Canted County Vineyards

07/01/2023

Primitivo is coming along nicely! This is one of the largest plantings of the variety in Texas.

At over 50 acres total across two vineyards, Texas Vine Country’s plantings represent a large chunk of the variety in the state. In California, combined with its sister Zinfandel, it is consistently in the top-10 most planted varieties.

Primitivo, while a clone all its own with unique quirks and traits, is the Italian clone of Zinfandel/Crljenak Kaštelanski. It is a super flexible grape, making stunning rosé if picked early or exciting, juicy, fruit forward reds (like it’s sister Zinfandel) when picked later on. In our warm climate, it is an early ripening red, and tends to have spicier (dark fruit, pepper) notes than cold climate examples.

Primitivo can make a TON of sugar as well, and is a great blending candidate especially with Petite Sirah among others. 15% alcohol reds are not unheard of in varietal examples left to hang long.

We’ve got two well seasoned ”Zin masters” (Brian and Eric) over at FermForge to help you tackle this variety with numerous vintages and hundreds of tons of Zin/Primitivo under each of their belts. Give them a shout if you are interested in adding this awesome red to your lineup!

Confident in tackling this beast yourself? We’ve still got some Primitivo available for the ‘23 harvest!

Enjoy this break from the heat, cheers y’all!

06/22/2023

Dark green foliage and HAPPY vines 😍😍😍

06/21/2023

Love seeing how our customer base is expanding with our vineyard growth here at Canted County Vineyards/Texas Vine Country!

No matter where you're passing through, there is always potential to stop for a tasting. Check out the states with the most wineries here!

06/19/2023

I “Muscat” you a question…. Are you a moscato lover???

Ok, maybe that’s a forced pun, but the Muscat Blanc is abounding this year!

It may not be the most complex wine most times, but not much beats a chilled, low alcohol, fruity/floral wine with a tiny bit of residual sugar on these smoking hot days like this! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Muscat is a classic hot region variety and, assuming you delay prune to handle the late frosts here (Muscat can bud early), Texas is no exception. Muscat can produce delicious grapes in abundance here!

Give us a shout if you are looking for some muscat blanc!

06/12/2023

Gotta get that next generation out in the vineyards!

Hope y'all have a great week 🍇🍇🍇🚜🚜🚜

06/09/2023

We really love the Concannon clones of cabernet sauvignon here at Canted County!

It is a consistent and even fruit-setter, tolerates the cold like a champ, and produces vibrant fruit with solid yields. It also blooms and ripens somewhat earlier than our other cab clones, which helps with winter hardiness.

We have some of this Concannon cab (and some tempranillo and primitivo) available for contracting now as turnkey 2023 vintage wholesale/bulk wine for pickup this winter at FermForge . Don't wait long though! We only held back a few tons of each for ourselves!

06/08/2023

Always slow going with some clones of cab sauv and mourvedre! Last to bloom and set fruit, and often last off the vines!

That can be a great blessing some years when you get difficult weather during bloom time for most other varieties though (like last year), sparing their flowers from harsh winds, heat, or rain!

We still have a bit of cabernet sauvignon and a few trucks of mourvedre available for you winemakers out there.

06/07/2023

Vermentino in our 2018 experimental block shaping up nicely! These vines produced our first medal winner from Elisa Christopher Wines in 2021!

Vermentino is not terribly well known, but it produces a versatile, crisp, acidic fruit. If you like Sauv Blanc, you'll love Vermentino as well. It makes incredible bright wines and is a core part of our plantings, making up nearly 40 acres between Canted County Vineyards and our sister TVC vineyards.

Like other, somewhat less celebrated, white grapes?

Move over Chardonnay and take a look at Marsanne, another keystone variety for our operations at over 50 acres planted. Unlike chardonnay in Texas, Marsanne is an unfussy and easy-to-farm variety, consistently setting large canopies quickly and medium-to-heavy crops of fruit.

It makes a superior (in Texas) alternative to Chardonnay by being extremely hardy in the vineyard, a consistent producer, and yielding versatile fruit. Marsanne often yields wines with a fruity palate, and when blended or fermented correctly makes the PERFECT "porch pounder" summer white wine. Just be careful! They can get high in alcohol!

06/07/2023

Love to see our fruit in single-vineyard bottles! 😁 Vermentino is a killer!

Have you tried this Vermentino from Rivenburgh Wine yet? It’s perfect for these beautiful Hill Country days!

06/07/2023

Tempranillo is setting up strong!

We still have some grapes available, let us know if you need to add a few for this vintage!

We still have:
Mourvedre
Cabernet Sauvignon
Muscat Blanc
Marsanne
Tempranillo
Primitivo