72-ounce challenge to eat 4.5 pounds of steak, a salad, shrimp cocktail, a baked potato and a roll in one hour at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo.
Chili Like steak, chili is served in many
states, but its origins can be traced to Texas. Whether a person subscribes to the belief that chili came from trail cooks during the old cat le drives or that it was created by San Antonio’s “Chili Queens,” this peppery stew is essential to Texas’ cooking heritage. Like many Texas foods, it has been the topic of heated de- bates—so much so that one discussion sparked the November Terlingua chili championships, the granddaddies of chili cook-off s. Many insist real Texas chili has no beans, but the dish, today, takes many forms—mild and hot, served in a bowl and served over eggs or enchiladas, with beans or without.
Wineries Winemaking in Texas dates to the
times of the Spanish missionaries who cultivated grapes near present-day El Paso. By the 1900s, Texas had a thriving industry with 25 operating wineries. Prohibition saw the closing of most Texas wineries. Val Verde Win- ery, founded in 1883, survived by sell- ing table grapes and shipping grapes for home winemaking. It is now the oldest bonded winery in operation in the state. Today, hundreds of wineries are lo-
cated throughout Texas, which is the fi ſt h largest wine-producing state in the nation. Among Texas wine afi cionados, there was lit le surprise that Wine Enthusiast named the Texas Hill Coun- try among the top wine travel destina- tions in 2014. Aſt er all, there are now 42 wineries operating in the Hill Country. An excellent place to start an explo-
ration of winemaking in Texas is the wine trails—Texas Bluebonnet, Cross Timbers, Fredericksburg Wine Road 290, Way Out Wineries, Texas Hill Country, Grapevine, Piney Woods and San Gabriel. Some trails might require multiple trips to visit them all while others have as few as four to six that can be seen in one day or one weekend. From boutique cellars to large es-
tates, the wineries of Texas off er a chance to not only sample a variety of wines but also to sample the wineries’
PHOTO: WILL VAN OVERBEEK/TXDOT
Grapevine GRAPEFEST
diff erences—learning about the indi- vidual histories, the winemaking phi- losophy, and the winemaking process.
Breweries Travelers may want to cheer over
the increasing appearance of beers, es- pecially craſt breweries, in Texas. Not much is known about beer production in the state prior to the Civil War. The fi rst commercial brewery is thought to be Western Brewery (1885) started in San Antonio. Some people believe the Kreische Brewery was the fi rst in the state, but dates confl ict on when it was built. Those interested in the history of brewing in Texas can take a guided tour of the brewery ruins at Monument Hill-Kreische Brewery State Historic Site in La Grange. The oldest operating independent
brewery in Texas was founded in 1909 in Shiner and is now known as Spoetzl Brewery. The oldest craſt brewer is Saint Arnold, started in Houston in the early 1990s. More can be learned during their facility tours. Texas now has more than 60 inde-
pendent brewers with many more in the works. Some off er tours that take visitors to see the equipment and ex- plain the brewing process. As with the wineries, each brew- ery’s history diff ers from the next.
Distilleries The interest in distilling spirits also
is growing in the state. Since Austin’s Tito Beveridge founded the fi rst legal distillery in the state in the 1990s, sev- eral legal distilleries have opened here with off erings including whiskey, bourbon, rumble, rum and vodka. Most of the distilleries are small-
batch producers focusing on the qual- ity of the product. A wonderful way to learn about the complex process and aging used is to take a tour at Balcones Distilling, D.E.W Distillation LLC, Firestone & Robertson Distillery, Garrison Brothers Distillery, Original Texas Legend, Railean Distillers, Rebecca Creek Distillery LLC, Quen- tin D. Witherspoon Distillery or Yellow Rose Distilling LLC. One, Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling, off ers a combination beer-bourbon experience.
Dr Pepper Those thirsting for less spirited bever-
ages might be interested in the history of Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper was developed in 1885 by Dr. Charles Alderton at the Old Corner Drug Store in Waco. Travelers can visit the location (now the Dr Pepper Museum) where it was created. ★
For more infor ma tion about Texas, visit
TravelTex.com. 23
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