Fredericksburg Texas Hill Country Wines & Vineyards |
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Texas Hill Country •
Alamossa Wine
Cellars
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German and Italian immigrants are credited with starting Texas winemaking. When a blight struck over six million acres of European vineyards rootstock resistant to the disease was sent from Texas and grafted to the European varieties. Today, over half on the species of grape worldwide are grown in Texas, and much of that in the Hill Country.
With approximately 40 wineries in Texas the state ranks fifth in wine production -- the top wine states are California, New York, Washington and Oregon respectively. That's not to say they produce the better wine than that grown in the Texas Hill Country. More than a few Texas wineries lay claim to that honor. It can be said without much contradition that the first person to imagine vineyards in the Texas Hill Country was John Meusebach, founder of Fredericksburg. "Approaching the location within sight of the Pedernales River," Irene Marschall King wrote in John O. Meusebach: German Colonizer in Texas, "Meusebach halted his white horse to survey the land. It was a beautiful valley, with grass knee high and fine trees in abundance, especially along the river. As he came to the water's edge, he found a large pool, in which fish and soft-shelled turtles abounded. A short distance downstream the water cut through high banks to a ten-foot-high waterfall, which spread into a crystal-clear basin. "At one point the river was one hundred feet wide, Grapevines festooned high in the trees..." King continues, "The countryside was covered with abundant pasture grasses, with deep humus underneath, which would produce excellent farm products... Meusebach visualized sugar, indigo, and tobacco crops, noting that the climate was favorable for fruit growing and for horticultural experiments. The native grapes could be used as rootstock for improved varieties. Meusebach’s father had previously sent cuttings to be used for grafting." Today the Perdernales River Valley wineries, located in the heart of the Hill Country with its vineyards and peach orchards attest to Meusebach’s clear-sighted, if not prophetic, assessment of the Hill Country as one favorable for fruit growing and vineyards.
TEXAS HISTORY | HILL COUNTRY FEATURES | TEXAS
HILL COUNTRY WINE Texas Hill Country History
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Fredericksburg, Texas Becker Vineyards Bell Mountain Vineyards BMV Specialties Fall Creek Vineyards 1820 C.R. 222 Tow, TX 78672 Phone: (325) 379-5361 Fredericksburg Winery Grape Creek Vineyard Oberhof Wine Cellars at Torre di Pietra
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alifornia may receive the most recognition for wine production in the United
States, but almost a century before California vineyards were established the Spanish
missionaries began producing Texas wines around the 1700s. 