Blog

2023 Harvest

2023-08-28 11:51:26

“Oustanding” Defines the 2023 Harvest Sergio Cuadra, Fall Creek Vineyards Director of Winemaking

We are nearly finished with the 2023 wine grape harvest in the Texas Hill Country. If I had to define this year’s harvest in one word it would be “Outstanding. Every grape that we bring into the winery is very healthy.

Our growers in the Hill Country have had a wonderful year in terms of yield. This year the grape vines have produced healthy and abundant crops, and we can make more wine.

Not only do we have great quantity, but we also have excellent quality. The results from each vineyard for every single lot have exceeded expectations. These grapes are of exceptional quality. We’re seeing this throughout various areas of the Hill Country. We haven’t yet picked grapes in the High Plains; however, we expect to have good results there as well.

The key factor in achieving this quantity and quality is the weather. We had a normal amount of rainfall in the spring with rainy days scattered over several weeks. It was not too wet and not too dry. The Texas Hill Country had perfect conditions for vine growth and development with the right amounts of water and nutrients early in the season. We didn’t need to achieve that with irrigation because it happened naturally.

Then the drought came, and we haven’t had any substantial rain since the beginning of June. Most of June, July, and August has been absolutely dry. This has given us the ability to control the growth of the vines by precisely managing irrigation amounts row by row. The second advantage of drought is there is minimal pest and fungal pressure on the vines because of the lack of moisture in the air.

Despite the record-high temperatures, the plants are very healthy and in good shape. The grapevines have adapted well to the heat. In some vineyards, the grapes have ripened a little bit earlier than in previous years, but not substantially. In fact, last year we completed harvest in our vineyards in the Texas Hill Country by August 8. Now in mid-August, we are still waiting to harvest Mourvèdre, our last crop. We are reaching the ripeness we want without needing to harvest early.

The high quality of fruit is true for all grape varieties that we have harvested. Our Tempranillo grapes look fantastic, but they are more tannic than in previous years. We adjusted our pump-over regime accordingly to ensure the finished wine is not overly tannic. The rest of the varieties are stylistically on point. We harvested Tannat which is outstanding. It’s typically a highly tannic grape, but this crop is well-balanced and not overly tannic. We pressed it and it will be an amazing wine.

Salt Lick Vineyard is always our gem, and it has performed really well again this year. Likewise, the crop from Certenberg Vineyard is top-notch with Chardonnay, Merlot, and Petit Verdot grapes all outstanding. We are also getting excellent Tannat from Nolan Creek Vineyard near Killeen.

This week we’re getting our first grapes from the Texas High Plains. We expect excellent fruit. I’m optimistic.

It has been a very good year for wine grapes in the Texas Hill Country. This is a showcase vintage, truly a standout. I’m eager for these wines to be ready to share with you. It will be Outstanding.

Fall Creek Vineyards Director of Winemaking, Sergio Cuadra

Fall Creek Vineyards: Celebrating Thanksgiving with Auler Family Recipe

2021-10-30 14:33:24

By Susan Auler

After a very challenging year in the vineyard, we are ready to celebrate a wonderful harvest and all of the blessings of the year around our Auler family Thanksgiving table. Like many of you, the focus of our Thanksgiving celebration is our family. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to share our blessings, commiserate and lift each other up from our challenges, and enjoy our family traditions. Our Thanksgiving includes wonderful, traditional dishes paired with, of course, excellent wine. Here are a few of our favorite Auler family Thanksgiving recipes and wine pairings for you to share with your loved ones.

2019 Sauvignon Blanc Vintners Selection Paired with Cauliflower Garlic Mashers

Our Sauvignon Blanc has layers of crisp, zippy aromas evocative of green apples with a hint of honey. This mouth-filling, medium-bodied wine provides a lovely accompaniment to this savory, cheese dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 large head of cauliflower, leaves and stalks removed
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • 1 T. finely minced fresh garlic
  • 4 T. butter
  • ½ tsp salt or to taste
  • cracked black pepper to taste
  • 2 tsp. finely minced chives
  • 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • Instructions 1. Roast cauliflower in 350-degree oven, lightly shaded with a sheet of aluminum foil for 45 minutes until soft. 2. Boil water and add 1 chicken bouillon cube; dissolve cube. 3. Mince garlic and sauté quickly without browning, in 1 T. of the butter. Cool cauliflower enough to cut into chunks. Place into food processor bowl with garlic/butter mixture, additional butter, salt, pepper, and chives. Pulse until consistency is similar to mashed potatoes, adding bouillon liquid while pulsing. 4. Add Parmesan cheese and integrate well. It is great served with any meat, especially Thanksgiving Turkey, beef, lamb, or fish.

