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Vineyard

Texas Hills Vineyard is located one mile east of Johnson City on Ranch Road 2766, the road to Pedernales Falls State Park. Gary & Kathy Gilstrap, and son Dale Rassett, have a dream maturing into a focal point of Texas hospitality. They invite you to come, see, and taste some of their Texas wines.

The rolling hills and the soil are much like that of the Tuscan countryside, in Italy. Once Kathy and Gary saw the location that makes the Texas Hills Vineyard they decided to have an Italian influence to their wines. They even planted vines that are thought of as Italian: Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese, Moscato, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Chenin Blanc. All of the grapes grown allow wines to be produced with a decidedly Italian influence.

Dale manages the vineyard and works to produce the highest quality Texas grapes with which to produce the wine. Gary takes what God & Dale, working together, produce and makes the wine. Enrique Ferro, a highly respected consultant with an Italian background advises the wine production. Kathy manages the tasting room and invites you to drop by and sample our wines. The wines are ready to excite and please you.

Grapes Grown

Pinot Grigio

We were the first producer of Pinot Grigio in Texas!  Most of the Pinot Grigio sold in the United States comes from Italy. Our Pinot Grigio compares with some of the prize wines from Italy. Most of us have tried the light, white wine, but few of us have had the pleasure of trying one of this caliber. A dry, yet fruity, white wine that begs to be served with your finest meal. It is a great "food wine" noted to be comfortable with the garlic and spices of Italian cuisine, our Pinot Grigio - a quality white.

Moscato

A quality product produced from the Muscat Canelli grape.  The aroma of this fruit and the resulting wine is such a pleasant experience for those of us around the winery, its pleasant from start to finish.  The fruit is crushed and fermentation started, then with the aid of our refrigeration system we stop fermentation at about 8% alcohol and 8% residual sugar.  When the fruit quality is there the resulting wine is a joy.  In Italy it is used as an aperitif, to start the meal, or with desert, to finish the meal, either way it is a pleasant tasting wine that you should enjoy.  A great wine for a new wine drinker yet respected by the experienced wine connoisseur.

Sangiovese

Chianti wines from Tuscany, in Italy, contain between 90% and 100% of wine from this fine grape.  We have one of the largest acreage of Sangiovese planted in Texas.  We work hard to produce this wine in the style of Italy and believe you will agree with us that Sangiovese grapes like Texas and we like the fine wine that we can produce with this grape.  It is light enough to enjoy by itself or perfect with almost any foods. Light tannins and a nice fruit nose and finish. We think you will like this wine.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay can be a great grape to grow in the Hill Country. We get plenty of rain, just enough sun, and when the late frost don't get us we get a grape with a lot of character. The wines produced are not "whimpy" when it comes to pairing with food. We believe in using just enough oak aging to finish the MLF properly and to accent the flavor, and not to be overpowering. The fruit flavor of the wine should show itself and our Texas Hill Country Chardonnay is a wine that you'll wish you had more of.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Texas Hills Vineyard feels fortunate to be in an area that has a perfect location to grow quality Cabernet grapes. This year's Cabernet Sauvignon is truly a "class act". The conditions this year were perfect and the grapes reflected that perfection. The wine has a rich full flavor with a pleasant feel in the mouth. Please taste our Cabernet against the best-rated wines in the country; we believe you will appreciate this as one of the best.

Merlot

This grape makes a hardy, full bodied, wine when grown in the hot Texas sun.  For the wine drinker that enjoys a robust red wine, this is the perfect wine for you. It has the perfect blend of tannins and flavor, aged in American Oak for that little extra "spice" flavor. This wine should age well and will improve with each month that it ages. Have a bottle each year to celebrate something special.