Photo by West Sandy Creek Winery
Part restaurant and part tasting room , Sam ’ s Table Restaurant in downtown Huntsville sits at the heart of the Sam Houston Wine Trail and offers a taste of its local wines with information on the market . Most recently , the restaurant has organized a luxury tour bus service that has just started to make its way to the vineyards and wineries along the trail .
“ We ’ re hoping that will bring people from places like Houston , The Woodlands and Conroe ,” Tosca Winery operator Rennie van Wyk added . “ They don ’ t even realize that we ’ ve got wineries right here , so if you think of it , it ’ s less than an hour drive from Houston to be at the wineries on the trail .”
The wineries recently released their 2020 wines with special emphasis on rosé wines after seeing the demand in 2019 , in addition to a few new blends . For Tosca , their first Black Spanish Red is being released this season with their Spanish style red blend , while WSCW is taking special pride in its 2020 Lenoir . Golden Oak Micro Cellar is releasing its Blanc du Bois and will have a port due out in the fall , while over towards Dodge , Teysha Vineyard is
focusing on its newest sweet and sparkling wines . Right now , Teysha ’ s best selling wine is their white Blanc du Bois – a fresh , floral white with hints of almond and apricot . Right behind it every month is the sweet Lenoir , which boasts a bold , semi sweet red that ’ s a hit for the vineyard .
Most recently , Teysha Vineyard has produced a carbonated Blanc du Bois in a Lenoir rosé to create a line of sparkling wines , “ Frizzante ,” that comes in both a Blanc and a rosé .
“ We just released the Frizzanté last week and it ’ s a hit , it ’ s just a lot of fun to drink , it ’ s got strawberry cream flavors , it ’ s wonderful ,” Zimmerman said .
As the summer tourism season approaches , local wineries and vineyards are looking forward to complimenting their expanded wine offerings with broadened experiences their venues after being closed for most of 2020 , with catered dinners , wine pairings and live music events .
“ I think the wine trail has the potential to grow into something enormous ,” van Wyk said .
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22 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | MAY-JUNE 2021