The post Thirsty Mule Winery & Vineyard appeared first on Texas Wine Lover.
The Thirsty Mule Winery & Vineyard is located in Liberty Hill and is owned by Dan and Becca Marek. The Mareks also own Georgetown Winery so the Thirsty Mule is a sister winery with a lot more space available than in the downtown square of Georgetown location. The winery opened in May 2015.
When you arrive at the winery, you can immediately see a difference from other wineries, as the winery is the first underground wine tasting bar and winery in Texas. A portion of the tasting room is visible from the hillside from which it was dug out. This is evident inside the tasting room too with a glass enclosed area that shows how the hill looks with the rocks from which the tasting room was created.
Four feet of ground are on top of the tasting bar. The adjacent building is the production building and all wines for the Thirsty Mule and Georgetown Winery are produced in the large building.
Tastings are done while standing at the large 3,400 square foot tasting bar. There is a tasting fee for your selection of four wines, but these are 2 ounce pours! The tasting fee also includes the souvenir wine glass you used for the tasting. The tastings are poured directly from the uncorked bottles. A popular beverage offered is a margarita made with agave wine from Mexico.
The wines offered at the Thirsty Mule are different than the wines offered at Georgetown Winery. These are some of the wines available at the Thirsty Mule:
- Pinot Blanc
- Chardonnay (80% Chardonnay and 20% Semillon)
- Tempranillo
- Malbec
- Merlot
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Sweet Blush (Strawberry)
- Sweet White (Pear)
- Muscat
- Sweet Red (Merlot)
- Sweet Mule (Port style wine)
Dan Marek told me the two white wines are from California because he was unable to find Texas growers on a short notice to supply the new winery. The sweet wines are Blanc du Bois based and then sweetened and flavored.
While tasting or enjoying a glass of wine, there is a large selection of food that can be enjoyed including cheese, crackers, pub mix, chocolates, and other snacks. You can even have a pizza delivered to you at the winery. There is a nice gift shop in the tasting room with clothing and wine accessories.
Live music is often held at the winery and while I was there, a very good keyboardist was playing and a large group of people enjoyed listening to him while drinking wine at the tasting room’s tables. In another room of the tasting bar is a banquet room that seats 50 people. Overall between all the rooms of the winery and outside, they can seat 300 people.
Tours are not yet available of the winery but they are getting ready to offer them. There is a wine club which wine lovers can join.
The property is eight acres and has a running creek. Want to see the property? Then check out this great drone video from Keith George of Texas in Pixels. Texas Wine Lover will be working with Keith to showcase more drone videos from him in the future.
The post Thirsty Mule Winery & Vineyard appeared first on Texas Wine Lover.