    2020 Grenache Rosé Vintners Selection Paired with Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

    Our Grenache Rosé is delicate, yet expressive with strawberry, raspberry, and tart cherry flavors plus a spray of citrus zest with medium-light body and bright acidity. It is a versatile wine that will be right at home with all of your Thanksgiving menu items and is particularly lovely with the Auler family Cornbread Sausage Stuffing.

    Ingredients

  • 1 ½ sticks (12 T.) Butter with salt
  • 3 cups chopped yellow onion
  • 3 large tart apples (skin left on), chopped with seeds removed
  • 1 lb breakfast sausage (preferably Jimmy Dean)
  • 3 cups crumbled cornbread
  • 2 ½ tsp. dried thyme
  • 1 ¼ tsp. dried sage
  • 1 tsp lemon pepper
  • 1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • Instructions

    Melt 6 T. of butter in a skillet and sauté the chopped onion until translucent. Remove onion/butter mixture from skillet to large mixing bowl. Melt remaining 6 T. butter in a skillet and sauté chopped apple; transfer to mixing bowl while apple is still firm. Cook crumbled sausage in skillet and place sausage in mixing bowl, leaving pan drippings in skillet. Toss onion, apple, and sausage mixture well. Add all remaining ingredients, except chicken stock, and toss well. Gently toss ingredients while adding chicken stock to evenly moisten all breadcrumbs. Put cornbread mixture into a large (buttered or oiled) casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 – 45 minutes. Cover lightly with a piece of foil if the top of cornbread stuffing starts getting too browned. Serves 12 – 18.

    2019 Tempranillo Salt Lick Vineyards Terroir Reflection Texas Hill Country Paired with Roast Turkey

    Our Tempranillo has amazing luscious black cherry fruit with caramel fragrance, underlying cedar, grippy tannins, and perfectly integrated acidity. Its liveliness and fresh fruit flavors make it a wonderful wine to pair with both the white and dark meat of a lovely roast turkey. While I’m happy to share recipes of some of my side dishes, my recipe for the perfect Thanksgiving turkey is a tightly held secret. Feel free to use your favorite recipe, and we are confident that you will love it with our Tempranillo. We wish you a terrific Thanksgiving celebration with your loved ones. We invite you to enjoy these Auler family recipes paired with a selection of Fall Creek Vineyards wines. To ease your holiday shopping, we’ve made this three-bottle Fall Creek Vineyards Thanksgiving wine selection available at the click of a button for $80 with $5 shipping. Shipping will be complimentary for wine club members. Shop here. Happy Thanksgiving!

    Fall Creek Vineyards: The Impact of Frigid Weather on Our Vineyards

    2021-02-19 13:45:48

    By Sergio Cuadra, Director of Winemaking

    It is Thursday, February 18th. As I type, snowflakes fall in Austin, TX. This is the sixth consecutive day that temperature highs have not risen above freezing. We’re in the midst of record-setting frigid temperatures and a winter storm coating the area first with a layer of ice, followed by six inches of snow, and then again sheathed in inches of ice. The storm has introduced many difficulties to Texas this week.

    Power outages. No heat. No phone service. Water outages and shortages. Frozen and burst water pipes flooding homes. COLD! These some of the many problems that we are dealing with over this last week in Texas.

    The good news is that this unwelcomed cold visitor is finally about to leave our area. We expect to return to seasonally more moderate temperatures this weekend. The sunny thaw comes at a great time for people to put this difficult week behind them and relax in our Fall Creek Vineyards tasting room in Driftwood, Texas.

    Note: So far, Fall Creek Vineyards Driftwood has had power this week, although our founders, the Aulers have not had any power in their West Austin home since Monday. So, visitors will very likely see the Aulers at FCV Driftwood welcoming friends to the warmth of the winery. Fall Creek Vineyards Tow still is without power, so we are not sure when that location will be open to visitors.

