Rock & Vine

Rock&Vine GOOD LIFE IN THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY

CLUTCH FASHION Late style icon Enid Collins was all the rage in handbags

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WOMEN WINEMAKERS make mark on industry

IT'S PICNIC TIME IN the Hill Country again SPRING 22

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H E AT H S PA R K L I N G W I N E S

O N E P R E M I E R E S TAT E HWY 290 | FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS

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G R A P E C R E E K V I N E YA R D S

LET US SHARE IT WITH YOU RESIDENTIAL • RANCH • COMMERCIAL

Reata Ranch Realty 4

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408 N Llano Street • Fredericksburg, TX 830-992-3045 • info@reataranchrealty.com

VISIT AUGUSTA VIN www.augustavin.com

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Mon. - Thurs. 10-5:15 Fri. & Sat. 10-7:15 Sun. 12-5:15 Check website for Holidays Phone: (830) 990-8747 email: wine@fbgwinery.com

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247 W. Main

(in town - one block west of the Courthouse) Large parking area in front RV parking in back.

Fredericksburg, TX 78624

Where Stories of Heroes Come to the Surface

RATED #1 Trip Advisor FREDERICKSBURG

National Museum of the Pacific War

Japanese Garden of Peace

Living History Program

Interactive Programs

Visit the museum in person.

Reserve your tickets today!

Explore the museum from home.

Visit our website to find our blog, digital archives, videos and more.

Learn how history touches us every day.

311 E Austin Street | Fredericksburg, Texas PacificWarMuseum.org

Discover stories that inspire and move you.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE PACIFIC WAR IS A TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION PROPERTY OPERATED BY THE ADMIRAL NIMITZ FOUNDATION. ©2022 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE PACIFIC WAR • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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FEATURES

in every issue

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FIERY TRADITION

Publisher's Letter

Mike Barr

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Fredericksburg’s unique Easter-time observance

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WOMEN IN WINE

Our Grape Dames feature to honor three industry pros.

Sallie Lewis

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OH, ENID!

Contributors

106 STOMPIN' GROUNDS

New winery adds a comfy spot along the 290 corridor.

Lorelei Helmke

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Remembering Fredericksburg’s fashion icon who went national.

A party at the area’s newest hideaway.

Sallie Lewis

Photos by Ava Snoozy

SCENE

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Drinkery Maps ON THE COVER: San Antonio-based photographer Josh Huskin captures the iconic Enid Collins box purse.

See more of his work at www.joshhuskin.com

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118 End Notes Cool warmer weather treats with a crostini and a fruity margarita.

Ashley Odom

DEPARTMENTS TASTE

22 GET OUTSIDE

IN THE HILLS

87 HIP CATS

Pulling together all the ingredients for picnic perfection.

Meet some kitties who help their vintner owners.

Ada Broussard

Sallie Lewis

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DRINKERY

QUEEN OF BAKERS

Fredericksburg’s Rebecca Rather brought her skills to new venture Emma + Olli.

Megan Willome

HAUS

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FRESH & LOCAL Vista Brewing has a mission to keep their product ingredients local.

Plus, see Hill Country Texas Craft Brewers Cup winners.

Lee Nichols

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Incorporating personality into custom builds.

Food family’s brother-and-sister duo takes a chance on unique distilling operation.

PERSONAL ELEMENTS Kimberly Giles

NEW ON THE SCENE Ken Esten Cooke

MAKERS

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WINE DOGS

COLORING KERRVILLE

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Sallie Lewis

These pups help out Alexander Vineyard owners in innumerable ways.

Meet the artist who is making downtown pop.

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METAL ON THE MARK

Entrepreneurs are filling a niche for high-quality cast iron.

Sallie Lewis

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contributors

Rock&Vine Featuring the best life has to offer in the Texas Hill Country.

A product of Fredericksburg Publishing Company.

Publisher/Editor Ken Esten Cooke Contributing Editor Kimberly Giles Design Editor Andrea Chupik Contributing Writers Mike Barr, Ada Broussard, Sallie Lewis, Lee Nichols, Megan Willome Contributing Photographers/Artists Ada Broussard, Barney Kane, Kimberly Giles, Jeremian Dearinger Advertising/Marketing Director Kimberly Giles

By KEN ESTEN COOKE Editor and Publisher

edbuds. Mountain laurels. Bluebonnets. Peach tree buds. These are some of our favorite signs of spring.

They represent life, rebirth, hope, and give us an optimistic look at what is ahead.

This spring, Rock & Vine looks both back and ahead. Sallie Lewis tells the story of Enid Collins, who was a national design star in the 1960s and ’70s with her iconic box purses.

She brought a lot of recognition to Fredericksburg, even as she expanded her operations nationwide.

For fun, we had Ada Broussard pen her ode to the picnic, as we leave our winter coats and sit among the wildflowers.

Another fun addition are stories on winery cats and dogs, those beloved best friends who work the vineyards with their owners.

We also feted our talented women winemakers with our Grape Dames story, honoring those who bring a determination and feminine touch to this region’s fastest-growing industry.

Fredericksburg isn’t all wineries, either. One talented and industrial local family has created an in-demand product with his experience in the precision metal industry. His Fredericksburg Cast Iron Co. is already getting orders from around the nation.

Account Executives Kim Jung, Cindy G. Burdorf, Ann Duecker

And Megan Willome wrote a tribute to one of this state’s most talented food creators, Rebecca Rather of Emma + Ollie. You must visit this restaurant when you come to Fredericksburg.

Rock&Vine Magazine 712 W. Main St. | P.O. Box 1639 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Phone 830 997 2155 rockandvinemag.com

We also featured Covington Winery and Vista Brewing, two Drinkery places to experience.

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COPYRIGHT: Rock&Vine Magazine is published by the Fredericksburg Publishing Company. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without permission of the publisher. Editorial content does not reflect the opinions of the publisher of this magazine. Editorial and advertising does not constitute advice or endorsement, but is considered informative.

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Time to unpack the picnic blankets

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-R&VLastly, please allow a moment of reflection about one of Rock & Vine’s biggest supporters, Severn Giles, who died in early February. He was the rock of his only daughter, Kimberly, who is this magazine’s marketing director and creative spark.

We will miss his friendly voice, and his daughter will miss his counsel, guidance and love. His legacy lives on in her, and it’s a force of nature. Rest in peace, Mr. Giles.

-R&VIf you enjoy Rock & Vine, please subscribe at rockandvinemag. com, follow us on Instagram or drop us a line. You can also sign up for our e-newsletter, which has proven hugely popular since its recent launch, focusing on the same quality stories (in brief) we publish in this magazine. We appreciate your patronage and readership.

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Kimberly Giles kgiles@fredericksburgstandard.com 830.285.7230 ig: rocknvine

$30 for two years Send to 712 W. Main St., Fredericksburg, TX 78624 or subscribe at RockandVineMag.com

Editorial submissions: ken@fredericksburgstandard.com

Michael Barr is a retired teacher who writes a history column. Read his bi-weekly column in the Fredericksburg Standard newspaper.

Lee Nichols is a freelance writer based in Austin. He loves beer and two-stepping in Texas dance halls.

Jeremiah Dearinger is our HAUS contributing photographer. See more of his work at jeremiahdearinger.com

Ashley Odom is the chef and owner of Feast and Merriment. Living and working in the Hill Country keeps her creatively motivated, and she feels lucky to live in this area with so much food, wine and talent.

Barney Kane is our resident ad production designer on staff at Rock & Vine Magazine.

Ada Broussard is a writer, gardener and goat wrangler, who was raised in South Louisiana. Her love of regional foods has led to a career in agriculture, where she has overseen CSA operations, from digging to marketing, and consulted with food producers to cook simple and seasonal fare. See more at instagram.com/adalisab/

Andrea Chupik is a graphic designer / art director living in Aledo. View her work at designranchcreative.com.

Kimberly Giles is our Rock & Vine Ambassador, who is always scouting for stories in our Texas Hill Country, email her @ kgiles@fredericksburgstandard.com

Megan Willome is a freelance writer and author of "The Joy of Poetry."

To read more of her work visit meganwillome.com.

Sallie Lewis is a San Antonio writer currently based in Fredericksburg.

She has a Master's Degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University and her work has been published in The WSJ Magazine, Garden & Gun, and Town & Country. Find her online at sallielewis.co.

VISIT US ONLINE AT

rockandvinemag.com

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THE BILGER FAMILY WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO VISIT ADEGA VINHO. 1000 South RR 1623 in Stonewall, Texas 830-265-5765

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175 years of German influence.

One Texas-sized grand finale celebration!

Fredericksburg, Texas is 175 years old! Mark your calendar for May 5-8, 2022 — the grand finale weekend of our year-long tribute! The festivities will include events like a cowboy cookout, dances, historical ceremonies, Main Street parade, fireworks and more. Come be part of history. Start your planning, learn more about Fredericksburg history and get the most up-to-date schedule of events at

175TH.ORG

Photo compliments of Gillespie County Historical Society

MAY 5-8, 2022 • THURSDAY • FRIDAY • SATURDAY • SUNDAY

Do you recognize this stretch of Main Street from the July 4th Parade in 1903?

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Sincere thanks to the generous sponsors who are making the Fredericksburg 175th anniversary year possible. See 175th.org/sponsors for details.

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A H I L L COU N T RY FA I RY TA L E

By MICHAEL BARR

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he Easter Fires Pageant unfolded like scenes from a Disney movie. Silver Arrow, the Indian brave who learned Christianity from the Spanish, saves Princess White Fang from being roasted at the sacrificial fire to the rain gods. Enormous rabbits make tie-dye Easter eggs. Fredericksburg High School Band Director Tom Rhodes, dressed in a bunny suit, directs the Bunny Brass Band with a carrot.

The story of Fredericksburg’s Easter Fires is more than a celebration of the most important Sunday in the Christian world. It is part folklore, part show biz and part fiery ritual from a dark pagan past. It is both a sacred religious ceremony and a Hill Country fairy tale worthy of the Brothers Grimm.

The burning of brush fires on hilltops in the springtime was a custom in Europe for thousands of years before the Germans came to Texas. The fires were part of a preChristian ceremony that heralded the end of winter and the coming of spring. Villagers believed the fields would be fruitful and the houses would be spared sickness as far as the firelight could be seen.

Fire was front and center in those early celebrations because it was so crucial to human development. For millions of years humans found warmth and security in front of a fire.

An attraction to fire is burned into our DNA. That’s why we have fireplaces.

Only in more recent times, the last 1,700 years or so, did burning fires on top of hills become associated with Easter.

Early Christians celebrated Easter, the day Jesus rose from the tomb, at different times until the year 325 when they set the date as the first Sunday following the full moon that comes after March 21. This relation to the vernal equinox meant that the celebration of Easter now coincided with the pagan spring festival. Over time, the two events merged.

As Christianity spread over Europe, Bishops tried to stop the pagan rituals, including the burning of fires on the night before Easter, but the old ways hung on in parts of Europe, particularly in some of the German states.

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Many other modern-day Easter traditions are carryovers from those early Christian and pre-Christian days. Because eggs were not on the menu during Lent (the 40 days of fasting and prayer that begin on Ash Wednesday and end the following month on Holy Thursday), early Christians gave colored eggs as Easter gifts. Even the rabbit, an ancient symbol of fertility, is a remnant of our pagan past.

When the Germans came to the Texas Hill Country in the mid-19th century, they brought these traditions with them.

Evidence suggests that the Germans built fires on hilltops to celebrate Easter since the founding of Fredericksburg, and they kept the ancient tradition alive year after year.

Leading up to the big day church groups, school children and families hauled brush, old tires and just about anything that would burn to the top of Cross Mountain, Lehne’s Hill, Kordzik’s Hill and other elevated spots on the outskirts of town. Then at sundown on Easter Eve, as the Abendglocken (evening bells) rang out at churches all over Fredericksburg, huge roaring flames lit up the night sky, casting ghostly shadows and throwing sparks like fireflies hundreds of feet in the air.

In the early years the Easter Fires celebration was not well known outside the Hill Country. Then in the 20th century, word of this unique Fredericksburg tradition slowly spread along the grapevine to the outside world.

Articles describing the Easter Fires appeared in San Antonio newspapers in the 1920s and ’30s. In 1940, The Texas Quality Network announced the event over San Antonio’s WOAI Radio. The publicity attracted visitors who trickled in to watch the ceremony.

Since their earliest days in Texas the Germans told stories to explain the origins of the Easter Fires which had always been a mystery. Those stories took numerous twists and turns as they passed down through the generations. On April 13, 1939, the Fredericksburg Standard published what may have been the first written version of one popular Easter Fires legend.

The history of Fredericksburg is portrayed during the town's Easter Fires Pageant. The story mixes the town's founding, Easter legends and stories of settlers of the region. Above, several books have been written about the Easter Fires, including the original history of the event by Fredericksburg's William Petmecky.

