Even though Dr. Dale never got to taste the finished 2016 wine you can buy today, it was his vision, hard work and dedication that made our vineyard and winery a reality.  

We will never forget his face when he sampled a barrel pull from the 2016 vintage before final bottling in the summer of 2017. His smile – that day and every other day – will be forever missed.

Dale came from a family of cotton farmers in Childress County who used dryland farming to make a living. While hot temperatures, limited rainfall and strong winds make life difficult for cotton producers in West Texas, his research showed growing high-quality wine grapes could be achieved with these weather conditions. 

He chose to plant the Sangiovese varietal, a semi-arid friendly wine grape that withstands hot temperatures and long growing seasons with limited rainfall, in the same land his family has farmed other crops for decades. Dale’s different approach into vineyard management flourished into the wine we love to produce. (We wish he was here to see it!)

In 2015, after much rainfall in May, we lost our entire crop to blackrot. While losing the crop that year was devastating, it gave us an opportunity to put everything – hard work, money and time – back into the plants instead of harvesting. We wanted to take a new approach into the winegrapes we were producing. Our focus was to produce less than two tons per acre of winegrapes with a high brix count and deep color, which we have achieved the last three harvests.

The combination of low yield, high quality wine grapes turned into the making of a signature medium-body red with flavors and aromas that capture the Texas Panhandle’s ability to produce a varietal that is known and trusted throughout the world. With our attention to detail, it only made sense that we create our own label to share our wine with everyone. We hope you enjoy our wine!