    Impact Of the Freeze on Our Vineyards

    The storm certainly exacted a big impact on people. But what about our vineyards? What can we expect the implications will be for the 2021 harvest? We know that grapevines are sensitive to freezing temperatures during the growing season, and spring frost frequently damages opening buds and young shoots decimating crops in Texas during some years. Thankfully, the icy temperatures came while grapevines in our Estate Oxbow Vineyard, and other Texas vineyards, are still dormant. Grapevines are naturally ready for freezing temperatures while in dormancy. Mature grapevines may withstand low temperatures up to -20 degrees F, which is colder than we experienced. In fact, grapevines have a sort of “cold hours counter” that prevents them from beginning new growth with bud break at the first warm wave in the middle of the winter. Grapevines need a certain amount of cold hours, or prolonged dormancy and delayed bud break can occur.

    Regardless of the number of cold hours our vines experienced before this week, I’m sure they now have weathered enough cold hours…for the entire season. Because plant growth regulators occur inside each bud, we expect a result of this cold snap is actually a blessing for our vines resulting in an even bud-break. That means we anticipate all buds emerging uniformly at the same time. An even beginning leads to even growth, and even ripening of the grapes. While it is way too soon to tell what the complete impact of this storm will be on our 2021 harvest, we believe our vineyards are off to a good start.

    Another positive effect that may result from these very cold temperatures — according to a brother of mine that lived where negative Fahrenheit temperatures are the norm during the winter — is that the soils that have been frozen deeper than usual, become fluffier, lighter, easy to till, and better oxygenated. These changes to the soil occur after a deep freeze, due to the expanding ice that then leaves new empty spaces as it thaws. This is music to the ears of the vine’s root system.

    Every cloud has a silver lining! While there is a lot to be seen in the coming weeks, and winter is far from over, there are good chances for this weather to have positive effects. Stay warm and stay tuned for this interesting grape-growing season!

    The 2020 Grape Harvest at Fall Creek Vineyards is Underway

    2020-08-05 14:09:08

    By Quincy Barton, Vineyard Manager, Fall Creek Vineyards

    While the pandemic has caused things to quiet down quite a bit in our tasting rooms, activity in the vineyard has ramped up to a bustling pace as we begin to collect the fruits of our tremendous labor. Harvest 2020 is underway in the Texas Hill Country. No two growing seasons are much alike in Texas with our unpredictable weather, which makes determining an “average” season hard to define. This particular growing season has been a little shorter than last year. 2019 was quite an anomaly in that harvest was delayed longer than the average year due to our unusually cool spring and early summer coupled with heavy early season rains pushing everything back quite a bit. In the 2020 grape growing season, we saw very high temperatures early on, which fast-tracked the development and ripening of the clusters. This is giving us harvest dates more comparable our “average” growing seasons.

    Getting Started in the Salt Lick Vineyards

    We have a cherished relationship and long-term term grape growing agreements with Salt Lick Vineyards, which is located across the street from our tasting room in Driftwood, Texas. Working alongside the team at Salt Lick Vineyards throughout growing season and harvest is one of the most gratifying aspects of my job every year. We started our 2020 harvest with Syrah and Grenache grapes grown in the Salt Lick Vineyards We are thrilled with both quality and yield from the vines this season. A large amount of the Grenache will be processed and made into our 2020 Grenache Rose along with a return of our award-winning Fall Creek Vineyards Terroir Reflection GSM blend made from Salt Lick Vineyard’s Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. This Grenache was hand harvested and sorted to ensure the specific pigmentation of the individual cluster is ideal to produce either rose or red. We could not be more excited to see how these wines progress as they start their developmental journey in the winery. We’re eagerly watching the development of the Tempranillo and Mourvèdre grapes in the Salt Lick Vineyard to determine when they will be ready to harvest for our Terroir Reflections and ExTERRA wines.

    Next Up: Harvest in our Estate Oxbow Vineyard

    We have not yet started to harvest grapes in our estate Oxbow Vineyard in Driftwood, as the Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan grown here are later ripening varietals. We want these grapes to hang on the vine as long as possible to develop complex and high-quality flavors and aromatics. We still have quite a few more long nights and days ahead of us to complete the 2020 harvest. We are slowly starting to adjust to the semi-nocturnal schedule and cannot wait to bring you our new, exquisite 2020 vintage wines for you to enjoy. In the meantime, we invite you to enjoy our Harvest Reports on Facebook Live with me on Friday, August 7, and with our director or winemaking, Sergio Cuadra, on Friday, August 14. You can sip along with us with specially priced Harvest Wine Bundles. I’ll pour Rose, Tempranillo and GSM, while Sergio will show off our ExTERRA Wines in an amazing special. If you want to see the beauty of our vineyards, by all means stop by our tasting rooms, and pick up some of your favorites! We would love to see you.

