Lost Oak Winery

We celebrated Christmas today, Christmas in June anyway. For Christmas Mr. Lucas and I purchased a Groupon from my dad to go to the Lost Oak Winery for a tour of their facility and wine tasting. They did not expect to have such a huge turn out with their Groupon so they have been pretty booked. We just happened to have our your today and it was lots of fun. If you live in the Fort Worth area or ever come here to visit you must go! The winery itself is so pretty and the store front is very festive. You can rent space for a party or even a wedding. They were setting up for a wedding today. They have been awarded best pick for weddings by The Knot! Check out their calendar, they have lots of events! Yeah, there is a craft fair next weekend.

Joy lead us on our tour of the winery. She knows so much and has such a friendly personality. She told us that we could volunteer at the winery and would be able to help harvest the grapes and bottle the wine among much more! Jeff and I were pretty excited about that because we want to learn more. We would love to have a bed and breakfast winery some day. So, we figure what a great way to start learning how it all works.

She told us all about what grapes grow best in Texas but also said that Texas is still trying to figure it out. We have such crazy weather here and that can really make it difficult for the growers. You can even tell what grapes have been damaged by hail because the hail bruise them leaving black streaks on the grapes. All the grapes I saw were perfect. 

They have to also worry with wild pigs, deer, raccoon, and other pesky critters that want to harvest the grapes for themselves. They have to use electric fencing in order to keep them out. 

We ended our tour in the crushing room. Its where they crush the grapes up to be placed in the barrels where they will sit for several months before bottling. It was nice and cool in there on this hot June day. There, we were able to get a taste of the Blanc duBois. She asked us to to smell the wine and swish it around in our mouth to try to determine what fruit was in the grapes. Mr. Lucas immediately said green apples and he was correct! He should have won a bottle of wine. Meanwhile, my dad was cracking jokes and having a good time. It was pretty cute. 

After the tour we went back to the store front and listened to live music while we sipped on tastings of wine paired with cured meat, cheese, fruit, and nuts. We all got a list of the different wines they make there an picked our top 5 to taste.

After we finished the wine tasting we couldn't stop there and bought a bottle of Tres Uvas. This wine has made me appreciate white wine so much more. This was so much fun which was really needed for everyone.

In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much we all became members of their wine club! Every other month for wine club members you go pick up 2 bottles of wine at discounted prices. On the pick-up day they have a party! Yep, that is my kind of wine club. We also get invites to special events, are the first to taste new wines, and receive free wine tasting and can bring up to 3 friends with us among so much more. This is going to be fun I think.

Cheers!  

Austin, TX

Austin is such a great city here in Texas. It's only about a 3 hour drive for us so that's a bonus. They have a great music festival there every year in the fall and we have been going for a while now and look forward to it every year! It has been a few weeks since we got back but as usual had a great time with friends and saw some great bands too...and there was one really awful band with a consistent pattern of explicatives. That was unexpected and even more unexpected that they scheduled that band to go on next to the kids stage. I think the children watching what was going on at the kids stage may have added a few new words to their vocabulary.

We found a great studio apartment that we rented which was walking distance to the festival. That beat years past for sure. So long La Quinta, you will no longer subject us to high transportation rates with a reckless driver leaving me wondering if I will survive the ride.

The food at the fest is always excellent. Tim Love represented too. I got down on that Love Shack burger. Of, course we can never resist a Boomerangs Guinness steak and potato meat pie.

Pies sooooooo good they require several trips to the register. Go to their website now and order some. It will be more than worth it. Plus, come to think of it, come on down to Fort Worth and go to one of Tim Love's restaurants.

Well, enough about food. The weather was great. In Texas, the weather is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. It rained on Saturday with a brief...yet heavy...down pour. Other than that It was really nice.

