In the Hill Country, it’s always wine o’clock

Alcohol makers, tourists flocking to the region

TEXAS HILL COUNTRY — It’s a breezy, sunny Friday in Comfort, population 3,717.

The grapevines at Bending Branch Winery near the lazy Bruins Creek have dried up in the cold January air, and winery technician Melvin Mendez is still out pruning them, getting ready for the July-through-October harvest season.

Despite the chill in the air, at noon the tasting room is expecting visitors. They’ll come to try the winery’s signature Estate

Tannat red wine as they sit on the outdoor, shaded patio overlooking the rolling hills that gave the Hill Country its name.

From that vantage point, it’s not hard to imagine why Bending Branch — along with hundreds of other wineries, breweries and distilleries — came to call the Hill Country home over the past two decades.

“We’re one of the fastestgrowing winery tourism regions in the country,” says Jennifer McInnis, the general manager of Bending Branch Winery. “I think people come here for soil and elevation, but also just the fact that there are already wineries here and the whole Hill Country wine region between San Antonio and Austin means there are millions of people nearby.”

In fact, over the past decade, the winery, brewery and distillery industry in the 25 counties that make up the Hill Country has seen explosive growth.

According to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the state agency that regulates the Texas alcohol industry, 35 winery permits were active in the Hill Country in December 2011. Ten years later, in December 2021, there were 254. That’s an increase of 625 percent.

And although wineries are the most popular type of alcohol producer in the Hill Country by far, permits for breweries and distilleries also have seen sharp increases, according to TABC data.

In December 2011, there were five active distillery permits in the 25 Hill Country counties,

Josie Norris / Staff photographer Erin Shields pours a glass of tannat at the Bending Branch Winery in Comfort. Hill Country wineries have exploded in popularity in the past decade, with permits up 625 percent.