Across the Texas Hill Country lie more than 100 wineries and vineyards that are positively impacting their local economies.

The growth of wineries in the Hill Country, many of which were established in the last 10-20 years, has contributed to a multibillion-dollar wine industry statewide.

The industry’s growth has brought new business, jobs and tourism to the Lake Travis region, said Karen Shultz, president and CEO of the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce.

“We used to try early on ... just to get people in the door,” Spicewood Vineyards owner Ron Yates said. “In early 2010, we really got busy, busy, busy, and then we exploded into however many wineries are in the Hill Country now.”

The overview


The Hill Country has largely contributed to Texas becoming the fifth-largest wine producing state in the nation with a total economic impact of more than $20 billion, according to a 2022 report by WineAmerica, a national wine industry association.

With 19 wine trails, the state has become a popular destination due to its unique hospitality offerings and diverse production of wines, wine experts said.

Although the Hill Country climate produces unique challenges, local wineries and organizations said there is a movement toward more wineries growing their own grapes in the area.

The Hill Country’s growth has resulted in more jobs and wages, and positively impacted local businesses around Lake Travis, Shultz said. Meanwhile, the opening of new wineries is continuing to draw more visitors.


“We have people come in from other states [that] specifically come to Texas just to do the wine trails and do wineries,” Yates said.



The background

Fall Creek Vineyards—one of the first wineries in the Hill Country—was founded by Susan and Ed Auler in 1975. By 1991, the Hill Country was recognized as an official grape-growing region known as an American Viticultural Area, or AVA, after Ed Auler submitted a petition to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, Susan Auler said.


Spanning about 15,000 square miles, the Texas Hill Country is now the third largest AVA in the nation, according to Texas Hill Country Wineries. The nonprofit trade association increased its membership from eight to more than 60 wineries since forming in 1999, Executive Director January Wiese said.

Over the last 10 years, the number of wineries has grown significantly across the state.

“It is booming,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said about the state’s wine industry in an interview with Community Impact. “It’s one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture.”


Texas winery permits allow holders to:
  • Make their own wine
  • Purchase wine from other wineries
  • Self-distribute wine to retailers
  • Sell and ship wine to consumers
The approach


Visitors are often attracted to popular wine destinations in the Hill Country due to the region’s unique offerings from culture to nature to shopping, Wiese said.

Texas is really known for hospitality,” said Valerie Elkins, co-founder of the Texas Wine Auction Foundation. “It’s very different to come here than it is to go to maybe other wine regions.”

Residents near Lake Travis have several options to enjoy wine close to home, with four local wineries in the Spicewood area.

Lake Travis wineriesHow it works


A majority of Texas wine is grown in the High Plains AVA near Lubbock due to its cooler climate. Many Hill Country wineries also serve selections grown in other states, Elkins said. 5 Soul Wine Co. produces its wine at a facility in Johnson City using grapes from California.

“We were able to bring our production, our aging, our blending, everything back into Texas, but still have that ability to have the grapes that we wanted that don’t necessarily grow here,” Operations Manager CJ Arnold said.

More vineyards are opening in the Hill Country, however, as the acreage of grapes planted in the area has more than doubled over the last 10 years, Wiese said. Although the Central Texas heat can present challenges, some grape varieties perform well in the area, Elkins said.

“Wine and grape growers and wineries have learned a lot in the past two decades—a lot of what works and what doesn’t work in Texas,” said Andreea Botezatu, an associate professor and enology extension specialist with Texas A&M Agrilife Extension.

Top varieties grown in the Hill Country
  • Tempranillo: Spanish red wine grape that is new to Texas
  • Cabernet sauvignon: red wine grape across Texas that thrives above 3,000 feet
  • Mourvèdre: red wine grape that produces wines that are high in alcohol and have earthy notes with soft red fruit flavors
  • Tannat: Spanish red wine grape traditionally grown in Southwest France
The impact

The Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce has worked to promote local wineries through its Taste Lake Travis event and other programming, Shultz said. The addition of new wineries, which become local employers, helps bring new jobs and visitors to the area.

Other local restaurants and businesses in the area positively benefit from receiving customers from wineries and using their products, she said.

“It helps our community with some workforce development that we didn’t always have,” Shultz said.

Texas A&M is also seeing more students pursue careers in the wine industry, Botezatu said. The university may consider starting a degree program for its viticulture and enology program, which currently allows students to receive certificates related to grape growing and wine making.

“I think we’re getting a more engaged workforce,” Elkins said about the Hill Country wine region. “I think that people see this as not a job, but they, a lot of the people here, are seeing this as a career.”


Going forward

Hill Country wineries and organizations say they are projecting continued growth and innovative advancements in the industry. 5 Soul Wine Co. plans to start construction on a new winery in Liberty Hill in six to eight months, Arnold said.

“Texas wine is showing no signs of stopping,” said Karen Bonarrigo, secretary of Texas Wine & Grape Growers Association. “We have been in an exponential growth phase for probably the last 15 years now, and the next 10 years are looking like they will continue to expand.”

Solaro Estate Winery is adapting to climate change by planting drought-resistant vineyards, owner Robert Fritz said.

Miller said he hopes Texas’ wine industry will eventually surpass California’s and become the second-largest wine producing state in the country in the next decade.