A few months ago, my college friends called up and decided they wanted to take a weekend and tour the Texas Wine Country. I love a good girlfriend trip plus wine was going to be heavily involved so I knew I was in. We selected our weekend, picked the cutest Airbnb, and paid our deposits. With the cutest matching shirts from Etsy, we all drove in from Houston, Austin, and Dallas down 290 headed toward Fredericksburg, TX.

To begin our trip, on Friday afternoon, we checked into our Airbnb on Rocky Hill Ln. It was right off of 290 with a long dirt road leading up to the house and set off on huge plot of land. At first sight, the house seemed deserted, but as we pulled in, it was the cutest, most charming and Instagram worthy farmhouse. We settled into our weekend home to prepare ourselves for a very long Saturday.

Saturday morning, our guide Darrell from Texas Wine Tours picked us up promptly at 9:50am with breakfast in tow to get us started on our wine tours. We also picked up 3 other couples who would be joining us for the day. Texas Wine Tours allows you to pick up to 4 wineries you would like to visit or you can also do a combination of wineries and distilleries.

Our agenda for the day looked like this:

10:30am – 11:20am: Santamaria Cellars

11:45am-1:20pm: 4.0 Cellars (with picnic lunch after wine tasting)

1:30pm – 2:40pm: Inwood Estates

3:00pm – 4:00pm: Fat Ass Winery & Ranch

Darrell was the perfect guide giving us all the details about each winery. He was thoughtful, entertaining and funny as hell!

Our first stop was Santamaria Cellars which is owned by husband and wife duo Martin and Angela. Martin is from Argentina and all of their wines are crafted with an Argentinian flare. Every weekend, Martin and Angela open up their winery and home which sit on the same property to visitors from all around the state and country. There is no vineyard on the property as all of their wines are produced off-site but there was no shortage of amazing wines to go around. At Santamaria, we tried 6 different wines – a Rosato, 2014 Pinot Noir, 2015 Malbec, 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Moscato, and a Muscat Canelli. My favorites from Santamaria were definitely the Rosato and the 2014 Pinot Noir. Both wines were perfectly dry and aromatic with the Rosato having hints of strawberry and watermelon and the Pinot Noir having the perfect toasty finish with hints of raspberry, vanilla, and spice. Martin and Angela were the perfect hosts and it didn’t hurt that Martin had the dreamiest eyes and a super seductive Argentinian accent. All of girls purchased their favorites from Santamaria and we were off to our next stop.

4.0 Cellars probably had my favorite wines of all the wineries we visited. 4.0 is comprised of 3 separate wineries that came together to form one big winery, 4.0. Brennan Vineyards, Lost Oak Winery, and McPherson Cellars are all Texas winemakers that wanted to provide their customers the “Texas Wine Experience”. 4.0 had the best cheeses and an array of foods from all over Texas to make our wine experience that much more enjoyable and eventful.

When coming into 4.0, we were welcomed by our lovely host Caroline. Caroline gave us the option to try 3 groups of wines – reds, sweets, or a mix of both. I chose a mix of both because I’ve learned that I just cannot handle super sweet wines like I did in my younger days. I truly enjoyed almost every wine I tried at 4.0. My personal favorites (which I personally purchased and was gifted one by one of my girlfriends) included Three White Chicks from Brennan Vineyards (named for the 3 types of white grapes used to create this wine), Quartet from Lost Oak Winery, and a Sangria from La Diosa Cellars. I also purchased some delicious cheeses to pair with my wines including a smoked gouda, jalapeno cheddar and a Texas Lonestar blend. After our tasting, we were treated to a lovely picnic lunch with a live band and had the opportunity to mingle with other guests visiting the winery.

Our third stop of the day was Inwood Estates. I will say, if you have a more advanced and experienced pallet, you will enjoy Inwood’s wines. Inwood Estates first began making wines at a home vineyard in Dallas, TX. They are probably most well known for their Tempranillo-Cabernet but they also make chardonnay’s and cabernet sauvignon’s.

The last stop of the day was for me and our group, the most fun. From the moment we walked in Fat Ass Ranch & Winery, it was like being at a huge house party. Hugging and laughing with strangers, toasting bachelorette’s with Fat Ass’s famous wine slushies, and downing shots of Prickly Pear JalaRaspberryPeno wine. In all honesty, I only liked a few of the wines I tasted during our tasting (Merlot and the Texas Riesling) but those wine slushies were the clear winners for me. A lot of their wines were way too sweet and non-traditional for my tastes but they were very interesting to experience with their different flavors and names like Granny’s Apple Pie and Strawberry Fields. The ranch was beautiful and had the most delicious taco food truck on-site.

By the end of our wine tour, I was full, tingly all over, and set to go home with the most satisfying wine and cheeses. Touring and drinking at 4 wineries was a measure of my intestinal fortitude but I was grateful that we had our wonderful and responsible guide and driver in Darrell at Texas Wine Tours. I could not imagine doing the touring and drinking combination of wineries and distilleries.

Texas Wine Country was serene and picturesque and the perfect escape for a long weekend with friends, family, or a significant other. I can’t wait to go back to check out even more wineries and of course get more wine!

Touring Texas Wine Country