The story suggests that while the origins of the Easter Fires were in Germany, “the fires in Fredericksburg began when a local man, probably around the date of the founding of the colony in 1846, started a fire on a hillside and came back to tell his children that the fire had been started by the Easter Rabbit for the purpose of boiling and dyeing the eggs that he was to leave in the children’s nest the next morning.”

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That legend became a special project for Bill Petmecky, the Fredericksburg Postmaster. Petmecky wrote stories about the Easter Fires legend, and he conceived the idea of an elaborate Easter Fires Pageant to go along with the lighting of the fires on Easter Eve. The first Easter Fires Pageant took place on March 27, 1948 at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds. Petmecky wrote the script based on Spanish myths, Indian folklore, stories of the early settlers and a variation of the local legend of the Easter Bunny lighting the fires to dye Easter eggs.

Petmecky’s version of the Easter Bunny story takes place on the Saturday night before Easter 1847. John Meusebach, the founder of Fredericksburg, and most of the men are on the San Saba River negotiating the peace treaty with the Comanches, leaving the women and children at home with little protection.

Suddenly, just after dark, fires appear on several hills north and west of town. The Indians are close by, watching the village and using the fires as a form of communication.

In a cabin near Fredericksburg, a pioneer mother and her children watch the fires from the window. The children are frightened so the mother quickly makes up a story to calm their fears.

She tells her children that the Easter Bunny built the fires to cook Easter eggs in large kettles and that little rabbits of the hills gathered wild flowers to make the dye that colored the eggs.

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The story quiets the children, and they soon fall asleep.

A few days later Meusebach and the men return to Fredericksburg after negotiating the peace treaty with the Comanches. On hearing the pioneer mother’s story, the men make a promise to keep the Easter Fires tradition alive.

The legend of the Easter Fires inspired a number of children’s books. One of the first was Siddie Joe Johnson’s Rabbit Fires, published in 1951.

In 1952, Petmecky published his version of the Easter Fires legend called “Legendary Tales – Easter Fires of Texas” later changed to “Easter Fires of Fredericksburg.”

Meanwhile the reenactment of Petmecky’s “Easter Fires of Fredericksburg” drew big crowds. By the 1970s, a 600-member cast of local volunteers performed the pageant for thousands of visitors from around the world. Then, after dark, the lights dimmed, the church bells rang and all eyes turned to the glowing hills to watch the flames dance against the night sky like a giant movie screen. R&V

THE PERFECT PLACE TO SIT BACK AND RELAX OR

step back in time museums & historic sites | parks, golf & outdoor adventure | live Texas music | art galleries | peaches & wildflowers over 50 wineries & tasting rooms | Hill Country cuisine | unique places to stay | German heritage | award-winning shopping

CELEBRATING

VisitFredericksburgTX.com

MAY 2021 – MAY 2022

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By SALLIE LEWIS

THE

GRAPE DAMES In recent years, the Hill Country wine boom has birthed a barrage of new businesses, many of which are driven by female vintners, winemakers, managers, and chemists.

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SHERAH MILLS : RUSTIC SPUR + KERRVILLE HILLS WINERY Sherah Mills of Rustic Spur and Kerrville Hills Winery is a prime example. Mills grew up in Bastrop and began her education at Tarleton State University. “I had always been a really good student but things weren’t clicking,” Mills said of her double majors in Agricultural Education and Agricultural Economics. “It just didn’t seem like that was what I was supposed to be doing.”

Around the same time, her parents moved to Stonewall to pursue their deep-seated dream of starting a vineyard. In 2014, she transferred to Texas Tech and received both her Bachelor and Master degrees in Plant and Soil Science. On the weekends, Mills remembers hurrying home to help her family with the vineyard. “Anytime I wasn’t in class, I was in Stonewall,” she said.

Today, Mills manages the family’s Rustic Spur Vineyard, where she found an early mentor in the winemaker and consultant, John Rivenburgh. “He’s been my mentor for nine years now,” she shared. “Every time he explained what I needed to do it made sense, which was a breath of fresh air after struggling in Ag Economics. From there it became a passion – I couldn’t get enough.”

It seems only fitting that Mills’ vocation is linked to the land, given her long lineage of family farmers. “We have five to six generations of farmers on both sides of my family,” she explained. “I always knew I wanted to be involved in agriculture.”

Today, she works hand-in-hand with her parents both at Rustic Spur and Vintner’s Hideaway, which they opened in downtown Fredericksburg in 2018. “We laugh now because this was going to be their retirement,” she joked. Instead, “it is just hard work six to seven days a week.”

Family duties aside, Mills considers her main job to be the Vineyard and Winery Project Manager at Kerrville Hills Winery. “Being able to help people is my passion,” she shared, and one that she has put to good use through the organization’s incubator program. “Every piece of property has its own story and challenges, but also its own strengths.”

At Kerrville Hills, Mills also works alongside a mostly female management team, which she believes is a promising sign of the market’s growing inclusivity. “When I first started it was definitely a male-dominated field,” she said. Regardless, the 29-year-old believes that the work proves itself. “I am five-foot-two, and when I drive up in a one-ton truck and get in the tractor, or I am the one with the gooseneck trailer hauling the fruit, people find out pretty quickly I can hold my own weight,” she quipped. “I do feel now, especially in the last four years, we are seeing this surge of female winemakers; there are several female viticulturists doing a phenomenal job.”

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Sherah Mills pruning the vines.

Moving forward, Mills has toyed with the prospect of a winemaking role, though admittedly, she is most content working outdoors. “My biggest draw is definitely getting to work outside and know the land,” she shared adding, “And I get to take my dogs to work!”

Thus far, this outdoor lifestyle has bred many life lessons.

Years ago, when she was first learning the pruning process, she can remember staring at a vine for fifteen minutes, wondering whether to cut. Her trusted mentor, Rivenburgh, offered some sage advice. “He said, ‘It doesn’t matter what cut you make as long as you have the guts to make the cut.’

And I can apply that to so many decisions,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what decision you make as long as you make it and stick to it. Sometime you just can’t worry about it, you have to have the guts to do it and see it through.”

The pruning process is integral to maintaining vines. The dead must come off; this shows the bright stem that can mature because of its color.

Photos by Kimberly Giles

Chickens (over 20 and growing) are a natural pest repellent that Mills likes to use for keeping her vines safe.

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MCKENZIE SANVIDO : UNTAMED WINE ESTATES Mckenzie Sanvido is another woman shaking up the industry. The 31-year-old California native studied biology and chemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno. There, she received a Chemical Ecology grant and fellowship through the National Science Foundation.

The opportunity led her to South America, where she performed field work and chemical analysis in the rainforests of Brazil and Costa Rica. Though she had originally planned to pursue a career in pharmaceutical research, her time abroad gave her the conviction to try something different. She took a job as a wine chemist with Constellation Brands and discovered a love for the wine industry while working in Sonoma, New Zealand, and Monterey, to name a few.

This experience proved invaluable to Sanvido, who later went to work with a custom crush facility in Salinas, California. It was there that she realized there wasn’t a local laboratory available for testing wine. In fact, the closest one was in Napa, located three hours away, with turn-around times for samples taking upwards to a week.

At the same time, she had noticed how quickly the Texas wine industry was growing. Determined to fill a void and make a change, Sanvido, along with her South African winemaking husband, Dane, moved to Johnson City in 2019. One month later, they opened The Lab Pros.

Sanvido preps her hand made pizzas to accompany her wines.

“We service around 120 wineries in Texas, Louisiana, California and New York,” she said of their operation.

At the lab, they work with winemakers to test the wines’ sugars, acids, and fermentation process, along with performing monthly regulatory checks leading up to bottling. Through the operation, they can deliver results between 24 to 48 hours. “We grew that business really nicely and got to a point where we wanted to do something else, and that was to start a winery,” she shared.

In May, the couple brought their dream to fruition with the opening of Untamed Wine Estates, a production winery and tasting room. After years of working with large corporate wineries, the name was a fitting descriptor for their new lease on life. “We got tired of climbing the corporate ladder,” said Sanvido. “We wanted to break free from that and become untamed.”

Today, she and her husband are focused on quality first and foremost, pursuing grapes from small family growers in places like Monterey and the Russian River Valley. All of the fruit is then transported to Untamed and produced in-house. While Dane manages the winemaking role, Sanvido handles the lab work, in addition to overseeing the tasting room and foodservice operation.

“I’ve always loved cooking and wine and how they interact with each other,” she said. "I developed a huge passion for it. Seeing people enjoy your food and wine, there’s really nothing better.”

Barrel tasting with Sanvido.

Photos by Kimberly Giles

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EMILY JONES : SLATE MILL WINE COLLECTIVE + SLATE THEORY

Emily works the front of house as much as she is responsible for the back of house operations.

Jones in the field, checking the vines is a daily order of operations.

Back in Fredericksburg, Emily Jones is following her own passion in the field. Before she was the Vineyard Manager at Slate Mill Wine Collective and Slate Theory Winery, the twenty-eight-year-old grew up in D’Hanis to a family of ranchers and farmers. Her education led her to Texas Tech University where she met a professor named Dr. Cynthia McKenney who encouraged her to pursue a vocation in viticulture.

As she explored her options, the complexity and ageold nature of winemaking began to draw her in. She started working at Texas A&M’s AgriLife extension in 2016, managing the small research vineyard there. At the same time, she was commuting in the early mornings to Farmhouse Vineyards in Meadow, where she helped sample their vineyards around harvest time.

In 2018, Jones moved to Fredericksburg and took a job at 1851 Vineyards. As fate would have it, she met her husband on the first day of work. Shortly thereafter, his family partnered with and ultimately acquired the vineyard.

Together, they rebranded 1851 as Slate Mill Wine Collective and turned it into a custom-crush facility, giving partnered wineries access to the space and equipment needed for the winemaking process, from crush to fermentation, bottling and storage. “It is expensive to make wine and to have a facility to make wine in,” said Jones. Currently, they are working with ten custom crush clients across the state, while also running their own winery off of US-290 called Slate Theory.

the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Texas Tech University in Fredericksburg. “Viticulture and enology have long been male-dominated industries, just like many other industries where the work is physically demanding,” she shared. “I think women are breaking barriers in many industries and wine is just one. Education certainly plays a role in increasing female participation.” From 2014 to Summer 2021, the overall enrollment at the school’s winemaking certificate program was 63% male and 37% female. With its hands-on training and networking opportunities, one can only hope those numbers will keep rising.

Like Sherah Mills and Mckenzie Sanvido, Jones is an expert juggler, handling everything from social marketing to vineyard management, along with tasting room tasks and wine club responsibilities. Farming, however, is the greatest joy of all, and one that has taught her the importance of patience. “I think it makes us better people. Things don’t always go your way but you figure it out.”

After a hard day’s work, Jones and her husband like heading outside with Chloe, their Mini Australian Shepherd, and Clyde, their Mini Goldendoodle and full-time rabbit patrol.

“That is how we like to end our day,” she said. “We load them up in the buggy, take a glass of wine, drive through the vines, and watch the sunset. It is everything to us.” R&V

Today, Jones admits to feeling a shift in the industry as it becomes increasingly inclusive of female talent. Maureen Qualia feels it too. Qualia is an Instructor of Enology in

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A H E R I TA G E R E I N C A R N AT E D

Five generations ago our family began farming in India, cultivating crops of cocoa, coconuts, rice, and turmeric. Today, our family calls Texas home. We believe our wines exemplify how the blending of two cultures can create something authentic, yet entirely new and exciting. Come experience a heritage reincarnated!

5 MINUTES FROM DOWNTOWN

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Cynthia Pedregon, the daughter of Frederic and Enid Collins, posed with a handbag during the height of the Collins purse popularity. — Collins family photo

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ENID THE ICON ARTIST ENID COLLINS BECAME A NATIONAL NAME FOR HER POPULAR PURSES

By SALLIE LEWIS

Like the wildflowers that bloom across the landscape in Spring, the Texas Hill Country is home to a vibrant and colorful community of craftspeople.

The iconic accessories designer, Enid Collins, is one of the brightest examples in years past, thanks to her popular wooden box bags adorned with flowering decorations and costume jewels. Understanding how these cheery handbags became a national style statement, and available in every major department store across the country, is a great Texas tale worth recounting.

In 1918, Enid Roessler was born in Shelbyville, Illinois, but grew up in San Antonio after her mother passed away. Eventually, she attended Texas Women’s University, where she studied fine art and fashion design.

After college, Enid was teaching a ceramics class at The Witte Museum when one of her students, a charming woman from Michigan, introduced her to her son, Frederic Collins. A sculptor in his own right, the duo hit it off and were married in October 1941.

Two months later, Pearl Harbor was attacked. Unable to serve due to a broken eardrum, Frederic worked as a draftsman in a war plant in Detroit, while Enid built avionics equipment nearby.

After the war, the couple moved to the primitive headwaters of the Medina River, where Frederic planned to pursue his life-long interest in ranching. “My father wanted to be a cowboy and they started doing that, but they weren’t ranchers and didn’t know much about it,” shared Jeep Collins, Enid and Frederic’s son.

