This spring, I visited Salado Winery as part of a trip to Texas Wine Country. This article provides information on my visit, and can help you plan a visit to the winery or place an order to check out some of their wines at home!
Where is Salado Winery?
Salado Winery is located in Saldao, Texas. Salado is part of a group of wineries called the Stagecoach Texas Wine Trail. These wineries are located north of Austin, heading toward Waco. Salado is just under an hour’s drive from Austin and Waco, making it easy to fit into a trip to Texas wine country.
I drove to Salado from Johnson City, where I stayed after visiting Texas Hill Country wineries. That was a very scenic drive, on secondary roads through rolling hills and crossing rivers and streams.
Background on the winery
I was introduced to Salado’s Owner / Winemaker June Ritterbusch by a college friend. June served with my friend Katie in the US Army. Interestingly, June grew up in Massachusetts but wound up settling in Texas with her husband after the Army.
June met her husband when they were both serving as US Army officers stationed in Germany. They traveled after completing their time in the service, and June studied at INSEAD in France, doing an MBA program from 2002-2003.
They decided to settle in Texas upon returning to the United States. As the Salado Winery website says, they have always celebrated life and love with wine. June studied winemaking at the TV Munson viticulture and enology program in Texas, in advance of launching the business.
The business began as Salado Wine Seller in 2005, at which time they planted a vineyard. They began their own winemaking in 2010.
While all the wineries I visited focused exclusively on Texes grapes, Salado Winery had perhaps the greatest emphasis on truly local grapes. While the other wineries sourced the majority of their wines from the Texas Plains further west, June is committed to using grapes from Bell County, where the winery is located.
My visit to Salado
June nicely arranged to meet me at the winery when I arrived early Sunday afternoon. We settled into a table to taste through a selection of Salado wines while I heard about June’s backstory and approach to wine. She has a strong commitment to using local grapes from Bell County, where Salado Winery is located.
June discussed the fun challenges of making wine in the region, with high temperatures that don’t necessarily get significantly cooler at night. She intends to plant and make wine from some Walker hybrid grapes; which have been developed to be resistant to Pierce’s Disease, which can be a big issue in Texas.
We started with the 2020 Night Flight Chardonnay ($25), a refreshing unoaked Chard made with grapes from their Salado vineyard.
In the dry red department, the Salado Bill Bully Mourvedre ($31, 12 % ABV) i was my favorite. The grapes for this fruit-forward red wine are sourced from Lorena, Texas, just a bit north of Salado.
The 2020 Loyal Blue Tempranillo ($31, 12 % ABV) is also fruit-forward, and is a suggested pairing for a good Texas Steak. The Tempranillo grapes from from 3 Texans Vineyard in Temple, Texas. I noted both of these dry reds have a relatively modest alcohol content, making them food friendly. Although they made for enjoyable sipping on their own, too!
Salado Winery also features a variety of sweet wines. The Dillo Dally red blend is their most popular. I especially liked the William Select Solera Tinto ($65, 18%), a Port style red blend.
Visiting & Ordering
June and her small team are happy to welcome visitors and share their wines! You can taste 5 wines for $10, definitely a good deal. Wines are also available by the glass. Solera Winery is open daily from noon to 6 p.m. They also have a variety of events, including receptions for local artists.
June and her small team are happy to welcome visitors and share their wines! You can taste 5 wines for $10, definitely a good deal. Wines are also available by the glass. Solera Winery is open daily from noon to 6 p.m. They also have a variety of events, including receptions for local artists.
Most of the Solera wines can also be ordered online, provided you are in a state that allows wine shipments from Texas.
When visiting, you can also check out the Salado Wine Seller side of the busines. This is a curated selection of wines from other places.
Check out my article on Visiting Texas Wine Country for more things to do in the region! And stay tuned for more articles about the Texas wineries I visited.
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