Texas Vintners Ready To Shake California To Its Core
By Russ Kane, VintageTexas
For many of my readers, the year 1984 may have occurred before they were born. It may also seem to some like ages ago and of not much relevance to the Texas wine industry today. I ask you to please think again.
“Texas Vintners Ready To Shake California To Its Core” might seem like a headline you might see in a newspaper or online today. However, it was actually the headline in several Texas papers on or about Wednesday, September 17, 1986.
At the time, Texas only had about 18 wineries in the whole state versus over 600 today. But, Bobby Cox, owner and winemaker at Pheasant Ridge Winery in Lubbock seemed be ready to take on the top tier wine producing states. He said, “Texas winegrowers plan to be number two in the nation by 1995, just behind California.” He also predicted, “We’ll fight it out with Washington State to be number two, and New York with trail behind.” In reality, Texas in 2026 is the fifth largest wine producing state, a position it has maintained for a at least two decades. This is very respectable as the whole business of American wine has seen unimagined growth (at least until recently). So, what was with Cox’s unbridled optimism?
Well, 1984 was a year to remember. The first name to remember is Llano Estacado Winery, the second is Kim McPherson, the third is Bobby Cox, and fourth is Pheasant Ridge, fifth is Chardonnay and sixth is Cabernet Sauvignon. Started in 1976 around the time of the historic “Judgement of Paris”, Llano Estacado Winery was the first of the large new wineries of Texas’ modern wine period. McPherson, son of one of Llano Estacado’s original founders (Clinton “Doc” McPherson) was there from 1979 to 1985. He is now owner of Lubbock’s McPherson Cellars.
During his tenure as winemaker at the Llano Estacado, he famously lead the way to making commercial Texas wines from European wine grapes. He also made the 1984 Llano Estacado Chardonnay. This wine won a rare double gold medal* at the San Francisco Fair Exposition & Wine Competition, one out of only 11 awarded that year. Never before had a Texas winery scored this high in a major established wine competition, an historic milestone for Texas wines.
* A double gold medal in a wine competition is awarded only when all judges in the judging panel agree that a wine is of gold medal quality.
Back to Cox’s optimism… It was his Pheasant Ridge Winery’s 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon that also garnered one of 54 Gold Medals in a field of 2,000 entries in the San Francisco judging, what at the time was considered the “Granddaddy” of all wine competitions.
In reality, Californians were not shaking in their boots. There were still many obstacles in the way for Texas wineries to advance, including the archaic Texas legal system’s lack of supporting wine laws at the time. However, these early results do show that Texas wineries CAN produce wines competitive with those from the major wine producing states like California.
In 2025 alone the number of top awards in wine competitions by Texas wine was impressive. Reports tracked by industry experts from international competitions entered with wines made from 100% Texas grapes indicate that 108 Texas wineries won a combined total of 586 of the top awards (gold or higher).
Furthermore, in the 2026 TEXSOM Wine Awards, the judges overall gave 850 medals of which were 48 Platinum, 121 Gold, 370 Silver, and 265 Bronze. Texas wineries took home 27 of the gold and platinum awards. Platinum awards are more prestigious than gold medals, on par with the double gold mentioned above. Definitely a good showing for current Texas wines on the world stage.
It may have taken longer than Cox predicted back in 1984, but Texas wines are now reaching new heights in quality and appreciation on par with wines from anywhere around the world. Furthermore, local wines from nearly all states are making highly rated competitive wines, as well. It is the “Era of Local Wines”.
It’s time to join the tasting!
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