When the ranching business failed to support them financially, Enid began exploring different revenue options. With her intrepid interest in fashion and design, she started sketching up a simple leather handbag, the design of which was loosely inspired by one she had seen in Michigan years prior.

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Enid Collins works on designs in her Fredericksburg studio.

SHE WAS ALWAYS A HARD WORKER, WHATEVER SHE DID, SHE DID IT WHOLEHEARTEDLY. -Jeep Collins

Jeep Collins, son of Frederic and Enid, penned a book in 2021 about his mother.

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With a bit of leather and thread, the couple brought Enid’s concept to completion, working together on the drawing, pattern-making, cutting and sewing. Frederic even sculpted small animal figurines from brass, which were used on the bags as ornaments and buckles. It wasn’t long before news of those first ‘Collins of Texas’ designs spread outside of Medina, and early sales were followed by promising partnerships with major retailers like Neiman Marcus.

In the early days, Frederic and Enid made much of their merchandise by hand. Because of this handcrafted nature, the items were expensive, and they began looking for ways to diversify their catalogue and economize their product offering. The couple experimented with wicker and wire, felt and suede, and in the mid-1950s, Enid discovered screen printing. One day, after noticing a cigar box, it occurred to her that a simple wooden shell might make a solid and less expensive handbag container. The idea was a brilliant one, and ultimately made way for the birth of the brand’s iconic “box bag.”

By the late 1950s and early 1960s, these “conversation starters” as Enid called them, could be found in every major department store in the nation. Their quadrilateral shape boasted wide-ranging motifs, like birds, flowers, cable cars, and glitter bugs, all of which were adorned with bright jewels and colored glass. The result was both crafty and quirky, playful and free-spirited, a design emblematic of the decade at large.

As orders grew, production relocated from the small town of Medina to a facility in Puerto Rico, before eventually landing in Fredericksburg. At its peak, Collins of Texas was producing 1,000 bags a week. The 1960s had undoubtedly been a time of growth and prosperity for the couple, though sadly, the decade that followed was challenging both personally and professionally.

By 1970, the Collins had divorced and the company sold to the Tandy Corporation, who fired Enid shortly thereafter.

(A group of employees later purchased the business and returned it to its original name. Today, it remains independently owned and operated in Medina.)

Despite their divorce and the subsequent sale of their beloved business, Frederic and Enid’s originality and perseverance left a resounding impact on Jeep and his late sister, Cynthia, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2012. These days, Jeep is a talented jewelry designer and a writer based in Fredericksburg. Most recently, in 2021, he published his book, ENID: From Small Town Texas to 5th Avenue, New York, after finding a collection of illuminating letters that belonged to his mother.

In the title, the author recounts the life of an amazing woman and her family, from her early days of ranching, to the success of Collins of Texas, and her final chapter in Fredericksburg, where she lived to be closer to her children.

“That is the best part of the story for me,” said Jeep of the latter. “She was hurt, but my mother was never one to let things get her down.” Instead, she kept herself busy with different activities and educational opportunities, like ceramics and quilting classes. Despite going to church all her life, Jeep admits something shifted in his mother’s older age as she came to reconcile her faith. “She received Christ as her Savior and it really changed her life,” he explained.

This year, the Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer, Mike Maloy, will release a documentary on Enid’s life and work, sharing the enduring allure of an artist who left an indelible mark on fashion history. In the film, Maloy explores the ongoing fascination with the designer’s vintage box bags, while spotlighting the collectors who continue to unearth them on sites such as Etsy and EBay. One collector in particular, located in Colorado, has acquired over 560 original Enid Collins box bags, 132 totes, 2 leather handbags – and counting.

More than thirty years after her passing, Jeep admits he is grateful for the ongoing opportunity to share his mother’s story, be it in his own published memoir or the upcoming documentary film. Though Enid’s handbags live on in vintage stores and websites around the world, her true legacy lies in her pioneering spirit and steadfast resilience.

“She was always a hard worker,” Jeep said with pride.

“Whatever she did she did it wholeheartedly.” R&V

SPRING 22 31

-DPH Instagram follower

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Bring this coupon to Das Peach Haus or Fischer & Wieser on Main to receive a Old Fashioned Peach Preserves with purchase of any Fischer & Wieser product of equal or greater value. This product cannot be returned for cash or credit refund. One Rock & Vine product per customer. Expires: 9/18/22

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TASTE A TASTE of life in the Texas Hill Country.

Chef focused, Farm inspired.

In every issue of Rock & Vine Photo by Leo Aguirre for Fredericksburg Cast Iron Co.

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Photo by Ada Broussard 34

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THE PERFECT

PICNIC Warmer weather means a return to outdoors. Break out the baskets and blanket and escape.

By ADA BROUSSARD Photos by ADA BROUSSARD & ROBERT GOMEZ icnic: It’s a noun, it’s a verb, it’s a table, it’s a blanket. It’s the warmth of the sun on your shoulders, or maybe an oak’s shady reprieve under a perfectly chosen spot. The word likely comes from the French “pique-nique,” a 17th-century potluck meal set inside or out, where guests would bring wine to share. And while not all picnics are potlucks, sharing your blanket space is highly encouraged.

Like young onions and tender asparagus, picnicking is in season here in Texas. If you’re lucky, you might be joined by scads of wildflowers and the banter of water and limestone.

When you picnic, even the simplest of food that has been thoughtfully packed is elevated by the fact that you’re enjoying it al fresco. If you take the extra step and bring a few accessories — textiles, glassware, and maybe a condiment — your meal becomes ritualistic. A quilted, plein air painting, on your plate. The saying “what grows together, goes together” seems somehow relevant when trying to decide on your picnic fare. So many hill country picnic destinations are moments from a vineyard. Do the duteous thing and pack a chilled bottle (or can) of Texas wine for your springtime pique-nique.

A picnic can be as humble as a pocket knife, hunk of hard cheese, and torn bread thrown in a hiking backpack and unearthed after a sweaty summit, or as opulent as a wicker basket stuffed with glassware, delicate fruit, and champagne. I can avouch for both types of meals. But, what you eat matters less when you’re doing the eating outside; the excursion itself will add a flavor of its own.

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Shifting the scenery from kitchen table to outdoor mesa, plus the practice of unpacking your precious cargo of sandwiches and salads can enliven your senses, just like brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Have you ever tasted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, slightly smooshed, after a 10-mile paddle down the South Llano River?

Like food with wine, the atmosphere, quite literally, can transform the food you eat. With a tree as your backrest and rocks as your table, you can’t go wrong. But in case you need some tips, here you are.

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THE BLANKET Pack a table cloth or something that can serve as a barrier between the great outdoors and your food. An old blanket or even a patterned top sheet will work. If you feel compelled to bust out your heirloom quilt, consider throwing a tarp underneath.

While going to college in Austin, I bought a thin, earthy tapestry from a vendor on South Congress. When the tapestry wasn’t displayed as dorm decor, I would tote it to Barton Springs to bask in my newfound Texas freedom.

This is still my go-to picnic blanket, for its hippy nostalgia, yes, but also for its utility: it’s easy to wash, large enough for several to share, and can easily stuff down into a bag.

Photo by Robert Gomez taken at Arrowhead vineyards along the Pedernales River.

taste When choosing a blanket, similar to choosing a mixing bowl, always follow the rule that larger-is-better. You’ll want space to both dine and lounge; your blanket is both table and chair. Some of my favorite picnic memories involve gathering a group and connecting blankets into a large and friendly patchwork.

Even when kayaking and packing light, I like to include a clean bandana in my dry bag to use as a “table cloth” for displaying ziplocks of sandwiches, chips, fruit, and maybe a Snickers bar.

THE SPOT Central Texas is home to a handful of popular state parks which make terrific picnic destinations. There are also a large number of state natural areas and nature preserves, less visited by equally worthy of a picnic.

My picnic list for the spring includes Government Canyon near San Antonio and Hill Country State Natural Area near Tarply.

For a quicker, more leisurely jaunt, why not just load up your family’s dinner and head to your local park.

Likely, there is a picnic table in your hometown that deserves some attention. Center your picnic around an activity like swimming or visiting a nearby town, or, picnic for no other reason beyond lunchtime.

THE FOOD My favorite picnics are a smattering of fruit, snacks, and salads. Pack food that gets better with time, like a marinated pasta salad or a roasted broccoli salad or a crunchy lentil salad (see below) that can be served cold or at room temperature.

Hot foods served cold, like quiche or fried chicken, is also befitting.

If it’s extremely hot out, I like to throw a couple of frozen water bottles in my picnic basket to help keep things cool, but not cold. For more tender lettuce or tomato salads, pack your dressing in a mason jar and wait to dress your greens until you’re ready to eat.

Finger foods like wraps, sandwiches, and spring rolls are a good option, too. If you’re doing sandwiches for a crowd, one hack is to make a very long sandwich on a whole loaf of french bread. Wrap the long hoagie in saran wrap, and carefully pack a serrated knife in your basket. Delight everyone by slicing up the long sammy on site.

Don’t forget the drinks, whether it’s just plenty of water or something more spirited.

Photo by Ada Broussard

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THE EXTRAS

Photo by Robert Gomez taken at Arrow Vineyards, special thanks to DISH, Swig Cheese house, and The Sunday Supply from Hill & Vine.

THE NECESSITIES When packing for a picnic (and for camping, for that matter), visualize the meal happening in the setting you’ve chosen. Do you have everything you need for a good time? Wine opener, hand wipes, serving utensils, trash bags, an empty container for leftovers, and a bag for dirty dishes should all make the list.

Bug spray, sunscreen, and plates? I’m not above eating off paper plates, but in my opinion, paper and plastic are better suited for a backyard barbeque.

A picnic can be a sumptuous affair. As though you’re at sipping tea with the royals, allow yourself the luxury of your favorite china, a real fork, and a wine glass. I promise it will delight!

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I fully endorse overpacking for a picnic, especially if you’re picnicking near your car. Consider packing pillows, poofs, or folding chairs for a more comfortable lounging experience. It’s more to schlep, but if you plan to hang out a while, you’ll be happy for the seating. A late afternoon meal? Small tea lights are a nice touch, as is a vase to display some flowers.

If you’re picnicking on a blanket on the ground (vs. at a picnic table), consider packing a serving tray that you can use as a hard surface for balancing glasses and bottles. Similarly, if you’re serving a crudités or charcuterie spread, consider bringing a large cutting board to display your food.

Last but not least, picnic responsibility: Picnic it in, picnic it out. & RV

LENTIL SALAD FIT FOR A PICNIC Adapted from Bon Appetit’s Just Keeps Getting Better Lentil Salad

INGREDIENTS: 1 large bunch of kale or collards Salt ¾ c raw almonds or pecans or sunflower seeds, or a mix 4 green onions 4 cloves garlic 1 lemon ½ c olive oil 1 ½ c black or green lentils; brown will work in a pinch but these must be very al-dente. Ignore package cooking directions, and keep a close eye on the timing of these, removing from water when they’re just al dente.

2 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp Crushed red pepper flakes 5 oz feta 1 c of your favorite, pitted olives ¼ c chopped fresh herbs like parsley, dill, cilantro, or mint INSTRUCTIONS: Destem kale or collards, and discard the stems, or feed them to the chickens. Stack greens and slice into thin, long ribbons. Transfer ribbons to a large, picnic-worthy tupperware or bowl with lid, and massage with a bit of salt until the greens are softer and darker in color, about 2 minutes.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. While you’re waiting, prep ingredients for your spiced oil. Coarsely chop your nuts or seeds if not already in pieces, and set aside. Thinly slice green onions; add white parts to a small, cold skillet, and save green parts for later. Roughly chop or smash 4 garlic cloves and add to skillet. Using a vegetable peeler, remove 3-4 long strips of lemon peel, avoiding the pith. Add peels to skillet (and save lemons for later). Pour ½ cup olive oil and stir well to coat all ingredients.

Add lentils to boiling water and cook like pasta until al dente, about 20 minutes, but maybe as quickly as 15. Make sure to check your lentils along the way. For this salad, you do not want to overcook the lentils and have them become mushy. Once they’re cooked through but still with some bite, drain and set aside.

Heat skillet with green onion mixture over medium. Cook, stirring occasionally until lemon peel curls and garlic starts to brown, about 3 minutes. Add nuts/seeds, and stir frequently, for about 3 more minutes. Remove skillet from heat and immediately stir in ground cumin and red pepper flakes to hot oil.

Photo by Ada Broussard

Using a mesh sieve, strain nut mixture. Reserve the oil that’s the base of your dressing! Spread nut mixture on a paper towel and season with salt.

Crumble feta into your kale/collards container. Roughly chop or tear olives, and add to container. Add sliced green onions and chopped herbs to bowl, saving a bit back for garnish. Add ½ tsp. salt and juice of reserved lemon.

