Fredericksburg is less than two hours from tourist hot spots Austin and San Antonio, and the Texas town is ready to show visitors it's worth a few days of exploration. Its Hill Country location means spectacular scenery, including the stunning pink granite mountain at Enchanted Rock State Park. The suburb also hangs on to its German heritage with a 19th-century church, Pioneer Museum, and locally loved Marktplatz.
Arguably, though, the best thing about Fredericksburg is the wine - and there's lots of it. Casual wine drinkers and full-on oenophiles will enjoy a plethora of unique drinks to inspect, sniff, swish, and swallow. Raise a glass because these Fredericksburg wineries and vineyards are worth toasting to.
9 Fat Ass Ranch And Winery
Nobody said being a connoisseur had to be all business. The Fat Ass Ranch and Winery encourages its guests not to take life too seriously. All jokes aside, they know what they're doing when it comes to fruit-stomping. Fat Ass offers a variety of fruit wines aged to perfection, every label starring the ranch's beloved donkey, Frito.
A $10 tasting is always on the menu, featuring a sampling of five of the winery's award-winning beverages. On Saturdays, visitors are in for a taste of ten wines, a tram ride through the vineyard to their sister winery, and the chance to give Frito the pat on the head he deserves.
8 Pontotoc Vineyard Weingarten
The stunning setup of the Pontotoc Vineyards will have guests questioning whether they're in Texas or Vienna. Every vintage-style wine starts with Texas Hill Country grapes, with additions like blackberries, vanilla, melon, toasted oak, and cream notes lingering beneath the perfect base. Refurbished sandstone buildings with patios decked in twinkling lights create a welcoming atmosphere perfect for swigging. The vineyard also has a theater to host film screenings, live music, and other special events.
7 Lost Draw Cellars
The team at Lost Draw is dedicated to providing an array of quality wines rooted in the regional flavor found in Texas wine country. The vineyards serve several wineries in the area, showing Lost Draw is less about being the star and more about giving the community top-notch options throughout Fredericksburg. The tasting room is open to visitors fancying a sip of premium wines paired with small-bite plates crafted by talented chefs.
6 Kalasi Cellars
Wine-making is a labor of love at Kalasi Cellars, a local winery run by a husband and wife duo. Generations of family farming in India stuck with Nikhila Davis, who found her home in Texas and began growing. Businessman Greg left his job to lend his expertise to branding the business, and it's only been up since the beginning.
The stunning tasting room sits on 16 acres of land in Texas wine country, and visitors will enjoy the views of the hillside as they sip on wines crafted in the on-site production facility. An adorable pack of sheep works on the weeding to minimize the need for pesticides, kept safe by a protective llama named Dalai.
5 Cross Mountain Vineyards
For a taste of fine Italian wine in the Southern United States, Cross Mountain Vineyards is bellissima! The friendly staff is ready to guide visitors through tastings of various wines in their cozy downtown tasting room. The relaxing spot will have wine-lovers "cheers-ing" again and again, prepared to give a round of applause with a standing ovation after pairing their drinks with charcuterie boards and wood-fired pizzas.
4 Fredericksburg Winery
The Fredericksburg Winery is the longest-standing winery in town, which means they know how to produce vino that pleases. All wines are made on-site by the Switzer family, who passionately believe winemaking is a right. With such a wide array of top-shelf wines, it would be easy to get a big head, but the friendly family is eager to help its customers find the flavor that suits them best, noting it's not essential to know every last thing about wine to be able to appreciate it. The Fredericksburg Winery also assembles delicious jams, mustards, chocolates, and salsas made with wine for perfect pairings.
3 Slate Mill Wine Collective
Guests to the Slate Mill Wine Collective will enjoy the opportunity to see where all the magic happens. A beautiful patio is set up with a background of the vineyards where the grapes ripen in the sun before being harvested to craft some seriously flavorful wines. The tasting room features the passionate creations of future wine pioneers. Guests who want to do some of the hard work themselves get the opportunity to stomp while they sip. If a visitor is hungry after all the exercise, they can grab a bite from Boudreaux’s Swamp Truck food truck located on-site.
2 Becker Vineyards
Feel the magic of Texas wine country by walking down the rows of grapevines with a glass in hand at Becker Vineyards. The winery's architecture echoes Fredericksburg's German heritage, crafted to look like a stone barn. The natural delights continue with green-leafed oak trees to match the thousands of barrels used to age the wines. Visitors have various tasting experiences to choose from, all featuring samplings of Becker Vineyards' award-winning wines. Those who visit in May have the bonus of attending Becker's Lavender Festival, the scent of the fragrant blooming flower permeating the grounds for an aromatherapy experience in nature.
1 Bingham Family Vineyards
Wine runs thicker than water at Bingham Family Vineyards, a multigenerational operation dedicated to providing customers with quality they can trust. The rustic Fredericksburg location gives real Texas vibes, not to be outshone by authentic Texas hospitality. Visitors can enjoy a sampling of five wines during a tasting or browse the shop located in the charming tasting room to pick whatever bottles sound best to them. While Bingham Family Vineyards has their own winemaking operation, they share the love (and grapes) with several other popular Fredericksburg wineries.