    Our Vineyards are in Rapid Development as We Approach the Summer Solstice

    2020-06-16 09:34:53

    By Quincy Barton, Vineyard Manager, Fall Creek Vineyards

    The summer solstice is Saturday, June 20, at 4:44 p.m. CDT. This date marks the official beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Anyone who lives in Texas knows that it is already summertime. With the advent of summer, we are quickly making our way towards a very fruitful harvest this year at Fall Creek Vineyards.

    The Natural Order of the Vineyard

    With all the craziness and uncertainty in the world right now, we find comfort that life in the vineyard is still chugging along outside of the reach of the pandemic’s influence. During the spring, our vines followed the natural order from emerging from dormancy, to flowering, to fruit set and now getting ready for the next stages of development. It is the kind of normalcy we like to see. It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how unbalanced everything is around us, the vineyard with all its normal processes and progression presses on. It appears there is no lack of intuition for the vines in uncertain circumstances…it simply knows exactly what to do and executes it beautifully. We have seen healthy growth this year with the plentiful rains. With warmer, sunnier days ahead, the fruit is well on its way to greatness. Average high temperatures have climbed from 80 in April, to 87 in May, and likely will be in the low 90s in June and high 90s in July helping our grapes to ripen fully by late July and early August. We have had quite a few remarkable thunderstorms here in the hill country over the past month, but our vineyards have fared well so far. We continue to monitor every day for threats such and hail and high winds. With steadily climbing temperatures, the vines starting to prepare for a growth stage referred to as “veraison.” This is when the green grape clusters begin to change color and the sugars begin to accumulate (this is my favorite time of year). Our Tempranillo vines in the Salt Lick Vineyard have already entered veraison. The name, Tempranillo, comes from the Spanish word temprano, meaning “little early,” and is fitting for this early ripening grape. This year we had veraison set in about two weeks earlier than previous years, signaling that we could have an early harvest.

    Heading Toward A Bountiful Harvest

    From this point forward, the dark purple pigmentation will increase in our red varietals and the sugars will develop even further as the acids begin to decrease and soften. It is important at this stage to continue to moderate the disease pressure for both fungal and pests for the vines. By doing so, we allow the vine to stay as healthy as possible and as free from stress as possible as it moves towards fruit ripening. I have even been letting Brinkley, my vineyard-dog-in-training, tag along with me to alleviate some of the issues from deer and other small pests. He has been very enthusiastic and extremely effective! With every additional year of maturity of the vines in the estate Oxbow vineyard, we see more vigor and higher fruit yield. We have thus far been very impressed with the high-quality wines they are producing. We cannot wait to share some of these wines with you soon! As we all know, vitamin D is the best medicine for a lot of things, so come on out, grab a bottle or two, and socially distance yourself on the property and out amongst the vines. Check out the pop-up garden that our great friends at the Plastic Pink Flamingo have set up-it is a beautiful spread and the perfect way to kick of the summer.

    Introducing Lescalo Chenin Blanc 2019, a New Low-Calorie Wine

    2020-06-04 09:43:45

    By Sergio Cuadra, director of winemaking

    For decades, Chenin Blanc has been one of our signature wines. In fact, in 1983 our first Chenin Blanc was the top-rated wine among all Chenin Blancs in the United States in the “Wines and Spirits Buying Guide.” Now we are introducing

    Chenin Blanc Lescalo 2019, a new Chenin Blanc wine with lower alcohol, and fewer calories. It is a delicious, refreshing wine that people can enjoy without worrying about extra calories. Lescalo is the inspiration of our co-founder, Susan Auler, who continually looks for ways to innovate within classic styles of winemaking. She chose the name Lescalo as a salute to the small European winegrowers who have produced and enjoyed low alcohol wines for generations. Here is what she has to say about Lescalo: “For several years I have wanted to create a wine with less alcohol, less calories, and lower carbs for people to enjoy on any occasion. I like to pair different styles of wine with various settings, for my guests, and with different styles of food. We made Lescalo for people to enjoy on almost any occasion like after playing sports, or as a late afternoon refreshment, or as a beautiful companion to an elegant picnic. We like to say that it is the right wine to raise a glass to toast to ‘Haute Santé’ or high health.”

