I’m getting married this year, and so is my oldest friend, Andrea! To celebrate Andrea’s wedding, Andrea and her bridesmaids went on a bachelorette trip to Austin, Texas. It rained 90% of the time we were there so we didn’t do too much walking around the town, but we stayed dry doing some Austin wine tours. We did a tour with Discover Texas Wine Tours, and I can’t recommend them enough! If you want to check out some awesome wineries while you’re in Austin, you NEED to do a winery tour!
Austin wine tours with Discover Texas Wine Tours
Me with the bride to be!
This post isn’t sponsored by Discover Texas Wine Tours, but I wanted to talk about our awesome experience with them! We had a party bus (which was plenty roomy for 4 people), and we were allowed to bring food and drinks and they have an ice box to chill wine. “Magic Mike” was a great driver, but if you get car sick easily, the roads to the wineries were pretty windy and hilly, so fair warning.
We let Magic Mike pick the wineries, and he did a great job! All the places we went were unique and had great wine. We had plenty of time in all of the wineries, and Magic Mike even let us go over our time a little bit because we were having such a great time!
Hawk’s Shadow Winery & Vineyards
Hawk’s Shadow was our first stop, and they had some great outdoor seating (and beautiful scenery for weddings) but we couldn’t take advantage of it because of the rain. But we did get to sit on some comfy couches! All the wine we tried was delicious, and we ended up purchasing bottles of some of the white wines.
The owners were very nice and helpful, and they even had a puppy greeting everyone! (I was too busy petting him to take a picture with my camera, sorry!) After we sampled the wine, they gave us a tour of the cellar. It’s the only limestone cellar in Texas, and it was pretty interesting to hear about how the vineyards actually flourish growing in the limestone soil.
Texas Hill Country Olive Company and Winery
Texas Hill Country Olive Company and Winery was pretty cool because they make wine AND olive oil! The winery is family owned and started in 2008. They have 17 acres for olives and grapes, and you can walk around and see some of them. They have olive oil samples in their store, and I got so hooked that I got both lemon and jalapeno olive oils. They have bottles small enough to be allowed in your carry on bag, so you can load up on olive oil if you can’t get a bottle of wine to take home.
All the wine we tried was great! If you want some food with your wine and olive oil, they also serve lunch and dessert. We didn’t have time to order a meal, but I want to try the olive oil gelato the next time I’m there!
Salt Lick Cellars
Our last stop was Salt Lick Cellars, and it’s known for making wines to be paired with BBQ! They also have pizza on Thursdays, so if you like to sample food with your wine, Salt Lick Cellars is for you. We loved all the wines we tried there, but my favorite was a sangria wine! It’s one of the best reds I’ve ever tried, so I highly recommend it if you like a fruitier wine.
Salt Lick Cellars also had a beautiful garden and patio with some outdoor games, so it’s a place you would want to go when the weather is nicer than what we had! Thankfully the rain let up towards the end of our time there, so people were able to take advantage of the outdoor seating.
If you’re looking for some Austin wine tours, Hawk’s Shadow, Texas Hill Country Olive Company and Winery, and Salt Lick Cellars were all amazing places with unique wines and food! If you take a tour with Discover Texas Wine Tours to check these wineries out, be sure to tell Magic Mike I said hi 🙂
I’m so glad you had fun visiting the wineries around Austin. Being a native Texan, we love our Texas wines. Texas is actually the 5th largest wine producer in the U.S. and we definitely put our spin on it. One of our favorite areas is in Fredericksburg. Check it out if you ever visit again.
I’ll have to check it out! Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Wow! Even though I knew there were wineries in Texas I had no idea they’d be so picturesque!
Yeah they were amazing! I never would have guessed Texas would have such amazing wineries!
Wow great list and the photos are beautiful!! If you ever find yourself in the small town of Dublin, Texas – you really need to check out Lucky Vines. You can read about them at https://kimberlyleatherwood.com/wanna-get-lucky/
Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you! 🙂 I’ll definitely check it out when I’m back in the area!