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Wine Guide 2003

16 Hill Country wineries offer holiday tastings

By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
November 12, 2003

Thousands of wine fanciers will be lining up to sip holiday spirits across the Hill Country in December.

As part of their annual Holiday Wine Trail, 16 Hill Country wineries will be hosting special tastings the weekends of Dec. 6-7 and 13-14.

Along with sampling the wines for a small fee at many of the establishments, visitors will find a variety of special activities including wine and food pairings, caroling and art shows.

A new wine collection also will be amassed by a limited number of the aficionados. For $30, 200 of the wine trail participants can obtain a grapevine wreath and a different ornament for it at each of the wineries.

"We've all done special ornaments with the name of the winery and the year," says Kathy Gilstrap of Texas Hills Vineyard near Johnson City.

Her wire-wrapped white star has the vineyard and year in red letters. Pillar Bluff Vineyards, for example, has a snowman holding a cork.

The wreath is a popular item. About two-thirds of them had been reserved by early this week. The ornaments and wreath aren't the only draw, however. Hundreds of other wine sippers make the trek for the tastings and related activities.

Last year, Gilstrap says, more than a thousand visitors came through the winery each of the two weekends. She expects the same this year.

For more information or to reserve a wreath, register on-line at texaswinetrail.com or call (830) 868-2321.

To see a map of the Hill Country wineries, click here.

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