Pedernales Cellars Last Minute Gift Recommendations

If you are like me, you have put off a significant portion of your holiday shopping until this week. You might call me a procrastinator. I mean, I didn’t even get a birthmark until I was 10.

Here are four great last-minute gift recommendations for the people on your holiday list.

2019 Vintner’s Reserve for Your Favorite Aunt 

She shared nuggets of wisdom, bought you ice cream before dinner, and was the kind of confidant that only a relative can be. Your favorite aunt deserves a special gift. We created our 2019 Vintner's Reserve as a nontraditional red blend that stands out within our lineup. Our winemakers carefully selected the very best lots of Carignan, Tannat, and Mourvèdre grapes from our most trusted growers to make a wine that is both elegant today, and that will develop luxuriously over time.  

This aromatic wine will impress your favorite aunt with lots of black fruit, blueberries, plum, bramble, earth and cola on the nose. Vintner’s Reserve is a medium-bodied wine with firm tannins with a hint of spice. It is a perfect bottle to share over laughs and knowing glances and it also pairs well with pork dishes, mushroom risotto, and roasted vegetables.

2017 Gran Reserva for Your Friend the Wine Snob

We all have a friend who knows an awful lot about wine. No ordinary bottle will do for this person, so why not give them a special bottle of 2017 Gran Reserva. Following the wine classification system of Rioja, Spain, we made our first Gran Reserva-style wine. This Tempranillo is from an exceptional that spent two years in new American oak and aged for three more years in the bottle before release. The Tempranillo grapes in this wine were sourced from our Kuhlken Estate vineyard in the Texas Hill Country and Lahey Vineyards in the Texas High Plains. Your gift to your wine snob friend is a rarity and a bit of living history. Sadly, the Tempranillo vines in Kuhlken Vineyards no longer exist, but the estate vineyard has been replanted and will soon be producing new Tempranillo fruit.

Our 2017 Gran Reserva will satisfy the most discerning Rioja lover with its rich notes of dried red currants, aged leather, eucalyptus, and bramble. It is a lighter-bodied wine with fine tannins and lively acidity, which makes it an excellent accompaniment to cheeses, roast pork, and lamb.

2018 Cuvee 1853 for the Historian  

Cuvee 1853 commemorates the first year our Kuhlken family ancestors migrated to Texas. Cuvee 1853 is a new blend to Pedernales Cellars. Celebrating family history calls for a beautiful blend that will impress those who appreciate the art of the perfect food and wine pairing. Historians who enjoy the complexities of intertwined timelines will appreciate the complexity of the 2018 Cuvee 1853 made with intertwined grapes.

The 2018 Cuvee 1853 has a solid core of Carignan — which is one of our favorite Rhone red grapes — blended with Syrah (possibly Carignan’s soulmate) and an added smidge of Cabernet Sauvignon for body. This wine unfolds like a memoir of the joys of black cherries and blackberries, bramble, spice, coffee, and a stony minerality. It is medium-bodied with savory leather, cedar notes, and a cocoa finish that lasts for ages. Serve it while wearing a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches.

Texas Ruby for Your Teacher

Teaching is one of the most essential professions in our society. From kindergarten to grad school, the people who dedicate themselves to instilling knowledge in our youth are invaluable. Our Texas Ruby with its richness, age-worthiness, and sweetness is a suitable gift for the person who is responsible for important aspects of your child’s learning.

Our Texas Ruby port-style dessert wine is inspired by the iconic fortified wines of Portugal. The grapes for it are grown in our family Kuhlken Vineyard in the Hill Country. We grow Portuguese grape varietals in Block 2 of the vineyard which makes the base wine. Our family vineyard, in its 27th year of growing, has been the source for many of our past award-winning wines and continues to produce some of the best fruit in the state. This wine is best served with sweet stories of classroom excellence.

The Pedernales Cellars Estate Tasting Room is open through December 23rd at 3:00 pm for last-minute holiday shopping, and we reopen for normal hours on December 26 for all of your New Year’s Eve needs. We’re located in Stonewall, Texas, a short drive from Austin, Fredericksburg, Kerrville, and San Antonio. Treat yourself to a glass of wine while you pick up bottles or cases of wine to fill Santa’s sleigh.