Heath Sparkling Wines :: A Bubbly Experience

POP. FIZZ. CLINK. Texas’ first SPARKLING wine tasting room has officially opened in Fredericksburg. HUZZAH! A cause for celebration (and poppin’ champagne), indeed.

Heath Sparkling Wines is one of Fredericksburg’s newest additions and people are BUZZING about their sparkles. If you’re a fan of bubbles (or if you just love holding a champagne glass because it makes you feel fancy), then you’d love their sparkling wine tasting experience.

Health Sparkling wines crafted their own tasting room right next to GrapeCreek Winery / Vineyard. The architecture of the building is modern (lots of concrete, white counter tops and clean lines) with a TON of natural lighting (which is great for showing off all the bubbles). LOCAL TIP: Definitely reserve a tasting in advance, if you’re planning on visiting during weekend hours. My mother and I stopped in after lunch on a Wednesday, and we were able to get in no problem (but most humans don’t get a random Wednesday off).

The Tasting Experience

The tasting includes a brief education on the production of the Heath Sparkling wines, along with four different champagne tastings paired with a small bite. We tried Heath’s 2015 & 2016 Euphoria (lighter in color) along with their 2016 and 2015 Adoration (darker in color - the 2015 Adoration is made with 100% pinot noir grapes). And, at the end of the tasting, we all received a free glass of sparkles (I opted for the 2016 Euphoria, and mom shared her portion)!

Tell Me ‘Bout the Bubbles

All of the grapes are grown and crushed in Texas, to make a true Texas Cuvée. Once the juice is produced, it is sent to be bottled in Sonoma County, California. The machinery used to produce sparkling wines is very specific (I believe Perrier is a large manufacturer of these machines), which is why they out-of-state-source the bottling portion of the process.

We learned that each bottle contains about 70-90 pounds of pressure (which seems like a scary amount of pressure for one tiny bottle - POP)! The fermentation process really takes place in the bottle neck of the champagne (vs. barrels with wine), the bottles are originally capped during the aging / fermentation process and kept in specific machines which rotate the bottles 90 degrees every three hours in order for the wine to keep it’s effervescence. The famous champagne corks are added towards the end of the process!

After labeling each bottle, the bubbles are carefully shipped back to the tasting room in Fredericksburg for all of you wine enthusiasts to enjoy! Cheers, all!

DRESS //