Add well-drained lentils (it’s okay if they’re still warm) to bowl of greens. Season with salt. Add reserved, infused oil and half of nuts. Gently fold to combine.

Pack remaining nuts and green onions in small tupperware to bring to picnic. Garnish your salad just before serving.

Eat around the lemon peels, which are edible but strong.

Lounge in the sun, and enjoy your picnic.

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Rather happily topping off her infamous cinnamon rolls.

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taste

EMMA + OLLIE EARLY + OFTEN

WARM + COZY

By MEGAN WILLOME

One tip: get to E+O early to gather your favorite pastries, they go quickly.

hen walking into the historic home that houses Emma + Ollie, it’s like entering the abode of a beloved aunt or grandmother — where everything is made from scratch, where it’s a little crowded with friendly smiles, where you might share The Local Table with strangers and leave as friends. The restaurant harkens back to an earlier time when women lovingly made everything, using produce from the garden, eggs from the hens, and meat from the livestock.

Emma + Ollie began four years ago in the spot where The Nest used to operate. Open for breakfast and lunch, Tuesday through Friday, and brunch only on Saturday, it’s the hot daytime spot in town. Weekday waits may last up to 30-45 minutes, and people start lining up an hour before opening on Saturdays for favorites like eggs Sardou and Monte Cristo. Some people are there to sit down to a meal, and some are there to pick up signature pastries — beignets, brioche, banana bread, Bomboloni, cinnamon rolls, kolaches, muffins or Executive Chef Rebecca Rather’s trademark bacon-cheddar scones.

She’s the magic-maker.

The restaurant’s whole aesthetic comes from Rather — the furniture is hers, as is the enamelware and the sugar containers. Emma + Ollie feels like a home because almost everything a diner touches comes from a home. Ollie is the name of business partner Kathryn Harrison’s grandmother, and Emma comes from Rather’s beloved great aunt.

Rather was raised around white kitchens bursting with baked goods — “shiny, shiny white with white Formica countertops.”

Start your morning extra special with a delicious treat from Rather, her beignets are all the rave.

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Tomato toast with egg and loaded up with fresh arugula is the breakfast of choice for many.

Loyal customers that Rather insisted we take photo of as she and staff adore this couple.

Mary & Bill eat at E+O every morning.

“My grandmother, she made pies, and my great aunt Emma made bread,” she said. “Grandmother, when I’d go for Thanksgiving, she’d have pies everywhere. I have all her recipes, her candy, divinity, fudge. She wasn’t a small woman. She was smushy!”

Rather launched into her identity as the Pastry Queen after her divorce. After running the pastry department at Tony’s and other premiere restaurants in Houston, she and her daughter moved to the Catskills in New York. Rather trained with an artisan break baker at Bread Alone as part of a venture of bakery-cafes for Schlotsky’s.

Later she had a succession of restaurants in Fredericksburg.

Rather Sweet was known for baked goods. Rebecca’s Table was farm-to-table before that was chic. The Pink Pig leaned into brunch and lunch items. Emma + Ollie brings it all together. Now Rather gets to play in the kitchen, something she’s been doing since her earliest years.

From the time she was a teenager, Rather was cooking for her family nearly every night. She had to work around her

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mother’s illness and her father’s refusal to try anything he had eaten once too often during the Depression.

“My father didn’t like chicken, didn’t like tuna or pimento cheese. Once I made chicken Parmesan, and he wouldn’t eat it,” she said.

It’s been a baker’s dozen years since Rather’s last cookbook, and she has ideas for a new one (or two). At Emma + Ollie, she’d like to offer more casseroles to-go, like she did during the pandemic.

“King Ranch, chicken pot pie, lasagna, pastitsio, chicken enchiladas, shepherd’s pie,” Rather said.

And of course, she’s planning more pastries. More comfort food. The chance to make menu items lighter in the spring and put peaches on everything in the summer. To create Cajun-inspired dishes. But no Coq au Vin. “If I need to feel better, that’s what I make, and I use Julia Child’s recipe. Everyone has their own comfort food. Coq au Vin is mine. If I’m making that, I’m probably not okay.”

For diners who come to Emma + Ollie, everything is okay.

Manager Emily Harper says the goal at the cozy, intimate restaurant is to “make people feel cared for by feeding them.”

“We’ve made this spot at the table just for you,” Harper said. “You can forget about everything happening in the world and just enjoy.”

Emma + Ollie partners with area producers to source food locally as much as possible, including from Rather’s own herb garden. The goat cheese comes from CKC Farms in Blanco, along with sprouts and microgreens from Reverse Pioneers. The pickled vegetables come from Fredericksburg’s own Hat & Heart Farm. In peach season, the fruit hails from Eckert’s, which has provided the Hill Country with peaches for almost 100 years. The sausage is made with ground pork from Center Point’s Zanzenburg Farms, the chickens are from organic provider RedBird, and the grass-fed beef is from 44 Farms, in Cameron.

Austin’s Vital Farms provides the eggs.

“People will eat our scrambled eggs — these aren’t 10-cent eggs from some sad place. The customers can tell the difference. They know the product is good and as fresh as it can be when they see it on the plate,” Harper said.

If you order the tomato toast or avocado toast, you’ll be treated to sourdough bread from local favorite, JoJu Bakery.

“When there’s someone in town doing the best, you buy it from them,” Harper said.

Breakfast is now served all day, catering to vacationers who like to sleep in and eat late. Lunch service begins at 11 a.m. Plans are in the works to enclose the back patio to accommodate more guests while maintaining an open feel.

Now that spring has sprung, Harper says people should remember Emma + Ollie when planning a picnic. There are take-out lunchboxes filled with a tasty Rebecca’s Chicken Salad sandwich, along with chips or fruit, perfect to take on a hike to Enchanted Rock. (Don’t forget to buy a cookie!)

Or pick up something more romantic.

“We recommend coming in and grabbing a bottle of wine from the retail room, a beautiful jar of homemade jam or jelly, a loaf of sourdough and some cheese,” Harper said.

Although Rather and Harper are pleased that so many outof-town visitors enjoy Emma + Ollie, they try to take care of their locals, the ones who kept them going during Covid: the standing order from the auction barn, the people who pick up pastries for an office meeting, the ones who walk in and the staff knows exactly what they’re ordering.

“Some people come every day,” Rather said. R&V

Rebecca Rather and her manager Emily Harper.

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Arrowhead Creek Vineyard

Arrowhead Creek Vineyard is about bringing people together, in a uniquely enchanting Texas Hill Country setting.

Located on 14 beautiful acres right along the Pedernales River, with 2,000 feet of water front- you are sure to find the perfect spot to sit and enjoy a glass of wine. Arrowhead Creek Vineyard is a family owned artisanal vineyard- growing and sourcing the highest quality wines. From the minute you set foot on our property you will feel like part of our family. Everyone is sure to find a wine they love at Arrowhead Creek. Come visit our tasting room- we can’t wait to meet you.

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504 Granite Avenue • Fredericksburg, Texas

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“You can’t forget memories.”

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FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS

312 W. Main • 997-1633 www.HondosOnMain.com SPRING 22 47

Walk with Us Enjoy our wines and views at our Winery & Vineyard.

LOCATED AT 6331 South Ranch Rd 1623 in Stonewall (830) 644-2144

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HOURS Wednesday - Saturday 7:30am - 3pm Sunday 10am - 2pm Closed Monday + Tuesdays

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haus

CUSTOMIZING A HOUSE

INTO A HOME

By KIMBERLY GILES Photos by JEREMIAH DEARINGER

ichard Laughlin of Laughlin Homes & Restoration is a longtime resident and specialized builder in Texas Hill County. For over 38 years, he has collaborated with prospective owners and expert craftsmen that manifest dreams into a place that is home for many. His homes, as he states, are like “jewelry” to those that commission him. They tell a story and are a deep reflection of what matters to those who collaborate with Laughlin to build their vision.

Ingrid and Andy Pepper are just these people that commissioned Laughlin. In fact, the Pepper project is the second (just north of Fredericksburg) in the past 15 years since knowing Laughlin.

Andy is from England and a former geologist; his wife Ingrid is South African.

They commissioned Laughin three years ago to what the Laughlin team terms the “Pepper Project.”

The mission was defined collaboratively

by Laughlin and the Peppers themselves, along with the help of Douglas Grona (who has worked with Laughlin for over 35 years), Martin Ortiz, a reclaimed wood specialist, and Schumann Granite.

Laughlin wanted to provide ample light space for the Pepper’s Museum quality urn. A detail that Laughlin is fond of.

A piece of iron, framed over the range and careful use of historic limestone unearthed by home owner Andy Pepper, a geologist. The oldest limestone starts at the bottom of the foundation.

“Andy and Ingrid are very worldly, and have museum-quality pieces that we wanted to incorporate into their home build,” Laughlin said. “For instance, the large urn needed light, room and space; the piece over the range was a piece of iron that we framed and incorporated in the kitchen.”

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Schumann Granite did an exceptional build on the over counter slab that highlights the center island.

This personality project also reflects what Laughlin likes to incorporate with his clients, just as he likes to make his projects personal.

“Andy had this stone sink of his mother’s from England.

We utilized this in one of their bathrooms,” Laughlin said.

“This reflects our clients’ personality and getting something different when you are hands-on building with ideas that reflect a person.”

The wood staircase was imagined with an in-person meeting with Monty Schumann, who forged the iron staircase.

Together, Laughlin and Schumann designed on site with the vision of having an open, modern staircase that utilized historic elements (reclaimed wood) and let in light.

Martin Ortiz is another partner of Laughlin’s for the past ten years. Ortiz travels frequently to obtain reclaimed wood for projects such as the Pepper’s.

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“Basically everything you touch and see inside this home is reclaimed wood. The wood beams are mortise and tenon joints with ‘tree nails’,” Laughlin said. “They are all nonstructural beams that were added to the initial structure to compliment the clients’ taste for preservation, texture and earthiness.”

Laughlin is receptive to collaborating with clients and wants to have their influence reflected in what he terms “structural art, just on a bigger scale.” Because Andy Pepper was a former geologist, he wanted to make certain that the limestone that was quarried told a story. So, the oldest exposed interior foundation rock is the oldest leading up to the newest.

“I love when I get to work with clients that see a different way to look at materials, rather than just based on the materials’ value alone,” Laughlin said. “It tells a story and is a personal reflection of our clients’ interest and taste.” R&V LAUGHLIN HOMES & RESTORATION For more info on Richard Laughlin homes visit his website: hillcountrybuilder.com For Martin Ortiz/ reclaimed wood specialist rdesigns@windstream.net

haus

BASICALLY EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH AND SEE INSIDE THIS HOME IS RECLAIMED WOOD. THE WOOD BEAMS ARE MORTISE AND TENON JOINTS WITH ‘TREE NAILS’.

- RICHARD LAUGHLIN

This reclaimed wood, forged iron staircase was designed on the spot while in the home. The idea was to create an airy yet functional staircase that infused the desired materials the Pepper’s wanted within their home.

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HABERDASHERYBOUTIQUE.COM 221 E MAIN STREET, FREDERICKSBURG (830) 990-2462

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830.998.1556 • BLACKCHALKHOME.COM FOLLOW US @BLACKCHALKHOMEANDLAUNDRY SPRING 22 59

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Slip into something a little more comfortable...

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Serving the Texas Hill Country since 1996.

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Njem Haus is a travel-inspired guesthouse for you and your family. A modern yet cozy retreat for couples and families looking for rest, comfort and fun together.

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A Luxury Hotel Pillow made just for you!

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Available at: Linens-n-More 302 E. Main St, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 830-990-1212 yourpillow.com | info@yourpillow.com 68

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in the hills

KERI KROPP DESIGN 728-732 Water Street, Kerrville, Texas 78028 830.315.5374 | kerikropp.com 70

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SCHREINER GOODS +

214 Earl Garrett Street, Kerrville, Texas 78028 830.315.5374 | schreinergoods.com

MAKERS The Texas Hill Country is filled with vibrant DIY subculture that shows its creativity and reflects a rich tradition. All of them help define this area as a unique “Makers” region.

We introduce you to our new makers.

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KERRVILLE’S COLORIST //

Joleen Franklin PAINTS KERRVILLE’S TRUE COLORS

By SALLIE LEWIS

Photo by Brandon Robinson 72

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makers

errville native Joleen Franklin knew from a young age she was destined to be an artist. “My Mom says it has always been there, that there’s never been a day I haven’t had some kind of crayon or pencil in my hand,” she said. Growing up an only child, art became her passion. “I remember telling my Mom, ‘I’m different, I’m going to travel, and I’m going to do art.’”

After graduating from Tivy High School in 1992 and attending junior college for a brief stint, she did just that, spending the next few years backpacking across Europe and tapping into various artistic interests, from leather work to painting and drawing. “It was kind of vagabond,” she said. “We stayed in an abandoned castle, in caves in Granada... That’s what opened me up.”

