Coming Soon-- Umbra Winery Comes to Grapevine, Texas!

I had the privilege of helping serve wine at what will be another new winery opening this November in Grapevine, Texas. Umbra Winery is the Grapevine venture of CrossRoads Winery in Frisco and is down the street from the historic Wallis Hotel, the future Grapevine home of Texas wine heavyweight Messina Hof, and only a few doors down from D'Vine Winery on South Main Street in historic downtown Grapevine. The winery took advantage of the crowds at Grapevine's annual GrapeFest prior to their official opening to showcase their wine and their soon to be completed tasting room.

Umbra's location used to be a clothing boutique so remodeling has included pulling up the existing carpet and expose the original brick walls for November's grand opening. Most visitors loved the brick that winery owner John Wilson has worked very hard to expose. A good deal of the remaining walls are of the chalkboard variety which proved to be great advertising tools for GrapeFest weekend.

This chalkboard greets you as you walk in-- including social media hashtags!

The wine menu for GrapeFest tastings.

One of the remaining walls left untouched so far is a nice bright hue of lime green. It is a bold color and provides some interesting contrast with the black chalkboard walls. Though it is not part of the final design plan of the winery, one of the wine tasters found this lime-colored wall intriguing enough to come back and take a picture of it.

The bottle specials this weekend and part of that green wall.

Oh, and one cannot forget their great wine lineup. At the moment they are using wines from the CrossRoads label but Umbra will have its own label and will continue to use Texas fruit from the wine-making facilities at their Little Elm (Frisco) location. There are a couple new white wines scheduled to come out soon, including a Chardonnay that will be available after the grand opening, and a Roussanne that I'm really looking forward to taste in the spring.  
 

A wine for every taste- from sweet to bold and everything in between!

John, his wife Debbie, and winemaker John Otis (and us wine club members, too!) look forward to an early November opening with what should be a continuance of award winning wines in a new and historical location with Umbra Winery. So keep an eye out for Umbra Winery's grand opening and come visit their new tasting room and take home some wonderful wine!

Questioning the 2014 Rangers Season

Are the injuries to Prince Fielder and Jurickson Profar the biggest reasons why the Texas Rangers offense has been so inept this 2014 campaign?

Or has the decimated starting rotation caused too much stress to the batting lineup?

Could the hitting woes be related to Rougned Odor needing more seasoning?

Or could the Rangers light hitting lineup a symptom of Alex Rios not providing enough umph?

Did the Rangers front office drop the ball when they signed Shin-Soo Choo?

Or did Ron Washington not provide enough leadership to convince Choo that he needed to go on the disabled list back when he first injured himself?

Are the changes made to the Ballpark (no more jetstream) to blame for the lower power numbers?

Or is the inconsistency of Leonys Martín a consistent detriment to the lineup?

Is Elvis Andrus not living up the expectations of his exorbitant contract?

Or is Elvis the essential glue that keeps this team from a truly historical tailspin?

Are the hitters no longer adhering to the teachings of their hitting coach?

Or is this the easiest explanation of all: "that's the way baseball go?"

Re-Revisiting Mitas Hill

Under construction

We made another visit to what has become a favorite place to hangout, Mitas Hill Vineyards. In mid-February, we were lucky to receive a special invitation to be a part of Mitas Hill Charter membership, so we swung by and chatted with their VP of Operations. We have not made our decision to join but we were beyond flattered to get this incredible opportunity.

Inside the future Ballroom

One of the things I enjoy the most of visiting the Mitas family is chatting with Mr. Mitas. He took us on quick visit to see the Event Center that is under construction. The last time we were here in late October, the foundation had been poured and the walls were starting to come up.

The shell of the place is impressive, so I can only imagine how the awesome the completed building will look like this summer. It is big enough to hold wedding receptions, their regular customers, and also their charter members, all at the same time. Mr. Mitas said that the center is bigger than even he imagined!

Peeking towards The Lodge at Mitas Hill.

I asked him a few things: when they'll start pruning the vines- they are probably getting ready to do that soon- and that his winemaker daughter had just returned from an educational trip out west with six hundred new Zinfandel vines. I should have asked how those vines will translate into actual acreage.

Overlooking Cabernet Sauvignon vines.

I did ask if he'd gone over to the TWGGA convention that was being held over in Frisco. He said that he had for a while, said hello to folks, but that he had to get back. He did mention that a lot of vendors sold items that were not necessarily geared towards the Texas Wine industry as a whole- the operations in the state are not yet big enough to warrant many things that the vendors sell. We both agreed that in several years the industry will be there. 

Patio + Mitas Hill wine = Can't wait!

Mr. Mitas feels that more Texas wineries  should build more event centers similar to his in order to make them true Texas Wine destinations that will attract more than the passing-through crowd. He thinks that the Texas Hill Country wineries near Fredericksburg would be a perfect place to start this trend.

Whether or not to join the Vineyard Club and Wine Appreciation Society has yet to be decided, but what was decided early on was that Mitas Hill Vineyard is a wonderful place to visit with great wine and the exceptional Mitas family.

Sharing some "Words with Wings" Thoughts on a book of poetry by Nikki Grimes

When I pick up a book of poetry I usually pick out a random page and read what is there. In this case I read "Planetarium" from Nikki Grimes' "Words with Wings." And it was the last sentence that made me read the entire book in one sitting: "Me, I gather new words
like moon rocks,
souvenirs I get to keep
long after we leave."

The main character is Gabby, a daydreamer, who's inattention in school and home gets in the way of her schoolwork and chores from time to time. Her daydreams take wing and cover everything from her newly divorced parents, snowflakes, comets, and the aforementioned planetarium. And each as vivid as Gabby should want them to be.

Thoughts of my own daughter flashed through my mind as I read Gabby's story. Perhaps seeing similar facets of her in Gabby's words made the poetic verses stand out even more. I have only scratched the surface on reading Grimes' poetry and this book has me hooked.

Travel Texas, Travel #TXWine

One of the things I love about my home state is that there is so much to see and do all within the confines of these Texas borders. And what has come into my wheelhouse is to visit as many of the wineries and vineyards of Texas as possible. I only lament the fact that I started my Texas winery visits only at the start of my fortieth year.

With the help with Texas tourism website and Fredericksburg C of C information, we were able to make the most of our time in the Texas Hill Country last summer. And little did we know that the Texas Hill Country would make Wine Enthusiast top ten wine destinations.

I feel so proud to see the Texas wine industry flourish, yet so much work needs to get done and that is why I do my best to help spread what #TXWine and its industry can do for our great state.

Plus I love to help people find some good wine to drink. For example, check out Wine Enthusiast's buying guide for Texas wines.

Oh, and if you get a chance, visit here for a chance to win a Wine Enthusiast Texas Hill Country vacation.

Remember: travel Texas, travel #TXWine