Fairhaven Vineyards plants old vines for a new life in eastern Texas

ics are there to come up with a
highly Pierce's-tolerant new grape
variety for the two-thirds of our
state that has Pierce's." Some of
these grapes are the same varieties
– now forgotten – that produced
wines before Prohibition: extra,
nitodal, delicatessen, armalaga,
Mrs. Munson. "Those seem to be
the best potential varieties," Winters
said, and he is convinced that
Lomanto's history in Texas, even if
unknown to all but a few, proves its
hardiness in this rugged place.
Winters has decided that his
future and Texas' viticultural future
are the same, and that he must
convince other Texans to adopt
these vines in order for everyone
to move forward. With this idea in
mind, his vineyard work has grown
into a nursery business. (It might
even keep things in the black while
he's waiting for the Fairhaven
brand to take off). Winters calls his
grapevines the Heritage Series: "A
pioneering effort to create superhybrid
grapes."
OK, there may be a touch of
good ol' Texas hyperbole in that
description, but these are grapes
that have proved themselves
against heat, drought and Pierce's
disease, even crawling through this
year of hell. Though they have lan-
New vine production in 2010 was at 186,000 1-gallon containers. Fairhaven uses container
production to extend the planting season for the new vines to 12 months in
most Southern states. The attrition rate for these containers is less than 3%.
guished for a century, ever since
Munson cared for them, the greatest
evidence is that they're still
alive – and there’s something to be
said for that. If those varieties don’t
work out, Winters has plenty more:
wine king, America, Jaeger, Sala-
VINEYARD
do and Wynona. Any one of them
could prove to be of great benefit
to the Texas industry, or maybe
even to other states. Or maybe not.
It isn’t that there aren't tasty
versions of better-known vinifera
wines grown in Texas. There
are, but there are already millions
of liters of vinifera grapes grown
in other places that can be just as
tasty (or tastier or more age-worthy),
and at prices that suggest that
Texas may not be growing grapes
such as chardonnay or cabernet
with the same gusto a few decades
hence.
Winters’ stubborn determination
to find success through little-known
varieties, planted in new locations,
demonstrates a new sense of energy
and purpose among Texan winemakers.
As vast as AVAs such as the
Texas Hill Country are, they still represent
only a piece of the state, and
surely each region will find its own
solutions to the challenges presented
in the vineyards. Fairhaven
seems to be working things out for
its little plot of East Texas, and that
work could end up being beneficial
in other regions where Pierce's disease
is a threat to wine.
Doug Frost, MW, MS, is a Kansas
City author who has written three
books – Uncorking Wine (1996), On
Wine (2001), and the Far From Ordinary
Spanish Wine Buying Guide
(2011) – in addition to writing about
wine and spirits for many national
publications. He is also the wine
and spirits consultant for both United
Airlines and Continental Airlines.
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