Inwood Estates Vineyards (Hill Country)

[00:00:06] Howdy Vine Trippers. I wanted to take just a moment to talk to you about the Texas wine

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[00:01:53] You'll find the best wine in Texas, the great Lone Star State. Each episode will cover a different vineyard, winery or wine related business operating in Texas. You'll hear interviews, descriptions and details about each location that will excite you to visit and experience them for yourself. Ready to plan a wine tour? Use these episodes to choose the most interesting spots for you and your friends to check out.

[00:02:15] Most of all, enjoy hearing about the rapidly growing wine industry in the state and what makes our wines and wineries the best.

[00:02:35] Howdy fellow ViTripper. Welcome to episode 33 for Texas Under Vine. Today I'm going to treat you to a really nice luxury wine experience and some great wine education. I stopped in at Inwood Estate Vineyards, which is just west of Stonewall on the way to Fredericksburg in the Hill Country to sample

[00:02:54] their exquisite wines and enjoy a long visit with their winemaker, Dan Gatlin. Dan has now completed his 43rd harvest here in Texas. And so it's going to be really hard to find anybody with more experience and knowledge for someone like Dan. They were one of the first to actually plant grapes in Texas during this modern era of the Texas wine industry. They've actually had nine different vineyards themselves. And they've worked with 45 different grape varieties, including

[00:03:24] the first timperneo out in West Texas. The current Inwood Estate's tasting room out near Fredericksburg where I went to visit is actually their third location, but they've been there for about 10 years. Their first location was in Dallas and they still use that for some of their wine club members pickups and things like that.

[00:03:42] Now, you're going to hear it in the interview. But Dan is a firm believer that the genetics of the grapes are the most important factor in what goes into the quality and the tasting of the wine. He's actually a huge proponent of limiting the yields of the vine. So that means how many grapes are produced by each particular vine to be able to really narrow down and put the most of the flavor and the source into as few grapes as possible to really make sure you bring out all of them.

[00:04:12] All of those flavors and characteristics of the grape varietal. He also believes on focusing on what are the most loved varietals out there, you know, what people like to drink is what he wants to produce. So things like Bordeaux varietals, timperneo, the one that had proven across the world that they're very popular varieties and people love to drink.

[00:04:31] I was also really fascinated by his scientific knowledge and his discussion that we get into in the interview about antioxidants in wine and how the levels of the antioxidants in the wine based on when you harvest can really make a wine better for aging or immediate consumption. Now, I don't want to spoil the interview.

[00:04:50] So you're going to have to listen further to hear for yourself those details. But it's really cool to find out that their most expensive wines actually come down to vines that have two clusters of grapes on the entire vine.

[00:05:02] So that all that sunlight and all those things that come into that find those nutrients get pushed into those two clusters, and it really brings in a richness that's evident when you taste those wines.

[00:05:12] But in order to be able to taste those wines, if you're wanting to come do a tasting, you got to make sure you do a reservation for their barrel room tasting because they don't just open up those expensive bottles for standard everyday walk in traffic.

[00:05:24] So make sure if you want to taste those incredible luxury wines, you make those reservations. In addition, if you're coming in for a tasting, almost all of their wines are going to be dry red.

[00:05:33] So you want to know that ahead of time so you'll know what to expect when you come in. At Inwood, though, every wine you taste is going to be great because they are meticulous about the selection of their grapes, even has an optical sorter there on site.

[00:05:46] And they make sure that they process all the grapes that they have in the best possible way to get all the flavor they can out of those wines and it's definitely seen in all of their lines of wines that you will try there at Inwood Estate.

[00:05:58] Now, while I was there, like I said, I got to enjoy a great educational visit and interview with Dan Gatna, proprietary wine maker extraordinaire there at Inwood Estate.

[00:06:08] We talked everything from the tasting room and the history of Inwood Estate to the views on science behind the wine and what he feels like goes into making the best possible wine and best possible grape for the wine that you can get out of his great experience of knowledge.

[00:06:23] He also had a really cool discussion about why wine is actually priced the way it is in the market. Now again, I don't want to spoil it anymore so let's go ahead and go to that discussion and hear a little bit from him.

[00:06:34] Well, I'm here with Dan Gatland at Inwood Estate's Vineyard and I'm excited to tell this story today. So Dan, tell me first a little bit about yourself. What got you into the wine industry?

[00:06:48] Sure. I grew up in Dallas and was born into a family that was in the beverage industry. We were retailed, did some distribution, we did importing. I took over our family's wine division after I got out of college and was fortunate to actually get involved in the wine industry during the years.

[00:07:17] During the years that I would say wine was really coming of age in America, this would be from the mid-70s to the mid-80s somewhere in that time span where Americans really discovered wine and where wine became a major component of the overall sales of alcohol beverages.

[00:07:41] Prior to the mid-70s, wine was a very small component in companies like ours that handled all different kinds of lines. By the mid-80s I think wine had risen to about 55% of total sales up from what had been around maybe only 15% 10 years before.

[00:08:03] I think a lot of things contributed to this. The Californians did a terrific job making a more drinkable wine available to Americans for the first time versus what had traditionally been European wine that was going to require people to sell or an age wine for 10 or 15 years.

[00:08:32] Americans just were never really programmed for that kind of patience. Americans are not patient people so a lot of people just said, oh to heck with it, wine's too complicated. It's not something that I want to get involved in but with the advent of wines that were more instantly drinkable we saw our sales and our mix of sales really change quickly.

[00:08:58] I was very fortunate to be able to interface with the pioneers of the California wine industry but not only that, I was very fortunate to be able to just be able to go to Europe at any time and hang out with some of the world's most famous and elite winemakers and hang out in their wineries and both in Bordeaux and Burgundy.

[00:09:25] And at some point I was completely fell off the turnip truck and lost my wits about me and planted a vineyard. So then that's how we got here.

[00:09:36] And here we are 43 years later. I just completed my 43rd growing season. We were one of, not the first but one of the first or among the first people to plant grapes in Texas. We've had nine vineyards. We've grown 45 different grape varieties. Clearly we're most known for having planted the first timpaniot in West Texas with Neal Newsom and that became a huge thing for the Texas wine industry as it has developed.

[00:10:04] So we did that in year 2000. So we're 23 years downstream with Timpaniot now.

[00:10:09] Wow.

[00:10:10] Yeah.

[00:10:11] Well, tell me about this location's history. How did it get started then?

[00:10:14] So we came to Fredericksburg. This is our, actually technically our third location. We started in Dallas. The Dallas Taster Room still exists and it operates on a very limited basis mostly for our relatively large wine club that we have in that area.

[00:10:30] But we are maybe considering changing that over time. But right now there is still a Taster Room in Dallas, our original one.

