Date Visited: 1/18/2020

Situated on Upper Albert Road just off of Ranch-to-Market Road 1623 in Stonewall lies Pedernales Cellars, one of the larger wineries in the area.  Founded in the mid-2000s by the Kuhlken family, Pedernales Cellars specializes in Spanish and Rhone style wines using fruit grown exclusively in Texas with equal emphasis on sustainability (source).

The venue is well-signed all the way leading up to it – starting out on Highway 290 (which RM 1623 intersects with at the North terminal) and then onto RM 1623 itself.  The hours of operation are posted at the gate, which leads to a long, narrow driveway to the main campus.

The parking lot is non-paved, but very large and on two levels that move with the natural landscape.  There are a few handicap parking slots available as well.  There is a bit of walking from the parking lot, but there is plenty of space right near the front entrance to drop someone off.

The tasting room is warm, inviting and sizable with a main bar as well as a members-only area.  There’s some artwork in the tasting room to liven it up as well.

There’s also ample outdoor seating with tables and chairs if soaking up some sun is your fancy.

We arrived for our 1:00 PM tasting reservation (Note: reservations for tastings are required on Saturdays or for parties of 7 or more) and started our tasting, but just as we arrived they were starting a tour of the campus, with which we gladly joined in.

Our tour guide gave us a tour of the main cellar, and lab, where they take the process start to finish from raw fruit to bottled wine.  We saw wines in the various stages, from fermentation to aging in oak barrels.

Pedernales Cellars boasts the largest underground wine cellar in the state of Texas.  There are 500+ 60-gallon barrels of wine aging at any given time, mainly consisting of American white oak, as well as some that are aging in stainless steel vats which are as large as 5,500 gallons.  No harsh chemicals or solvents are used in cleaning or sanitation of any of the equipment – all equipment is sterilized using ozone.

When we returned to the tasting room after the tour, we resumed with our Estate tasting, which consisted of a total of 7 wines (2 white, 1 rose, 4 red) as listed here.  As we tasted the same wines (all dry options), Lynn will take the lead here, with occasional comments from Laina, though honestly we both found the sheet was almost spot-on accurate in terms of flavor notes.

 

Tasting Notes:

• 2017 High Plains Vermintino – Citrus-y and tropical with lemon being the real star of the show.  Light in body and flavor, it was very refreshing and would be great on a hot day.  It is a dry wine, however – to suit her sweeter preference, Laina got a glass of this and spritzed it with a tiny bit of Blue Sky Cream Soda.
• 2017 High Plains Viognier Reserve – A little richer than the Vermintino but displaying similar flavor notes.  Thicker on the palate, notes of pineapple, softer citrus and peach.  Smooth drinking.
• 2018 Over The Moon Rose – A rich and creamy rose, consisting primarily of strawberry and watermelon notes with an unsweetened vanilla tying it all together.
• 2019 La Pradera Carignan – Very light bodied and young.  Quite sweet for a technically dry wine.  Pretty much like straight grape juice that’s been only slightly fermented.  Very fruit forward and would be a good option for those getting their feet wet into drier wines.
• 2016 High Plains Tempranillo – Fairly light bodied for a Temp, this one featured lots of cherry, vanilla and spice notes with what felt like a bit of effervescence/fizz in the nose on the long, lingering finish.  It was quite interesting.
• 2016 Tempranillo Reserve – This is more the traditional Temp in that it’s richer and fuller bodied with a very long finish.  I found that the flavors followed the sheet exactly.
• 2016 Family Reserve – If there’s such a thing as an “everything but the kitchen sink” blend it’s this wine.  Alas, its’ a blend that’s done very well indeed.  Layered and complex, there were fruit notes, earth tones, a little dark chocolate and a long, black and red peppery finish on this one.  Well worth the $16 glass and/or $60 bottle – that one’s getting put away for a special occasion.

We also tried one of their sweeter options, but neither one of us can remember which one it was for the life of us.  Just know there are limited sweet wines available, mostly for bottle purchase only.

Fun Facts: The winery has joined the previously reviewed William Chris Vineyard in petitioning to introduce a requirement that a wine must be produced with all Texas-grown fruit in order to be considered Texas wine.  They do not artificially add sulfites to their wines, unlike a number of other wineries (especially mass production wineries).  They also do live music at the tasting room on Saturdays from March to October.  The outdoor seating is remote enough to possibly allow for smoking/vaping; Laina vaped without issue but Lynn didn’t have a cigar to smoke with his wine.

Highlights:

• Large venue with ample parking
• Handicap parking available
• Reservations recommended, required for certain situations
• Mostly dry with limited sweet options available
• Tastings/flights available
• Glasses available
• Bottles available
• Very scenic
• On the expensive side