Texas, History and Wine, all in Fannin County!

If you're from Fannin County or the Red River counties north of DFW, you know what I'm talking about. If not, your in for a treat.

In the late 1800's the French wine producing areas were suffering from blight and disesase which were killing the vines. The French government looked far a wide for a solution and came upon Dr. Thomas Munson who was living in Denison, Texas at the time. He was well known for his expertise in grapes. He had moved to North Texas along the Red River due in part to the climate and the native grapes that grew here.

The native species of grape vines that were found along the Red River and were the salvation of the French wine industry. They were resistant to the scourges that were killing French vineyards. Funny thing about this is that wine production in Texas never really caught on. Not since the Spanish grew grapes in their settlements since the 1600's and the Germans grew grapes in their settlements from the 1830's.

Fast forward to today. Texas is now recognized as a wine producing region of world-class wines, although there is very little production taking place when compared to France, California and Italy.

Right here in Fannin County, we have the Homestead Winery, run by Gabe Parker. It is the oldest continuously operated vineyard in the area.

They produce wines from both locally grown and imported grapes. They produce their wines right here in Ivanhoe, located in Fannin County and they have their tasting rooms in Denison and Grapevine (go figure).

For more information on the Homestead Winery, check them out here:

Why not order some great Texas wine from Homestead Winery for your Christmas list?