Celebrating 25 Years: 25 Fun Facts About Pedernales Cellars

This year, Pedernales Cellars marks the 25th year since the planting of Kuhlken Vineyards, our family vineyard.  My how time flies! When our parents first planted the Kuhlken Vineyard in 1995 they had no way of envisioning where we’d be today, but they certainly did give us roots that we take pride in even to this day – and into the next generation.

The key to our growth over the years has come with our understanding that no matter how much we learn about the Texas terroir we’ll always be learning more. The land is our greatest teacher and it’s our connection to it that makes Pedernales Cellars special.

In celebration of our landmark anniversary, we are pleased to share with you 25 fun facts you may or may not know about our history – starting with the planting of Kuhlken Vineyards.

1. Kuhlken Vineyards was originally planted by Larry and Jeanine as an early retirement project. They were returning to the land after a professional life in the IT sector and were interested in growing grapes to sell to other Hill Country wineries.
2. When getting started Larry and Jeanine Kuhlken received advice from their friends, the Johnsons, who grew grapes in Red Mountain AVA of Washington state.
3. The vine on display over our reserve wine bar in the tasting room is nineteen-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon. It was 19 at the time it was cut down. That vine was part of the original Kuhlken Vineyard planting in 1995.
4. The planting of Kuhlken Vineyards was a family affair. Julie came back from California where she was living at the time to help plant and water the new vines. David came up from Houston to help install the vineyard’s irrigation system with their dad.
5. Part of Kuhlken Vineyards is located in Bell Mountain AVA, the oldest American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Texas. It was formed in 1986 by Bob Oberhelman of Bell Mountain Winery. The vineyard is also located in the Llano Uplift a geological phenomenon that brought old, infertile soil to the surface around 300 million years ago, including the degraded sandstone in Kuhlken Vineyards.
6. Kuhlken Vineyards is broken into Blocks based on when they were planted. 
7. The original planting in 1995 was of four varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In the beginning, Larry and Jeanine sold their grapes to other wineries. These were the varieties that their customers wanted in the 1990s. 
8. The front vineyard was planted in 1995 and is known as Block Zero. 
9. The vineyard is located on North Highway 16 which is an excellent place for a vineyard, but not for a tasting room. So, the Kuhlken family selected a winery/tasting room site on the well-traveled 290 corridor. Even as the wine region grows, to this day, there are no tasting rooms on North Highway 16.
10. Of the original plantings, the red varietals did OK, but the whites did not thrive and were eventually replaced with Mourvèdre. As Block Zero Mourvèdre thrived, the varietal gained favor among Texas winegrowers.
11. Block Zero now includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, and Mourvèdre. These varietals adapt well to the hot summers in Texas. The Merlot vines are pictured to the left in early growth stages, March of 2020.
12. A new section of Kuhlken Vineyard was planted in 2007. That is known as Block One which includes Mourvèdre and Tempranillo. 
13. Block Two was also planted in 2007 and includes the Portuguese variety, Touriga Nacional. This is a high-quality grape with origins in Portugal.
14. In good vintage years, Pedernales Cellars will bottle wines sourced from individual blocks, such as the 2018 Block Zero. Club members gain exclusive access to these wines when they are released, or when we offer library tastings.
15. The only significant planting Pedernales Cellars has of a white wine variety is Albariño. Albariño is a light-bodied white grape that is widely planted in Spain and Portugal.
16. Kuhlken Vineyards was developed into a commercial vineyard and winery by Larry and Jeanine’s children, Julie and David. The winery remains a family business to this day.
17. Glögg wine is a holiday tradition at Pedernales Cellars inspired by family connections in Sweden and the German heritage of Gillespie County where the winery is located.
18. Joanna Wilczoch became our co-winemaker after her Southern hemisphere harvest in spring 2019 in New Zealand. Previously, she had worked as Dave’s assistant. Joanna is a super-taster with an excellent palate which compliments Dave’s understanding of what varietals work well in Texas.
19. The founders of Kuhlken Vineyards, Larry and Jeanine Kuhlken, met working on the Apollo 11 mission over 50 years ago. Our popular “Over the Moon Rosé” wine is meant to honor their story.
20. In 2020, Pedernales Cellars created a label exclusively for retail markets called Six Generations. This wine label is meant to honor the strong family connection to our land spanning six generations while expanding consumers’ access to quality, Texas-grown wines. 
21. Pedernales Cellars is fortunate in the site for the winery because there is a hill that rises quickly behind the tasting room. This formation allowed the family to build a barrel room directly into the hill which uses natural cooling to reduce the winery’s carbon footprint.
22. The wine club lounge is a 1880s farmhouse that was moved from its original location in Fredericksburg to its current location in Stonewall. The tasting room is comprised of additions to this original structure.
23. Pedernales Cellars started a wine club soon after opening in 2008. We have three tiers of Pedernales wine clubs including a Winemaker’s Choice club with both red and white wines and a red wine only club.
24. In 2014 we added our Collector’s Club for Kuhlken-Österberg wines that are released only once per year and are offered in only 6 bottle and 12 bottle memberships.
25. In addition to our estate vineyard, Kuhlken Vineyards, we have worked with a select set of growers around the state to source the best Texas fruit possible for our 100% Texas grown wines. Most of these relationships are long-standing.

We are grateful.

As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Kuhlken Vineyards we are filled with gratitude for each and every person that has supported us over the years. Because we are committed to sharing and educating our community, we encourage you to follow Pedernales Cellars on our various social media channels. We enjoy sharing behind the scenes photos and videos to tell our story, and to keep consumers informed of what it takes to bottle the taste of Texas terroir from vine to wine.