The Texas Hill Country is becoming one of the most coveted wine destinations in the world. With the attraction of tourists to the Hill Country, tasting rooms are opening there from wineries that already have a presence in other states and countries. Most of those wineries are not showing an interest in making Texas wine and instead sell their out-of-state wines. Foyt Winery and Museum is one winery that will be an exception.
Foyt Wine Collective today owns and operates a professional Indy Car race team, winery in Sonoma County, a tasting room in Speedway, Indiana, near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the Foyt Winery and Museum in Fredericksburg. Cousins, A.J. Foyt IV and Larry Foyt began Foyt Family Wines to pay tribute to A.J. Foyt and his racing career. A.J. Foyt’s professional career spanned four decades from the 1950s to the 1990s, and is the only driver to have won the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Daytona 500, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. A.J. Foyt was born in Houston, Texas, and he and his family members still reside in Texas, so the tasting room in Texas is only fitting.
The Fredericksburg tasting room opened in 2021. When I first visited the winery, construction was still occurring around the tasting room, but it was still an enjoyable place to do a tasting. A vineyard was being planted and there were plans for more buildings in the future, along with the plan to create Texas wines.
I was surprised on my most recent visit since I was expecting to go to the entrance that was used before, but that entrance had been moved to the opposite side of the tasting room. This was appropriate though since there were now other buildings nearby with the walkway separating the buildings in the middle. A recent addition of a checkerboard patio with artificial turf and tile joins two buildings and the tasting room.
When I walked in the door to the tasting room, I was greeted by John with a sparkling wine, and learned the wine is the start of one’s tasting. The tasting menu lists the wine as “Blanc de Blancs, No. 1” and you might wonder what the No. 1 means. As I mentioned earlier, the wines pay tribute to A.J. Foyt’s racing career. On the back of the tasting menu is a cheat sheet for each of the numbered wines. In this case, No. 1 said, “A.J. & Dan Gurney dominated the 1967 24 hours of Le Mans, also created the champagne spray.” The champagne spray is used by winning Formula 1 race teams to celebrate their wins.
These were the wines that were available at the time of my tasting. To not spoil everything for you, I won’t tell what the numbers mean, so that will be a nice surprise for you when you visit Foyt Winery and Museum to do a tasting.
- 2022 Blanc de Blancs, No. 1 – Napa Valley
- 2021 Sauvignon Blanc, No. 60 – Sonoma Coast
- 2019 Chardonnay, No. 67 – Los Carneros, Sonoma County
- 2021 Pinot Noir, No. 61 – Sonoma Coast
- 2021 GSM, Texas Justice, No. 97 – (40% Syrah, 30% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache, 10% Carignane) – California
- 2021 Meritage, No. 72 – (87.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.3% Merlot, 4.3% Touriga Nacional, 4.3% Cabernet Franc) – Dry Creek Valley
While I was doing the tasting and saw the Texas Justice GSM, I thought that was their first Texas wine. But the No. 97 for Texas Justice means “1997, at Texas Motor Speedway, a disagreement erupted, a scuffle broke out. A.J. walked away and kept the trophy.”
So, it was obvious what my next question was. What is the progress of making Texas wines? The answer was that in spring 2024 Foyt Winery and Museum should present their first Texas wines. There will be 10 acres of vineyard planted at the Fredericksburg location and right now 1/2 acre of Tannat has been planted, so the Texas grapes will need to come from elsewhere.
The tasting room has a Formula 1 car at one end ready for selfies, and along with photos on the wall, I thought that must be the Museum part of the name. I was mistaken. An adjacent building will house the museum, and I was able to get a quick look at the room that is still in the planning stages. There are currently three cars in the museum that are related to A.J. Foyt, and another car, an Oldsmobile Aerotech, will still be arriving. A.J. Foyt used such a car and holds the closed course speed record with an average speed of 257.123 miles per hour on August 27, 1987.
Future Museum
The plan is to do a tour and tastings that will start in the new building with the cars, get a tour of the facility, and end with the wine tastings. The whole experience is still being planned. Until then, the tasting room is ready to greet you now and in the spring with their first Texas wines.