[00:10:41] And this is actually our third location here in Fredericksburg. We've been here now for 10 and a half years.

[00:10:49] Okay.

[00:10:50] It's been a good one. It was obviously Fredericksburg has a lot of tourism and so this became a very busy location that required us to actually move here and which we live here full time now in order to be able to work here and manage it daily.

[00:11:08] Is there a story behind the name of the location in what estates?

[00:11:12] One of our nine vineyards was a very, not the first but it was one of the nine was a very small vineyard that was an urban vineyard that we had in Dallas actually on Inwood Road which is a very long street that probably a lot of people familiar with that area would be familiar with obviously.

[00:11:34] We were fortunate enough, my wife does a lot of or did when she was there. She was an architect and she did a lot of urban renewal and remodeling and renovation and she rented a 1940s house on Inwood Road that came with quite a bit extra property at the time.

[00:11:56] And so we established an urban vineyard there and it became very well known around the neighborhood something that was kind of unique. It's still there. I think next year will be either the 27th or 28th year.

[00:12:12] Wow.

[00:12:13] So yeah, so it's been there a long time and we still have a hand in keeping care of it. We still utilize a little bit of the fruit. It's not enough to be a significant factor in our business but it's just kind of a sentimental thing I think more than anything at this point.

[00:12:35] Howdy Vine Trippers. Did you know that I now have a merchandise store for Texas Undervine? I only have a handful of limited items but you can go check those out and wear your Texas Undervine swag if you'd like to tell all your friends about the great wine locations we have here in Texas and maybe get them interested in the podcast as well.

[00:12:58] So there are things like t-shirts, there's a hoodie, there's a beady, a ball cap, things like that but one of the most exciting things I have right now is my limited time offer t-shirt. That's my season one t-shirt.

[00:13:10] So this is your tasting through Texas, Texas Undervine season one t-shirt. It's only going to be available for a little short amount of time on the back. It has all the different locations like a band tour t-shirt.

[00:13:21] So this is a limited time item and you can go out and get it now and one of the great things about that t-shirt is a portion of every sale goes to support the Texas Hill Country Winery Scholarship Fund.

[00:13:32] So you know that by buying that t-shirt you're also investing in the growing and flourishing of an amazing wine industry here in Texas and all of those people that are going to come and make it even better.

[00:13:43] Check out that merchandise store. It's on my website at Texasundervine.com. Just go up to the top. You'll see the link for the merchandise store.

[00:13:50] So tell me about your fruit. Where do you source all that from? What do you, what vineyards do you have now?

[00:13:58] We've had a long history obviously of, we've had a lot of vineyards come and go over our time. We had established a lot of vineyards in and around the Dallas area which became subdivisions with streets and sidewalks.

[00:14:13] And so that is the perils, those are the perils of urban farming or suburban farming for sure. But you know we still work with vineyards in West Texas only two really at Newsom and NARA.

[00:14:29] Those are the only two that we work with. We've, for 10 years we farmed here in Fredericksburg locally. I consulted for a very close friend of mine that put in a vineyard here and we continued to farm it and maintain it for about 10 years.

[00:14:47] That vineyard is, we no longer are working that vineyard front. It's a long complicated story but it got, the property got involved in an eminent domain lawsuit. It had nothing to do with the vineyard.

[00:15:00] It was something that was extra curricular to the vineyard so we ended up losing control of it. But neither here nor there, that's, that we have done over the years we have certainly done our fair share of farming. So I can say that.

[00:15:17] So do you do all of your processing here at this location?

[00:15:20] We do. Yeah, we're doing all of our winemaking in Fredericksburg today. It's a very tiny location. We're grossly terribly out of space and we're contemplating where to go with that and how to change that. But right now we are still completely functional in this space.

[00:15:42] Okay. From your perspective, what are some of your favorite wines to make? What are you most proud of?

[00:15:47] Well, I am a firm believer that genetics makes a big difference in wines. All grapes are not created equal. I think that should be pretty clear to most people who know anything about wine.

[00:16:08] You go into your favorite Total Wine or your favorite other kind of store and you look at where all the sections of different kinds of wines are. It's not a coincidence that the Cabernet section is like gigantic or the Pino section or some of the others that are super popular.

[00:16:33] I think there's a tendency to believe that we should be producing these very obscure, very obtuse grape varieties that no one's ever heard of because of this idea that maybe Texas doesn't have the proper conditions or what people refer to as terroir for better grape varieties.

[00:16:58] I think that's a gigantic mistake. I think that there's a reason why certain grapes are really popular and I think that producers need to pay attention to that. I mean, I've been in the wine business 48 years.

[00:17:17] We're not the first people that have walked the face of this earth. Okay. We might want to think we are, but we're not.

[00:17:23] We have 400 years of very good history about what humans like to drink. There's a reason why humans have rejected a lot of other great varieties that haven't been popularized and I think that it's real important to pay attention to that.

[00:17:43] So yeah, I'm very keen on producing Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet. We do lots of Cabernet. I think I make eight total Cabernet products in various forms and fashions. Some of them are French style. Some of them are American style.

[00:18:02] I can explain that if you want. Obviously, we've done a huge amount of work with Temperneo. We're kind of joined at the hip with Temperneo, but Temperneo is probably one of the top seven great varieties of the world.

[00:18:17] I would say Spain is a huge industry and it is largely in a lot of ways based on Temperneo. So these dominant great varieties are important. There are reasons to step up and pay attention.

[00:18:31] The idea that we can't grow them in Texas is completely wrong. I mean, I cannot state that emphatically enough. We absolutely can grow them in Texas. We just have to do the things that other people in other areas around the world do and we can't grow them expecting that we're going to produce some fabulous number of clusters per vine or something like that.

[00:19:01] If we want to make Bordeaux level Cabernet, we can make Bordeaux level Cabernet, but we need to grow it at the same number of clusters per vine that the people in Bordeaux grow it.

[00:19:11] And then once you do that, then you'll realize that the quality of your Cabernet will improve dramatically.

[00:19:19] If the average vine in Bordeaux is growing 20 clusters per vine, then we need to grow it 20 clusters per vine, not 120 clusters per vine.

[00:19:34] And that's part of the huge problem that we have in Texas. Everybody's looking for some kind of great variety that's a magic bullet and something that they can overproduce wildly and have huge amounts of fruit and still make some kind of great A wine.

[00:19:49] And that doesn't exist. Those conditions are mutually exclusive.

[00:19:54] So we, like I said, we're not the first humans to walk this planet. And if you look around the world globally at how these wines are produced and how the luxury products are made, they're produced at very small numbers of clusters per vine.

[00:20:13] And they're expensive, yes. And the more clusters you produce, then the lower the price becomes. And once you get to a point where you're producing 100 clusters per vine, then you're down to grocery store level, 6, 8, $10 kinds of wines, that sort of thing.