    Classic Chenin Blanc Style

    Chenin Blanc is a perfect grape to choose to make a lower-alcohol wine because of its fruit forward profile and the inherent fuller body of the grape balance well with the higher acidity to create a delicious wine. The main source of calories in wine is alcohol. Wines with lower alcohol naturally have a lower caloric content. To make Lescalo, we harvested the grapes a bit earlier, just as grapes are harvested to make sparkling wines or Champagne. Lescalo has a low 9.8% alcohol which roughly equates to around 80 to 85 calories (estimate made using USDA guidelines). That compares to roughly 130 calories for a typical 5-ounce glass of dry white wine. Lescalo fits your active lifestyle. It’s possible to enjoy this refreshing lower alcohol white wine in moderation without being slowed down. Lescalo is made with 90% Chenin Blanc and 10% Sauvignon Blanc grapes grown in deep, but well-draining, gravelly, loamy sand and soil in west Texas. The wine is released young, without oak aging to retain the youthful freshness. Lescalo has clean, fresh citrus scents with subtle floral aromas married with spicy acidity, lively lemon, white peach, toasted almond flavors that come to life with engaging acidity, and wet-rock-minerality on the finish. The bright flavors make this the perfect wine match with fresh seafood, oysters, and sushi. We only made 500 cases of Fall Creek Vineyards Lescalo and it is available at the winery tasting rooms in Driftwood and Tow, and on ourwinery website. It is also available at select retailers including the Austin Wine Merchant, Dallas Fine Wine, and the Houston Wine Merchant.

    The Advantages of Cane Pruning in the Fall Creek Vineyards Oxbow Estate Vineyard

    2020-03-23 09:23:22
    By Quincy Barton, Vineyard Manager In late winter just before the grape vines awaken from their dormancy, we prune them to keep the vines a desired size, eliminate dead, or damaged wood, eliminate older, non-productive wood, and to encourage the growth of new wood where the best future crops will be formed. Pruning is an essential step in “training” the vine or positioning the shoots from the trunk to best open the canopy to sunlight and air, and to make it easier to manage the vines throughout the growing seasons and harvest. We are wrapping up our pruning in our vineyards now. There are two prominent options for pruning and training grape vines that we use: Spur pruning, aka Cordon, and Cane pruning, aka Guyot. Both are valid, and well established methods. This year, we are shifting from spur pruning to cane pruning in our Oxbow Estate Vineyard in Driftwood, Texas. It’s a big shift. Here is why we are doing it. With spur pruning, we train the cordon, or the old, permanent wood coming off the trunk, to grow horizontally in two directions in a T shape. We cut back each cane, which is the previous year’s fruit-bearing shoot growing from the cordon, to on average two buds per spur. Ideally, we like to see about a fist width between each spur along the cordon. That gives us four spurs on each cordon, and four spurs per cordon equals eight buds per cordon, which means 16 buds total per vine.

    Moving to Cane Pruning in the Oxbow Vineyard

    In cane pruning, the idea is to reduce the amount of growth in the vine and direct more energy into the fruit overall, increasing both the yield and quality of the grapes. We do that by cutting back nearly all the vine’s previous growth and correctly selecting a single cane growing from the trunk to bear the fruit this season. Our transition to cane pruning this year allows the vine to support only the number of shoots that we know it can handle reasonably. To accomplish this, I am going through and looking at each vine individually and counting the number of healthy canes the vine bore the previous growing season. This number tells me how many buds to leave on the canes I’ve chosen to keep based on their location and strength. We prune previous growth to leave one cane that can support 8 buds total. This reduces the potential number of grape clusters per vine, but also significantly reduces the amount of vine growth. A second advantage of cane pruning is that it limits the vine’s permanent growth to just the trunk, which makes it less vulnerable to frost. We are susceptible to late freezes in Texas, which puts us at risk to freeze damage of a cordon on a spur pruned vine. That forces us to cut that entire section off, and we lose a lot of potential fruit. It also delays the developmental process of the vine. With cane pruning, we can renew the growth each year since the canes are developing in the area of the vine we refer to as the “renewal zone” close to the trunk. Because we can choose new canes every year, we can worry less about detrimental freeze damage. We expect with moving to cane pruning, we will see an increase in yield and quality in our Oxbow Vineyard.

    Why Texas Terroir is Bigger and “Badger” Than Ever Before!

