In the Gaelic language of Scotland, Torr Na Lochs roughly translates as “Hill over Lakes.” This winery on Hwy 29 just west of Burnet, a little over an hour NW of Austin, has one of the most breathtaking views of any winery in the Texas Hill Country. Set on a hill with a beautiful view
of the Lake Buchanan area, this new winery (September, 2015) is worth a visit to. Torr Na Lochs Winery was the vision of owners Blake and Karen DeBerry. With roots in San Antonio and the Lake LBJ area, the DeBerry family had been living in Singapore, and then moved to Aberdeen, Scotland. In 2004, Blake found this hillside ranch overlooking the Colorado River of Texas Valley for sale on the internet, and bought it sight unseen. The plan was for land to retire to, without much more in mind. But, another move back to Singapore put things on hold.
While on a vacation in Australia, Blake noticed the similarities to some of the wineries there and his ranch he had bought in Texas. Blake and
Karen decided that a winery would be perfect for their “retirement” ranch. They finally moved back to Texas, and spent two years of weekends getting their land ready to plant a vineyard, finally planting their first three acres of vines in April, 2014. The next 18 months were spent making wines in the Texas High Plains, and building their winery and tasting room. This gorgeous facility finally opened for business in September, 2015.
Aside from the stunning view that you see after parking, the next
thing you notice is how friendly the DeBerry family and their staff are. Michelle and I were warmly welcomed by everyone we met. The tasting room is very well designed, with ample seating at low and high top tables, with a view of the barrel room and the winery through windows, plenty of servers, and
the spectacular view of a massive patio overlooking the valley and lakes (Inks and Buchanan) below.
A tasting at Torr Na Lochs consists of three Whites, a choice of one of two Rose’s, and two or three reds (out of five available), for $10 ($15 if you keep the tasting glass). Blake poured the entire tasting menu for me, so I could get a good sense of their variety. All of their current selections are made with Texas High Plains grapes, as this coming bottling will be the first of their Estate-grown wines. The Whites and Rose’s have screw tops, while the Reds have cork closures.
We started with a 2014 “Fion Geal” (Gaelic for White Wine – $26), a fresh, crisp blend of six grapes, primarily Viognier with a touch of
Muscat. A light, fruity dry wine that would pair well with spicy food, as well as with the Texas heat. Think Nectarines with a lemon-lime finish. Very refreshing! We next had the 2014 Roussanne ($24) from the Oswald Family Vineyards in the High Plains. A typical light Roussanne done in 100% stainless tanks. With a beautiful lemon color, this simple, straight-forward wine will please those who like this acidic Rhone-style wine. I’m personally not a big fan of Roussanne, due to the acidity and slightly pungent notes, but a couple of years usually does the trick. The final White was the 2014 “Sweet Sunset” ($24), a 50-50 blend of Roussanne and Orange Muscat. Although “sweet” is in the name, this wine is only 3% Residual Sugars, so it’s nowhere near the sweetness of a dessert wine. With soft floral notes and a tangerine finish (from the Orange Muscat), this was a delightfully refreshing wine to enjoy on this 100 degree day.
On to the Rose’s… Bright and crisp, with the taste of fresh strawberries, the 2014 Rose’ di Montepulciano (Oswald Family Vineyards – $22) was extracted from the batch of Montepulciano tasted later. With a beautiful color, this is a nice alternative blush wine
that would appeal to the sweet “White Zin” drinkers to trick them into enjoying a dry wine. The strawberry makes them think it is sweet. The second “Members Only” rose, named for Blake and Karen’s granddaughter was a 2015 Ruby Kate’s Rose’ ($22). Made with 50% Montepulciano and 50% Dolcetto, this Italian-style rose is very soft and subtle, with distinct fruit-forward cranberry notes (from the Dolcetto), a bright red color, with a surprising kiwi fruit finish. A nice tribute to Ruby Kate!