On Saturday, we left the fest a little early. Our dear friend that was at the fest with us is a Sommelier and just recently passed his test for Advanced Sommelier. He is pretty fantastic and can sniff or sip a wine and tell you what frigging year it was made. I am pretty dumbfounded about that one but yet he says it's easy. Anyhoo, his friend that passed the certification with him just opened up a very cool wine cellar where we spent the evening.

We also celebrated our anniversary that weekend. We stayed in Austin a few extra days after the fest to relax and enjoy the town.

We went to 24 Diner for lunch. It was delicious! Jeff had Chicken and Waffles, yum.

I had the pulled chicken breast sandwich. It had goat cheese on it. That's all I needed to know.

We walked up an down South Congress which has tons of shops, restaurants, quaint hotels, and coffee shops. There is the coolest antique store called Uncommon Objects. We were in there forever. They had tons of cool and strange things. I had to resist the urge to take pictures because of all the "no camera" signs. I saw other people do it but I guess I am too by the book, darn it. I just imagine sirens going off and the authorities tackling me if I do something bad! Ha!

We happened across a great hat shop called Goorin Bros. Jeff picked up a spiffy new hat.

This store is awesome. The minute you walk in it is like you have walked back into time. I could picture myself shopping for a hat in the early 1900's in there. I love how they wrap the hats up too! Check this place out folks!

We also happened across The Impeccable Pig. Super cute store! I got myself a nice new winter coat.

All the shopping worked up a thirst so we stopped at Jo's Coffee. Best coffee ever folks! I haven't had someone make coffee that good since I was a barista at a little old coffee shop in my under grad days called Coffee Haus. Word.

Then, it was back to the studio for a little relaxation to end our vacay and to crack open the bottle of wine our Sommelier friend gave us 2 years ago on our wedding day. Ah, the simple things in life!

 Thank you Austin. You delivered as usual.

Cheers!

Weekend Wine Trail

I do enjoy a nice glass of wine and when my mom asked me to go on a wine tour this weekend I jumped on the chance. It sounded like lots of fun and a great way to get to know some local wineries. There were six wineries participating in the Cross Timbers Wine Trail. It really is an all day event because the wineries are scattered around the greater Fort Worth area. We were only able to make it to 3 but we just wanted to take our time when we were there and take it all in. 

On our way to our first stop, La Buena Vida, we came across a goat farm. The goats were absolutely adorable!!

When we arrived to La Buena Vida we were greeted by very friendly people that were happy we made it out there. This was a bit off the beaten path...so we thought. We had our fancy GPS system that took us over the river and through the woods to get there just to realize it was a straight shot from the freeway. But...we had a great time winding through the wilderness and saw some great countryside. We would not have seen the goats if we didn't go the way our GPS told us to! They had wine bottles in the brick, that is a brilliant idea!

They were very generous with their wine at our first stop. I tried 4 different wines and they were all great. My first choice was to taste Tempranillo. I have never had it before but it was quite delicious. I also tried a few others, all were great! 

The Winery is owned by a retired doctor. His mother, Nannie Bell made cheese and taught him how to make cheese. So, to honor her he makes small quantities of cheese that he sells at his vineyard. The packaging is quite clever...with a picture of Nannie Bell on it. The cheese itself is delicious, it is very soft and smooth!

Our next stop was Brushy Creek Vineyards.  My dad found this vineyard about 10 years ago. My parents frequently go there but I have never been before so I was glad to get the chance. The land the vineyard is on is very peaceful. I think I could live out there! 

We tried 3 more wines here and had a nice conversation with the lady that owns the place. She told us the story of how she acquired the property. She retired several years ago and has been able to focus directly on her vineyard. 

They had a very tasty Sangiovese so I picked up a bottle. 

Then, our last stop was the LightCatcher Winery. I enjoyed this place. We sat on the patio and tried 3 more different wines. They also provided a fruit and cheese tray that was quite tasty! 

We had a great time. This is certainly something that I would love to do again. In October they have a murder mystery wine tour, that sounds like great fun! 

Cheers!