    2020-02-07 14:15:53

    By Susan Auler, co-founder

    Over the past 40 years Fall Creek Vineyards has had the honor and privilege to work with some of the most incredible culinary professionals from Texas and around the world. As we continue to celebrate our 40 years and counting, we celebrated the start of 2020 with yet another rewarding collaboration. Foster ATX assembled swoon-worthy group of chefs from around the country for an amazing event called “Soil: a Seed-to-Pop-Up Dinner.”

    The evening’s featured chefs included Philip Speer and Gabe Erales, Comedor, Austin; Matt McCAllister, Homewood, Dallas; Chris Shepherd, UB Preserve, and Georgia James, One Fifth, Houston; Cara Stadler, Bao Bao, and Tuan Yan, Portland, Maine; and Todd Duplechan, Lenoir, Austin.

    We were invited to pair our wines with the featured ingredient of the night, a unique vegetable with roots in Texas, the Badger Flame Beet.

    What is a Badger Flame Beet?

    The Badger Flame Beet is an incredibly delicious, mild beet with a tender and smooth texture, and an amazingly eye-catching, flame-like orange and yellow interior. Simply put, the beet cultivar is a farming innovation. It’s a product of careful breeding (much like winegrowing) for desirable qualities and characteristics. Forbes.com recently gave a little background on the Badger Flame Beet project in Austin:

    The invasion project began in October 2019, when Urban American Farmer partnered with local farm Urban Roots to plant over 1,200 row feet of Badger Flame Beets. “Once the seedlings were starting to sprout, we reached out to chefs who we knew could really highlight the flavor and unique qualities of the Badger Flame Beet,” adds Sutton. “Every chef involved cares deeply about local foods, so it was not a hard pitch to get them on board.”

    Fall Creek Vineyards Featured Wine and Food Pairings

    “An added bonus is that the beet was grown at Urban Roots ATX (a two-time grant recipient). Also fitting to have Fall Creek Vineyards wine with our deeply rooted history.” — Mariam Parker, Executive Director, Austin Food & Wine Alliance

    It was a pleasure to select wines to pair with five inventive courses featuring the Badger Flame Beet. Here are our pairing selections.

    2018 Chenin Blanc, Classics, Texas paired with Scallop Crudo with Badger Flame Beets

    Pairing a fresh, crisp white wine with savory seafood like a scallop crudo allows the brightness of the Chenin Blanc grape to pleasantly enhance any minerality or saltiness of the scallops without being too overpowering.

    2019 Chardonnay Classics, Texas paired with Roasted Badger Flame Beets with Tkemali, Coriander, Black Walnut & Whipped Olive Oil

    Tkemali tends to be pungent and tart, that calls for a lightly oaked Chardonnay to counterbalance. A more acidic white wine could make both the food and wine finish with a sour pucker. The full mouthfeel of a classic Chardonnay also compliments the nutty whipped olive oil and allows the heartiness of the badger flame beet to shine through.

    2017 Merlot Vintner’s Selection, Texas Hill Country paired with Antelope Heart Tartar with Badger Flame Beets, Smoked Trout Roe & Beet Top Nori

    Tartare is a preparation method that showcases a meat in its raw form. With a minerality in line with a rare cut of steak and the smokiness and robust flavor of the Trout a Merlot holds up nicely to the strong flavor profiles in play with this dish.

    2015 Meritus, Texas Hill Country a red Bordeaux-style blend paired with Badger Flame Beet Kibbeh Naya, Toum, Schug & Flatbread

    With strong flavors like garlic, onion, and spice we presented one of our boldest wines, a Bordeaux blend with enough tannin to pair well with the savory characteristics of this dish. While the spice of most Indian-inspired dishes may carry big risks when pairing with a Bordeaux-style wine, when done well the tannins can result in a satisfying sensation and finish.

    2017 GSM Salt Lick Vineyards, Texas Hill Country paired with Pork Rib with Badger Flame Mole Amarillo, Amazake Beet Pickles

    With a dish like pork ribs with a mole sauce, how could we not pair it with a wine grown at one of Texas’s most legendary BBQ spots? Salt Lick Vineyards grapes have a subtle smokiness to them from the legendary BBQ pits on property, so this hearty red blend has enough flavor to stand up to the big flavors of this dish.

    We invite you to try your hand at pairing our wines with similar dishes at home. Cheers to fantastic culinary experiences!

