Brushy Creek Vineyards

About Winery and Wines

Brushy Creek Vineyards was the first winery since prohibition in this area. We sell nearly all the wine we make from our tasting room on the winery property. I was stunned at the taste and aroma of the wine I had made for the first time from Texas Grapes. Everyone knows, or so I thought, that it is not possible to grow good grapes or make good wine in Texas. The climate it is too hot here. But when Cabernet Sauvignon vines had been planted near Sunset, Texas, in Wise County in 1985 and 1991, I was given a five-gallon bucket of grapes. What I have learned is that a lot we know about wine is more myth and marketing than science. It is true that good wines of the world historically come from cooler climates. They picked their grapes in the fall and made their wines in their cool cellars. In Texas we harvest in August, and it is often over 100 degrees outside. But because someone invented air conditioning and refrigeration, it is now possible for me to make floral white wines by fermenting them at 50 degrees. The reds really do need higher temperatures to extract color and flavor from the grapes, and 85 degrees is good enough. Refrigeration helps keep the exothermic (heat generating) mix of grape skins, seeds, juices, and emerging wine cool enough that flavors and aromas are captured and retained in the wine.