Becker Vineyards

The second stop on our excursion to the 290 Trail was Becker Vineyards. Becker was established in 1992 by Dr. Becker. What had initially started out as just a purchase of land to retire on, quickly proved itself a worthy venture as vineyards and wineries started to spring up around the area now known as the 290 Trail. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Becker opted to plant his fields with vineyards and try his hand in the wine business. It was a brilliant decision.

Becker is situated on a sandy loam topsoil with a clay limestone layer below. this combination is excellent for grapes because it provides only the water the vines need, causing light stressing of the vines which then produce higher quality grapes. the vines currently produced on the land in Fredericksberg are grafted on to a twenty year old root stock of Viognier. Becker also has sites in Mason, TX, and in Ballenger, TX, where more of their varieties are grown. Becker wines are produced from approximately 90-95% Texas wines from their sites, with the rest being imported from California. The soil at Becker Vineyards is also home to both a lavender crop, which has helped to distinguish this vineyard from its neighbors as well as an artichoke crop which is being produced in cooperation with Texas A&M. While these crops share the soil, one myth that was busted on this particular visit is that they do not noticeably change the flavors of the wines due to their relatively small concentration compared to the grapes and due to the fact that many of the grapes and juice are brought from other sites.

Lavender Fields

Cat nap in retail potted lavender

Vineyards at Becker in Fredericksberg

Grapes at Becker are harvested mechanically using a tractor conveyor system which harvests the grapes and deposits them into a trailer which then transports the grapes to the crusher de-stemmer.

Harvest tractor

Interior of tractor

Once the grapes have been brought in from the fields and run through the crusher de-stemmer they are placed in a bladder press and the free run wine is harvested first. This free run wine accounts for 90% of Becker's production. The wine is then pressed for a second press which accounts for the remaining 10% of the wine. This press will have more tannin in it due to the closer compaction with the seeds, stems and skins.

Crusher de-stemmer

From here, the juice is pumped into the fermentation tanks and allowed to ferment for the appropriate amount of time before being transferred to a bottle. White wines will remain in the tanks for up to six months before being transferred to a barrel if necessary. While the wine is in the tanks, it is constantly pumped over itself in order to avoid capping and unwanted alteration to the wine profile. This is handled manually with hoses by winery staff and I am told can be quite entertaining.

Tank with Pumping Hose

Tank room

Tank room entrance

Wine identification card

After the wines have spent the appropriate amount of time in the tanks, they are transferred to barrels. Becker uses Medium toast barrels with French Oak for white wines and American Oak for reds. These barrels cost approximately $1300.00 for the French and $750.00 for the American and will be sold to the public for $100.00 when the winery is finished with them. When a wine has completed its circuit, Dr. Becker himself will come and taste them to decide what will be bottled and marketed that year.

Barrels and Bottles are stored together

Underground cellar

Once a wine has been selected for bottling it is moved through Becker's in house bottling line. This series of machines fills the bottles from the bottom up and then pumps in an inert gas to seal the space left over. They are then corked and sealed with a foil form Portugal and packaged to be distributed. This line can bottle anywhere from 50-60 bottles per minute depending on the setting and in 2012 they produced 1.3 million bottles of wine.These wines will be distributed in HEB, Specs, Mini-Marts, and in grocers throughout Texas as well as being shipped to 25 other states. 

panorama of entire line

bottle feed

inert gas station

filling station

After taking the informative, and complementary tour, we took the opportunity to explore the grounds a little bit. Becker houses not only a huge tasting room, but also a store front, back porch tasting and music area, cellar dining room, and an outdoor event center. These venues allowed Becker to not only market as a vineyard, but also as a daytime destination and a venue for personal and corporate events.

Outdoor venue

Entrance to Tasting Room

Store Front

Picnic Area

Cellar Dining Room

After taking the tour and exploring the grounds, we took the opportunity to enjoy our tasting. A standard $10.00 tasting allowed the taster to choose six wines from any of the twenty one wines on their tasting menu including their premium wines and enjoy them in their complementary crystal wine glass. Upon purchase of the tasting we were each issued six tasting tickets which we used to pay the staff manning the tasting bars. Our tasting host was extremely helpful and took his time explaining the wines to us and made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience which seemed very personal in spite of the hustle and bustle of the large room.

Becker Tasting Room

Tasting tickets

Becker menus with markups

Overall, the experience at Becker was lovely. The scenery was beautiful, the wine was delicious and diverse, and the staff was extremely helpful. I would highly recommend this winery to novices and experts alike who enjoy not only good wine but a cheerful and accessible atmosphere as well.