[00:20:31] It's not really a soil and climate issue. It's really a production issue. And hopefully that helps people understand a lot of the difference.

[00:20:41] I mean, I see vineyards that are right next to each other. The characteristics of vineyards are the same, but one's produced at 10 or 12 tons per acre and one's produced at one ton per acre.

[00:20:53] I mean, you're going to end up with wildly, wildly different products and quality wise. And that's a good thing really in my view because it helps producers, it helps consumers understand what you're getting when you're buying them.

[00:21:13] But it's unfortunately, it conflicts with the traditional wine industry education that has been based on a place. It's, you know, the traditional wine industry mantra has always been, well, you're going to pay a lot of money for a wine made in this location versus cheap money for a wine made in this place.

[00:21:43] But in this other location, that's not really exactly completely accurate. The wine that you're paying a lot of money for is being grown to completely different specifications than the cheap wine in the other location.

[00:22:01] What I mean by that is hugely number of clusters for vine or tons per acre, however you want to state it. So it's a huge misnomer. We've gotten way off track in the wine media, in the wine world, like in the educational world, especially by putting way too much emphasis on, you know, a place and not actually

[00:22:31] looking at the specifics of that place where you say, okay, yeah, they're making great wines in place A over here. But what are they doing? Really, what is, what do the vineyards look like? How many clusters for vine? Let's go out and walk in the vineyards and let's see how they're pruned.

[00:22:47] Let's see what the cluster counts are. Let's see what the cluster sizes are. Let's see what the chemistry is, you know, that kind of thing. And then you go over to place B and you say, well, you know, I have no interest in this, you know, they're producing cheap wines.

[00:23:05] They never taste very good. But when you go into their vineyards, what you see is a radically different system of growing and producing grapes. It's, it's, you know, you're seeing hundreds of clusters provide, you're seeing vines that literally are working their hearts out to try to get all that fruit, fruit right.

[00:23:29] And they're not able to get all that fruit right. It's not possible because there's too many clusters and the vine is too overburdened and simply can't do the task. Whereas the, the, you know, the place over here producing the great wines has a very small number of clusters.

[00:23:49] All the energy of the vine and specifically more importantly all the sunlight collected during that growing season to that makes that chemistry is being fed into a very small number of clusters that are the recipients of all that, of all the good stuff.

[00:24:06] Whereas the over in the other side, you know, they're, they're, you're dividing down the number of the amount of, of the good stuff is getting divided hugely number of ways with all these different clusters. And it ends up that none of them are ever have the, what I would say nutritional development, but it's really phenolic development to produce any kind of great product.

[00:24:31] So I think it's just very important that we pay attention to the, the genetics first. So, so it's very important that we, that we choose varieties that make high amounts of flavor. And yes, those are the popular ones. I mean, they're, I'm sorry, they're the popular kids.

[00:24:55] For the reason. And there's a reason why, and there's a reason why, like I say, there's a reason why there's a Cabernet section in your favorite store wine, big wine store that goes on for aisles and aisles, you know, but, but it's because those varieties make more flavor to start with.

[00:25:10] And so there's, there's that. But then how you produce it is very important. You can't take a great variety with great genetics and go out and abuse it. And, and, and expect that you're still going to come out with something really good.

[00:25:26] Likewise, you can't do the converse either. You can't take a variety with really bad genetics and then go out and, you know, spend your life's work trying to make it make, you know, you know, stellar wine. And then you find out that never really had a chance to begin with, you know, because you've just got to choose something that, that is, is has a better running start.

[00:25:51] That's a good way to put it.

[00:25:52] Okay. Yeah.

[00:25:53] And then you mentioned earlier, kind of tailing back for a second, just for the sake of our listeners, I mean, I know you talked about, you make a Cabernet in American style and French style.

[00:26:01] So, so what is that?

[00:26:02] Yeah, give a little detail on there.

[00:26:03] Sure. I don't mind doing that at all. So it really, at the end of the day, it's all about antioxidants. And the longer fruit hangs on the vine.

[00:26:15] The more time there is for the fruit to use its own antioxidants to protect itself from bacteria in the field. So as the fruit hangs for a longer period of time, at the end of your, especially at the end of your growing season, that it's basically burning through its fuel of its and its self defenses.

[00:26:45] To protect itself from, from, from bacteria.

[00:26:49] Now, you know, all eventually all fruit loses the battle. I mean, you know, you run out of, of, of, you know, your, of your, of your, you know, self defenses for that.

[00:27:00] But basically the idea is if you harvest earlier before the fruit has used up its antioxidants, those antioxidants are going to end up in your wine.

[00:27:13] If you harvest later after the fruit has burned through its antioxidants, then the wine is going to be much lower in antioxidants at, you know, maybe sometimes in some cases vastly lower.

[00:27:30] The reason why consumers should care is because if you buy a wine that's early harvested, then you may be buying a wine that you think you're going to drink on Saturday night, but you're actually going to be buying it on Saturday night.

[00:27:43] You're actually going to be drinking that on Saturday night 15 years from now.

[00:27:47] Okay, so it's got more age ability?

[00:27:49] Yeah, it has a lot of age ability and maybe needs to be aged, but otherwise it's not enjoyable.

[00:27:55] The opposite is also true. The wine that has very low antioxidants actually may be ready to drink when it's still in the barrel before it ever even leaves the door of the winery.

[00:28:05] So that's a big difference and that was what the Californians brought to the table in the mid-70s that changed everything before the mid-70s.

[00:28:18] Just about all fine wine came from France, but the problem with French wine, there's not a problem, but the I should say the conditions that the French have is that they struggle with rain at harvest.

[00:28:30] And this is a big issue. Rain at harvest fills up your grapes with water. It dilutes your wine. It makes a devalued product that people don't want and water in your wine is a bad thing.

[00:28:54] So the French tend to pick earlier because they want to get all their fruits safely in the house before they pick up a lot of water with it.

[00:29:05] California is the opposite. October's their very, very, very driest month. I went to school there. I know this for a fact.

[00:29:14] We've had fires in California forever in a day, especially in October. October's high fire season.

[00:29:18] But for the grape growers, they're kind of thinking as long as fire season is not an issue and most years it isn't. Let's face it.

[00:29:27] I mean it has been in recent years, but in most years it isn't. Then they can leave the fruit out there and they can deplete the grapes of antioxidants and they can make a wine that is basically ready to go from their winery to your table or to your favorite table of your favorite steakhouse or whatever.

[00:29:45] In a very short, compressed amount of time versus the French wine.

[00:29:53] So we do both. That was your original question that I can explain what it is, but the answer is yes. We make some more French style products with higher antioxidants and more ageability.

