AN EASY WEEKEND WINE TOUR
So much Texas wine, too little time? No worries. This two-day, two-night weekend trip offers a splendidly diverse sampling of the Texas Hill Country wine scene — without straying too far afield or overdoing the driving.
Check into the lovely new Sonesta Bee Cave Hotel ( from $200 per night, sonesta.com), about half an hour west of Austin, on Friday afternoon. This will be your cushy base of operations. Head for the hotel’s panoramic rooftop bar to get oriented with a glass or two of something, some eclectic small bites and the opportunity to get your bearings and surveil the surrounding landscape you’ll be tromping through the next 48 hours.
The adventure begins after breakfast Saturday morning with a 25-minute drive northwest on Texas 71 to Spicewood Vineyards, just a zig and a zag off the main road. Owner Ron Yates and winemaker Todd Crowell have been bringing a full array of prize-winning whites, reds and pinks to market since they partnered up in 2012. Another 10 minutes behind the wheel gets you to the modern Texas-limestone-sided Westcave Cellars Winery, which opened in 2010 in Round Mountain, not far from the dreamy Hamilton Pool Preserve. (Go ahead, go stick your toes in to cool off.) And a half-hour away you’ll find Solaro Estate Winery near Dripping Springs — and Barton Creek. Tillie’s at Camp Lucy in Dripping Springs offers a stylish lunch, dinner or midafternoon-snack respite because you’ll need something to soak up the booze.
On Sunday, head 30 minutes south from Bee Cave to the Driftwood area, where swirling and sipping await at Driftwood Estate Winery — onetime Continental Airlines pilot Gary Elliot’s long-established winery may have the best tasting-room view anywhere in the Hill Country. Nearby, Duchman Family Winery’s lovely wines are largely Italian varietals, and the sleek tasting room at Fall Creek Vineyards is conveniently right across the road from the famous Salt Lick BBQ. And Houston will be less than three hours away … if the traffic isn’t nuts, which tends to be the case on Sunday afternoons. Plan accordingly.