Texas Wineries Reaching Critical Mass in Fredericksburg with New 4.0 Cellars

Texas Wineries Reaching Critical Mass in Fredericksburg with New 4.0 Cellars

I must have been brain dead yesterday, or just too absorbed in my book project to see the new and important development taking place in the Texas hill country. I saw the article in the online Fort Worth Star Telegram Indulge Food and Wine Section titled, “Meet the Fort Worth Doc Behind Brennan Vineyards”. I read most of it, but it was really a long article (too long for my web-based ADD’ed mind). I’ll admit that I didn’t go to the bottom of the page. I even posted a snippet from the article on my regular VintageTexas, Write Off the Vine: Texas Wine News segment yesterday  (https://vintagetexas.com/?p=2772) and went on with my business.

My only defense is that I’m only a little more than two weeks out from my editorial deadline for my book.

However, later in the day, I saw the following tweet that made be stand up and take notice (a value point for Twitter):

“@texaswinetweets: A new winery in the Hill Country near Fredericksburg: 4.0 Cellars. Get the scoop here. http://bit.ly/b6ZkPJ #txwine”

I was glad to see that the #TXwine hashtag was used. I even retweeted it before I realized that it was referencing the same article that I “read” earlier in the morning. When I went down the the bottom of the article, I finally got the message:

“Next summer, Brennan Vineyards is poised to enter the state’s most hallowed wine region, the Hill Country, via a joint venture with McPherson Cellars and Lone Oak Winery in Burleson. The new destination winery, set to open in Fredericksburg, will be called 4.0 Cellars.”

So, I decided to get a little more detailed information and contacted Pat Brennan and Gene Estes from Lone Oak. Pat responded first with the following information:

“4.0 Cellars will be located across from Grape Creek on US 290, west of Grape Creek and the old Grape Creek Market. We have a 4.3 acre site that will feature a winery, courtyard, storage building, etc. It will be very cool! We plan to sell the three wineries’ (Brennan Vineyards, McPherson Cellars and Lone Oak Winery) wines plus a new 4.0 Cellars line that will be unique wines such as sparkling, Sherry, etc. The name came from three wineries coming together to form a fourth. We hope to start construction before the end of the year and be open by next summer.”

I thanked Pat for his usual quick response.

Gene added, “It’s funny, We spent months trying to come up with a name that was not already trademarked or that wouldn’t be a trademark target. 4.0 Cellars was what we finally came up with. I look forward to seeing you in Fredericksburg.”

This could be a real game changer. I feel like we are very near critical mass now where there might be an uncontrollable thermonuclear reaction; an explosion in the number of Texas wineries in the Fredericksburg area. We might even see other big names or many new players joining in on the Fredericksburg fun before it’s over. The more the merrier.

Then, I realized the really good news….4.0 Cellars will be only about 20 minutes from my Texas hill country hilltop doorstep in Alamo Springs Ranch.

I’ll be able to get my full supply of wines from three of my fave wineries’ wines, all close at hand. If this sounds too cool to be true, there’s something that’s gonna be  even “cooler” about it.

4.0 Cellars will be on the part of the Route 290 Wine Trail near Stonewall where I can already (ala Napa Valley) drive in and out of back-to-back-to-back wineries: Grape Creek, Torre di Pietra and Becker Vineyards. 4.0 Cellars will be the forth winery close by making them back-to-back-to-back-to-back wineries: A first for Texas (as far as I know).

Then, it’s only a short drive to other nearby wineries like Rancho Ponte, Perdenales Cellars, William Chris and Texas Hills Vineyard.

I know that I’m probably leaving out a few more that are nearby (please comment or email what they are).