Wine For the People was founded by Rae Wilson in 2010 and she introduced her first Dandy Rosé wine in 2014. I met Rae when I attended the first Texas Wine Revolution in 2016 and at that time, she did not have a winery but a wine that people loved.
Her first tasting room came in 2020 when she and Randy Hester of C.L. Butaud opened a shared tasting room near Dripping Springs. Rae moved the tasting room in 2022 to share a space with restaurant Spread & Co. in the Austin city limits. Big news came in December 2023 when it was announced that Wine For the People would be joining the William Chris Wine Company and taking over the former location of Lost Draw Cellars in Fredericksburg in January 2024 since Lost Draw had moved to its new location in Johnson City.
I finally had a chance to visit the new Wine For the People tasting room on a Sunday soon after they opened. I had been a former Lost Draw Cellars wine club member, so I knew the location well. Upon first look, the outside of the tasting room had changed with new signage but everything else looked similar at first glance. The inside of the tasting room was completely different. The right wall, which was previously adorned with what I think was the best use of wine barrels and staves to hold wine bottles and more, had been removed to provide a nice clean new look. The tasting bar was also gone and replaced with a number of individual tables. It is at one of these tables where I sat for my tasting.
Tastings are done with the guide bringing each tasting to you as you are ready and explaining each one. These are the wines I tasted:
- 2022 Dandy Rosé – Texas
- 2022 La Valentía Sauvignon Blanc – Dell Valley Vineyard, Hudspeth County, Texas
- 2021 La Valentía Carignan Blend – Terry County, Texas
- 2022 La Valentía Cinsault Blend – Phillips Vineyard, Terry County, Texas
- 2022 La Valentía Fire Oak Vineyard Red – Fire Oak Vineyard, Mills County, Texas
The wines were all excellent just like the two La Valentía wines I reviewed last year.
Since it was lunchtime when I started my tasting, I looked over the food selections, and with a suggestion offered by the tasting guide, I selected a Mozzarella Tartine which was toasted focaccia (bread) with homemade basil pesto, fresh potato, and pine nuts. It was delicious!
I made a comment about how I knew the location well and was told in addition to the obvious changes made by Wine For the People, the crush pad on the opposite side of the location had been remodeled for use as a second tasting room when needed in addition to providing space for events.
Overall, I was impressed with my visit to the new home of Wine For the People in Fredericksburg, and look forward to returning when I am in the area.