[00:30:06] We make some more California style products with longer hang time, with lower antioxidants, higher levels of ripeness, that kind of thing.

[00:30:17] But one thing is I should say though the way we achieve the California style is a little different than the way they do it.

[00:30:27] The way we achieve it is by carrying less number of clusters per vine.

[00:30:31] And what that does is that accelerates our harvest.

[00:30:36] Carrying a small crop always harvests much earlier.

[00:30:42] So if you have problems with rain at harvest, if you don't want to be out there in October with fruit in the field that's getting threatened by rain,

[00:30:50] then one of the things you can do is to carry a lower number of clusters per vine and a smaller crop.

[00:30:59] That will accelerate the ripening process you can be picking in September, but that doesn't mean you have to be picking a French style wine necessarily.

[00:31:08] You can be picking a very American style wine with lower antioxidants and much softer tannins and much more fruit forward style.

[00:31:21] So humans can control the rate of ripening to some degree, especially more than anything with the lower number of clusters per vine.

[00:31:32] And now having said that, is that expensive?

[00:31:39] Yes. That is as it costs?

[00:31:41] Yes.

[00:31:43] Does you have to farm more acres to get enough wine or grace for your wine?

[00:31:48] Yes, you do.

[00:31:50] So it's something that meaning that we can do this and I'm a strong believer that we should be doing this,

[00:31:58] but that doesn't mean that we're going to be out there in the marketplace with wine that's priced any less than it is anywhere else.

[00:32:08] So that's the economic or financial issue is the counterbalancing issue to that.

[00:32:18] But even having said that though, I have a firm conviction and I've been very vocal about this that Texas and Texan producers should be focused on quality in a very, very, very tenacious way, especially right now.

[00:32:41] Right now, we are really at a critical stage in the perception of Texas wine where we're at a point where people are starting to be a little more open to the idea of wine in Texas.

[00:33:00] We need to show them the good stuff.

[00:33:02] We need to show them what we can do.

[00:33:05] We don't need to be showing them horrible wine at the supermarket that is eight or ten dollars and they think that's as good as Texas wine ever gets.

[00:33:18] And I also blame the supermarkets for that to a great extent because they won't carry any of the other stuff that's better.

[00:33:27] They also have a business plan that revolves around under ten dollar wines and in their world that needs to be the vast, vast, vast majority of what they carry.

[00:33:40] And mostly they are opposed to carrying anything else so people never see the other side.

[00:33:48] They only see it presents a very one-sided picture of Texas wine that is really unfair, to be honest.

[00:33:59] It's almost like it's a channel through which flows the worst product in Texas or anyone else produces.

[00:34:15] It's the same thing with Chilean wine or Argentinian wine or a lot of products around the world.

[00:34:23] The ones that end up in your store are not a representative slice of what those areas have, not even by a long shot.

[00:34:29] You say, okay, well here's eight dollar Argentinian Malbec.

[00:34:34] This is what I think Argentina does.

[00:34:38] That's not what Argentina does.

[00:34:40] That's only because that's the only product that you see here in the U.S.

[00:34:48] But that's a long shot from what Argentina does.

[00:34:52] You can't judge a country or a region based on what the market gets flooded with.

[00:34:58] The market got flooded with something because that was what retailers wanted to carry.

[00:35:01] California fought through the same thing with this in the 70s.

[00:35:12] I've told this story numerous times.

[00:35:15] The founder of Camus was a guy named Charlie Wagner.

[00:35:20] Charlie was a guy that I was fortunate enough to make acquaintances with a number of times.

[00:35:25] He told me to my face in 1977 standing in the middle of his winery that nobody was ever going to pay $25 for Napa Valley Cabernet.

[00:35:36] Wow, that's a true fact.

[00:35:38] Coming from someone who was in the middle of the revolution at that particular time,

[00:35:45] I mean the middle of the eye of the storm, so to speak, and he was just convinced it was never going to happen.

[00:35:55] Nobody in the wholesale or retail channels was going to permit it to happen.

[00:36:02] All they wanted from him was something that was maybe a little more competitive than Gallo.

[00:36:10] That's all they wanted.

[00:36:12] They didn't want anything else.

[00:36:13] They didn't want to see fancy Napa Valley wine.

[00:36:19] So that was his take at the industry and he's not completely wrong.

[00:36:27] That's the way the industry has functioned forever in a day and the three-tier system is the culprit.

[00:36:34] And fortunately we've had the ability to shipwine directly from wineries since 2005 has helped to disperse some of that so that consumers that were savvier and the internet being able to see online,

[00:36:54] oh there's much more out there than what my store carries and they can see online and then they can place an order and they can have it show up on their doorstep, which is insane because before 2005 that was not possible.

[00:37:13] That was absolutely illegal.

[00:37:16] So this is something that has developed in years since and it's certainly a step in the right direction because you'll never, the three-tier system is not geared toward diversity.

[00:37:33] And so for my listeners that really sizes even more of the point of to get a true picture of that particular wine destination or whatever you have to go there and actually try what they have on site.

[00:37:45] So I get it shipped to you like you just said but directly from the place.

[00:37:49] It is best to go there because then you get to see the breadth of what is available.

[00:37:56] It's hard, I mean some people do but it's not common.

[00:37:59] People don't generally order everything that the winery produces online so going there and getting a taste of it is a terrific way to get acquainted.

[00:38:09] And of course like Texas Tourism, Napa Valley Tourism, obviously these were ways that over the last 20, 30 years people have really gotten acquainted with the products they like and club membership very, very important.

[00:38:26] Lots and lots of wineries now not in the distribution system at all in would being one of them and not really missing it.

[00:38:38] And so that's, media is different today, sales are different.

[00:38:45] People join wine clubs they find something they like.

[00:38:47] And I don't know, instead of going down to the supermarket and just picking random labels that have cool art and then getting them home and thinking wow that wine is like terrible.

[00:39:01] I feel attacked.

[00:39:02] Yeah, yeah and then if you find something that you like that is reliable that makes wines that are in your style and your preference the great thing is in most cases you can be a member there.

[00:39:21] And they can show up on your doorstep and it's product you trust without having to throw your money to the wind just randomly trying things on the shelf.

[00:39:31] I think that in a lot of ways I've said this in the past and I think it's still true.

[00:39:37] Wine makers are a little like chefs in a way kind of like you think okay you live in a big city somewhere you have your favorite restaurant then you find out well what you really like is not necessarily the restaurant but you like the chef that's there because their style, his or her style whatever it is appeals to you.

[00:40:00] It connects with your palate.

[00:40:01] With your taste and meet your palate then guess what that chef leaves and goes you know across town or down the street you know to another place what do you do?

[00:40:12] You follow where they go.

[00:40:14] Yeah.

