So many travelers today are making every effort to locate some of the finest wineries in the United States and to include these spots in their vacation plans. The major wineries are associated with luscious vineyards full of different types of grapes, grown to perfection to create their special wines.
The Highland Lakes Region of Texas is located in the west-central part of Texas and is noted for a number of its wineries. When traveling to this region, you have your choice of lakes to visit when “shoring-up” your Texas winery vacation plans. Choose from Inks Lake, Lakes Travis, Buchanan, Marble Falls or Lake LBJ. Visit one or visit them all. Whichever you choose, you will experience pristine waters, blue skies, fluffy white clouds and beautiful tree-lined hills. Add to that a place where “quiet time” is possible and you have the makings for a dream vacation come true.
Lodging, restaurants and small town shopping are located within the vicinity of each of the lakes. The regional climate is perfect for growing grapes, and the production of fine wines became a natural industry for Texas. Additionally, the crushed granite soils from the hills are superior soils for grapes. All environmental conditions have contributed to the great wine productivity of this State. Many of the wineries have won local, state, national and even international awards in a variety of competitions. Worldwide wine ratings are critical to those involved in the industry.
The owners of most wineries work fervently to service visitors at noon, mid-afternoon or at the dinner hour. Taking a tour of various wineries and doing your wine tasting and your own rating for each spot can be a fun way to spend the day. Keep your ratings a secret until day’s end when you can sit down on the veranda or the balcony of your rented condo and share a bottle of wine and your individual ratings with each other.
Most wineries include cheese and possibly a picnic lunch or small dinner. Do not forget to take your camera for some great shots of each other, the vineyards and the beautiful displays of wine. Selecting several scenes that add a nice backdrop of the countryside will allow your photo to take on some unique qualities. A picture of the vineyards as the sun lowers into the hills may just capture a prize in a photo contest.
Noted Highland Lakes Regional Wineries:
• Driftwood Estate Vineyards is located in Driftwood, Texas. They make their wine from 8 different varieties of grapes. They are sold nationally.
• Alamosa Wine Cellars can be discovered in Bend, Texas. Varietals originally come from southern European vineyards with similar climates.
• McReynolds Winery has an intimate tasting room. The owners are glad to share a description of the wine-making process with their guests. This particular winery can be found in Cypress Mill, Texas.
• Perissos Vineyard is located in Hoover’s Valley in Burnet, Texas. All of their wines are produced from Texas-grown grapes.
• Flat Creek Estate Vineyard can be found in beautiful Marble Falls, Texas. They offer a tasting room, 80 acres of vineyards, picnics, tours and various events. They have an on-site restaurant, The Bistro at Flat Creek Estate, open on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Grape Creek Vineyards is an experience for those who are passionate about wine. They have a new tasting room done in old-world style, where you can relax and try their award-winning wines.
The moment is always right for a wine-tasting adventure. You can experience the joy of one on your very next vacation.
Tracey Louis is an avid fan of travel. She settled for a while to run a retreat located at Lake Buchanan in The Highland Lakes. She grew to really love the area, and as a result continues to do promotional work about the area to let visitors know what a treat it is. For more information on upcoming events at The Highland Lakes, go on Facebook or on Twitter. Images by Gruenemann