She later spent time exploring Ghana and Mexico, where she pursued everything from farming to jewelry design, and running an art gallery in San Miguel de Allende. South America became another home-awayfrom-home for the artist, who gave birth to her daughter, Trinidad, in Brazil in 2004. Together, they lived in São Paulo and Buenos Aires, where Franklin became initiated into the world of street art. “I started going out onto the streets with the older, artsy people down there,” she said.

“I think it developed into something as I was traveling. I was picking up things that were happening around me.”

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Everybody has to have that creative outlet.

I feel like I knew that from a really early age.

It hasn’t always been the most successful road but it has definitely been a happy one.

- Joleen Franklin

Today, Franklin’s many gifts as an artist, a painter, and a muralist specifically are evidenced across Kerrville, where she’s been living and working since 2012. At the River Hills Mall, her two murals reading “Hill Country Kindness” and “Kerrville Strong” have been beacons of hope throughout the pandemic.

Her largest wall to date, a 30-by-25-foot artwork, colors the back of Central Texas Gun & Pawn. “I like the challenge of bigger and bigger walls,” she explained. With larger commissions, the artist enlists the help of a trusted group of girlfriends to help her through the process. “When I have big walls like that, I call the girls in. They come hang out with me and love me … They’re a part of it.”

Without question, the many years of traveling and living abroad have directly influenced Franklin’s style and her appreciation for originality. “I came back to Kerrville and find myself painting bluebonnets and deer which I never thought I’d do, but I’m painting them in my way,” she said.

“For me it’s medicinal, it’s sacred, it heals me. I know that flow goes through me as I’m doing my work.”

While Franklin eschews routine for a more free-flowing process, she admits preparation is key. “I prepare myself for a mural. I don’t just go in and say this is what I’m doing,” she explained. “I actually go in and map it out. It helps me a lot.” Meditation and a mix of musical genres, like reggae and techno, also play into her process.

These days, the artist is managing her own company, Aurora Joleen Designs, where her offerings range from painting to woodwork, stonework, metal art and jewelrymaking. “I feel like if you’re going to be an artist these days, being multi-faceted is important,” she said. She also participates in events like the Kerrville Chalk Festival and the city’s Folk Festival, leaving her mark with her signature color. Regardless of the project or subject matter at hand, be it psychedelic skunks, colorful coyotes, or hummingbirds pausing at a bristling flower, she brings love and intention to every brushstroke.

“Everybody has to have that creative outlet. I feel like I knew that from a really early age,” she shared. “It hasn’t always been the most successful road but it has definitely been a happy one.” R&V

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makers

STRIKING WHILE THE IRON’S HOT FREDERICKSBURG CAST IRON CO. ANSWERS DEMAND

By SALLIE LEWIS

Photos by KIMBERLY GILES

ay and Heather Mallinckrodt are heating up the Hill Country at the Fredericksburg Cast Iron Co. A few years before launching their new venture in 2021, the couple moved to Fredericksburg to take over Heartland Enterprises, a full-service production CNC machine shop that makes large-diameter parts for everything from jet engines to fracking equipment.

At the start of the pandemic, the entrepreneurial couple began thinking about ways they could leverage their TexasGerman heritage, diversify their product offering, and use their experience and expertise in the machining industry to create something new.

As parents to three kids, both Heather and Jay admittedly spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing meals for their growing family. “We have been in search of the right pan for a long time, and we had this idea,” said Heather. “It was somewhat pandemic-driven because our core businesses were a little bit slow, and we were cooking a lot.”

Jay examining a newly forged skillet on site at his Fredericksburg facility.

After studying the competition, the couple felt confident in their abilities to make a simplified, easy-to-use cast iron skillet for families that would stand the test of time. Unlike the coarse, sandpapery skillets that pervade the iron market, the prototype at Fredericksburg Cast Iron Co. was designed with a machine-polished interior surface, thereby creating an extremely smooth, non-stick experience. Ergonomics also came into play with the addition of an oversized handle, a generous helper handle, and an easy-to-use pour spout.

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I REALLY WANTED TO KEEP IT SIMPLE, IF YOU TAKE CARE OF THIS IT WILL LAST FOREVER. - Jay Mallinckrodt

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makers The down spout on each cast iron skillet is a unique feature that most factory made skillets do not incorporate in their design.

Aside from the casting, which is done in Corsicana, every skillet from Fredericksburg Cast Iron Co. is made from start to finish in the Mallinckrodt’s facilities on Kerr Road and Tivydale. There, it undergoes a 10-step, hand-crafted production process, and every one is seasoned by hand so customers can start cooking as soon as they get home.

“It is a completely different experience,” said Jay, who has found that both the handmade construction and the heirloom quality of their product has attracted more and more customers both in and out of the state. Last year, the brand sold roughly 400 skillets online with 25% of sales taking place outside of Texas. Recently, they announced their first retail partner with Fredericksburg’s Blackchalk Home and Laundry on South Lincoln Street.

“Obviously we love this community – we are trying to celebrate it,” he said. “What is really fun is having a quality product with Texas and Fredericksburg branding. There isn’t another cast iron product made in Texas.”

Since their first sale in the summer of 2021, the couple has released just one product: The classic No. 10 skillet, a 10-inch cast iron pan weighing around six pounds and retailing at $160. Furthermore, the website is home to a handful of accessories, like leather trivets and handle sleeves that complement the investment. Currently, they are working on a Comal-sized skillet called the No. 14, and a slightly smaller version, the No. 12.

Until then, Heather admits the No. 10 is a mainstay in their family kitchen. “We cook every day in it,” she said adding, “One of our favorite things to do on a Saturday morning is a frittata, it is like a fridge clean-out.” On their website, the couple shares their special family recipes, from lemon pies and peach cobblers to Texas sheet cake and Cornish hen.

Much like these dishes, the cast iron they make them in is meant to be shared and passed down to loved ones for generations.

“I really wanted to keep it simple,” said Jay. “If you take care of this it will last forever.” R&V

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100% Texas Private Label Extensive Wine List Wine Tastings Small Plates

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Reservations recommended (830) 896-0010 Tuesday - Saturday 12 - 8 PM 82

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turtlecreekolivesandvines.com info@turtlecreekolivesandvines.com 211 Earl Garrett Street, Kerrville, TX 78028

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N O W

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TASTING ROOM HOURS: Thursday - Saturday 11am-6pm Sunday - Wednesday 12pm-5pm EAST, 10915, US-290 Fredericksburg, TX 78624 830-998-8306 slatetheory.com 84

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Just 4.2 miles from downtown Fredericksburg, the estate features 40 acres of vineyards and nearly a dozen boutique Texas brands including the wines of 1851 Vineyards.

The historic farm, settled in 1851, is the location of the first Pioneer Flour Mill, founded by Carl Hilmar Guenther.

WWW.SLATEMILLWINECOLLECTIVE.COM Tasting Room Hours Thursday-Saturday: 11-6pm Sunday-Monday: 12-5pm Cellar tours are available by appointment:

tours@slatemillwinecollective.com For more information about our tasting room:

info@slatemillwinecollective.com

4222 S STATE HWY 16, FREDERICKSBURG, TX 78624 • 830.391.8510 SPRING 22 85

Farm fresh Hill Country bouquets for home, office,weddings and any occasion.

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TOURS BY APPOINTMENT - LARGE OR SMALL WORKSHOPS a WEEKLY DELIVERY SUBSCRIPTIONS a WEDDINGS BACHELORETTE PARTY WORKSHOPS a PRIVATE PARTY WORKSHOPS

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PAUL PERSON: 210.275.4522 NANCY PERSON: 830.992.8411 127 SUNSHINE LANE, FREDERICKSBURG, TX

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CAROLE REED

CAROLE@CAROLEREED.COM

830.992.9446

Broker J.R. Russel Lic# 601430

in the hills

COOL CATS

By SALLIE LEWIS

s a young girl in New Braunfels, Jenna Peters spent her days surrounded by animals. “I have always had a passion for animal welfare,” she said. Growing up, her family had a 10-acre plot of land where horses, cows, goats and cats roamed freely. Looking back, she can still remember “bandaging” one of the goats’ knobby knees by taping toilet paper rolls around its joints.

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in the hills

Knowing this, it is no surprise that her dogged dedication and compassion for animals developed into a career at the Humane Society of the New Braunfels Area (HSNBA).

Today, the former vet tech is the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) coordinator at HSNBA and the President of the New Braunfels Community Cat Coalition (NBCCC). The two organizations work hand-in-hand to alleviate the growing population of feral cats by offering free spay and neuter services within the city of New Braunfels and Comal County.

“Kitten fostering is my passion,” said Peters. “The kittens I have prevented from being born into harsh and unwelcome environments is invaluable to me.” In 2014, a staggering 85% of cats delivered to the Humane Society in New Braunfels by Animal Control or private citizens were euthanized. After the TNR program was implemented in 2016, that number dropped to 42%; by 2021, it was just 14%, with most of those euthanized due to illnesses. The TNR program is to thank for this fast-shrinking kill rate, and for the safe re-entry of sterilized and immunized feral cats in the community.

After the cats are vaccinated and neutered, Peters always tries to convince the original trappers to let them return to their colony. Normally, she’s successful. “Most of the time I can educate them, but if they say no and I feel there is a threat to the cat’s life, they are not returned,” she shared.

If that is the case, they are placed into the organization’s Working Cat Program and put up for adoption.

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IT’S ALL-NATURAL RODENT CONTROL. I’M HOPING THE MORE PEOPLE THAT ARE EDUCATED ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF WINERY AND BREWERY CATS WILL LEAD TO MORE ADOPTIONS. - Jenna Peters

in the hills

Today, this program is growing in popularity as more and more people discover the value of working cats in a barn, brewery, business or home setting. To date, more than 750 cats have been placed by the NBCCC. “There aren’t a lot of people in our area that do this,” said Peters. While she and her team work solely in Comal County, chances are if you travel around, you will see an increasing number of cats at breweries and bars across Texas. Peters herself has seen them in places like BS Brewing in Seguin and the Luckenbach gift shop and bar. The trend is tracking on social media as well, where Instagram accounts like @ distillerycats celebrate the felines at work in businesses around the world.

At wineries and breweries in particular, keeping rodents at bay from chewing through pipes or rummaging through the granaries and cellars, is reason enough to adopt, as is saving a life through the process. “It’s all-natural rodent control,” shared Peters. “I’m hoping the more people that are educated about the benefits of winery and brewery cats will lead to more adoptions.”

Currently, she manages the working cat application and adoption process online at www.nbcats.org/adoptme, where the cats are categorized into different levels depending on their personality. Since launching in 2016, the NBCCC has received many testimonials praising the program, including one from a couple named Ed and Heather. In 2017, the duo adopted a feline named “Momma” after a rash of rodents were eating their chicken feed.

“Momma has kept our barn and pastures rodent-free for 5 + years,” they said. “She also protects our hens and baby chicks from predators as they free range around our barn.

We love this girl and look forward to spending many more years with her helping us keep our barn safe and clean.”

To learn more about the New Braunfels Community Cat Coalition’s Working Cat Program, visit NBcats.org/WorkingCats

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NOW OPEN

38 JENSCHKE LANE | FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS 78624 | WWW.FOYTWINES.COM 90

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v

Sa

n o i t lva "I'll have a

Tito's & Soda, please."

Elevate your experience.

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Salvation Spirits mixologist Sean Lemaster 92

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drinkery

VISTA BREWING

By LEE NICHOLS Photos provided by VISTA BREWING

“Locally sourced” and “farm-to-table” are buzzwords you hear a lot in the restaurant business these days. They sound nice … but what do they really mean?

In the case of Driftwood’s Vista Brewing brewpub, it means this: That Stonewall Peach Lambic beer you are enjoying was aged in casks from William Chris Vineyards in Hye, just 44 miles up the road. From the name, you can probably guess where the peaches came from.

That whiskey barrel-aged stout matured in a cask from Treaty Oak Distilling, 14 miles away in Dripping Springs.

The grain for the whiskey came from Barton Springs Mill, next door to Treaty Oak. The beef in your burger came from Double J Ranch, just 5 miles away.

The limestone-filtered water used to brew your beer came from 450 feet beneath you, pulled from the Middle Trinity Aquifer.

And your meal’s vegetables? “They traveled 300 yards to your plate,” says Vista co-founder Karen Killough, proudly noting that Vista actually has a full-time farmer on staff.

Even the honey they use comes from an on-site apiary.

So yeah, when Vista says local, they mean it. And they’ve been awarded for it — three of their brews have received the national Good Food Award, which takes into account local sourcing of ingredients and sustainable business operations. . illough and her husband Kent, an Austin native, came K into this venture without a hospitality background — she was in computer engineering at Dell, Kent was in finance — but with a clear vision of what they wanted. “.The inspiration for Vista was that my husband and I traveled all over the world, and lived in England for a few years,” Killough says. “We went to a lot of country pubs, some you could walk to, some out of the way in little towns and villages. We had the idea of a pub with great food and great beer — a beautiful place to relax, hang out with your family and your dog, where they don’t rush you out.

