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THE BEST IN TEXAS WINE
LOCAL WINERY OFFERS UNIQUE FLAVOR FOR YOUR SPECIAL OCCASION
W
TEXT BY MICHELLE WULFSON | PHOTOS BY STEVE BASHAM
ith a selection of award win-
ning wines and views of Sam
Houston National Forest, West
Sandy Creek Winery brings the
fares of the Hill Country closer to home.
“This was the retirement plan, grand-
kids camp and winery,” WSCW brand
marketing manager and president of 4M
Marketing agency Megan McCready said,
though the origin story for the McGinley
family’s winery traces back to 1960’s Italy
where Stanley and Peggy McGinley were
first introduced to the wonderful world of
Italian wines during military service.
Their passion continued all the way
through a 40 year career in Saudi Arabia
before planning a retirement to pur-
chase a vineyard near their home in the
Woodlands, Texas in 2007.
The property was best described by
West Sandy Creek Winery operator Sandy
McGinley as a “hobby on steroids”, where
the family retreated to enjoy the holidays
— with the vineyard being planted in 2009.
“It was really just, ‘let’s plant some
grapes, make some wine and see what
happens’,” McGinley said. 10 years later,
the family winery that had grown beyond
a hobby was opened to the public in March
2019.
“We as a family met in 2017 and said if
we want to keep doing this, we really prob-
ably need to leverage the infrastructure
we’ve put in place to start a business, make
a go of it and see if we can sell some of this
wine.”
With the support of the Texas A&M
AgriLife Extension Program, as well as a
host of local vendors and contractors, the
vineyard was built out from an initial four
6 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | WINTER 2020
acres to 15 acres, becoming one of the larg-
est vineyards in the Texas Gulf Cost Region.
The family forewent a soil sample when
starting the vineyard, the McGinleys sim-
ply knew that they wanted the vineyard
exactly where it stands today.
“We’ve been kind of reacting to that, no-
body is moving to Walker County as the op-
timal spot to grow grapes,” McGinley said,
though he encourages locals to adjust to
drink what will grow locally.
12 acres of Blanc du Bois, 1.5 of Black
Spanish Lenoir and an acre of Tempranillo
overlooks the outskirts of the Sam Houston
National Forest, the property itself sitting
at the second highest point in Walker
County atop Blue Bonnet Hill.
Now, the winery boasts an extensive
tasting room menu of 27 wines, featuring
an award winning selection from the Texas