Day Trips: McPherson Cellars, Lubbock

photos by Gerald E. McLeod

McPherson Cellars in Lubbock is the quintessential Texas winery – relatively small, family-owned, and making wines that Texans can be proud of.

Kim McPherson, the proprietor, is to many Texas wine drinkers a member of Texas winemaking royalty, but he wears the crown lightly and with humor.

There are a few names you should know in Texas wine history. T.V. Munson, a horticulture professor in Denison, saved the European wine industry in the 1880s. Val Verde Winery in Del Rio has made wine continuously since 1883. Ed and Susan Auler brought viticulture to the Hill Country. And Dr. Clinton "Doc" McPherson, a chemistry professor at Texas Tech and Kim's father, showed that wine grapes could flourish in the Texas Panhandle.

Beginning with experimental vineyards in the 1970s, there are now over a million acres of wine grapes in Texas. Grapes take less water than cotton and peanuts, Kim said.

He started McPherson Cellars in California before returning to Lubbock more than 25 years ago. His award-winning wines have been a James Beard finalist twice, a major feat for a small winery from the Texas High Plains.

"We grow everything that loves the heat," Kim says. Grapes native to Spain do very well in the sandy soil and high summer temperatures. Despite being the second-hottest summer on record, this year's harvest did very well.

"When my dad started, daytime highs rarely got above 98 degrees and dropped into the 50s at night," he said. This summer, Lubbock sweltered through 48 days of triple-digit temperatures.

McPherson Cellars is at 1615 Texas Ave., not far from the Buddy Holly Center. Sylvia McPherson's La Diosa Cellars tapas bar is across the street at 901 17th St. The tasting room opens Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6pm. The winery can be reached at 806/687-9463 or mcphersoncellars.com.

1,676th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere: Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.