Welcome to Grapevine.
Grapevine is just northwest of the DFW airport, so it has a constant stream of jets passing overhead, but you get a sense of its small-town Texas history from the picture.
As a wine district goes, it is a little bit of a tourist trap. Almost none of the grapes are grown here; most of the wineries get their juice from vineyards in west Texas. And the wine runs the gamut from passable to undrinkable; I've never tasted cabs so bitter or rosés so reminiscent of warm Hi-C.
There were really two exceptions. One was the first winery we visited.
Homestead Winery has a tasting room in Grapevine, in a small house just south of the center of town. It was the first winery we tasted, and both Mrs. C. and I liked everything. We bought four bottles; a Merlot, a Rose of Ivanhoe, a Muscat Canelli, and the Homestead Red. We were regaled with stories of Texas winemaking by the proprietor, named John, who would probably be played in the movie by Billy Bob Thornton, for his appearance and his manner of speech. He gave us tips on places to visit and eat (Big Fish, in downtown Grapevine, has great fish), as well as places to avoid, from a wine point of view. We found his advice to be correct throughout our trip.
Second stop was Delaney Vineyards, on the south of town, which has a superb facility, and is the only plave where we saw actual grapes being grown. We were a little disappointed in the wine, though, finding most of them to be too bitter for our palates. We bought one bottle of rosé, and moved on.
Third stop for the day, after lunch at Big Fish, was the D'Vine wine shop in downtown Grapevine. D'Vine is in the business of making wine and then bottling it under private labels -- if you are having a wedding or an event, you can get custom bottles done. The wine, unfortunately, wasn't that impressive.
We definitely found the wine to be a mixed bag in Texas -- I think Grapevine is more a triumph of marketing and proximity to a huge airport bringing in thousands of visitors than it is a unique winegrowing district. There are a few gems to be found, though. In the next post, we'll outline a few more good ones.