Pontita Vineyard and Winery is located in Spring Branch and is owned by Pat Clair who is also the winemaker. The winery opened in 2019. Pontita translates into “little bridge” which is their goal to help bridge the gap between people and bring them together over good times and great wines.
We were greeted at the door when we arrived and were led to a pavilion in the back of the winery on a beautiful day where we would enjoy our tasting. The pavilion is located next to their young vineyard.
We were told the story of the winery and how they specialize in Rieslings. We also learned besides wine tasting, the winery also hosts vineyard weddings, receptions, private parties, and other special events. The winery has plans to expand in the future to become more of a wedding venue. The winery is very generous in the community by helping support the Crisis Center of Comal County.
Tastings include Pontita’s four Riesling wines and/or a red wine flight of four. We love Rieslings so we did not ask which red wines they have from elsewhere. They also have bottles and glasses available from other wineries.
These are the four Pontita wines available when we visited:
- Titannic – dry tannic American Riesling – Lodi, CA
- Rarity – dry Riesling – Lodi, CA
- Riesling – dry tart apple Riesling – Lodi, CA
- Riesling – semi-sweet Riesling – Lodi, CA
The owner and winemaker Pat Clair gets juice in from elsewhere and makes the wines at the winery. He prefers getting Riesling juice outside of Texas.
Pat Clair
We were fortunate to meet Pat Clair at the end of our tasting since he was busy doing other winery work that day.