On a sunny Saturday, we set out to visit some wineries further afield, in and around Brenham. Along the way, we explored the devastation at Bastrop State Park and this year’s amazing wildflowers in Central Texas. I posted a short video on my YouTube channel.
Last year’s drought produced some horrific wildfires, one of the most destructive burning in and around Bastrop. Much of Bastrop State Park remains closed, but we were surprised to find open camping areas and a nearly unscathed golf course. Make no mistake….the park is devastated and will take years to recover. But we saw many groups of campers, and several other areas reopen on April 13. The smell of smoke, even months afterwards, wafts through the air; the blackened trees stand starkly against the bright blue sky.
Next, we made our way toward Brenham, awed by the many gorgeous fields of wildflowers along the way. (Can anyone tell me what that orange-pinkish one is?) No, we didn’t stop at Blue Bell, since we had visited previously, but I highly recommend it.
Our first stop was Saddlehorn Winery (@saddlehornwnry) just outside Burton. The owners renovated a horse barn into a spacious and pleasant tasting room. Their winery is well situated to view the rolling hills of central Texas and many nearby fields of wildflowers. We enjoyed their wines the best of all our visits. The Blanc du Bois, our favorite, is a crisp, dry white that we enjoyed with our picnic lunch.
Next stop: Windy Winery, near the Brenham Airport. Their wines were too sweet and simplistic for our tastes, and the older couple who own the winery really needed some extra help in their smallish tasting room.
Pleasant Hill Winery was hosting a craft fair and dog adoption event, in addition to their tours/tastings, making for a crowded and noisy space. Unfortunately, we couldn’t taste their wares. They pair a tour with tasting; if you don’t want the tour (and we didn’t), you must wait for the half-hour for a tasting only. Since we arrived at ten after and the room was shoulder-to-shoulder, we demurred and moved on.
Our final stop on the way home was Rohan Meadery, just outside La Grange. Having already mentioned that another vineyard’s wines were too sweet, we nevertheless wanted to give this out-of-the-ordinary spot a try. And we’re glad we did! Yes, they were sweet, but not overpoweringly so, and they were all very well crafted, with both subtle and overt flavors such as pear and lavender. Bruce is looking forward to creating a martini with the bottle of Cranberry Honeywine.
Important travel warning: we drove south on SR 237 to get from Brenham to La Grange. This normally placid back road bisects the wee town of Round Top….which, unfortunately for us, was hosting its twice-annual Antiques Fair. (The meadery owner said it was the biggest in the world, and I do not doubt that one bit.) A normal twenty minute traverse turned into an hour-long, put-it-in-park ordeal. If you plan such a trip, I would recommend visiting their website to determine dates. And understand that while the fair “officially” starts and ends on the stated dates, the vendors (and customers) show up at least a week before; I wouldn’t want to chance it the week after either.
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