The five Reds were a nice variety, with some 100% Italian varietals that I like, but that may be a bit more unknown to many wine drinkers. The first, a 2015 “Fion Dearg” (Gaelic for Red Wine – $24), is a blend of
Tempranillo, Mourvedre, and Carignan. Pale red in color, this is lightly spicy with ripe strawberry and cherry notes, with a touch of tobacco. Would be good with barbecue and tacos. My favorite of the day was the 2014 Montepulciano ($31) – a grape that I have come to love. With a ruby red color and deep berry notes (think plums), this is a delicious oaky, full wine, with ripe tannins. I bought three bottles of this Montepulciano, to both enjoy now, and to cellar for a few years to watch it develop. Next was a very interesting wine – a 2014 Dolcetto ($30). This wine needs to be taste two different ways. First,
without any swirling at all, this is a pure fruit-forward wine. Then, with 15 seconds of swirling, this wine opens up very quickly to expose soft fruit with a slight pepper note. A great wine to show off what it means for a wine to open up, since it happens so quickly. The most complex wine on the menu is a 2013 Sangiovese ($33). Aged 14 months in European Oak, with cherry and other berry notes, this wine has delicious smoky vanilla and leather notes, with slight spice and pepper. The final selection is a 2015 Petite Syrah ($48). With only two barrels produced, this is a beautifully dark, inky purple wine with deep, soft blackberry notes. Although very drinkable now, this wine – which helped to add 50 new Club Members this month – will grow well with age.
After completing the tasting menu, Blake took us out into the winery to do tank tasting on his first to Estate-grown wines. Barrel and Tank-tastings are a bit different, if you’ve never done them, as the wines are not always filtered or finished yet. These have been filtered, but still have a little finishing to be done, and then bottled. The 2015 Estate Malbec is deep with cherry, and will be a nice typical Malbec when ready. The 2015 Estate Syrah is a blend of 82% Syrah and 18% Petite Syrah. Aged in French and European Oak, this looks to be a wonderful wine in another year or more. I look forward to trying both of these when they are bottled and aged a bit!
Of course, wines and a beautiful view to enjoy are not always enough. Torr La Nochs also has a light menu of food offerings to go along with your tasting. There is a $10 cheese plate, which included res and green grapes, cheese crisps, and crackers. For $12, they offer a seasonal plate, with cheeses (including goat cheese), nuts, and dried apricots. And lastly, they have a $6 dessert plate, with a homemade turtle, with truffles and a chocolate-dipped strawberry.
A big THANK YOU to Blake DeBerry for hosting Michelle and me at his
gorgeous new winery. Come for the wines, and enjoy the spectacular view, or come for the view, and enjoy some very promising wines! IT’s worth the trip to experience.
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Lastly… grab a glass of wine, and ENJOY!!!
Owner/Winemaker David Kuhlken has a very nice selection to sample, consisting of a 1st vintage 2014 Vermentino (grapefruit & florals – $30), a 2nd vintage 2014 Viognier Reserve – Bingham (honey, rose, peach, vanilla, toast – $40), a 2014 Texas Dry Rose (Tempranillo/Mourvedre proprietary blend – dry with a crisp pear 7 cherry taste – $30). The two reds are a 2012 Texas Valhalla – a blend of Montepulciano, Aglianico and Tempranillo (plum, strawberry, spice, and light chocolate – $40), and the spectacular 2013 Tempranillo Reserve (tobacco, cherry, blackberry, and dark chocolate – $50). The next taste was a 2014 Moscato, a light off-dry dessert wine at 3% residual sugar (peach, green apple, apricot, pear – $30). Finally, they shared their Stonewall Holiday Glogg. Based on a Swedish recipe, this spiced tawny-style Port was served with a ginger cookie, and would be great mulled (nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves – $20). One tip about Pedernales’ Wine Club is that the prices remain constant at $69 or $79 per quarter. Many other clubs will fluctuate their price based on wine prices. Many thanks to Victoria for her expertise (as well as a winery tour) and to newcomer, Jose for his assistance!
