Welcome to Darst Ranch Vineyards

We selected a location at the top of the hill on the ranch.  The soil is a sandy loam of varying depths sitting atop a layer of clay.  The sand allows water from our drip irrigation system to penetrate down through the root zones.  Combined with the slope of the hill, the sand allows water to not only move down through the root zone but to also "flow" downhill  through the sand once it reaches the clay.  This facilitates moving water between rows and to vines below.  The two acres of vines are planted in a North to South orientation to capitalize on both the drying and cooling effect of the near constant winds.

Sandy loam soil has proven to be ideal for growing Blanc du Bois vines and early indications are that our terroir is no exception.  This grape is an American hybrid created by John A. Mortenson at the University of Florida in 1968.  It was specifically developed to survive in southern and eastern coastal growing regions. Vintners are producing dry to semi-dry white wines of increasing quality.  Austin County has emerged as one of the most successful areas for growing this varietal.  In the spring of 2017 we planted our first three blocks of Blanc du Bois on grafted root stock (1103P) totaling 395 vines.  Three more blocks totaling 529 vines were planted in the spring of 2018.  A limited initial harvest from the most aggressive of the second leaf vines planted in 2017 is anticipated for the summer of 2018.