A community gathering place. That’s what a pub is — a community living room.”

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drinkery Actually, Vista is substantially more than a living room.

As she speaks, Killough is sitting in her spacious venue clearly built to be an events hall: “We have a lot of rehearsal dinners here,” she says. “[Nearby] Dripping Springs is the wedding capital of Texas.” Future plans include lodging for overnight stays.

“When we moved back to Texas, we wanted to do something outside the corporate world and started working on this idea for a destination brewery — inspired by the country pub, but more of a Hill Country pub.”

Of course, a good pub needs beer, and Vista has it thanks to head brewer Daniel Heisler. In fact, he might be the only non-local thing about the place — Vista hired the veteran beermaker after his stints at New Holland Brewing (Michigan) and Blackberry Farm Brewing (Tennessee).

“One of his specialties is saisons, and that’s a style we’ve always really loved here,” Killough says. It’s a style that is perfectly appropriate to a brewery tied to a farm, as saisons are one of a variety of European styles known as “farmhouse ales.” “It ties to the land, to the farmers — the history of that style in Europe is something we feel strongly about.”

It’s also a style that is particularly good for a brewery relying on Hill Country well water.

“All of our beers except for the stouts are thematically dry, and you get the flavor of the water’s minerality coming through in a lot of them.

“One of the first beers that was fully his recipe that he made here was a dry-hopped saison, and I just … I love that beer.”

One thing this isn’t dry are the barrels they use for aging certain beers. As noted, they rely on local distilleries and wineries for their barrels, and to get maximum flavor into the beer, they move quickly, heading down the highway to the aforementioned Treaty Oak and William Chris as well as others like Still Austin, Milam & Greene, Balcones and other neighbors.

“We try to source the barrels the day that they empty their product out. We’re picking up those barrels when they’re wet, so we’re getting the flavor of their wine or spirit product and the flavor of the barrel.

Now that might sound fancy, but Killough says that mostly, “We’re not doing super-trendy stuff. We’re doing traditional styles that will appeal to a wide range of drinkers, people of all levels of beer knowledge.”

“We’ve done a couple of really cool projects with William Chris Winery in Hye, including a 100-percent ‘spontaneous’ beer, [meaning] we used the yeast and bacteria that was in their wine barrels [rather than store-bought yeasts]. We did another with both them and Lewis Wines where we took some fresh-pressed grape juice and refermented it into some of our already barrel-aged beers.”

Likewise, she says chef Kyle Barker is producing comfort food she describes as “modern Texas fare.” His burger is Vista’s most popular menu item, and she calls the food “not fancy, but elevated.”

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Killough hopes you’ll give all of it a try. “Our number one beer is a flight,” she says. R&V

drinkery

TEXAS CRAFT BREWERS CUP The Texas Craft Brewers Cup, sponsored by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, was held January 29-30 in Austin. To no one’s surprise, Hill Country brewers did quite well.

Here’s a list of local medal winners: TEXAS BREWERY OF THE YEAR (based on cumulative medal points) REAL ALE BREWING, Blanco (large brewery category, more than 800 barrels per year) Pilsner Hans Pils, Real Ale Brewing, Blanco - Silver American & International Lager Altstadt Light, Altstadt Brewery, Fredericksburg - Gold Golden, Blonde & Light Ales Firemans #4, Real Ale Brewing, Blanco - Silver Kölsch Altstadt Kölsch, Altstadt Brewery, Fredericksburg - Bronze Strong German & Czech Lagers River Baptism, Real Ale Brewing, Blanco - Gold

VISTA BREWING 13551 FM 150 Driftwood, TX 78619 512.766.1842 vistabrewingtx.com Wed - Thur 4 - 9 pm Friday 2 - 9 pm Sat 12 - 9 pm Sun 12 - 7 pm San Antonio tasting room: 1333 Buena Vista St San Antonio, TX 78207 Wed - Thur 4 - 9 pm Friday 2 - 9 pm Sat 11 am - 9 pm Sun 11 am - 8 pm

Classic UK Styles Prairie Fire Irish Red, Fitzhugh Brewing, Dripping Springs - Bronze Stout & Porter Texas Cannon Stout, Texas Cannon Brewing, Blanco Silver Belgian & Farmhouse Ales Treeform, Roughhouse Brewing, San Marcos - Gold Texas Sun, Ghost Note Brewing, Dripping Springs - Silver Brett & Mixed Culture Berried, Roughhouse Brewing, San Marcos - Silver 2021 SPON Three Year Blend, Jester King, Austin Bronze Smoke & Chili Beer Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, Pecan Street Brewing, Johnson City - Bronze

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3915 HWY 290 E. • Fredericksburg Yee Haw Ranch www.yeehawranch.com • 830-998-2079 96

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Outfitters

TEXAS HILL COUNTRY’S PREMIER LIVE MUSIC VENUE

Nestled deep in the heart of the beautiful Texas Hill Country, The Backyard in Fredericksburg, TX was opened in 2016 as a dream fueled by a deep love of music, and a passion for making memories with and for the communities & people of Central Texas. Whether you’re a Fredericksburg local, weekend-visitor, or here to experience Texas’ incredibly rich culture — EVO Concerts combines a unique live music experience with its goal of visionary amphitheater offerings, world-class lights & audio, and the hosting of top-tier musicians all within the scenic Hill Country views to create an unforgettable entertainment experience.

Our vision is simple, to be a destination for everyone to come together for a good time.

See ya’ at the show!

PAST ARTISTS: BILLY RAY CYRUS / TRAVIS TRITT / JOSH ABBOTT BAND / PARKER MCCOLLUM GRANGER SMITH /JASON BOLAND / CODY JINKS / RANDY ROGERS / KEVIN FOWLER LEE BRICE / JON WOLFE / MARSHALL TUCKER BAND / WILLIAM CLARK GREEN

CHECK OUT UPCOMING SHOWS AT:

www.evoconcerts.com

@thebackyardamphitheater @evoconcertstx @thebackyardtx @evoconcerts

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Ella and Dietz Fischer, the sibling pair who are the Hill Country's newest distillers.

Dietz spins tunes to keep the mood fun in the distillery's lounge.

Peaches are a natural ingredient and just steps away from the distillery.

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drinkery

DEEP ROOTS IN FOOD AND DRINK DIETZ DISTILLERY IS THE LATEST GENERATION’S ARTISANAL INNOVATION

By KEN ESTEN COOKE Photos by KIMBERLY GILES

Dietz and Ella opened Dietz Distillery in November and they bring an artisanal touch to the Hill Country spirits scene, with the freshest peaches just a hundred yards away.

His sister Ella was happy working in New York doing marketing for a retail boutique. But the pandemic caused the store to shutter, and she no longer had a job. She returned to Texas, temporarily and agreed to help Dietz. Then she came to realize it was a good fit and they partnered to continue the family’s history as a food and drink cornerstone in this part of the world.

“We’re right here by the orchard so we’re able to get fresh peaches that we process the same day they are picked,” she said. “We do peach brandy, it’s a unique thing. We process 4,000 pounds of peaches and get 118 bottles of peach brandy.”

The pair opened November 18 and have seen steady traffic.

The facility also has the advantage of being next to Fischer & Wieser’s Das Peach Haus, long a must-see for visitors seeking peaches, peach wine, jams, sauces and more. They hope to get some crossover traffic.

“We’re picking as ripe as possible because we’re not worried about the shipping or things like that,” Dietz added.

Factoring in the cost of peaches (planting, growing, labor) means a premium product. But one where the product’s freshness is unquestionable.

“We’re super lucky that we have this building,” Elle said.

ietz Fischer and his sister Ella had their paths in life thought out. But having been raised in the family food business, the call back was strong.

In spite of growing up in the food business, Dietz had his sights set on a mechanical engineering degree. But while studying at Texas A&M, he got the bug to learn about the spirits industry. From there, he did an internship with Garrison Bros., the award-winning whiskey distillery in Hye. Then he got the chance to travel to Austria to study fruit distillates with master distiller and family friend Marcus Wieser of Wieser Wachau. There, he learned about unaged fruit spirits, which is a more traditional drink in that part of the world. He learned about apricot and pear brandies. Being from Fredericksburg, using peaches was a natural extension.

After getting a cocktail, visitors can go onto the porch, which looks out over the unique “pine tree forest,” a singular stand of trees in the Hill Country. The father of Mark Wieser, half of Fischer & Wieser, was from the black forest region in Germany, so he bought pines from Texas A&M to raise on his land. Just beyond the pine trees lies the peach orchard.

One of their first products is a “Texas style” gin called Five Judges Gin. It’s named for the five judges that have lived on the property, including J.B. Wieser, Jarvis Wieser and Mark Wieser.

Like the roots of those trees, the Fischer and Wieser family ties to the food and drink industry run deep. dietzdistillery.com

“I thought that it would be cool to do a small farm distillery with the German-Austrian tradition, so I started working on that,” he said. Years later, the plan was harvested into the new distillery.

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Helping Build Communities We Call Home Since 1941

ssbtexas.com 830.997.7575 | 201 W. Main St. | Fredericksburg

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NMLS #402941

THIS AIN’T JUST WINE COUNTRY HOME OF THE FIRST LEGAL BOURBON DIS T IL L E RY IN T E X A S A ND 4 -T IME US MICRO WHISKEY OF THE YEAR Garrison Brothers Distillery in the Texas Hill Country is dedicated to true Southern hospitality. When you’re here, you’ll feel the warmth of our Texas spirit, alongside the aroma of our sweet mash and the soothing hum of our copper pot-stills making more bourbon. Distillery tours take place at 10, noon, 2 and 4. But you don’t have to take a tour to taste our bourbon. We serve our bourbon flights Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 5. You can make your distillery tour reservation here: GARRISONBROS.COM/ TOUR

©️2022 Garrison Brothers Distillery. Garrison Brothers is a registered trademark of Lone Star Distillery LLC. Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey. 47% Alc./Vol. (94 Proof). Cooked, distilled, barreled, and bottled by Garrison Brothers Distillery, Hye, Texas 78635.

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wine dogs

DOG DAYS: PIN OT & G I Z M O A L E X AN DER o f A L EX A N DER V IN EYA RDS

By SALLIE LEWIS

laude Alexander has many passions in life. The Canadian-born entrepreneur is actively pursuing one of them – wine – at Alexander Vineyards, located east of Fredericksburg along the 290 Wine Trail. Music is another love, and one that plays into the vineyard’s guest experience, thanks to a treasured record collection and a state-of-the-art sound system.

Wine and music aside, however, there is no love quite like the one Claude has for his dogs.

Growing up in Montreal, his family got its first German Shepherd when he was just a boy. “I’ve been obsessed with the breed ever since,” he said. Today, his elevenyear-old purebred named Pinot, is a bonafide member of the Alexander clan. Loyal and obedient, he says, “Her temperament is unlike any dog I have ever had.”

Kids visiting the vineyard alongside their parents are even known to clamber, climb, pull and poke at Pinot, with hardly a batted lash. One gentleman got wind of her docile demeanor and brought his daughter for a visit. The father had long wanted a dog for his family, though his twoyear old was terrified. “I squatted down, took her by the hand, and introduced her to Pinot,” Claude remembered.

“Twenty minutes later, she said, ‘Daddy, I want a dog,’ and the guy started crying.”

Balancing Pinot’s peaceful, affectionate nature is her wild and crazy counterpart, a black-and-white Shepherd Border Collie mix named Gizmo, whom Claude rescued from the Kendall County Animal Shelter. “Gizmo has a much more playful side, and he reminds me not to forget that,” said Claude.

At the vineyard, Gizmo channels his spunky, free spirit by running the grounds and chasing deer. Much to Claude’s chagrin, he’s even excelled at catching skunks. On four occasions, he’s returned back home, his proud white chest stained a pungent yellow from repeated spraying. “I’ve suffered the consequences because he stunk for weeks,” Claude laughed. Alas, it’s a small price to pay for living in the country.

Despite their differences, both Pinot and Gizmo are inseparable. Every day, they follow Claude down to the pond on their property to check the progress of the vineyard’s new Lake|Flato-designed tasting room, opening this summer. “They go and inspect with me,” he shared.

“It’s a lot of fun.” R&V

In her eleven years, Pinot has also endured great heartache and tragedy, particularly as Claude grieved the loss of his daughter. “She’s been with me through everything,” he shared. “I think we both helped each other when my daughter was killed. You could tell that she was really down and depressed, and I at times had bad days, and we’d meet on the floor and snuggle. It was very comforting.” Even still, Pinot has a way of consoling her owner. “She’ll come over every now and then and put her paw on me as if she knows I need to feel some affection, which has just been amazing.”

