Inwood Estates Vineyards

Here is the thing about wine, it is all based on a personal taste the wines here just do not fit my personal taste. Aside from generally not liking their wines, I also thought the place was a little pretentious. The owner presented to our group and spent more time talking then pouring. He has a great story about how he got started but he spent too much time talking about how his $ 200+ wines were better than wines straight out of France. I don’t know, I kind of feel that if I don’t like your $ 40 wines, I’m not really going to pay for wines out of my price range. Also, the room they had us in was completely boring and void of any charm. Perhaps if they had the tasting in a room that felt like a vineyard the experience might have been better!

I’ve drunk a lot of Texas wine, I’ve drunk a lot of all wine if I’m honest, and in general I find much of it fine, but over priced for the quality. The terroir in Texas is relatively new, the industry is still first generation and all though lots of places are doing a great and improving job, the novelty Texan factor seems to add 50% more to a bottles price than the wine, in my not-​very-​expert (at all) opinion, merits
I am however always delighted to spend a day in the wine country — the most pleasant possible way to spend a sunny January.
Inwood was something of a revelation to me yesterday. From the moment we sat down and ordered the staff were knowledgeable, enthusiastic and honest about what their wine delivered. Our lunch waiter Mesa was entirely charming and jolly patient.
The Margaux style red (the name of which I can’t remember) was undoubtedly the most complex and delicious wine I’ve had in Texas.
The tasting, run by the owner, was an oenophile’s dream — probably a little more detailed than the average wine tourist wants (I confess I glazed over slightly towards the end) — but the husband was enthralled, and all the red’s were excellent.
Four stars because the food was just ok (standard BBQ fare) and the ambience was less charming than has the potential to be. But the wine? We fully signed up as wine club members immediately and can’t wait for our next pick up!

A large group of us doing the 290 wine tour decided to make this our lunch time wine stop for the BBQ. They had a sign advertising «The Fun Room», the sign was a lie. Upon entering another woman was waiting to speak to a manager about poor service– we should’ve taken that as our cue to leave, but we decided to give it a try anyway.
As mentioned we were part of a large group so there was a lot of conversation. The «(NOT) Fun Room» echoed and our voices surely carried. However, there was only one other table occupying the room and we had coincidentally met them the night before and joined conversations. So I was confused and annoyed when we were told to keep it down by both the manager and another staff member due to other customer complaints. There we only 20 people in the room and our group totaled 15!
We did enjoy our waitress, it was her first day and she was very nice. The food was mediocre and the wine was served warm. All together I would highly recommend skipping this winery if it was on your list to visit.

Part of a group of 11 on the winery tour today. Stopped here because the signage outside said BBQ and we were all hungry. Walked in to a mostly empty dining room which remained that way the entire time our group was there– we were at least 90% of the dining room the entire time our group was there.
As soon as we walked in, one of the staff members asked if our group would not mind sitting at separate tables since they were «a pain to move.» We didn’t mind, but it was a minor inconvenience.
I have no complaints about our waitress or the food– both were fine. However, the staff was both unfriendly and situationally unaware.
First, one of the kitchen staff came out into the dining room to tell us to keep the volume down. Next, one of the managers (?) told us to keep the volume down because of complaints from other guests– our group was visiting with the only other table that was occupied!
I understand wanting to limit noise and don’t expect special treatment as part of a big group but a winery with a stage for live music can’t expect to have a noise level equivalent to a library on a Saturday afternoon.
My recommendation would be to skip Inwood as you do the 290 tour. If you want food, go to Grape Creek or eat in town. You can find better wine and prices at most places and can find a more accommodating and enjoyable staff at any other winery.

This was a nice place and environment for a wine tasting. We met the owner who showed us several red varieties of wine. The retail prices of these wines were high based on the types of wine that I have tasted around the world.

I’m not reviewing the wine because we didn’t actually have any. We came here for the bistro, and we had BBQ sampler board, and it was excellent. We ordered more pulled pork because it was so good. So, I can highly recommend as a nice place for lunch or a snack.

We stopped here on a Texas Winos tour. We were fortunate the winemaker was our tour guide. We loved hearing his story. Very cool experience. We will be back.
We got to sample 4 wines and surprisingly we enjoyed the Tempranillo/​Cab blend. We bought one top share with our wino friends!

We came 15 – 20 minutes before closing time and they would not let us in or even acknowledge us. We would have loved to get a glass of wine and sit on the patio, before they closed. We would have had plenty of time to do that. I wish they would have welcomed us in, since we love the wine trail and are always looking for new wines to try and buy.