    Fall Creek Vineyards Holiday Wine Guide

    2019-12-11 16:13:57

    By Daniel Williams and Lauren Busch, tasting room managers

    December is loaded so loaded parties, holiday gatherings, and joyful meals that it can sometimes become stressful to manage all the fun. Adding to the stress is the pressure to meet year-end work deadlines, and additional family obligations. The last thing you need is the extra headache of figuring out what kind of wine to buy for dinners and parties. Relax. We’ve got you covered. Here are some straightforward tips to simplify holiday wine shopping.

    Perfect Parings: Picking Wine for Your Holiday Meals

    Holiday dinners can be a cacophony of conflicting tastes with several dishes demanding your tongue’s attention. Selecting the right wine to pair with diverse dishes like ham, goose, turkey or prime rib and truffled creamed spinach, scalloped potatoes and cranberry relish is downright daunting. The three keys to success are: 1. Pick a variety of versatile wines, with food-friendly white, rosé, and red wines. 2. Bright and zippy white wine is a safe bet with a wide range of food pairings. No matter what is served with it, the high acidity perks up the palate and puts a smile on your face. 3. Don’t be a Scrooge and get caught with thirsty guests. It’s safe to plan to serve one bottle for every two people at the table (two bottles if your crazy uncle is on your guest list).

    White

    The best way to start off any holiday celebration is with a kiss under the mistletoe, quickly followed by a lovely toast with a chilled, racy white wine. It’s a perfect mate with soft, creamy cheeses; curvy mounds of mashed potatoes and just about any luscious dish you encounter. The Fall Creek Vineyards Chardonnay Vintner's Selection Texas Hill Country 2018 is fantastic with goose, duck, turkey and a wide variety of holiday dishes. Our food-friendly Chardonnay is aged “Sur-lie” in a stainless-steel tank giving it toasty flavors with a note of roasted almonds to balance the crisp and juicy grilled yellow peach, and Meyer lemon flavors.

    Rosé

    A shimmering glass of gorgeous rose-colored wine sets a merry tone. Rosé wine is the best of both worlds with red fruit aromas of a red wine, and the lighter body and crisp acidity of a white wine. It is a beautiful accompaniment to winter vegetables, roast meats, and dry spiced fruits. Fall Creek Vineyards Rosado Vintner's Selection Texas Hill Country 2018 is made with 100 percent Syrah grapes grown in the Salt Lick Vineyards giving it a fuller bodied and more structure than your average rosé. It has abundant flavors of ripe plum, violet, and pepper dust.

    Red

    Standing rib roast or Beef Wellington deserve to be paired with a velvety smooth, lush red wine with depth and structure. Fall Creek Vineyards Meritus Texas Hill Country 2015 is a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from Certenberg Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country that is elegant enough to adorn any holiday table. The Merlot dominant wine is graceful with plum, sweet cedar, tea leaf and black currant cordial flavors with a hint of violet. This deliciously complex wine is sure to wow your guests.

    Holiday Party Wine-Buying Guide

    Holiday parties are fun and buying the wine for them can be almost as enjoyable. Here are some foolproof party planning suggestions.

    Get the Right Amount. Figuring out how much wine to buy is as simple as understanding how many servings are in a bottle, how much your guests will drink and the number of guests you expect.

    1: Serving size:
  • One 750- milliliter bottle = five 5-ounce servings
  • One case (12 750-milileter bottles) = 60 servings (FYI – we offer a 10 percent discount on case purchases)
  • 2: Consumption average: Assume guests at a holiday party will knock back two glasses of wine per hour. 3: Simple equation: One hour at two glasses per person x 10 guests = four bottles of wine. Extrapolate from there.

    Get the Right Mix. If your party begins before 5 p.m., get a mix that includes 45 percent white wine, 25 percent rosé wine, and 30 percent red wine. If your party starts after 5 p.m., your mix can be adjusted to include 30 percent white wine, 20 percent rosé wine, and 50 percent red wine.

    Get the Right Wines. It’s always nice to pick crowd-pleaser wines that are both versatile with food and recognizable. Chardonnay is always a winner, as is Merlot. More about that below.

    Enjoy your holiday parties and celebratory meals with Fall Creek Vineyards.