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We’re looking just

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& Sips

Art Classes & Workshops

ART MAKES YO U HAPPY

Children’s Art Programs Private Parties Paint Your Own Pottery Hours Hand Building Pottery Classes DIY Board Art Classes

www.theyellowdoorstudio.com 810 & 808 N. Llano St. • FBG, TX • 830-456-1097

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Handpicked PARTNERS ENDOCRINOLOGY FAMILY MEDICINE INTERNAL MEDICINE GASTROENTEROLOGY GENERAL SURGERY NEUROLOGY OB/GYN ORTHOPEDICS PAIN MANAGEMENT PEDIATRICS PHYSICAL, OCCUPATIONAL AND SPEECH THERAPIES PULMONOLOGY RHEUMATOLOGY VASCULAR SURGERY

Offices in: Fredericksburg Johnson City Kerrville Marble Falls Llano Boerne Schedule today!

(830) 990-1404 hcmmedicalgroup.com years

New patients welcome. Accepting Medicare/Medicaid and Most Insurances.

SPRING 22 105

stompin’ grounds

COVINGTON HILL COUNTRY WINERY

s a young petroleum professional, Cindy Lawson left the Great State of Texas to pursue an opportunity in the port City of Seattle. It was here, where Washington wines were starting to make an impact, she was able to change her love of wine into a passionate business.

By LORELEI HELMKE

Over the 20 plus years she lived in Washington she met, married, and converted her beer loving husband, David Lawson, into a wine lover, too.

As a team, they started Covington Winery and many years later the business boasts 4 tasting rooms in the Washington and one in her home State of Texas. Cindy oversaw the build of a beautiful, inviting new facility along 290, It offers gorgeous long range views and plenty of land for their own vines on site.

Covington Hill Country winery offers extraordinary wines from Washington AVAs, as well as a few from Texas, and at least one with grapes from both regions. Don’t miss this tasting room the next time you’re near Johnson City.

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stompin’ grounds

2019 Chardonnay Boushey Vineyard Yakima Valley Soft, smooth and fleshy, this balanced chardonnay shows a medium hay tone. Aromas of golden delicious apples, and nectarines with hints of cream, bright acidity on the tasty, long finish.

Perfect with baked brie and peach compote or grilled chicken with mango salsa.

2020 Gewurtztraminer Olsen Vineyard Yakima Valley Created in the “orange” style, meaning the skins were left in the juice while fermenting. This process creates incredible body in lighter styled wines. Prepare your senses for peach, apricot and honeysuckle blossoms with a hint of white dust. Racy acidity creates a WOW finish.

The quintessential Thanksgiving wine or a light salad with persimmons.

2020 Field Blend Zinfandel, Primitivo and Petite Sirah Chillable Red A unique wine that seems tailor made for Texas. This is a red wine, not a ròse, showing a dark wild salmon color with essences of pomegranate, Rainier cherries and red plums. Five months in oak imparts hints of tobacco leaf and star anise. Beware, it’s 15% alcohol.

Serve this with Texas BBQ and grilled fajitas.

Covington’s storybook wine, named for the Rio Grande (TX) and Grande Ronde (WA) rivers. It pours into the glass, a deep purple ruby color. A thinker’s wine that delivers black plum, black berry, soft leather, cloves, licorice and sweet smoke all wrapped up in a wonderfully structured red.

Pairing choice: Chateaubriand with a Stilton cheese starter. Better get two bottles.

2018 Zinfandel Stone Tree Vineyard Wahluke Slope, WA The vineyard is known for producing highly rated zinfandels. This brambly zin shows a complex nose of ripe blueberry, black cherry, plum, black licorice, hints of cocoa and sweet smoke. It is fruit forward with integrated tannins for a long, glorious finish.

Partner with cheeses such as Manchego, Havarti, or goat cheese with fig jam.

2018 Syrah Yakima, Walla Walla, Wahluke Slope, Heaven Hills – all in Columbia Valley Classic old-world style Syrah with stunning fruits.

Dense aromas of dark plum, ripe blueberries, cherry pie and floral notes greet the nose. This is a fullbodied, mouth filling Syrah offering balance on its long finish.

A great choice with spareribs or hamburgers.

2019 Tempranillo 100% Tempranillo Texas High Plains This Texas Tempranillo exhibits the classic traits of its Spanish cousins, beautiful dark brick red hues and oldworld masculinity. Bouquets of cranberry, blackberry leather and char envelope the nose. There is an earthiness in this glass. A solid tannin structure hints that this mouthwatering wine could cellar for a while.

Drink with mushroom croquettes or bacon wrapped dates.

2019 Rio Ronde 50% WA Syrah 50% TX Tempranillo

SPRING 22 107

scene

Readers of Rock & Vine came out to celebrate with us at Salvation Spirits.

Diego Martinez

Bobby & Melissa Humphries

Sallie Lewis & Kimberly Giles

ROCK & VINE WINTER LAUNCH PARTY Photos by AVA SNOOZY

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scene

Melissa Humphries, Brooke Rogan & Monica Greene

Julianne King & Christina Harman

Paula Kaiser, Sarah Johnson and Leigh Lacy

Readers of Rock & Vine came out to celebrate with us at Salvation Spirits.

Cecilia Berber-Thayer and Carol Hicks Bolton

Ken Esten Cooke

ock & Vine held its winter issue release party on February 16 at The Speakeasy at Salvation Spirits. And did it ever pack the cozy confines of this new venue.

Jay and Heather Mallinckrodt

Mixologist Sean Lemaster

auditory setting for a lovely evening of great cocktails and conversation.

The event featured fabulous, festive foods by Feast & Merriment and Orobianco, which guests devoured. The stars of the night were the venue’s sumptuous cocktails, made with their own distilled spirits. Piccolina’s Small Batch Italian Ice was also a hit with guests.

Auction items featured Fredericksburg Cast Iron Co., a two-night guest stay from Dwell Well in Kerrville, a twonight stay at La Cantera Resort and Spa, and photos of the last issue’s stunning cover shot from photographer Grant D. Pittman. All proceeds benefited Mercy Gate Ministries, which works to combat sex trafficking.

Live music was provided by crooner Diego Martinez, who was featured in the winter edition. It was the perfect

See you at another Rock & Vine party somewhere in the Hill Country!

SPRING 22 109

THE CLUB

The Locals’ Place

Opening Hours: Thursday - Saturday 5-11 pm Saturday Afternoon: Bluesic - Wine - Bistro Wine Tasting by Reservation 316 Goehmann Ln. Fredericksburg, TX • 830-992-3421

LIVE M US FINE B IC AND I SPECIA STRO LTIES

18 CABINS on 26 acres just two minutes to Main Street along the creek.

The only Vineyard IN Fredericksburg!

Home of the “Cabelas” photo shoots

Barons

The Romantic

830-990-4048

Getaway

www.baronscreekside.com

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Honoring the Past While Celebrating the Present.

100% TEXAS WINES • LIVE MUSIC EVENTS

830.992.3323 • TexasHeritageVineyard.com 3245 E. US Hwy 290 • Fredericksburg SPRING 22 111

drinkery maps Pontotoc

35

SAN SABA 108

113

Lake Buchanan

Florence

Tow

281

Blufftown Buchanan Dam

MASON

LLANO

42, 71 & 84

Inks Lake

Castell

104

Oatmeal

Lake LBJ

87

Sunrise Beach

290

FREDERICKSBURG

7

SEE PAGE 114

12

90

83

Stonewall

32

98

49

107 3

80

Hye

75

KERRVILLE

5 73 5

67 Vanderpool

16

10

BOERNE

281

3 4

6 69

12

DRIPPING SPRINGS

83

33 62

Bulverde

Wineries

Breweries

10. Last Stand Brewing

2.

11. Jester King Brewery

3.

Cibolo Creek Brewing Company

5.

Comfort Brewing

122 N. Plant • Boerne

523 Seventh St. • Comfort

Dodging Duck Brewhaus

402 River Rd. • Boerne

Fitzhugh Brewing

15435 Fitzhugh Road Dripping Springs

Fredericksburg Brewing Company

N

Gruene

NEW BRAUNFELS

W

Distilleries

E S

Highlighted areas on page 114

DISTILLERIES

Altstadt Brewery

4.

183

28 Seguin

9.

Boerne Brewery

35

100

34

12 Fox Brewing

106 Sage Brush • Boerne

112

60

103

6120 E. US Hwy 290 • Fredericksburg

36 Driftwood 35

SAN MARCOS

Canyon City

Smithson Valley

AUSTIN

290

2

Canyon Lake

87

4700 Fitzhugh Rd • Dripping Springs

9

WIMBERLEY

82

BREWERIES

245112 E. Main St. • Fredericksburg Rock&Vine

9 11 10 11 91

39

LEGEND

8.

7

3

Spring Branch

21

Bee Cave

8 1

9

1 15

88

Bandera

7.

50

BOURBON

Sisterdale

53

6.

94

17

COMFORT

Jonestown Lago Vista

Lakeway

109

87

87

3.

99

Luckenbach

18

2.

JOHNSON CITY

Blanco

Center Point

1.

13

61 64

ROUND ROCK

68 Cypress Mill

24

Lake Travis

93

Round Mtn.

58

10

40

Spicewood

WILLOW CITY

45

183 Travis Peak

MAP

25

14

MARBLE FALLS

Horseshoe Bay

15

GEORGETOWN

Liberty Hill

Granite Shoals

RV DRINKERY

Rogers

35

76

Kingsland

31

Andice

Bertram

Burnet

105

102

78

Hitmaker Brewing

11160 Circle Dr • Dripping Springs 12345 Pauls Valley Rd Bldg I & J • Dripping Springs 13187 Fitzhugh Rd • Dripping Springs

12. Kinematic Brewing Company 635 E. Hwy 46, Suite 207 • Boerne

13. Pecan Street Brewing

106 E. Pecan Dr. • Johnson City

14. Pint & Plow Brewing Company 332 Clay St. • Kerrville

15. Real Ale Brewing Company 231 San Saba Court • Blanco

1.

4.

5.

6.

Andalusia Whiskey Company 6462 N. Highway 281• Blanco

7.

Deep Eddy Vodka

8.

2250 E. US Hwy. 290 Dripping Springs

Dripping Springs Vodka

5330 Bell Springs Rd. Dripping Springs

Garrison Brothers Distillery

1827 Hye Albert Rd. • Hye

Hill Country Distillers

723 Front St. • Comfort

Hye Rum

11247 W. US Hwy. 290 • Hye

9.

Iron Goat Distillery

817 Usener Rd. • Fredericksburg

One Shot Distillery and Brewing

31610 Ranch Rd. 12 • Dripping Springs

Revolution Spirits Distilling 12345 Pauls Valley Rd Bldg H Dripping Springs

10. Salvation Spirits

10091 US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

11. Treaty Oak Distilling Company

16604 Fitzhugh Rd. • Dripping Springs

Listing numbers correspond with numbers on map. Locations are approximate not to scale.

WINERIES 1.

12 Fires Winery

30. Cross Mountain

61. Lewis Wines

2.