[00:40:15] And I think to some degree that's kind of how wineries are you find wine makers with your style that kind of thing and certainly stylistic differences in wineries are significant.

[00:40:29] I mean they're large and they do make a big difference you know people have their...

[00:40:35] I mean it's pretty diverse world is what I'm trying to say.

[00:40:42] And another reason why place is less important than people think it is you know.

[00:40:48] Another reason is not that everything that comes from location X is to your liking or isn't to your liking.

[00:40:56] It's mostly and very often the style of wine making there and you know this was true in Napa to a great extent.

[00:41:09] You know what they found was that people like late harvest Cabernet from Napa Valley and America loved it.

[00:41:17] And so the number of wineries that gravitated to that style even if they didn't agree with it.

[00:41:21] Even if they wanted to make something that was more French style they could always pick earlier.

[00:41:28] They could always make something with higher Antioxinus and more ageable but what they found was Americans associated their region with the most popular style.

[00:41:39] It's today that's 99% of what everybody makes.

[00:41:45] There's a few people that try to row upstream but I mean you know they're a huge minority.

[00:41:51] There's no question about it. They're a huge minority.

[00:41:54] And so you know they go with what works and they go with what people expect.

[00:42:00] So exactly.

[00:42:02] But it doesn't mean that scientifically it has to be.

[00:42:06] It doesn't mean that Napa Valley Cabernet has to taste it way.

[00:42:10] It doesn't.

[00:42:12] That's the style that they come to.

[00:42:14] But that's the dominant style.

[00:42:16] Right exactly.

[00:42:18] What are some of the favorite wines that Inwood makes with your customers?

[00:42:21] What are the things that people just rave about?

[00:42:23] Well obviously people love our luxury products and of course they're super expensive and I know they are.

[00:42:28] And they're not the kind of thing that we expected people would drink on a daily basis you know.

[00:42:32] So but yeah we make a timperneo as low as two clusters per vine.

[00:42:40] This is like 0.2 tons per acre.

[00:42:43] That's a very tiny production right?

[00:42:47] And the wines are super rich, very concentrated.

[00:42:51] The wines are all 200 plus but do people love them?

[00:42:57] Yeah of course they do.

[00:42:59] I mean everybody loves the good stuff.

[00:43:02] We make Cabernet at multi-clone Cabernet.

[00:43:09] It's a situation where like I grow different genetic strains of Cabernet for specifically different flavor profiles.

[00:43:18] I grow one for its scent of orchid, one for scent of rose petal, one for pepper spice, one for I don't know blackberry, one for raspberry.

[00:43:28] I mean there's all kinds of different you know notes and yeah different kinds of flavor profiles and then we blend them together.

[00:43:36] So and that is a lot of you know a skill that we have that we can say okay we want just this much orchid or just this much blackberry you know that kind of thing.

[00:43:44] And we use those raw materials to create really complex wines.

[00:43:51] So I would say yeah those are all gives you a little bit of a flavor of some of our luxury products.

[00:43:57] Our mid-tier products are produced at about one and a half tons per acre.

[00:44:01] One and a half tons per acre is a really, really good area for Texas wineries to work in.

[00:44:07] If you're not wanting to go down to one or less then I strongly recommend in the one and a half ton range the wines are fantastic.

[00:44:23] They're competitive with anything that you're going to see and that's price range around the world.

[00:44:27] One and a half tons is going to average around $100 a bottle and not that that's cheap I understand but they're very, very good.

[00:44:33] And it's a real good look at what Texas can do if the vineyards are managed properly and they're not over produced.

[00:44:42] And we make a lot of wines in that vicinity.

[00:44:47] We do make some wines as high as three tons per acre and those are more in the $50 range.

[00:44:52] And again nothing wrong with that.

[00:44:57] You don't have as much concentration as you would get at the higher price range but even at three tons per acre I think that's probably the very upper limit that Texas producers should look at.

[00:45:14] Anything over three tons per acre is going to be diluted.

[00:45:17] It just is.

[00:45:19] I've been doing it for 48 years I can tell you there is no other solution like I say it's mutually exclusive and as it goes up to a certain point the wine becomes diluted.

[00:45:32] And that really is true around the world in most places.

[00:45:35] I mean I surveyed Bordeaux producers classified Bordeaux producers almost everyone under three tons somewhere under three some a lot under two the more expensive ones some of the really expensive ones you don't really know could be much less.

[00:45:55] This is not uncommon.

[00:45:58] I've seen a couple of classified producers that are over three but there's just a couple it's not huge number.

[00:46:03] So what I'm advocating is not like heresy or craziness it's pretty consistent with what other wine producing regions famous wine producing regions have also done.

[00:46:16] So hopefully that helps.

[00:46:18] Well yeah and you could expect that I mean if you were going to go eat somewhere you go to McDonald's you know you're getting what you pay for there.

[00:46:25] Of course you go to your favorite restaurant you're going to pay a little bit more because it's a much better quality.

[00:46:28] You go to a Michelin star restaurant you know now you're paying even more because as that quality level goes up exactly.

[00:46:35] Exactly I think I think that is exactly correct but in wine the tendency is to think that because of terroir or because of the place that if the terroir is not as good as this other place over here that the wines ought to be cheaper.

[00:46:57] And that's where I think the situation breaks down.

[00:47:03] That's where it's not really it isn't the terroir it's the number of clusters people are producing it's the cost of farming however many more acres of grapes that you need if you're doing lower number of clusters.

[00:47:21] There's and quality in most cases and I'm saying 99% of course I would probably advocate 100% but you know quality by and large is regulated by physical factors not by some mystical idea that you know that some body has some great you know terroir.

[00:47:51] That we're somehow another the earth kiss the sky and you know all of a sudden you know magic was made it's not like that at all.

[00:48:01] I mean the physical factors do rule and and at the end of the day the humans doing the right things to conform to those physical factors will be the thing that makes makes wine either good or bad.

[00:48:13] And that will be the thing that makes wine either expensive or not expensive.

[00:48:17] So you know we were we were in distribution for a while you know and and I was just mortified at how you know unknowledgeable people in the distribution channel were you know they were like well you know you don't have terroir in Texas everything here should be $7 of auto you know and and and just a blanket statement like that knowing nothing at all costs.

[00:48:43] And so we were all about the chemistry of wine that the the phenolic properties of grape growing how fruit gains flavor you know what humans do to to manage canopies and and to you know create you know ripening and you know just a snap judgment well you don't have you don't have terroir.

[00:49:05] So we your wine should automatically be assigned a price you know kind of like a kind of like a some kind of you know totalitarian dictatorship you know that is just going to make people do whatever they think they want regardless whether it you know is is you know what they want to do or or

[00:49:25] whether it's even you know merit it and unfortunately that's how the distribution channel works a lot but but it's very important to understand that that that they're wrong that's that is not that it doesn't have to be that way.

