The Lindheimer Chapter’s February meeting featured Victoria Raven with Esperanza Vineyard and Esperanza Winery, speaking on native grapes. Located in Blanco, Texas, at 115 Main Street, the mother/daughter owners are highly adept in their craft, using a lifetime of honed skills.
Our lecture covered the importance of native Texas grapes, which have been hybridized into rootstocks used in vineyards worldwide to prevent infestations such as (1) the Phylloxera infestation in European vineyards caused by almost microscopic, pale yellow, sap-sucking insects, or (2) Pierce’s Disease, caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which is spread by xylem-feeding leafhoppers known as sharpshooters.
Native Texan grapes are important not only for us and our wildlife, but for the sustainability of the global vineyards and wine industry through the hybrid rootstock varieties in use today.
There are 13 native grape species and 100 named varieties of wild grapes in Texas, more than any other state. Here are 3 important examples:
- Vitis mustangensis – The Mustang Grape. In the 1800s, this was the grape used to make wine by European settlers in Texas after the European vinifera grapevine cuttings they brought with them died.
- Vitis berlandieri – The Winter Grape. Growing in limestone hills and creek bottoms, it gained its name “Winter Grape” since the grapes can hang until a winter freeze comes and makes them sweeter. Vitis berlandieri was on top of Texas grape horticulturalist Thomas Munson’s list of grapes to use as rootstock in the late 1800s to solve the Phylloxera infestation in European vineyards. As a result of Thomas Munson’s work in the 1800s, several Texas native grape species are still used in hybridized rootstocks used in vineyards worldwide.
- Vitis aestivalis – The Summer Grape. Preferring a drier, upland habitat, grapes ripen from mid- to late-summer. Its interspecies hybrids include the wine-producing grape species of Norton and have genetic linkage to Black Spanish (Lenior) and Blanc Du Bois grapes used in Texas for making wine.
Voted Best Winery in Blanco County for 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, Esperanza Winery has developed important skills in grafting rootstock to obtain palatable varietals. Also, knowing the soil type and elevation a particular type of grape prefers is crucial for the vine to thrive.
Don’t take my word for it. Tastings are available at the Blanco, Texas location at 115 Main Street. You are encouraged to go see for yourself! Explore your options at https://www.esperanzawinery.com
Prost!!!