Texas riff on Spain’s Rioja reds, “Tioja” being a play on the Spanish name. Tempranillo is the dominant Rioja grape, and dominates Texas’s Tioja, too, with a blending assist from Primitivo, Dolcetto, Pinot Noir, and Mourvèdre. Meat-friendly crowd pleaser worth finding. $30-37
The blend is a window into Texas winemaking. Tempranillo does well in Texas, where the climate echoes parts of Spain. While the grape has found a welcoming home in Texas in general, winemaker Penny Adams and her team had their hands full in 2022 from Texas weather. Beginning with a hard winter freeze, followed by stiff spring winds disrupted flowering (causing shattering), then triple-digit days in summer. Irrigation was required. Yields were restricted and the fruit more concentrated. Not a bad thing for wine quality, a vexation for the vineyard’s bean counters.
Mike and Lynn McHenry own Wedding Oak Winery. In 1996, on a whim following a trade show in Dallas, they purchased 112 acres south of San Saba, Texas. Soon thereafter, Mike retired after a 33-year career with Ecolab, a sustainability leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention services worldwide.
By 2010, encouraged by San Saba business leaders, the McHenrys began an effort to place Wedding Oak Winery in the historic heart of San Saba, a Texas Hill Country town on the San Saba River, north of San Antonio and southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth. The town asserts it is the “Pecan Capital of the World.” The McHenrys restored a 1926 building near the town center to house a tasting room and a 10,000-case production facility at the intersection of U.S. Highway 190 and State Highway 16 on the northern edge of the Texas Hill Country AVA.
To begin their adventure, the McHenrys hired Penny Adams, an iconic figure and a pioneering woman winemaker in Texas. From the beginning, Penny insisted on using only Texas grapes, a policy that has not changed since the production facility began bottling wine in 2012. Adams moved to the position of director of wine operations in 2019. Seth Urbanek was the winemaker for this vintage. Van Johnson took over the cellar in 2023.
The winery maintains tasting rooms in San Saba, Fredericksburg, and Burnet. The winery’s name comes from the 400-year-old Wedding Oak Tree that stands 2.5 miles northwest of the winery. The website notes: “Centuries ago, the local Native Americans, particularly the Comanche, revered this majestic tree as sacred, gathering for important council meetings beneath its sheltering branches. They believed in the tree’s mystical powers and utilized it as a Matrimonial Altar. By exchanging vows beneath its graceful canopy, couples sought the tree’s magical blessings upon their union.”
Wedding Oak Winery Tioja Texas Red Wine 2022: Medium-deep ruby color; black cherry, black plum, cranberry, blueberry, pepper on the nose and palate.
Off-dry (4.95 g/L RS); moderate tannins; expected acidity for a warm-climate Tempranillo (3.8 pH). Medium body; smooth, supple in the mouth. Blend of Tempranillo and a platoon of other grapes, all from Texas vineyards. Mirasol Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country AVA provided the Tempranillo. Aged 18 months in American oak, 20% new. 13.8% ABV
Pairing—Texas barbecue, slow-cooked brisket, smoked ribs; grilled ribeye, New York strip. Roast leg of lamb with rosemary, braised shank. Beef stew, short ribs. Sausage, pork ribs, pork tenderloin with herbs. Roast turkey or duck with pan gravy. Venison. Tomato-based pastas, wood-fired pizza. Cheese—Aged Manchego, Idiazábal, Mahón, Zamorano, Roncal, aged Gouda, aged Asiago, Parmigiano-Reggiano, mature cheddar. Avoid fresh chèvre, triple-crèmes, stinky washed-rind cheeses.
