A couple weeks ago, I was driving through Comfort, Texas, and to my left I saw an old friend. It was a friend that I first met in 2008 at the Newsom family’s Rock’n-N B&B in Plains, Texas, for a scheduled meet-up with a group of Texas high plains growers. I was popping corks on wines, then readied the kitchen while he prepared and grilled the steaks. My job was to sauté mushrooms and chopped garlic in thick green olive oil and to convert the demi-glace into a red-wine reduction sauce to accompany the steaks.
Nolan Newsom in his tasting room in Comfort, TX.
Back to the present… In a matter of seconds, I made a quick left turn and pulled into the Newsom Vineyards tasting room parking lot, stepped out of my car, and greeted Nolan Newsom with a shout, “Hey young man!” With a hardy handshake and a his trademark wide-eyed grin, he greeted me and said, “Come on in, I have a few wines I want you to taste.”
While I was standing at the tasting room bar while Nolan poured, I reflected back recalling the Newsom Vineyards story I was told by his father, Neal Newsom some time ago.
How It All Began
In 1984, Neal and his father (Hoss Newsom) decided to grow grapes and ordered enough Cabernet Sauvignon vine stock to start a 3-acre vineyard. “We really didn’t know what to expect,” Neal now admits. “Would the vines live? Would they produce fruit? Would the wine be drinkable? There were a lot of unknowns, but I knew we had a combination of our good soil, hot days and cool nights. I knew that Cabernet were sought-after grapes with low yield and high price-per-ton.”
Around the time their vineyard was planted, Neal and his wife, Janice, welcomed the birth of their son, Nolan. So, Nolan literally grew up with and was part of the Newsom vineyard team and wine business from a very early age.
The 1st Tasting – Newsom Vineyards 2023 Albariño (Texas High Plains)
In the Newsom tasting room, we tasted through several of Nolan’s wines, all very interesting and well made. Near the end, I zeroed back in on one of his white wines from the start of the tasting. It was the Newsom Vineyards 2023 Albariño from the family’s Texas High Plains vineyards a tad south of Lubbock and west nearly to the New Mexico state line in Plains, Texas. While most Texas wine drinkers generally think of Newsom Vineyards in terms of outstanding red wines made from their grapes, it is often a surprise to be reminded how good their white wine grapes are like Albariño.
This Albariño is a redefinition of the Albariños of northwestern Spain, a region cooled by Atlantic breezes. They are noted for offering flavors of lemon zest, grapefruit, honeydew, nectarines (usually in that order), and a mineral note, ending with a tingly finish. The Newsom Albarino, likely because of the strong Texas high plains UV at elevations of more than 3,000 ft and higher summertime temperatures, switches around the order of the wine descriptors. It starts with ripe white peach and nectarine and then releases zesty citrus and lime-lime, finishing with a perceptible minerally note.
From Grape Growing to Winemaking
I spoke with Nolan in 2017 to get a bit of insight into the Newsom transition from grape growing to winemaking. “I’d always been my father’s right-hand man,” said Nolan, “but in 2011, when I was to assume vineyard manager responsibility from him, I had a major car accident. It left me damaged and needing several surgeries and long rehabilitation. Our family always had a plan to open a tasting room. After my accident, I had to look past full-time vineyard operations. I took ownership of the winemaking tasks and tasting room management as my new career path. I’m a ‘people person’ with a talent and experience in food service—useful in running our tasting room business.
The 2nd Tasting – Newsom Vineyards 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon (Texas High Plains)
I left my visit with Nolan with a bottle of their Newsom Vineyards 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon from their high plains vineyards, descendant from the grapes Neal Newsom planted in 1984. When I opened the wine, I let it breathe for an hour or two. In the glass, it evolved vapors of macerated blackberry and red plum with highlights of freshly cut cedar.
On the palate, the first sensation was that of the dryness of wind-blown red sandy soil, like something I’ve often experienced on the Texas high plains on a windy day. This opening very quickly interlaced with cassis, blackberry, cocoa and dark roast coffee. The wine evolves on the palate leading to a long finish with pleasant tannins that linger and refresh.
Wine Reflections from Neal and Nolan Newsom
After planting, the Newsoms got their first small crop in two years. “All the grapes from that harvest fit in five-gallon pails tucked into the back of our Suburban,” said Neal. “We took our grapes to a winery near Odessa. After weighing them, we got a check for nearly a thousand dollars, which made me even more excited about growing grapes.”
The plans for opening the Newsom tasting room started in earnest in 2013. It was a bad year with multiple spring freezes that resulted in a “harvest of despair” for the family. Neal delivered his entire harvest to the Llano Estacado Winery loading dock. “It didn’t even fill one-harvest bin designed to hold a thousand pounds of grapes,” Neal said. “I had the harvested grapes weighed primarily for insurance purposes.”
Even though the grapes made barely a barrel of wine, the Llano Estacado staff came up with a plan to make Neal’s grapes into a private blend. “They called me up and said, ‘You gotta come down here and taste this stuff. It’s great!’” said Neal. “It was a cabernet-centered blend supported by sangiovese and a variety of Neal’s other red varieties.”
“This single barrel of wine was the start of our Newsom Vineyards brand,” said Nolan. “We named it ‘Inception.’ It was the event that launched our tasting room project. For decades, our family has grown grapes and sold them to wineries to make wine selling under their labels. We’ve reversed things up. In our tasting room, we’re selling small-batch wines made by some of our favorite Texas winemakers to my specifications and selling them under our Newsom and Inception labels.”
Come and Drink It
If you are in the greater Houston area, or more specifically around Tomball, Texas, stop and walk into The Bluebonnet Tasting Room situated in vibrant Old Town Tomball (401 Commerce Street, Tomball, TX 77375 – Open Tuesday through Saturday, check website link above for hours). There, you will find a tasting room within a tasting room. Bluebonnet proudly showcases a fine selection of Texas-produced wines and you will also find a complete line of Newsom Vineyards wines.
If you are in the Hill Country, please make plans to stop in at Newsom Vineyards tasting room in Comfort, Texas. (717 Front Street, Comfort, TX 78013. It’s Nolan’s main location for tastings, wine purchase (by glass, bottle or case), an outdoor music venue, and more.
For more information on Newsom’s vineyards, tasting rooms, and high plains and hill country B&Bs, click here click here.
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