[00:49:38] People can do all kinds of things and I can point to many examples around the world where you'll have an area that's not known for you know particularly great wine and all of a sudden you have one or two or three outliers in there that are doing fabulous.

[00:49:55] Work and have you know garnered huge respect you know over time and and you think and then the world looks at that and they think oh they must have had the spot you know they must have had the place they rainbow the pot of gold.

[00:50:10] They have the heavens must have parted in the light shown down on this one property and no it's just that it's just they just do a really good job you know at the end of the day they they control their yields they they they're they're good farmers they're good wine makers.

[00:50:25] They do all the things that you're that that premium wineries normally do that's that's that's the only difference it isn't it isn't that they were just had some kind of you know wild luck and they were looking for a you know a needle in a haystack and just happened to land on it.

[00:50:44] It's not like that at all.

[00:50:45] Well you mentioned if you're not doing distribution then and people can buy on your site can they buy all the you've mentioned your three tiers can they buy all your wines on your website.

[00:50:52] They can they can't know that mostly mostly you can buy you know everything on our website now the catch is that members get discounts.

[00:51:00] Sure.

[00:51:01] So so you know it people that are not members you know are are buying less price or they're buying with discounts for quantity there are discounts for quantity but you know the advantage of membership is that you get a different price so you know so that always helps right.

[00:51:19] And you had mentioned earlier about a wine dinner or something that you had had recently what types of events and amenities and we do have like a at the time that I'm recording this podcast it was just a week prior we we have a some special events for what we call our proprietors club.

[00:51:40] And the those are folks that are kind of our top level customers they are enrolled in and subscribe to a program where they get allocations that are you know are a little more exotic and our class is probably quite a lot more exotic and and they get some great benefits.

[00:52:04] Last week we had a we had a free dinner for our free event for them where we were serving a tenderloin and you know all the all the the trimmings and we had and they were drinking our hundred and eighty five dollar bottles of Cabernet.

[00:52:27] So not too bad yeah all they have to do is be a member there was no extra charge for the dinner we do it twice a year so you know that all they do have to do is just subscribe and show up so that's pretty good.

[00:52:39] And it is it is very it's it's got to be the best deal in wine club anywhere if you make use of it you know I mean it I understand it's hard for my out of state folks you know and I get that but but for the folks that are within reach of us and can.

[00:52:57] Can make use of some of the special events it is really a bargain yeah.

[00:53:02] Well since we're on the topic of the wine club tell me a little bit about it so what what what entailed in it how do you join so our our our our most minimal membership level is basically a hundred bucks a quarter and you get two bottles of wine you don't get to select them where we.

[00:53:20] Our production is not such that we're not we don't have enough wine for you to be able to select so we literally gear our production to two new releases per quarter and.

[00:53:31] That's a that's our most popular level of each quarter there is a pickup party and there is food served and you come in you get two glasses of wine and a and a meal and you know honestly I tell people I think what is wrong with this I mean why I don't know why everybody wouldn't be a member of you if you if you.

[00:53:50] Yeah are a couple and you go out to dinner for two people today with a glass of wine with two glasses of wine and a meal very hard and walk out two bottles very hard to get out for a hundred dollars just for that night right and then you walk out with two bottles of wine that have an average value of about a hundred and fifty dollars right so you get a you get fifty you get a fifty dollar.

[00:54:11] Discount on average you know for your two bottles of wine and you get fed you get a hundred dollar you know I'm thinking flying the world is this doesn't everyone do this I mean I don't know I just it just doesn't make any sense.

[00:54:24] Now we have we have we have six bottle memberships we have 12 bottle memberships that kind of thing everybody gets everybody gets to come at least a quarter proprietors get to come six times a year they get two extra events that and the extra the proprietor events like I say I mean you know what I mean.

[00:54:41] We're talking you know you know tenderloin slice to your perfection everything you know so it's and and and for priors they end up paying on average about there's only two releases a year spring and fall is there about three hundred dollars an allocation three hundred in the spring three hundred in the fall but if you come like I say you make take advantage of the events and everything.

[00:55:03] I mean it's I've never seen a deal on wine club like that you know I really haven't so that's yeah that's that's kind of how it works.

[00:55:12] Well what could let's say I've got a listener now interested in wanting to come check out in what a state.

[00:55:17] Yeah well what does that look like when they come in what does a tasting look like when they come in some way.

[00:55:21] So you know we do have we do have three levels of tastings.

[00:55:25] I always recommend if people are serious about wine then I recommend making a reservation.

[00:55:33] You know I mean get a get a reservation get someone set aside to go over the wines with you to get to and I'm and this not just for in with this is anywhere.

[00:55:41] I mean I always recommend don't don't show up unannounced mostly the wines at the bar that are a walk up tasting are good.

[00:55:53] They're not representative of everything the winery has by a long shot that's pretty much universally true.

[00:55:59] So I would say you know it I understand there's people that just like to bounce from winery to winery they like to freewheel it but you're not really getting the best wines that wineries have.

[00:56:11] So you're if you if you plan your trip if you make reservations if you tell the person at the winery that you're making a reservation what it is you're interested in or read on their website what each level offers then you can then you can choose what what what makes sense for you.

[00:56:30] Highly recommended I'm very very recommend that very strongly is a good way to put it.

[00:56:37] I have I have folks that sometimes I mean they may have large collections there they're serious about their wine they're knowledgeable they bounce in for a over the counter tasting and it's like they walk out and they're I think you know that's somebody who really should have made a reservation.

[00:56:58] You know that's someone who really should would have been interested in some of our luxury products and was thinking maybe they were going to taste luxury products but they're not going to taste them without a reservation.

[00:57:12] We don't we don't routinely just open $200 bottles of wine and wait for you to show up so so it's very important to do that and plan your trip.

[00:57:20] Yeah.

[00:57:21] And then what is a you said you had three levels of tastings what are the typical costs.

[00:57:26] Yeah so $30 is a walk up tasting five wines you know obviously in would in was 99.99% red so they're probably always going to be five reds the the there's a $42 tasting where you get an educator that is someone who can go over some of the specifics of the wine.

[00:57:50] And how the wines are made and also some of the things that we've talked about in this podcast about you know to let you know okay this is produced at this number of clusters provide or this number of tons per acre here's a way that you can see here's three tons per acre here's one and a half tons per acre you can see for yourself what the difference in the concentration is you can see this is how the pricing works this is you know helps you understand the economics of how our wines produce.

[00:58:18] If you want that's $42.55 is a taste with myself.

[00:58:26] Most of the time myself sometimes I'm not available but most of the time to a taste with the wine maker in the barrel room it's not really a guaranteed with the wine maker but it is but I do I'd say 90% of them and barrel room tasting involves our luxury products so and considering that you know I'm not sure what the wine maker is.