    40 Years of Thanksgiving Wine and Food Parings

    2019-11-21 11:24:44

    By Susan Auler, co-founder

    Thanksgiving provides an amazing opportunity for us to reflect on the year and take stock of our many blessings. Celebrating with family and friends is a wonderful way to express our gratitude. As winery owners, we tie our Thanksgiving celebration to the original feast by giving thanks for a successful harvest. This year, we’ll not only reflect on a fantastic harvest, but we’ll also reminisce about 40 years of harvests as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Fall Creek Vineyards. A trip to France that my husband Ed and I took in 1973 changed our lives. We visited the major wine regions in France and immediately fell in love with French wines, foods, and culture. Within two years of that trip in 1975, we planted grapes on a corner of Fall Creek Ranch to experiment with wine growing at the encouragement of Texas A & M and Texas Tech Universities. Soon that test plot grew from ¼ acre to 7 ½ acres, and we purchased 400 acres along the west side of Lake Buchanan to construct the permanent location of Fall Creek Vineyards and Winery. We formally established the Fall Creek Vineyards winery facilities in 1979.

    Thanksgiving Wine and Food Pairings

    Since 1979, we have lovingly paired Fall Creek Vineyards wines with traditional Thanksgiving dishes. A few of our favorites include:
  • 1983 Fall Creek Vineyards Chenin Blanc - Paired with Foie Gras served with homemade apple chutney on toasted brioche as an appetizer. This was our first vintage of Chenin Blanc and it was the number one rated Chenin Blanc in the United States in the “Wines and Spirits Buying Guide.” The natural fruitiness, beautiful minerality and ample acidity of the wine made it a beautiful compliment to the richness of the Foie Gras.
  • 1990 Fall Creek Vineyards Chardonnay - Paired with classic Cornbread Dressing. This vintage tied for top honors in a competition of Texas Chardonnay and French White Burgundy in Burgundy, France. It is a food-friendly wine with bright tropical fruit flavors that brings out the sweetness of the dressing.
  • 1997 Fall Creek Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc - Paired with fluffy mashed potatoes and turkey gravy. In 1997 our Sauvignon Blanc was the first Texas wine to be given a “Best Buy” by Wine Spectator. What an honor! Its crisp citrus flavors and mineral undertones made it a perfect accompaniment to our decadent potatoes with plenty of butter and gravy.
  • 2005 Fall Creek Vineyards Meritus - Paired with cranberry sauce. Our 2005 vintage received a double-gold medal at the 2006 Tasters Guild International Consumers’ Wine Judging. This blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon is a delightful complement to cranberry sauce. The red raspberry and cherry flavors are a delicious match with the sweet tarty taste of cranberry sauce providing a smooth and enjoyable experience.
  • 2016 GSM Salt Lick Vineyards Terroir Reflection - Paired with Salt Lick smoked turkey. We love our 2016 Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre (GSM) Salt Lick Vineyards Terroir Reflection Texas Hill Country with smoked turkey. Wine made with grapes grown in the Salt Lick Vineyards is an obvious pairing with a recipe from the famous Salt Lick BBQ restaurant. This vintage scored 90 points in the James Suckling 2018 Report. It is a velvety rich wine full of black cherry cordial flavors and hints of chocolate-covered purple olives that pairs really well with the smoky bird.
  • Try this delicious recipe for smoked turkey from our neighbors in Driftwood, Texas. The Salt Lick Cookbook: A Story of Land, Family, and Love by Scott Roberts and Jessica Dupuy for your Thanksgiving dinner.

    Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 gallons water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1 (12-pound) turkey breast
  • 1 bottle favorite Salt Lick Bar-B-Que Sauce
  • Preparation

  • Mix water, sugar, and salt. Rinse turkey breast and pat dry. Seal in a large container with poultry brine, and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
  • Bring smoker to 265 F. When ready to smoke, rinse turkey with cold water and pat dry. Discard the brining solution. Baste turkey well with Salt Lick barbecue sauce. Place on smoker rack midway from heat source.
  • Baste again after 3 hours. At 5 1/2 hours, check internal temperature at the thickest area of the breast. If the temperature is 165 F, the turkey breast is ready for removal. If the temperature is not 165 F, recheck at 15-minute intervals. Remove from smoker and place on a sheet pan to rest. Baste turkey before slicing and serving.
  • Makes 10 to 12 servings.

    We’re thrilled to have wine lovers like you celebrating 40 years of delicious Fall Creek Vineyards wine and food pairings for Thanksgiving. If you want to try our 2016 GSM Salt Lick Vineyards Terroir Reflection Texas Hill Country and smoked turkey pairing this year, you can pick up a few bottles of at our Tow or Driftwood locations or purchase it here: https://fcv.com/product/fall-creek-vineyards-brgrenache-syrah-mourvdre-brsalt-lick-vineyards-2016.