Texas Wine Archives - Siboney Cellars

Only The Beginning! New Vines Lead to Estate Wines.

The Siboney Cellars Terrace Vineyard Planting and Spring Wine Release event is in the books! Thank you to all our members, guests, volunteers and partners. You have given us every chance to create great #TxWine and we can’t wait to share the fruits of this endeavor.

So many smiling faces in this video! We could not be more delighted with the turnout and the great energy from our members, guests, volunteers and partners on April 10-11. Thank you all for visiting us at the new home for Siboney Cellars, and for putting roots down with us in the Terrace Vineyard Block! For you vineyard lovers, check out the site details and additional photos below.

Short of having a baby, planting a vineyard is the most optimistic thing you can do in life.

All the photos you see in this video are available for you to have, with our compliments! To download, please visit this link. When you post your photo, please do tag us on our Facebook and Instagram feeds and let us know you’re sharing #Siboney!

Member Photos: https://miguellecuona.zenfolio.com/siboney-april2021

The estate wines coming from this vineyard are earmarked for the Wine Club. To join, visit www.SiboneyCellars.com and explore the Clubs page.

The next Member event is scheduled for Memorial Weekend May 30-31. Stay tuned for more details. And again, thank you for giving us the best possible start for 2021.

Siboney Cellars Terrace Vineyard

AVA Classification: Texas Hill Country
Region: Pedernales Watershed, 4 miles W of Johnson City
Topography: Sloped Limestone Terrace, live oaks, native grasses, wildflowers, and very much cleared cedar; no prior cultivation
Elevation: 1,450′ (443.2M), 35′ elevation change
GPS: 30.262326, -98.462126 (30°15’44,4″N 98°27’43.7W)
Soil: Well-drained Doss Silty Clay, Brackett Association, and sandstone aggregate to 24″; atop limestone foundation. Significant fossilized seabed treasures across the site.
Acreage under vine: 3.68ac
Varietals
- Merlot 181 ENTAV-INRA on SO4 — East block to Live Oak Mott
  - French Clone, originated from Bordeaux, certified 1973
  - Nursery: Wonderful, Kern County, California
- Merlot FPS 24.1 on SO4 — Live Oak Mott and West Block
  - Italian Clone, VCR 101, certified 2002
  - Nursery: Novavine, Sonoma County, California
- Total Planted: 5009 bench graft dormant vines
- Vines survived wildfire, pandemic, and ice storms to reach Siboney
Spacing: 8×4, Bodark (Osage Orange) end posts
Orientation: South-North, with prevailing summer winds
Irrigation: Drip – rainwater capture and site well (depth 400′)
Soil and Site Analysis: Fritz Westover
Vineyard consultant: Bill Blackmon
Trellis Installation: Donny Jackson
Vine Planting: Luis Cortes and his team, by hand
Planting Date: April 5-11, 2021

This must be how Thor feels holding Mjolnir!

With Gratitude…

Nearly 150 members and guests put roots down in our vineyard with us over the weekend of April 10 and 11! That just stuns us. We will never forget it, and we are every bit as excited as you to see it come to harvest in the future. Thank you!

We are blessed by our industry friends and project partners, all who share a love for the hill country and for Texas Wine: Legendary Texas Vineyard Grower Bill Blackmon who we hope never regrets asking to develop our vineyards at Siboney; (and thank you Tate, Andy and Evan!); Soil and Site Analyst Fritz Westover, whose joyous reaction to walking the site for the first time reinforced our own hopes and dreams; the vine-planting team led by my friend Luis Cortes, and his camaradas Javier, Sergio and Francisco. Thank you to Wonderful nursery for supplying the ENTAV Merlot clones. Holding that bundle in my hand must have been like Thor holding Mjolnir! And a very special shout-out to Sam Caselli of Novavine for his initial encouragement, timely and astute assistance and amazing service every step of the way. We also are indebted to Donny Jackson and his installation team; our Architect Kim Thompson of Reliance, and especially to Chad Meyers of Aquadocs and Blaine Langford of JK Bernhard, who pushed the limit on tying our wells together in time to commit the planting dates.

We also thank the expert volunteers who supported us to bring the event to such a success. Thank you Daniel Kelada, Kappy Simpson, Callisto Griffith, and Kourtney Collins. Thank you Chris and Elisa Hensz. Thank you to the Busch Family and Fire Oak Vineyards. Thank you Dee Dahlstrom. Thanks to our caterers, Mike’s Q on Saturday and Vivere on Sunday. We also appreciate the great music from Nathan of Spicy Loops, and the beloved Hill Country duo, Greg and Lisa Trace of Gold. And to Jason Cook, the Mayor of Hye, for loaning us those great tables and chairs from the Hye Hall!

And finally, this must be said: Our partnership with Bill and Mary Anne Waldrip has made every bit of this possible, and in ways we could never dare to hope. No project has extracted more commitment, trust and perseverance than this. We do this for our Members. We do this for Texas. We do this for Love. And we will work hard to make this site a point of pride for all of #TxWine. And it’s only the beginning. MRL

Travis and Hot Shot - a Siboney Love Story — Miguel and Barbara were married February 15, 2008.

[Note from Miguel: The big Texas #IceStorm2021 disrupted pretty much everything including this blog entry which was to mark the debut of the new website. Now that power has been restored we can update you on many things!]

Like you, we often wonder about the inspiration for wine names. Truth is, before we even named Siboney Cellars, we knew the first two wines would be named Travis and Hot Shot.