[00:58:47] So you may taste five wines four or five wines they're all going to be over $200 so you know that's a that's a lot of value that you're getting for $55 isn't it.

[00:58:58] So you're and we do some educational things at that time too so I'll show you okay this is what you get at one and a half tons per acre this is what you get at .2 tons per acre you know so that's it's a it is a more exotic you know kind of kind of tasting so.

[00:59:13] And then what are your operating hours when somebody wanted to come in.

[00:59:15] We're open seven days a week mostly always 11 to five we stay up until six on Friday and Saturday.

[00:59:23] I myself am only available by appointment so and I'm mostly I always try to make myself available on Saturdays because that's when a lot of folks come in for and available for this kind of thing.

[00:59:37] However I can be reached in the in the in the weekdays depending on the season in the growing season and especially during harvest I'm usually always in the field so I'm usually not available during those times in those months but you know then the winter sets in and yeah I'm here for the I'm usually here for the duration so.

[00:59:59] Yeah.

[01:00:00] And then if they load up their SUV to come out here.

[01:00:03] Yeah.

[01:00:04] Kids pets are those allowed on the property.

[01:00:06] Yeah we have the other side of our we have two sides to our facility.

[01:00:11] We have what we call the reserve side which is where you know more of the serious tastings are going on the the the bistro side is is a light food service operation.

[01:00:23] We have Panini sandwiches a good selection of of those kinds of things during the winter you know soups and soups and sandwich and stuff like that different kinds of cold salads you know not not a not really like a restaurant with table service is more like you go up to the daily counter you order what you want you know that kind of thing.

[01:00:45] But we do have a dining room over there kids are welcome.

[01:00:49] Pets are only welcome on the patio outside.

[01:00:54] The Gillespie County Health Department has ruled on that and since we do serve hot food in the restaurant then the animals have to stay outside on the on the on the patio.

[01:01:05] Okay.

[01:01:06] And then you have any maximum group sizes.

[01:01:09] You know not really.

[01:01:11] I think we recommend if you have more more than six up to six you can pretty much walk in.

[01:01:17] Okay.

[01:01:18] But if if you have more than six folks we really need to know you're coming.

[01:01:22] Yeah.

[01:01:23] You know and so that's that's the only thing that we that we recommend you know something like that.

[01:01:28] If especially if you have 12 or 15 we've got to know that you're coming you know and and it's got and we'll probably want to deposit so that so that if we set up for you we don't want to you know have any no shows.

[01:01:41] Sure.

[01:01:42] Yeah.

[01:01:43] So.

[01:01:44] And then what are your busy or in slower seasons.

[01:01:46] What's the best time to come visit spring and fall or busy you know summer and winter are not busy.

[01:01:51] So that's there's or less busy I should say I'm in the red wine business so August is not a time that you know a lot of people are going to be here so and that's normal and we're in we're starting into harvest usually right around that time.

[01:02:05] And some of the early things maybe or we're seeing you know I would say that that you know people like to come when the weather's good so spring and fall are good times to come but we're but we are busier during those times.

[01:02:20] Yeah.

[01:02:21] Okay.

[01:02:22] Yeah.

[01:02:23] So do you have any plans for future growth you said that you're a forty third harvest now and we do we do and and we're working on that right now too early to talk about it.

[01:02:33] But yes we do have we do have plans on the on the drawing board and I think that I there's there's a chain of events that you know have to happen for us to be able to do that.

[01:02:49] One of the one of the things though is that regardless you know where life takes us on the growth growth curve what we are not going to do is compromise the kind of wines we make.

[01:03:00] And so that's that's a big issue.

[01:03:04] There's not a lot of fruit available in there.

[01:03:08] There's fruit available in Texas.

[01:03:10] I'd say less than one percent of it can be an in wood wine.

[01:03:15] So that's an issue you know and and we're very very particular about the fruit that we use the it's it's got to be grown to you know to within the boundaries.

[01:03:30] So what it fits into our program most of it isn't most most of the fruit available Texas isn't so that's a that's an issue for growth.

[01:03:39] But but having said that yeah no we've got we have ambitions you know and and I think that that you'll see some you'll see some expansion in the you know fairly near future I think.

[01:03:53] Yeah.

[01:03:54] We've spent the last three or four years five years maybe to the outside observer maybe it looks like we were coasting we're not coasting where we've invested a lot of money in our infrastructure to be able to improve not only quality

[01:04:15] quality's always been high but consistent quality especially like for example this year was our first year with an optical sorter and I mean and now at this point right now the way it is our fruit actually goes through three mechanical sorting tables.

[01:04:37] And one to take out material other than grapes one to take out raisins one to take out seeds and then on top of that goes through an optical which source of fruit by color.

[01:04:49] So the amount of processing that we're doing is something that guarantees quality and and and we've made a lot of investments to to get that up to a certain level where you know even if the fruit even if Texas doesn't have the best year the inward winds are still going to be good.

[01:05:15] And and and that way I mean even if we have to sort great by great which what is what our system does if we sort berry by berry will take out all the berries that are not good minimal right.

[01:05:30] Right. And if we have to discard them we will and we had a whole bunch this year that became dear food so so I can I can tell you that that is that that is the case but so we so we've been building on another

[01:05:46] end. We haven't been building as much in the public eye on the front end on the front end but we have been building on the back end quite a lot and my and my son who is 35 he is doing our wine making now he's made our last six ventures and he's very very good so

[01:06:01] and he's brought a lot of technology to us you know a lot of this stuff is has been his his his focus.

[01:06:09] So to the listener stay tuned there are things down there.

[01:06:12] Absolutely absolutely absolutely.

[01:06:13] What in your opinion sets inward a state to part as different from there's so many places that people can go. Why should they come here.

[01:06:21] This is an easy one. This is actually the truth is that you know inward makes a luxury product. I mean that's all there is to it and and we we make some lesser products I mean it's not that every product here is is super expensive but by

[01:06:38] and large we're we're really the only winery in the state that makes a luxury product on the level that we do and and that is because of the very very low number of clusters provide on the the the kind of the kind of sorting and everything

[01:06:55] that our fruit has to go through to to to get to the place where it's going to be you know one of those kinds of wines.

[01:07:04] It's you don't we just don't see that in Texas I mean it's it's very very very rare and you know so we're the people that that come here a lot are and the people I should say the people that are members here lots of people come here

[01:07:21] and a lot of people enjoy coming here for various different reasons I mean could be the patio or the or the outdoors we have lots of tables set up and things like that and and people can come here and pretty much free will it if they want

[01:07:34] but mostly people come here for the wine quality and I mean that's that's if you're a person that likes expects Napa level wine quality or European level wine quality where the where the place that you go

[01:07:50] well if if you if you're want you know just you know I don't know I mean there's a lot of people around here that offer an entertainment platform.

