company feature German favorites like schnitzel and sausage in shady biergartens.

If time allows, take a 14-mile drive north of town to Bell Mountain Vineyards, located in Texas’s first designated winegrowing area, or head east where “bouquet” describes not only wine but wildflowers. On US290, stop and smell the bluebonnets at Wildseed Farms, the nation’s largest wildflower seed farm. Nearby, miles of peach orchards produce the area’s top crop. Just south of this area, a short detour leads to Luckenbach, immortalized by the country song.

Further east stands Stonewall, home to Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “Texas White House,” now part of a state and national historic park. Here you’ll also find Grape Creek Vineyards, where acres of climbing vines yield the prize-winning Cabernet Trois.

You can opt for a tour and a taste at Grape Creek Vineyards or head to Austin’s Restaurant in Stonewall’s elegant Rose Hill Manor. A gourmet menu is accompanied by an extensive wine list showcasing Hill Country vintages, the perfect end to a day of wine country touring.

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