The Texas Grapevine

If you don’t count grapes cultivated by Spanish missionaries centuries ago, the first wineries in Texas were started in the late 1800s. Prohibition nipped the industry in the bud, and it wasn’t until the mid-1970s that grapes and wine re-emerged. In 2015, when the Texas State Legislature passed a bill that provided funding for the hire of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service regional specialists, Texas A&M became more integrated in the state’s wine industry. The extension service has specialists in some of Texas’ main grape growing regions: Fredericksburg, Denton, Lubbock and College Station. “Specialists visit vineyards, help the growers and conduct educational programs,” said Lineberger. “These individuals have been key in ramping up our professional resources to help the industry.”

Bledsoe credits Jim Kamas ’77, a Texas A&M viticulture specialist in Fredericksburg, with helping him develop a pruning schedule to mitigate the impact of a late freeze, if one were to come. Another Aggie who has partnered with the extension network is Tim Leach ’82, CEO of Concho Energy and the owner of Frio Canyon Vineyard in Leakey, Texas. “We sought advice on where to locate our vineyard and, after testing the soil, we planted it in the right place on the mountain,” he said. “We also picked varieties conducive to the climate. We took advice from every Aggie we could.”

The extension service runs 30 to 40 educational programs per year, including Grape Camp, a two-day event filled with informative sessions, vendor demonstrations and lots of tastings. “We hope to educate individuals who are starting vineyards and wineries before they go into business,” said Justin Scheiner ’07, an assistant professor and extension viticulture specialist who teaches a survey course in grape growing at Texas A&M. “It’s important to get growers started on the right track to avoid serious pitfalls that can literally cost thousands of dollars.”

Cultivating the Perfect Glass

Texas wines haven’t traditionally been known for their quality, but the reputation is slowly improving. “We’re competing against Europeans, who have been making wine for 5,000 years— maybe more,” said Lineberger. But through the college’s efforts, from research to extension outreach, and the work of individual Aggies at vineyards around the state, Lineberger is confident Texas wine popularity will continue to grow.

“In 2005, several friends and I were discussing why Texas could produce so much good fruit, from citrus to strawberries, but it hadn’t been able to make a really good wine,” Leach said. “Our group of Aggies decided that if there was going to be great wines made from grapes grown in Texas, we’d have to do it ourselves.” Leach’s Frio Canyon Vineyard has produced award-winning Syrahs and Grenaches. His focus is not on producing a certain quantity of wine, but on the quality and cultivating a distinctive terroir—the impact of a growing region’s environmental factors on taste and other properties.

“We want to encourage the development of a uniquely special character in Texas wines,” added Lineberger. “It’s the idea that grapes grown in a specific area have a sense of character that makes them better than similar grapes grown in other places.”

Fortunately, the impact of Aggies in the wine industry extends beyond Texas. Former students are also making a mark in the enological hotbeds of California, Oregon and Washington. Rollin Soles ’78, owner and winemaker at ROCO winery in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, has been named one of the “20 Most Admired Winemakers in North America” by Vineyard & Winery Management. His wines have been honored on the Wine Spectator’s Top Wines of the World list 13 times.

Soles got his start in the wine industry as a microbiology major at Texas A&M. Upon hearing he was traveling to Europe for summer break, a professor set him up with a job at a Swiss winery, and Soles was hooked. “The beauty of the Swiss vineyards, the culture of sustainable grape farming and the spirit of winegrowers across Switzerland were the key influencers that got this Aggie into the wine and vine game,” said Soles. “Aggies’ sense of camaraderie, humor and manners seem to go over well in the wine industry.”

Another West Coast Aggie, Mike Thompson ’76 ’82, owner of Thompson 31Fifty Wines in Healdsburg, California, is optimistic about what Aggie smarts will add to the wine industry. “Texas A&M has huge potential to evolve as a major research and educational institution for the wine industry,” he said. “We have changed the world of crop and food production and—it will take time—but I know we can do it with wine too.”