The #5 spot on my list is a fantastic winery, very worthy of rounding out the list. Trust me, picking #5 was a hard choice because there are just so many amazing wineries amongst the 70-or-so in this AVA, but only 5 can make the “top five.” The deciding factor came down to these badass brothers.
This was my last stop after a full day of tastings. Needless to say I was tired and a bit irritable. The hill county road ahead was getting narrow, twisting and turning with no signs of a winery insight. But Hawks Shadow seemed to pop out of nowhere and when I pulled in and parked I knew I was in for something special.
The view was great – a beautiful facility built into the limestone hillside, overlooking a sprawling valley. The tasting room was busy despite me arriving an hour before closing (open only on Saturdays). My servers were Doug and Tom, and I was able to bend their ears about the winery and its history. These guys have an amazing story. But what I think makes them great (and why they took the #5 spot) is how much of a maverick Hawk’s Shadow is in winemaking. They literally do whatever they want, freely (and successfully) abandoning many traditional practices. They experiment and try all sorts of combinations with unique barrels and interesting processes. They give the boring old orthodox “wine man” a one finger salute – they are the Bad Boys of wine!
1) Wine = 4.0
2) Price Point = 3.6
3) Service = 4.2
4) Decorum / Scenery = 4.7
5) X factor = 4.9
Overall: 4.11
(0-5 scale, anything above 2.5 you will have a good time)
There were so many pleasant new flavors I had never experienced in a tasting before. The Hawks Shadow entry in my wine notebook is filled with lines like “so different” and “wild new flavors.”
Prime examples were “cashew fruit,” “cottonmouth,” “rash raspberry,” “BBQ sauce,” and the smell of fresh uprooted soil. These new and exciting flavors revitalized and shocked my taste receptors into maximum overdrive, leaving me craving more and more. A few wines fell a bit short of the mark, but at least they made the fall back down to the ground more exciting. I consider the red blends here their bread and butter.
When my tasting was over, I realized the room had been closed for over 30 minutes – however Doug graciously invited me back to see their wine cave (if any one ever asks you to see their wine cave… always say “yes please”). The wine cave at Hawk’s Shadow will remain one of my favorite spots to sip on a glass of wine for a long time to come. Their facility is dug into a foothill, which makes their wine cavern a limestone cave which holds wine! I mean wow: you can hear ground water as it trickles in! You can also see the roots of plants breaking their way through the walls and ceiling as if they want to steal some wine for themselves. Doug was kind enough to let me explore a bit and gave me a barrel tasting. Not only are these brothers some wine bad asses, they also embodied Texas Hospitality. I finally left a full two hours after closing.
For all these reasons I designate Hawk’s Shadow #5 of all the wineries in the Texas Hill Country. (http://www.hawksshadow.com)
Featured image Sourced from www.hawksshadow.com