Setting Down More Roots: Umbra Winery Keeps Growing

Everyone is welcome at Umbra, especially Walkens.

 UPDATE--
The plans laid out in this post never came to fruition. Please visit newer posts for up to date information on Umbra Winery.

A recent visit to Umbra Winery proved to be fruitful in a few different ways. We tried a fantastic new Cabernet Sauvignon. We found out that owner John Wilson is now the winemaker. And we found out that Umbra is expanding its footprint in Grapevine. Excitement is building, and rightly so, since Umbra has only been open several months.

John Wilson greeted us and said we had to try the soon to be released Roussanne. This lesser known white varietal has shown to be another great white wine that pairs well with Texas terroir. The fruit for this new Umbra wine is grown out in the Texas High Plains at Oswald Vineyards. I personally have been wanting to try it since John mentioned it last year, and it is very good. However the wine that caught my fancy was not this one, but the new Cabernet Sauvignon made by John Wilson himself.

Longtime CrossRoads and Umbra Winery winemaker John Otis recently left Umbra for new adventures out in the Pacific Northwest, leaving John Wilson with winemaking duties. So another hat that John Wilson now dons is that of winemaker. His first wine creation is a Cabernet Sauvignon blend of two vintages, plus a smidgen of Merlot for good measure. This vino shows that John picked up a thing or two over the years from Mr. Otis' winemaking prowess as it is fantastic. If you want a a good indicator of how good this wine is, my wife who is not a fan of red wines and makes a point of avoiding them, utterly loved this cab. Well done, John. Well done.

Picture wine-making materiel in this end of the room.

When Umbra opened its doors on Grapevine's busy Main Street last fall, the actual winemaking facility remained in Little Elm. Over the last week or so I caught wind of some future changes from an Umbra Instagram conversation. Even before I had a chance to ask John about the upcoming changes, he asked us to join him for a quick jaunt outside.

Picture fun wine related events in this side of the room.

John is still awaiting final approval from the city of Grapevine, but behind their Main Street location, is a building that he hopes that will not only house Umbra's wine making apparatus, but will also serve as Umbra's event center for wine club and other entertaining events.

In less than one year John and his wife Debbie have done more than settle into their Grapevine location, but have set themselves up for future success. Grapevine is North Texas' wine hub and Umbra Winery will be a big part of Grapevine's wine destination industry.