This place is something different when you think of the Texas wine trail. This is Artisan wine. It is not mass produced, it’s almost like each bottle is a reserve. Which justifies the higher cost. The wines taste like they came from Spain or France. The customer service was superb, they greeted us upon arrival and when I say «greeted» I mean they open the door for us to walk in. The presentation of the wine was like nothing else I see on the wine trail. They welcomed questions, they were highly engaging, very attentive and they were not pretentious. The only reason why I gave four stars over five, is to have such exquisite wine, I felt like the menu should have been a little more diverse than barbecue. Nevertheless, the Barbecue was excellent, it was really good, I just wanted additional options to the barbecue.

This is a wine only review sine the Bistro was closed.
We stopped by on Memorial Day. I had stopped in at their winery in Florence, TX so this was not a new place for me. The wines were excellent. We loved all but one of their labels in which we only liked that one. Vinny was by far the best wine server I have experienced in tasting Texas wines. He was able to explain the barreling process for each label, how the grapes are grown and how weather conditions influence which grapes are grown.
The prices are high. Bottles range from $ 40-​$ 90 each. Vinny said Inwood grows less grapes per acer for a better taste. I confirmed this on the web. Inwood also ages their wine longer which does drive up the cost of wine. Inwood only uses Texas grapes. Other wineries will import grapes for wine production. That fact is generally given to me during wine tastings at other wineries. They also use French oak barrels which cost twice as much as American oak
The tasting room is really small. I think only three or four couples could comfortably enjoy a tasting at a time. The lady who was also there said they had to turn people away over the weekend. I am sure some of the negative reviews come from how small they are.

A few weeks ago we had a girls trip that almost ended in disaster when the Winery (won’t name who) I’ve been a member of for almost two years let me down. Seemed like our group of 12 was more of a hassle to accommodate than it was an opportunity to sell. I called Inwood Estates to see if we could move our lunch on short notice and they were ecstatic that we wanted to visit them. They treated us very well from the moment we walked in. We ordered heavy appetizers and enjoyed our tasting at a large table. There was also an acoustic musician that was happy to take our requests and livened up our party just right. The staff walked us through the wine lists and several of us purchased bottles for the road. The tasting room was so nice and airy and the grounds were picture perfect. So glad to have found you, Inwood! Until the next adventure!

Our first time to visit. Met Vinny in the tasting room. We were enlightened by his wealth of information and passion for the wines. We did the regular tasting and were immediately mesmerized by them. Each one better than the next. We then did a reserve tasting where we compared Inwood wines against top wines and were once again very impressed with the local wines! We joined the wine club and also purchased a bottle of their Chardonnay. The best word I can use to describe these wines is SMOOTH. They are a welcome addition to our stock and we will certainly enjoy these!

While I can understand some of the complaints, I am astounded by all the negative reviews. This was the last stop on a whirlwind Texas Hill Country wine tour. Our group of five walked in and found ourselves to be the only ones in the tasting room, and we were all very pleasantly shocked to have the wine maker/​owner as our pourer. What a way to go out with a bang. And it was about time that we got a little TLC, after being corralled like cattle at some of the other wineries, where wine were thrown at us with little to no explanation.
The Inwood wine was hands down the best we had experienced all day; and might I add, not because anyone was drunk as a skunk or didn’t have a palette left to distinguish between good/​bad. This is not a Moscato drinker’s cup of tea, or someone who doesn’t want to pay more than $ 30/​bottle. This is Texas Tempranillo at its finest. And I can tell you, the owner certainly doesn’t let his opinion of his craft go unnoticed. While he was polite, engaging, and VERY informative, he also had an heir of arrogant pride about him. Which our group truly respected, because the wine was that good. But I could easily see how those «pseudo wine drinkers, or those who were there to just get their drink on» might find offensive.
Keep doing what your doing Inwood, conforming to the masses is overrated.

Inwood Estates has a good story. First grower to put grapes in the ground in Texas, long history of buying and exporting wines (the owner), obviously a deep knowledge of the business, science and art of growing wine.
The owner was kind enough to sample us on some very exclusive wines, share the science of growing, his learned opinion on Texas wines, seasons, El Nino, French wines, Italian wines, and just about everything else related to wine. They clearly know their stuff and their wine was good.
If I’m being constructive about what would have made the experience better, maybe some sprucing up of the back area where you sample. The chairs are pretty uncomfortable and the room is pretty spare. While I agree the wine is the main attraction, from an experiential standpoint, I’d be more likely to bring guests to one of the more built out welcoming wineries.

We had such a great time here! The wine was excellent. The food was great too. Most vineyards don’t serve food but this one does. Great service and very friendly. The manager brought water for our dog and even gave her a piece of cheese. Love this place!

