Lewis Estate Vineyards
5 Lions Vineyard - Texas Hill Country AVA
Our philosophy is that great wines are made in the vineyard. We focus on quality farming with sustainable methods in our own vineyards and work with growers who are focused on the same goals. Our main goal is to build organic matter and promote fungal populations in the soil. We do this through careful management of cover crops, rotating our own sheep and chickens through the vineyard, not using herbicides ever, not tilling or ripping the soil, and using organic solutions for disease, pests and fertilization whenever possible.
In Spring of 2014 we planted our estate vineyard with Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão, Alicanté Bouschet, Tannat and Arinto. We’ve since ripped out Arinto, and are replanting that block with Mourvèdre in the Spring of 2024. In April of 2023 we planted about 1.25 acres of Verdelho in the lower block.
Doug worked with Touriga and Tinto Cão while at Pedernales Cellars Estate vineyard, and quickly realized their potential for quality and the suitability to Hill Country terroir and climate. When Doug and Duncan started helping the Strickler's farm Round Mountain Vineyard in 2011, Touriga and Tinto Cão were already established and performing well.
After tasting Tannat wines from Tablas Creek in Paso Robles back in 2009, our interest in this obscure variety began to grow. Tannat is a Basque variety, grown in southwestern France and in Uruguay. Tannat has thick skins, lots of tannin, and high natural acidity making it ideal for Texas' rough growing conditions. Our grower, Jim Johnson from Tio Pancho Vineyards, and our friend Allan Fetty from Westcave Cellars, were two of the first growers to plant Tannat in the Hill Country, and the fruit from both vineyards have been very promising.
Alicanté Bouschet is a cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache, and grown all over the wine world. It is an important variety in southern Portugal, most notably in Alentejo, and has thick skins and red-flesh, resulting in very dark colored wines, that are really useful for blending.
Arinto is a white grape grown all over Portugal, and maybe most well known from an area called Bucelas. Known for retaining high natural acidity, even in the hottest growing conditions prompted us to explore this little know variety. While some aspects of Arinto are ideal for parts of Texas, its susceptibility to downey mildew and our extremely shallow hillside soils made it hard to produce much of a crop at our site. We’re replanting this block to Mourvèdre in 2024.
Verdelho is another Portuguese white variety, most likely indigenous to the Azores or Madeira. Also very prominent in Australia, where it produces floral, fruity wines with good acidity. We fell in love with Verdelho after making it from Jim Johnson’s old vineyard near Bend. Through the years we’ve learned this variety is very resistant to disease, drought and many of the other challenges we face. We planted our first block of Verdelho in spring of 2023!
Recent vintages on our farm:
In 2016 we pulled just enough fruit to produce the small-lot 2016 Estate Rosé. 2017 and 2018 were very different but both good vintages.
2019 was very tough, we lost 90% of our biggest crop to date to a severe hail storm in early July. What was harvested was fortified during fermentation.
2020 was a solid year, with very good weather for the majority of the growing season. Decent production and quality, although a lot of retraining from the hail in 2019 was required.
2021 was our worst vintage yet, starting with winter storm Uri and then 38”of rain from May 1st-August 15th. We lost the entire crop to disease from the excessive rain and hail.
2022 was an epic drought, with only 7” of rain in the entire growing season. Yields were incredibly low between the drought and retraining from 21’s winter storm damage.
2023 started out with extremely early budbreak in February, pushing harvest into July’s “heat dome” with extreme temperatures. Harvest was fast and furious to keep ahead of the grapes ripening too mych. While harvest was very challenging, many of the wines are already showing well.
Texas Hill Country AVA
The largest viticultural area in the state and the second largest in the United States, comprised of 58 different soil associations distributed over an area of approximately 9 million acres. This area sits on the Edwards plateau with many hills and steep canyons. The elevation ranges from 425 to 2,400 feet with the areas of lowest elevation in the south and north east end of the region. The major soil texture types in the hill country AVA include clay loam, clay, and sandy clay loam. (Texas A & M)
*Hickory Sands AVA coming soon!!!
High Plains AVA
The Texas High Plains is the second largest AVA in Texas and third largest in the U.S. with a total area of approximately 8 million acres. It rises above the Caprock Escarpment to an elevation between 3,000 to 4,000 feet, in west Texas. The lofty elevation combined with low annual precipitation creates a favorable climate with relatively cool night temperatures during fruit ripening. (Texas A & M)
“The Rest”
We source the hybrid variety Blanc Du Bois from Starry Night Farms near Industry in Austin County. We’ve worked with BdB from all over east Texas and the Gulf Coast and hope to see more growers planting as it has potential to make several delicious styles of wine.
We source Sangiovese from High Cross Vineyards near Sonora on the edge of the Edwards Plateau where it meets the Chihuahuan Desert. The combination of a longer growing season, low humidity and shallow soils make this an ideal site for varieties like Sangiovese, Syrah and Tempranillo.
We work with the following vineyards:
Bear Vineyard (Formerly Tio Pancho)
Klein Vineyard Ranch
High Cross Vineyards