290 Vinery

31. Dancing Bee Winery (Off Map)

62. Limestone Terrace

290 Wine Castle

32. Das Peach Haus

1851 Vineyards

33. Driftwood Estate Winery

Ab Astris

34. Dry Comal Creek Vineyards

Adega Vinho

35. Duchman Family Winery

Alexander Vineyards

36. Fall Creek Vineyards

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

100 Durango • Johnson City

308 E. Main St. • Fredericksburg

300 W. Main (Hwy. 290) • Johnson City 101 Durango • Johnson City

8060 W. US Hwy. 190 • Rogers

1406 South Hwy.87 • Fredericksburg

4222 S. Hwy. 16 • Fredericksburg 320 Klein Rd • Stonewall

4001 Elder Hill Rd. • Driftwood

1741 Herbelin Rd. • New Braunfels

972 S County Rd. 1623 • Stonewall 6360 Goehmann Lane Fredericksburg

13308 FM 150 W. • Driftwood

2 Locations 18059-A FM 1826 • Driftwood 1820 County Rd. 222 • Tow

Andreucci Wines

2 Locations 8898 US Hwy. 290 308 E. Main St. • Fredericksburg

Arc de Texas

37. Fat Ass Winery Tasting Room 153 E. Main St. • Fredericksburg

38. Fat Ass Ranch Winery

51 Elgin Behrends Rd. • Fredericksburg

4555 Hwy. 281 • Johnson City

10. Armadillo’s Leap Winery

2 Locations 134 E. Main St 6266 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

11. Arrowhead Creek Vineyard

13502 E., US Hwy. 290 • Stonewall

39. Fawncrest Vineyard & Winery 1370 Westside Circle • Canyon Lake

40. Fiesta Winery - 2 locations

147A E. Main St. 6260 US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

41. Flat Creek Estate

24912 Singleton Bend East Rd. Marble Falls

12. Augusta Vin

140 Augusta Vin Ln • Fredericksburg

13. Baron’s Creek Vineyard

2851 Hickory Grove Rd. • Mason

5865 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

14. Becker Vineyards

N

2 Locations 307 E. Main St. 464 Becker Farms Rd. • Fredericksburg

15. Bell Mountain Vineyards

W

463 Bell Mountain Rd. • Fredericksburg

16. Bell Springs Winery / Brewery 3700 Bell Springs Rd. Dripping Springs

17. Bella Vista Ranch

S

3101 Mount Sharp Rd. • Wimberley

18. Bending Branch Winery

142 Lindner Branch Trail • Comfort

19. Bingham Family Vineyards

3915 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

20. Blue Lotus Winery

8500 W Hwy 290 • Hye

21. Branch on High

704 High St. • Comfort

22. Brewbonnet (inside Wildseed farms) 100 Legacy Rd • Fredericksburg

23. Calais Winery

8115 W. US Hwy. 290 • Hye

24. Carter Creek Winery

4064 W US-290 • Johnson City

25. Chisholm Trail Winery

2367 Usener Rd. • Fredericksburg

26. Cicada Cellars

14746 E. US Hwy. 290• Stonewall

27. Compass Rose Cellars Inc. 1197 Hye Albert Rd. • Hye

28. Copper Star Cellars (Off Map) 13217 FM 1117 • Seguin

29. Covington Hill Country Wine 8262 W US HWY 290 • Hye

42. Fly Gap Winery (Off Map)

43. Foyt Winery - coming soon 38 Jenschke Ln. • Fredericksburg

44. Fredericksburg Winery

247 W. Main St. • Fredericksburg

45. French Connection

E

1197 Hye Albert Rd. • Hye

46. Georgetown Winery

715 Main St. • Georgetown

47. Grape Creek Vineyards

10587 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

48. Grape Creek Vineyard on Main 223 E. Main St. • Fredericksburg

49. Hahne Estates Winery

14802 US Hwy. 290 East • Stonewall

50. Hawk’s Shadow Estate Vineyard

7500 McGregor Ln. • Dripping Springs

51. Heath Sparkling

10591 US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

52. Hilmy Cellars

12346 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

53. Hill Country Cellars & Winery 3540 S. Hwy 16 Ste 2D • Bandera

54. Horn Wineries

9953 E. US Hwy. 290 • Hye

55. Hye Meadow Winery 9953 US Hwy. 290 • Hye

56. Inwood Estates Winery

10303 US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

57. Kalasi Cellars

414 Goehmann Ln • Fredericksburg

58. Kerrville Hills Winery

3600 Fredericksburg Rd. • Kerrville

59. Kuhlman Cellars

18421 E. US Hwy. 290 • Stonewall

60. La Cruz de Comal Wines 7405 FM 2722 • Canyon Lake

3209 W. US Hwy. 290 • Johnson City 101 Rocky Meadows Lane Wimberley, TX

92. Southold Farm + Cellar 10474 Ranch Road 2721 Fredericksburg

93. Spicewood Vineyards 1419 CR 409 • Spicewood

63. Longhorn Cellars

94. Stone House Vineyard

64. Longhorn Hills and Winery

95. Tejas Winery

65. Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards

96. Texas Heritage Vineyards

66. Lost Draw Cellars

97. Texas Wine Collective

67. Lost Maples Winery

98. Turtle Creek Winery

68. McReynolds Winery

99. Texas Hills Vineyard

69. Mendelbaum Winery/Cellars

100. Three Dudes Winery

70. Messina Hof Winery

101. Torr Na Lochs

71. Murphy's Cellars

102. The Vineyard at Florence

72. Narrow Path Winery

103. The Vintage Cellar

315 Ranch Rd. 1376 • Fredericksburg 555 Klappenbach Rd. • Johnson City 6009 US Hwy. 290. • Fredericksburg 113 E. Park St. • Fredericksburg 34986 Farm Market 187 • Vanderpool 706 Shovel Mountain Rd. • Cypress Mill 10207 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg 9996 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg 120 Fort McKavett St • Mason 2 Locations FM 1623 (South of Hye) • Albert 111 E. Main St. • Fredericksburg

73. Newsom Vineyards 717 Front St. • Comfort

74. Pedernales Cellars

2916 Upper Albert Rd. • Stonewall

75. Pelota Wines, Inc.

3209 US Hwy. 290 • Johnson City

76. Perissos Vineyards

7214 W. Park Road 4 • Burnet

77. Perspective Cellars

247 E. Main St. • Fredericksburg

78. Pilot Knob Vineyard 3125 CR 212 • Bertram

79. Pontotoc Vineyard

320 W. Main St. • Fredericksburg

80. Ron Yates Wines

6676 W. US Hwy. 290• Hye

81. Safari

5479 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

82. Saint Tryphon Vineyard 24 Wasp Creek Rd • Boerne

83. Salt Lick Cellars

1800-C FM 1826 • Driftwood

84. Sandstone Cellars (Off Map) 211 San Antonio St. • Mason

85. Santa Maria Cellars

12044 S. Hwy. 16 • Fredericksburg

86. Signor Vineyards

362 Livesay Lane • Fredericksburg

24350 Haynie Flat Rd. • Spicewood 8638 US 290 West • Hye 3245 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg 10354 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg 211 Earl Garrett Street • Kerrville, TX 878 RR 2766 • Johnson City 125 Old Martindale Rd. • San Marcos 7055 W. State Hwy. 29 • Burnet 8711 W. FM 487 • Florence

6258 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

104. Thirsty Mule Winery & Vineyard 101 CR 257 • Liberty Hill

105. Timber Ridge Winery

2152 Timber Creek Rd. • Pipe Creek

106. Untamed Wine Estates 202 RM-1320 • Johnson City

107. Vinovium

214 Edmonds Avenue • Johnson City

108. Wedding Oak Winery

2 Locations 316 E. Wallace (Off Map) • San Saba 290 Wine Rd., • Fredericksburg (Under construction)

109. Westcave Cellars Winery & Brewary 683 Ranch Rd 1320, Johnson City

110. Western Edge Cellars

228 W. Main St. • Fredericksburg

111. William Chris Vineyards 10352 US Hwy. 290 • Hye

112. Wimberley Valley Winery

2825 County Road 183 • Driftwood

113. Wines of Dotson Cervantes 13044 Willis Street • Pontotoc

114. Winotus

115 E. Main St. • Fredericksburg

115. Woodrose Winery

662 Woodrose Lane • Stonewall

116. Zero 815 Winery

11157 W. US Hwy. 290 • Hye

87. Singing Water Vineyards 316 Mill Dam Rd. • Comfort

88. Sister Creek Vineyards 1142 Sisterdale Rd. • Boerne

89. Six Shooters Cellars

6264 E. US Hwy. 290 • Fredericksburg

90. Slate Mill Collective

4222 S State Hwy 16 • Fredericksburg

91. Solaro Estate Winery 13111 Silver Creek Rd. Dripping Springs

SPRING 22 113

drinkery maps

FREDERICKSBURG 16

22

290

65

Rd

Meusebach Creek Rd.

BLUMENTHAL

1376

69 56

86

38

52

115

47 51 43

14

Albert

fort

111

59 6 116

6 74

HYE 20 55 27 45

4

1623 72

ALBERT

Rd

CAIN CITY

10

97

.

Rd

io on

-Cain nbach LuckeCity Rd.

70

8

290

STONEWALL

30 & 106

Lower Albert Rd.

13 63

26

11

Hahn Rd.

ROCKY HILL 81

89 7

LBJ STATE HISTORICAL LBJ NATIONAL PARK HISTORICAL STATE PARK RANCH Pedernales River

Upper

nt Old San A

19

Pedernales River

Jenschke Lane

96

101 2 40

Luckenbach Rd.

290 87

Woodland Dr.

33

Goehmann Lane

57

Hye Albert Rd

Gellermann Lane

Goehmann Lane

Klein Rd.

5

Old

Com

LUCKENBACH LEGEND Wineries

WINE CORRIDOR

Breweries

Distilleries

DOWNTOWN FREDERICKSBURG W. CENTRE ST.

PECAN ST.

ELM

W. COLLEGE ST.

TRAVIS ST.

ORCHARD ST.

FREDERICKSBURG

RV DRINKERY MAP

16

SCHUBERT ST.

PIONEER MUSEUM

N W

72 114 40 37

44 SAN ANTONIO ST.

EK ST

E. CRE

16

UFER ST.

PARK ST.

66

Rock&Vine

29 48

8

MUSEUM OF THE PACIFIC WAR

14

77

MAIN STREET

8

87

E S

10

LINCOLN ST.

MARKTPLATZ

LLANO ST.

110

ADAMS ST.

ORANGE ST.

79

VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER

AUSTIN ST.

S WASHINGTON

MAIN STREET

MILAM ST.

EDISON ST.

BOWIE ST.

ACORN ST.

AUSTIN ST.

CROCKETT ST.

SCHUBERT ST.

114

TRAVIS ST.

290

1 95 3 54 23

WELCOME TO YOUR HOME IN THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY. Discover our family-owned, boutique wine resort in a rustic-meets-upscale oasis in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Stay in our spacious villas with luxury amenities.

Pamper yourself in The Spa. Whether you’re visiting for a day or a much needed get away, Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa is the perfect escape.

WINE, DINE & BREW Equal parts rustic and refined, Old 290 Brewery combines Hill Country craft beer with hearty, Texas-inspired cuisine featuring locally-sourced ingredients. Enjoy awardwinning wines inspired by a founding family of Texas Wine Country. In true Lone Star State style, enjoy live entertainment every Friday and Saturday night.

4064 West US Highway 290 | Johnson City, Texas 78636 855.729.0443 | reservations@cartercreek.com | CarterCreek.com

SPRING 22 115

FREDERICKSBURG General Store TEXAS

Your Fredericksburg Souvenir Headquarters We have something for everyone. Open seven days a week, earlier and later than most others.

116

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143 E. Main St. ~ 830.990.4100 www.fbgEnEralStorE.coM

Proud member of

SPRING 22 117

END

notes

Recipes provided by ASHLEY ODOM, FEAST & MERRIMENT

SWEET PEA + MINT CROSTINI WITH GOAT CHEESE

BLACKBERRY + THYME MARGARITA

Crostini 1 French baguette, cut into 24 (1/4-inch thick) slices 2 tbsp olive oil 1/8 tsp kosher salt

8 fresh blackberries (local if you can find them!)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves 1 Lime Squeezed 1-2 tablespoons Fain’s Honey (if needed to sweeten) 2 teaspoons orange zest 2 ounces silver tequila or smokey mezcal Waterloo sparkling water, for topping

Sweet Pea Puree 2 cups frozen green peas, thawed 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped 3 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 1/4 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper Lemon Goat Cheese 1 cup CKC cheese (or your favorite local variety) 1 tsp lemon zest 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1/4 tsp kosher salt Fresh mint leaves, for garnish Directions For the crostini, preheat oven to 400ºF. Place bread slices in a single layer on a non-stick baking sheet. Brush one side with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake 4 minutes, flip and bake 4-5 minutes more, until the edges are golden and crispy. Remove from oven and set aside.

For the pea puree, using a food processor or blender, combine green peas, mint leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse until mixture is spreadable but slightly chunky. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix goat cheese with lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. To assemble your crostini, spread a generous spoonful of pea puree over each crostini. Top each piece with a small spoon of goat cheese mixture and garnish with a mint leaf, if desired.

118

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Instructions Run a lime wedge around the rim of your glass and coat in flaky salt and turbinado sugar.

In a cocktail shaker or glass jar, add blackberries, thyme, lime juice, honey (if using), and orange zest. Muddle all of the ingredients together, squashing everything to release the juices from the fruit.

Add the tequila or mezcal. Fill with ice and shake until combined. Strain into your prepared glass. Top with sparkling water, if desired. Serve with fresh thyme sprigs and a few blackberries. Prost!

Fredericksburg’s first one-stop destination to sip, savor + stay.

An elevated tasting room experience featuring English Newsom Cellars.

Sitting on 140 acres located on the Pedernales River. The Resort features on-site cottages for rent, The Edge tasting room, a five-story wine memberexclusive Tower, a seasonal food menu, incredible water features, golf putting green, and much more.

English Newsom Cellars is proud to be 100% Texasgrown, with one of the largest production facilities in the state. From the stem of the vine to the stem of the glass, each English Newsom wine is carefully crafted in the heart of the Texas High Plains.

T H E E D G E | T H E T O W E R | T H E C OT TA G E S | THE STORE | THE MARKET | THE CELLAR Discover more at www.TheResortAtFredericksburg.com

SPRING 22 119

We don’t just sell the Texas Hill Country…

WE LIVE HERE.

Since 1965, Fredericksburg Realty has been known as the premier real estate brokerage firm in the Texas Hill Country. Over the years, we’ve helped families and investors discover the property of their dreams, from second homes to sprawling ranches and everything in between. Clean country air. Rolling green pastures. Breathtaking golden sunsets. Discover what could be, from our family to yours.

8 3 0 - 9 97- 6 5 3 1 F R E D E R I C K S B U R G R E A LT Y.CO M 120

Rock&Vine