I’m surprised at the low reviews here, I was super excited to do a wine tasting here. My first experience with Inwood Estates wines was when I bought a bottle from a place in Georgetown, TX. I’m usually not a fan of Tempranillos, but theirs was excellent and I bought several more bottles after that.
Fast forward to today — my husband and I were out wildflower hunting and happened across Inwood’s tasting room near Fredricksburg and had to stop in. The grounds are beautiful — they have an outdoor patio in the back with a giant vine and wire tables amongst dainty yellow wildflowers. Very picturesque. When we went in, (to the tasting room side — we didn’t venture in to the café) there was a tasting already going on. The guy doing the tastings integrated myself and another woman into the other tasting seamlessly and actually got us up to speed with the other tasting. He was knowledgeable, funny, entertaining and made the tasting a pleasure. I’ve never seen anyone roll the wine glasses along the counter, it was neat. I wasn’t a fan of all of the wines, but did end up buying a bottle of one of their $ 40 estate tempranillos. Their tastings are $ 12 for a 7 wine flight. That’s a little steep for a flight, I know, but it did include two their more expensive wines as well as decently generous pours that amounted to an overfull glass — and their glasses are about $ 10 – 12 for each wine. So, it actually works out I think.
I honestly didn’t think that the tasting room looked «thrown together» as another Unilocaler stated. Their bar is really pretty — it looks like nebula clouds with sparkles and they had really neat art and books available for purchase. My husband and I purchased a local chef’s cookbook and the guy giving the tasting told us when the chef was having a signing party at Inwood, and the winemaker was actually on hand and offered to sign our book. That’s actually pretty neat if you think about it.
Anyways, I’m giving four stars here — I would give five if there had been more wines that I had liked but all in all this was a more than decent tasting experience for what I’m used to. I’ve done tastings all over — in CA, CO, TX, UT, OR, and WA and here, I wasn’t disappointed.

This is the 3^rd location for Inwood Estates Vineyards. They have 30 yrs of wine making experience in Texas, and utilize only Texas grapes for their wines, from 3 vineyards. They are looking to expand and plan to start fermenting and crushing in Fredericksburg; their first harvest here will be next year. They are known for their Tempranillo and Cab Red wines, and Palomino and Chardonnay white wines. At this location they have a stand alone tasting room, which typically has the winemaker onsite to provide detailed wine making information, and a separate café where you can enjoy a bite to eat.
In my experience here, the customer service was superb. The service was almost «too friendly», they had a staff member just assigned to the doors to ensure people were directed to the right place, tasting room vs. café, and constantly inquiring about your experience. The staff were highly informative and passionate about their wines, and wine making process; which I found to be a highlight.
The prices here are definitely too steep, a tasting is $ 12 for 6. The bottles are definitely overpriced when compared to other Texas wineries, especially since I didn’t find the quality of their wine to be a standout. Overall I thought the wine was average to OK, and the red’s fell short of their full potential.

Inwood Estates is the grandaddy of Texas wines. It’s far closer to Napa in terms of both the wine and the tasting.
The wines are complex, with heavy tannins that age beautifully when cellared. In fact, Inwood Estates wine is the only Texas wine I’ve bothered to cellar, and I’ve had beautiful results from their orginal Segundo Block 1. I’m not a huge fan of Chardonnay, especially big, buttery, California-​style, so Dan’s Palamino-​Chardonnay is a fresh, light, toasty counterpart. Anything with the Tempranillo is big, bold, rich, and deep; my favorite is the Cornelious. The husband, who’s a port snob, tested out the «dessert wines» (i.e. ports) on the last visit in, and ended up buying both the White and Rubyna Ports.
I enjoy the tastings because of the in-​depth guidance; I enjoy learning about the grapes, the vines, the process, and how it ultimate comes into my glass in front of me. To me, it shows great care and thought.

I’m not particular a fan of their wine, they are a challenge to my taste bud. However, that isn’t the reason I give it 3 stars. I believe that different wine for different folks, just because I don’t like it, it doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Example, I don’t like corn.
Anyhoo, the service is pretty good. What really turned me off is the $ 1 charge for a bottle of water. This is a high end taste room, you shouldn’t nickel and dime for water. If a bottle of water hurts your bottom line, I’m ok with regular tap water, I just need to swish out the wine between tastes.
Can I afford a $ 1 for a bottle of water, yes I can, would I do it after I spend $ 10 tasting, nope.

One word: rude. After the vintner found out I was a Unilocaler, he repeatedly asked me not to post anything as «Yelp has ruined my business.»
Well, first of all sir, this is a free country and I’ll Unilocal if I want to. Second, if you took the time to actually read the «negative» reviews it is clear that YOU and the Bistro staff are ruining your business by providing less than adequate service and being downright offensive to your customers.
By far the biggest wine snob I’ve ever met. Comes off as so pretentious and tries to make you believe he is the most knowledgeable person on the planet.
If you want to be scoffed at, be certain to plan wasting over an hour of your day listening to the man tell you every… single…detail about the 6 wines you get during a tasting. Yes, explanations are nice. However, it is egregious to assume that all of the patrons are complete neophytes when it comes to wine. It’s just insulting.
One suggestion if I may… Get off your high horse and learn some Southern hospitality if you want your business to succeed in Fredericksburg. Oh, and by the way, your wines are actually pretty good.