Barrel of Fun

Sister Creek Winery trying
to put Texas on fine wine map

By George Schwarz
The Amarillo Independent

Sisterdale, Texas – Texas may not be on the map as a center of wine-growing, but at a wide spot along Farm to Market Road 473 in the Hill Country, a former cotton gin houses a winery with European roots.

Aging Well: The French oak casks hold wine for aging.

Sister Creek Winery, began with a vineyard in 1986 and with the first bottles of wine two years later, said Danny Hernandez, Silver Creek's wine maker.

The San Antonio native was stationed in Germany during his days in the U.S. Army, he said. "I enjoyed visiting the local wineries in southern Germany."

He returned home and then hired on as a hand at the ranch that would eventfully become home to Sister Creek.

The owner brought in a consultant who helped Hernandez learn the wine-making, and the rest is history.

Sister Creek makes a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon 3-Blend, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 4-Blend, Muscat Canelli and a Muscat Canelli Reserve.

Hernandez said the winery produces about 10,000 bottles a year with 40 percent sold at the winery and the other 60 percent sold through distributors.

The 60-gallon oak barrels line the walls in the cool rooms of a former 1885 cotton gin. The wines age for about three years.

Tastings, for $5, occur at the winery from 10 a.m. To 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m to 5:30 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5: p.m. Sundays.

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Posted: March 20, 2008