Confessions about BERNHARDT WINERY, Plantersville, Texas.

I have prided myself in covering most music venues and anything worth knowing about in my neck of the woods... but I will confess to avoiding the woods. 24 years ago when my little family left Plantersville, after calling it home for around 18 years, it was with the firm conviction that coming there had been the most serious mistake of our young lives. So it will be no surprise that going back... to cover any deserving story, is bitter sweet. Or to be more accurate, choking on crow.

It was a hard pill to swallow, that right across from the Price pasture where I used to hunt and photograph bluebonnets and run my Labrador retriever, is the sign and the road leading to one of Grimes County's prime attractions. Plantersville has enjoyed the upgrade brought by such neighbors as the Bernhardt Winery, as some of us shrugged and shook our heads. "More newcomers... they will never make it..." 

So now you and I can quit ignoring the stunning truth- that Grimes County is now the home of several excellent wineries, and Bernhardt Winery in Plantersville is the flagship of the fleet. Let me demonstrate why...

Natural Beauty.

Bernhardt Winery is situated on county road 204 in far eastern Grimes County, just north of Hwy 105. The surrounding countryside is so pretty that it explains why I moved here... and stayed here in Grimes County over forty years ago. Distant vistas and mammoth trees greet visitors to this oasis, which prides itself on being a site of peace and serenity. And the wine doesn't hurt. Bernhardt offers their award winning wines ice-cold, as you sip and listen to Texas' most celebrated musicians. Shake Russell. Ezra Charles. On this visit we were entertained by the original future hits of 2- Bit Palomino. 

World Class Music. 

A veteran crowd of picnickers congregate on a gentle slope which stops at a gargantuan pecan tree, which protects a small outdoor stage from the sun. It might be Bob Livingston, who has performed in over 30 countries around the world for the State Department, or the best of local talent. This Autumn they plan a series of tribute bands, from the Eagles to Willie to Elvis to the Beatles to Motown. 

And the wine flows. The music fills the valley. The sun goes down... 

And Jerry Bernhardt reads some of his winsome poetry and... all is right with the world. He explains that the place is for getting back in touch with nature... and beauty. If I'm not totally accurate about what he said... I'll blame the wine...And he asks everyone to be quiet and just listen for a moment to the sounds of the country. Cicadas obligingly turn up the volume, and crickets rub their legs with enthusiasm. He makes a toast. I look around. Yes, this is Plantersville. Back when I first moved here, me and my coon hunting, skoal dipping, whiskey sipping buddies would have cracked up at such eloquence.

Delicious Wine.

As I explained to the kind lady offering me a sampling of wine, I'm a beer guy. But the wines I tasted were very rich and refreshing. We bought a blush wine that disappeared quickly. You come. You be the judge. I know music- and they have the best music in Texas, and as our entertainers for the evening joked, the more we drank the better they sounded. And probably the better the whole experience is... or seems. Whatever, Plantersville has more going for it than the Texas Renaissance Festival. Right now it has the two most impressive entertainment venues in Grimes County.

Thanks to the vision of the Bernhardts, time, good taste and financial commitment has rewarded this lovely place with a solid attraction. And hundreds of people are making it a regular part of their lives.  I sure plan to.

But thank goodness, it is still Plantersville.

If you want to more details about Bernhardt Winery, call (936) 894-9829 or go to their website:
www.bernhardtwinery.com

The Perfect Blog

Texas peaches are outstanding this year, and well worth the drive.

You obviously like to read, and I know you love to eat, so here is the perfect blog.  A healthy tip, the perfect length, about the perfect food. And near perfect insight about how and where to get it. After several years of trial and error, you have the benefit of all my research. I of course got to eat the peaches...

Texas Peaches. I’m talkin’ TEXAS PEACHES! They are the juiciest, sweetest tasting, most beautiful to behold this year (2012). These heavenly morsels have no relation to the styrofoam orbs you get at the grocery store. And they are available longer than the local grocer would have you believe.  Texas peaches are in season from mid -June  through August. We’ve tried the Hill Country peaches but it was dry out there and they were disappointing. But I have purchased several bags of east Texas peaches and have found them… perfectly delectable.

In fact, I have become somewhat of a peach aficionado...  a peach addict if that is possible. Once I discovered the most perfect food, that is a juicy, ice cold, sun-ripened Texas peach, I have been in search of them, a slave to them wherever and whenever they are in season. This is my confession. If you have a similar fixation, or want one, this perfect blog is written for you.

Where: Cooper Farms, Fairfield Texas, right on Interstate 45, evenly between Dallas and Houston. Cooper Farms sends out trucks to distribute their fine produce all the way down to Conroe. You can sometimes find them at Madisonville, or Centerville, but they only run the truck stands on certain days, like Thur-Sat... better call them and make sure.  (They have a website) I have found the peaches in Bryan at The Farm Patch, on Old College, and in the early season I think they may show up at Di Irio's in Hempstead.

But here is the bad news. They depend on student help to man the trucks in the summer, when the peaches are in peak. But the help runs out about the same time the peaches do.  After the end of July, you almost have to go to them to get the fix. They do run a few trucks but they are even less reliable. You have to call to make sure they are coming to a location near you. But they are worth the drive…

So if you NEED them like I do, their main fruit outlet is a very nice store in Fairfield that also features Texas grown produce and other delicious Texas treats like sugar & cinnamon covered pecans, fresh grown blueberries and all kinds of jellies and oh yeah, fantastic PEACH fried pies.

The good news is that there are several varieties of peaches. And some are just now in their peak. Nature saves the best for last. The ones at the stand now are huge, ripe and outstanding in flavor. They will be available through Labor Day, I am told. Meanwhile I am eating peaches like crazy.

I once did this with cherry tomatoes. Ate them until  they tasted nasty. Couldn’t stand to even look at them.

Until the next year.

(I have a few left at Blues Alley if you need to eat it to beleive it.)

Somebody actually left a comment!

Somebody... perhaps a young female, left a simple... i love coleton.

Since Coleton Black is the only Coleton I know of, and the commentor left this message on an article about the Blacks, I am going to reward them with some more photos that might be of interest to them.

So I aim to please... I would have put more pics of Clint... but nobody mentioned him!

And Coleton, looks like you have a bit of a fan base... and keeping up with your hat-size changes gets darned expensive, even for big stars... so try not to get the big head!