Thanks to the Austin Alfa Romeo owners club for stopping by Westcave Cellars Winery Saturday October 13th!
“The Austin Alfa Romeo Owners of the Hill Country discovered the ambiance and pleasures of Westcave Cellars near Dripping Springs, Texas on Saturday Oct. 13 as they brought nearly 40 member and friends with their cars to the Westcave vineyard for wine, music and slow roasted pig.
Local automobile enthusiast clubs are discovering that doing single day road trips and drives just a short distance from Austin can deliver a wonderful drive through the Hill Country that includes a visit to the growing number of wineries nearby that offer good wines, lively music, luscious picnic settings and tasty food that adds to the road trip experience for the members.
Westcave Cellars, located on Hamilton Pool Road just West of the well known Hamilton Pool Preserve in Travis County near Dripping Springs, is now in their third year of crushing and bottling wines made exclusively from Texas grapes including those from their own eleven acres of vines.
Opening in 2010, Westcave bottled just 1,300 cases of several varieties from their vineyard plus grapes and juice from other Texas growers. From the beginning, Westcave owners, Margaret and Allan Fetty wanted to offer not only good wines but also include a comfortable atmosphere to enjoy the vineyard and its wines in a relaxing picnic-like atmosphere.
Shortly after opening, they added a Texas sized stone roasting pit to the property and began offering their signature whole North Carolina style barbecue for special events including catering for group events. North Carolina style whole hog barbecue is “vinegar” style turning a whole hog into a delectable meal in just a few hours. Allan gets his whole pigs for roasting exclusively from Harvest House Market in Johnson City.
The pig roaster led to adding a bandstand for local bands and groups to provide music on Sundays and at special or catered events.
Saturday, against the backdrop of the 40 or so Alfa Romeos, Triumphs, Morgans, Coopers and several other brand member cars parked in front of the vineyard, a local favorite duo, The Pod, consisting of Johnny Harrison and Gerhardt Gast, entertained with an eclectic blend of blues, pop, rock, gospel, folk, and original music. Gerhardt plays guitar and mandolin, and Johnny handles most of the vocals and harmonica.with a wide range of appropriate songs from a range of generations.
Westcave Cellars, in their second year (2011), produced just under a 1000 cases of wine due to the impact of the severe drought limiting the their grape harvest and availability of Texas grapes overall. In the face of the challenging year, Margaret and Allan pushed ahead planting additional vines and expanding the crushing, storage and bottling operation for 2012.
Now, in the Fall of 2012, Westcave Cellars has crushed 51 tons of grapes filling their stainless steel vats and French oak barrels with over 6,500 gallons of all Texas grape juice that will yield around 3,000 cases in their third year (2012-2013) of production.
Available now at Westcave are their Merlot, White Merlot, Viognier, Ruby Cabernet, Syrah, Muscat Blanc, Sweet Red and Sweet White. Westcave will be blending and bottling many of the same this year and will be adding a Malvasia and at least one Estate variety late in 2012 or early 2013.
Sadly, one of my favorites, White Zinfandel, is now sold out (I bought the last 6 bottles last month) and will not be available this year as the grape harvest for the White Zinfandel did not meet their quality standards. For sure, look for it again in the Fall of 2013 or Spring of 2014.
Westcave Cellars wines can also be found in several Hill Country bistros and tasting rooms.
Westcave Cellars is a member of the well known Texas Wine Trail organization that includes wineries all over Hill Country including those located farther West in Hill Country.
More recently, they are a founding member of the Dripping Wine Trail which includes a number of close-in wineries and related businesses working together to encourage enjoyment of the Hill Country wine experience just minutes away from Austin.
Westcave Cellars holds special events about once per month that includes music, wine tasting and good food while watching the day come to a close with the sun setting over the vineyards. For special occasions like Fourth of July, Allan fires up the “hog size” griller and roasts a whole hog with all the trimmings.
Westcave Cellars also holds special tasting events for groups (including auto enthusiast clubs) that includes music, food catered in (groups can arrange their own catering) or a whole pig North Carolina style from the stone roaster.
The Westcave Cellars tasting room is in the vineyard at 25711 Hamilton Pool Road, Round Mountain, Texas, 78663. Hours for the tasting room are Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm, Sundays 12 pm to 6 pm and other days of the week by appointment. Families and children are especially welcome.
You can also follow them and their events on Facebook at Westcave Cellars.
If you are a Central Texas auto club group looking for a single day road trip with a good drive, wine, music and North Carolina roasted pig, take a look at visiting Westcave Cellars.”
