William Chris Vineyards
Bill Blackmon has grown Texas grapes since the eighties. The red he and Chris Brundrett blend in Hye is named Enchanté, after Enchanted Rock up the road.1
Why go
Blackmon and Brundrett started in 2008 and call themselves winegrowers rather than winemakers. They farm estate vineyards in Hye and buy the rest of their fruit from family growers across the state.3 Brundrett championed the 2021 bill that put strict geographic definitions on Texas wine labels. He told Paula Forbes that five or six years ago he would have walked into a restaurant hat in hand to get his wines listed.1 The 2025 World's 50 Best Vineyards list placed the winery 31st, the only Texas name on it.2 Forbes found the place busier and richer than most of the 290 strip. There are several tasting rooms, a restaurant, a music stage and a free pour of the house pét-nat on arrival.1
Order this / avoid
- Enchanté, the Bordeaux-style red named for Enchanted Rock and the first wine the winery made its name on. It took a Texas Class Champion silver at the 2025 Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.1
- The 2020 High Plains mourvèdre, which Forbes read as plummy and tart. She drank it with roasted rutabagas and stood by it.1
- The picnic lunch at the small bar, a turkey sandwich and salads, if you would rather drink a glass than run a flight.1
- Avoid: the chocolate chip cookie. Forbes says it tastes like a supermarket cookie, in the best way, which is a compliment you can decline.1
What locals & experts say
- Paula Forbes, Texas Monthly, September 2025:
William Chris is easily one of the most recognizable names in the state.
1 - Chris Brundrett to Forbes, on the whole category:
We're not apologizing for our wine anymore.
1 - World's 50 Best Vineyards 2025: 31st, Texas Hill Country, on the awarding body's own list page. The winery says it placed in the Top 100 in 2022, 2023 and 2024 before that, which is its own claim.23
Good to know
- Booking: Forbes describes three ways in, a basic tasting, a reserve tasting and a chef's-table dinner with pairings.31
- Getting there: 10352 US-290 in Hye, roughly halfway between Johnson City and Fredericksburg.1
Verdict
should-visit — Book the tasting on the winery's own site before you drive out. Take the basic flight and spend the difference on a bottle, because these are the Texas wines you can find again at home, in restaurants and bottle shops and H-E-Bs across the state. Paula Forbes preferred the wines at Ab Astris, five minutes down the road, and the honest plan is both in one afternoon.