Duchman Family Winery
Two doctors decided Texas weather behaved like Italy's, so they planted a winery around Vermentino, Sangiovese and Dolcetto.1
Why go
Lisa and Stan Duchman started this in 2004 and hired Dave Reilly to make the wine, and the Italian varieties were the whole premise rather than a sideline.1 The fruit comes mostly from the Texas High Plains, where the winery says cooler nights and a more continental climate suit those grapes, and none of it comes from outside Texas.1 The growers run from small Hill Country plots to operations planted across several AVAs, and the winery names them as partners rather than suppliers.1 You drink it at oak-shaded picnic tables on the grounds, or on a bench in the hallway looking into the production floor and the barrels.1
Order this / avoid
- Vermentino. It is Sardinian, it is built for heat, and it is the opposite of the honeyed viognier that Texas whites usually default to.1
- Sangiovese or Dolcetto, the other two the winery was planned around.1
- Avoid: driving out on hours you found here. The winery's site will not answer our fetch lanes, so we print none. Call ahead.1
What locals & experts say
- No published review of a Duchman wine exists, so nothing below rates the glass.
- The winery on why Italy: the Duchmans'
love of the unique Italian grape varieties as well as similar weather patterns to Texas
is the stated reason Reilly ended up making Vermentino in Driftwood.1 - On the sourcing rule:
100% Texas Grapes, 100% Texas Wine… And 100% Texas Farmers.
1
Good to know
- Hours: not printed here. The winery publishes daily tasting-room hours on its own site and that site blocks us, so check it or call before you drive.1
- Getting there: 13308 FM 150 W in Driftwood, which is the same road Google labels Ranch to Market 150. Vista Brewing is a quarter of a mile further along it.2
- Sitting outside: oak-shaded picnic tables on the grounds, open to visitors alongside the tasting room.1
Verdict
could-visit — Lisa and Stan Duchman planted their winery around Italian grapes in 2004 on the reasoning that Texas weather behaves more like Italy's than like France's, and Dave Reilly has been making Vermentino, Sangiovese and Dolcetto from Texas High Plains fruit ever since. Vermentino is the one to ask for: a Sardinian white built for heat, and about as far from the viognier that dominates Texas whites as you can get while staying in the same climate. Everything in the bottle is Texas-grown, from growers the winery names. It sits fifteen minutes from Vista Brewing on the same Driftwood road, which makes a two-stop afternoon out of one drive. It stays at could-visit because no critic has written about the wines and the winery's own site is unreachable, so nothing here is current.