Catching Up with Blue Ostrich in the North Texas Hill Country

View from the tasting room at Blue Ostrich Winery & Vineyard

by Andrew Chalk

On a narrow legal basis, the ‘North Texas Hill Country’ does not exist. However, one look at the sweeping vista outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the tasting room at Blue Ostrich Winery & Vineyard moves one to create it. Sweeping slopes cascade away in all directions. To the Red River in the north (that is how close to the state line the winery lies), to St. Jo, Muenster, and, eventually, Fort Worth in the south, and Wichita Falls in the west. 

Not only is this the apex of a set of rolling hills, but this topography extends all around. If my human-carrying drone dropped you there in the middle of the night then, come morning, you would guess that you were in the Hill Country down near Comfort or Kerrville.

It is 90-plus degrees on the Sunday we visit. I am so glad we headed north from Dallas, grabbed some BBQ en route, and came out to northeast Texas. Nobody has heard of North Texas Wine Country so it is unspoiled! There is no traffic on the roads, easy parking available in the winery parking lot among the dozens of other visitors (couples, families, and bachelorette panzer divisions), and you get to meet the families who own the wineries (in this case Patrick and Julie Fredrick Whitehead, plus a grandchild-in-arms not quite old enough to drink wine yet).   

Fortunately, Blue Ostrich can take care of your food and wine needs. We did a tasting of their white and red flights (we did not have time to do the sweet wines flight). Labels appear below, but special mention should go to my favorite white and red.

Top white: Viognier 2025, Texas High Plains ($29 SRP). Delicate notes of peach and honey. Profound body and assertive mouthfeel of peach flesh, good acid, longish finish. On the riper end of the Viognier ‘Overton Window’ of tastes (grapefruit to tropical fruit). A Texas summer day’s quaffing wine. Buy a pool just to go with it.

Top red: Petite Sirah 2024, Triple D Vineyard, Texas High Plains ($34 SRP). Opaque blue-edged ruby color. Bold, forward nose of dark fruit (blackberries and blueberries). Mouth of chewy, powerful tannins to define a structure that will age for several years. Fruit flavors overlay earthy tones and herbes de Provence spice (oregano and thyme especially). Respectable finish. This is the wine I wish I had with my brisket and pulled pork barbecue. In fact, it would pair with any red meat. 

Well worth a visit. 

Blue Ostrich wines are available at the winery or online. Visitors to the winery on longer than a day trip may be interested in the accommodations available at the winery. Details on the web site.