French Connection Wines
Benjamin Calais makes the mourvèdre here off Dell Valley vines planted in 1976, and calls the red blend Châteauneuf de Hye.4
Why go
This is the Rhône half of Calais's work. Texas Monthly reports that the Hye winery expanded into Rhône-style wines after 2015 and sells them under the French Connection label, so the winemaker who built a Bordeaux reputation up the road is doing viognier and mourvèdre here.1 He is from Northern France and has been making Texas wine since 2008.2 The wines are made on site from fruit that is 100 percent Texas-grown, poured five at a time in a guided tasting, with the patio and the Hill Country in front of you.2
Order this / avoid
- The 2021 mourvèdre, from vines planted at Dell Valley Vineyards in 1976. The winery describes it as meaty, chocolaty and plummy on moderate tannins.4
- Châteauneuf de Hye, the full-bodied red blend, which the winery reads as violets, blackberry jam, black pepper and cured meats.4
- The viognier, eleven months in stainless steel, white flowers and apricot.4
- The Reserve Tasting at $50 if you want the off-menu pour, a French charcuterie board for two and a macaron at the end. The Educational Tasting is $30 for five wines.2
- Avoid: planning a group visit. Six people is the hard cap.5
What locals & experts say
- Texas Monthly, September 2025, on where these wines come from:
Since opening its Hye tasting room in 2015, Calais has expanded to Rhône-style wines, which it sells under the French Connection label.
1 - The record is thin past that. No published review of the French Connection wines under this name exists, and the winery's own front-page claim about a James Suckling rating names no wine, no score and no date, so it is not carried here.4
Good to know
- Hours: Thursday noon to 5 with the kitchen shut, Friday noon to 6, Saturday 11 to 6, Sunday 11 to 5, as published on 20 August 2026. Last tasting starts 45 minutes before close.2
- Booking: walk-ins are taken when there is room, but the online system will not accept a same-day reservation. Call (830) 850-4091 for that.2
- Eating: charcuterie boards, a baguette and butter board, and French desserts. You may bring your own food as well.5
- Getting there: Hye, 78635, on the US-290 stretch. The winery publishes no street number on its own site, so put the name into your map rather than an address.2
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: Rhone style
Verdict
could-visit — Benjamin Calais makes these wines too, and here he is working Rhône varieties instead of the Bordeaux blends that made his name: a viognier held eleven months in stainless, a mourvèdre off Dell Valley vines planted in 1976, and a red blend he calls Châteauneuf de Hye, which is a joke a French winemaker in Texas has earned. Fifty-year-old mourvèdre vines are the specific worth driving for, because almost nothing in Texas is that old. Tastings are $30 for five wines or $50 with a charcuterie board on the patio, and the room caps at six people, so it stays a tasting rather than a party. It sits at could-visit and not higher because no critic has written a word about any of these bottles and the winery does not even publish its own street address.