Barbara and I were married February 15, 2008. Prior the wedding, Barbara lived in Philadelphia, and I lived in Austin. We kept a running game of Scrabble going online, for many months. I played under an alias, Travis, because after years of spelling “L-E-C….U-O…. N-A” for Austin restaurant waiting lists (remember those???), I simplified to “Travis, party of 2” because every Texan can spell Travis! So that stuck. I was fortunate to win many of the early contests. But as is typical for Barbara, her competitiveness and determination are pretty much unstoppable. And sure enough, she got on a hot streak, and won 7 games in a row. So I wrote to her and said, “okay Hot Shot that’s enough of that!” Next thing I knew, she changed her Alias to Hot Shot.

Travis and Hot Shot were printed on the matchbooks for our wedding, and so naturally they are the first red and white wines for Siboney Cellars. And now you know the rest of the Love Story!

As for the wines? Both are delightful Texas blends of Rhone varietals, and we will create these each year. The 2017’s sold out. The new 2018 Hot Shot (Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier) is now available in our wine store. And the 2019 Travis (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre) is in barrel, and will debut this Spring. We’re sure you will show both of them nothing but Love!

What is our view of 100% Texas Wine? We spell it out on each label: ‘Every bottle from Siboney Cellars is, and always will be, 100% Texas. Hand crafted and aged with the passion it deserves, and the patience it requires.’

With the advent of a prodigious wildflower season in the Texas Hill Country AVA, we are eager to begin the work ahead for the 2019 Vintage, and introduce a couple of new wines for you, perfect for Spring. But a couple of other flowers have popped up this season in the Texas Legislative session that are also catching our eye. (For our out-of-state friends, the standing joke about the bi-cameral Texas congress is: Texas Legislators meet for 172 days every two years. Perhaps they should meet for just 2 days every 172 years). Here is a rundown on a few of the filed bills:

The first bill, SB313, (there are Senate and House versions of this one) would eliminate the annual 35,000 gallon limit on winery production earmarked for Direct-to-Consumer, whether at the winery or through wine clubs and regular sales operations. This is a positive growth bill for wineries in the state where DTC sales have been on a roll this decade.

2018 #TxWine Growing Season Underway – Spring Report

As the growing season for the 2018 Vintage is ramping up, we traveled to the High Plains AVA with Doug Reed of Hawk’s Shadow Winery, and visited with our vineyard partners. A brief report from Siboney Cellars, Miguel Lecuona:

Cabernet, plus Muscat and some Viognier. Shot taken from altitude of 983 feet

Hill Country– On our way to the High Plains we visited Drew Tallent in Mason. We checked on Drew’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo, which we harvested last season and plan to follow up again for 2018. Drew’s site is one of the premiere Hill Country vineyards, a sloping terrain with good drainage on granite and quartzite sandstone. Drew has a long history of growing quality grapes for several wineries we admire, including Becker Vineyards and Lewis Wines. We jumped on the opportunity to secure small parcels from relatively young vines so as to get a good read on what is possible from a Hill Country AVA for two of our long term favorite grapes. The Tempranillo looked to be pretty well balanced for fruit production and vine vigor, while the Cabernet shows a bit more fruit blossoms on the vine (which make for a wonderful aroma!). We will monitor that and assess ways to reduce yield so all the fruit has a better opportunity to ripen fully within the growing season.

High Plains – So far, in the High Plains, 2018 has been quite dry, even by High Plains standards, and our vineyard checks confirmed this, particularly between the rows where cover crops have not rooted, and the soil looks quite thirsty! That said, the first part of the spring growing season are favorable for many vineyard blocks, which came through a cold winter and avoided Spring Frosts. Of course all eyes now look to the skies not just for beneficial rains, but for the potential for towering thunderstorms that bring the ever-present threat of hail. Indeed, as soon as we left the High Plains, we encountered a spectacular storm in San Angelo, and rode the lightning all the way back home. So it is touch and go over the ensuing days!

Narra Vineyards — Our visit with Owner Nikki Narra on May 14-15 confirmed this weather pattern. Happily, vine health and spring blooming look quite nice, progressing on track. While we were there, Nikki and her team were working on nutrient levels, irrigation management, and assessing potential cluster thinning. We discussed the prognosis for 2018 for Viognier, and the potential for two varietals of interest to our expanding program — Sauvignon Blanc, and Tannat. We are encouraged, and know with Nikki we are in strong hands and look forward to visiting her regularly to assess progress
Lahey Vineyards — we truly admire, and to be honest, are somewhat awestruck, by the size and scale of the operation at Lahey Vineyards. With over 600 acres under vine, and managing more than 2 dozen varietals, Doug Fairbanks is one of the busiest in the industry. We are working with a few blocks at Lahey – Syrah, and Bordeaux Red Varietals. Doug also indicated a very dry spring in his vineyard, and is dodging storms while assessing early growth and blooming.
Miguel Lecuona
SIboney Cellars

January 2018 – Blending Trials Underway!

Everything is coming into focus — Barbara’s blending trials are now at hand. Tasting through samples from our 20 barrels resting in the cellars at Hawk’s Shadow — red, white, rosé, and our aforementioned port — the way forward points directly to a Spring Release of our premiere wines. And we can’t wait to share it with you!

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Blending trials are fascinating, and give us even more respect for winemakers all over the world. Whether assembling a final blend from 90 lots for an amazing 2015 Bordeaux, or working with a vineyard plot that hung just a little too long, winemakers sweat the details. We approach this task with a plan in hand as we taste, test, and talk about each sample. But the wine in the glass has the final word. And this must be noted: some of these lots are just too beautiful to blend! Like a classroom of students, each lot holds the potential for a delightful future. Some are obvious in their strengths, others require a certain amount of guidance. But all are gifted and talented!

Meanwhile, we are ordering bottles, glasses and have just taken delivery of our corks. Our closure is a 2″ natural cork from Scott Labs. It features our branding on the cylinder and a fire-vintage imprint on both ends. We know you will delight in pulling this cork very soon!

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