Acknowledgements and Admonitions

Finally, I would like to introduce you to the team of tasters which helped to evaluate each winery over the course of this project. Each of these individuals was a student at Texas A&M University and a friend of mine from a Sunday night wine group that selflessly/selfishly volunteered to travel, taste, and evaluate. To see their responses to the questionnaire, please follow the links below their names.

John Kirgis
Senior Mechanical Engineering Major and avid wine and cocktail chemist
John's Responses

Josh Lucas
Senior Chemical engineering Major and wine student
Josh's Responses

Kathleen Doeling
Senior Biomedical Science Major and wine lover
Kathleen's Responses

Jacque Cambell
Texas A&M Graduate, environmental scientist, and master taster

This project would have been impossible without their help and responses.

It is also important at this time to thank my research professor Dr. Greg Cobb for not only allowing me to explore wineries on his watch, but also for teaching me the basic principles of wine production in his first two semesters of Enology at Texas A&M. This project was extremely interesting, informative, and entertaining and I hope that with it, I have been able to educate you, the readers, on not only wine production in general, but also about its practice and growth in Texas. Don't forget to check out the second largest wine tourism location in the United States in Fredericksberg on the 290 Trail and remember that enjoying wine, much like making it, is an art and a science. 

Cheers,

Heather MacDonald

William Chris Winery

William Chris Winery is located just on the edge of Hye, TX and is known for the sustainable practices employed in their vineyards as well as their "small batch" and "minimal handling" approach to wine making. This was the final winery my team visited on our trip to the 290 Trail.

Upon arrival at the William Chris location, you are greeted by a large hand painted "Enchante Y'all" sign which sets the scene for this lovely niche winery. Along the left side as you drive up, there are a few acres of vineyard which lead to a small cottage which serves as their store front and tasting center. The store is flanked by outdoor tasting areas as well which are comprised of rough hewn tables under wooden awnings. The feel is true Texas Rustic. This ambiance is further accomplished by their interior bars which are housed in an addition to the building that incorporates the use of rock and gives way to a large back porch on which any number of hometown bands will provide live music in the evenings. Along the side and back of this building is William Chris' barrel storage and bottling area which occupies a selection of tin buildings with an open cement floor between them to accommodate crush.

William Chris Store Front

While William Chris does not offer tours, we were able to enjoy a tasting of their wines and sample what William Chris refers to as an individualistic, Texas taste.This style of wine is achieved by using only Texas grown fruit with the winery using grape harvested from their 40+ acres in Llano Estacado as well as some contributions from other wine families using sustainable growing practices. Their wine is then produced "by hand" in small batches which use minimal sulfites and minimal handling. Naturally, I was curious to see how this sort of method affected the wine.

A tasting at William Chris is comprised of your choice of five wines from their selection of ten. there are four whites, two pinks, and four reds to choose from however, two of the wines are restricted for tasting only by members of William Chris' Hye Society Wine Club. In order to effectively cover the selection, my team collectively sampled all of the wines and recorded their observations on the wine menu, which you are allowed to mark up and keep for your reference in addition to the small wine card you are also issued.

The William Chris Tasting Menu

As the wines were sampled, we also consolidated our findings on to a single wine score card so that we could compare finding more effectively.

Before and After of complete score card

Our conclusion was that William Chris produces excellent wines with a distinctively spicy taste which is tempered in many of the wines by a pear or acidic flavor. They were easy to drink, smooth on the tongue, and distinctive to this winery. I would recommend a visit to anyone who wants to enjoy the more southern charm of the 290 Trail and enjoys a spicier yet light wine profile.