[01:08:03] You know live music inexpensive wine you know those kind of things that's not us that's not that's not what we do so you know where we're we're a we're we're if we're we're for people maybe who are a little bit more serious about their wine they want to drink they want to drink

[01:08:20] and they want to drink really well and and and that's the kind of place that we are here so it's a little it is a little different but you know I hear all the time you know people say oh you know I just wish that I love coming to first for

[01:08:35] I just wish the wines were better and the wines are better this is your place this is a this is a if you think that or if you've had that experience then then then where your guy yeah you know

[01:08:46] you know yeah we're we're the we're that's that's the market that we that we exist for I'm you know confident that if if folks will will will seek us out and give us a try I think you'll you'll be

[01:09:02] most people they they they come here for the first time and they walk out if they encounter me they're like

[01:09:10] they say I'm blown away I can't believe a place like this exists and I can't believe no one knows about it yeah you know and and that's we're we're I guess we just

[01:09:19] we're so focused on on wine quality that that that we're probably not in the middle of the social media you know kind of things you know and and and the we're not part of the popularity contest right

[01:09:35] right you know but but but but we exist for people that have wine sure the the the Washington Post came through a few weeks ago yeah it's all that article yeah it was a good article but it was great

[01:09:45] they gave us a really good comment they said they compared us to like what Vegas Cecilia would be if they were in Texas well people don't know what that is

[01:09:55] but Vegas Cecilia makes $800 wine so you know that's it's that is that's pretty good you know and but I think that they said you know if you they they said that you know we have an extreme focus on quality

[01:10:08] well you know that's probably pretty much sums it up in one sentence and I think that that is is kind of what you get when you come here yeah

[01:10:16] I need to catch my breath after that interview Dan is such a fountain of experience and knowledge that I felt like I was sitting at the foot of a wine guru just having him pour out his abundance of knowledge upon me

[01:10:35] I was fascinated to listen to his opinions and his discussions about everything from terroir all the way down to how the workings in the vineyard can have the direct impact on the pricing of the wine that you get at the store and the

[01:10:50] wine area different places it's definitely going to make me analyze a little closer so the pricing I see of the wines that I purchase and he isn't wrong about yield limits

[01:10:59] Dan actually provided me with samples of wine going all the way from wine to about one and a half to two tubs per acre yield all the way up to those high end luxury wines that come down to about 0.2 acres per yield which is those ones of about two clusters per vine

[01:11:13] and the results are evident as you taste them at those high end luxury wines or velvety smooth full of rich character you can definitely taste the difference between them

[01:11:24] and that's not to say that the other ones are bad at all it's just different qualities of wines based on those yield limits

[01:11:30] matter of fact I've heard from other people wine drinkers like you and me around the state who I've actually heard them say once they actually tasted Dan Gatlin's timperneo it got then hooked forever on that particular varietal

[01:11:42] he knows what he's doing with a lot of these varietals here and that honor that he mentioned from the Washington Post article that came out last fall which I'll put a link actually to in the show notes really does speak to the prestige of

[01:11:56] Inwood estate to what they're doing there now I'm sure you're ready to pack up the sedan and make a trip out to the hill country to give these amazing wines a try it in what estates before you load up to hit the road though make sure you check out their website

[01:12:11] it's www.inwoodwines.com there you can read more about some of their back story they've got a blog with some even more cool scientific stuff about their wines there and you can even shop for their wines directly from their website and have them shipped right to you

[01:12:27] for tastings you can see all three can make reservations for all three levels of tastings that Dan talked about in the interview but I would definitely if you're going to go I would highly recommend that barrel room tasting because not all you're going to get to taste some of those amazing luxury wines that he has but you probably will also get a chance to sit down with Dan himself as he gets to explain

[01:12:47] so this to you directly now don't forget when you go make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast Texas under Vine now during my tasty I enjoyed a 2021 Cabernet fraught from the Texas high plains this was a really complex blend that hit my palate for multiple

[01:13:06] different angles it had great fruity notes of dark cherry and plum but it also brought in some nice green pepper and even some spicy note like a little black pepper kind of note to it really great wine really enjoyed that so I made that my library bottle for this episode you have to try it if you go when you go to your tasting make sure you try some of that 2021 cap frog well it's time to head back out on the road to explore some more fun wine destinations however if you're enjoying the show would you consider leaving me a rating and review wherever you

[01:13:36] choose to get this podcast I've received a few but the latest reviews I actually received were all the way back to February of 2023 and I love to get the feedback that you give me to know what I'm doing good or what I can approve on plus it helps other listeners who may be interested to see that before they subscribe to the show kind of get a feel for the show even before

[01:13:55] they listen to it the greatest thing about it it's free to you it just takes a few minutes of your time so please take a moment give me a rating and possibly maybe a few sentences of a review wherever you get this podcast would be great if you're watching it on YouTube make sure you click the like button and then subscribe to the channel and you'll get to see all of these as they come out and with that my time is up so don't forget subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be notified anytime a new episode is released

[01:14:24] and until next time happy trails and bottoms up y'all

[01:14:34] thanks for listening to Texas undervine we strive to provide you with the best information about wine businesses all over Texas be sure to check out our website at texasundervine.com and follow us on our socials at Texas undervine to stay up on all the upcoming episodes please email us with any suggestions or feedback also contact us if you're interested in donating sponsoring or advertising on the podcast

[01:14:58] just to help us cover our expenses and bring even more great info to you in future episodes above all travel safely and most especially drink responsibly

[01:15:17] Vine Trippers have I got a deal for you so if you haven't checked out the Texas wine club yet you have to go check it out so you can get wine clubs at all of these different great wineries that I've talked about in the episodes

[01:15:30] but if you can't get a chance to get to those places and you want to sample some of those various wines this is the perfect fit for this podcast so I partnered with Texas wine club if you go to their website they scour the whole state they choose great wines from all over the Texas wineries and they put them together into packs that they ship out every quarter

[01:15:50] you can pick out a package of three six or nine bottles and every quarter you can get a taste of different wineries throughout Texas without having to travel to them so if you've wanted to taste some of the great wine I've talked about on this podcast here's your chance without having to travel

[01:16:04] so what you're going to want to do is go to www.txwine.com and pick your package that you want to try and when you put in my code Texas under Vine that's all one word T-E-X-A-S-U-N-D-E-R-V-I-N-E as your coupon code you'll get twenty dollars off your purchase

[01:16:23] so head on over there you can also find the link in the show notes here for this podcast and go check out Texas wine they're a perfect fit with this podcast so go drink some great wine