Bending Branch Winery

Old World Wines With Texas Style

How to Get There

Heading west on Highway 27 out of Comfort, take a left at Hermann Sons Road for 2.6 miles, then turn left onto Lindner Branch Trail to the new Bending Branch Winery.

A stately oak limb graces the yard adjoining Bending Branch Winery, a scenic 56-acre vineyard owned by Dr. Robert and Brenda Young. From a tree that was a victim of the area’s oak wilt infestation, the curving branch was the inspiration for the winery’s name. Bending Branch has 360-degree views over the rolling hills; quite possibly, the best winery vistas in the area.

The Youngs’ daughter, Alison; son-in-law, John Rivenburgh; and their two children, Jackson and Chloe, live in the historic vineyard house. John, VP of operations, enjoys meeting with guests, often entering the tasting room after working with the grapes.

“Excuse the purple hands. I’ve been working through crush. It’s harvest time in the winery.”

John is a Renaissance man — a construction specialist, a musician, an architectural designer, an artist. The winery’s tasting room was an old garage John redesigned on a napkin. It’s graced with a floor-to-ceiling contemporary painting  — one of John’s creations.

Sitting at the tasting bar, you will learn that Bending Branch specializes in a red wine that is 100 percent Tannat, a grape that is full and dark inside and out. Dr. Young describes the drought-resistant grape as a hidden treasure.

“It is big and bold, just like Texas. The variety comes from the Madiran region in southwest France. It has only been in the U.S. for 10 years…. It seems to like the heat and grows well in the Texas Hill Country.”

The red wines, such as the Tannat and Petite Sirah, aren’t the only stars of Bending Branch Winery. A white wine, Picpoul Blanc, comes from a rare grape grown in the southern Rhone area of France. The Picpoul — literally, the “lip stinger” — is highly acidic, and the crispness provides a stinging sensation to the lips. It is a very complex wine with different fruit flavors to the nose and intensity. The acidity plays against the softness of the fruit, and although it may taste sweet, it is a dry wine. Bending Branch does not make sweet wines, but even those who like sweeter wines will appreciate the dry wines because of their complexity.

Bending Branch also cultivates Bonarda vines from Argentina — the first 100 vines in the United States.

Dr. Young, the enologist of the operation, is in charge of the vision for product development. He’s also in tune with the winery’s rich history. He points to an old photograph of the original homestead from the 1840s — a small rock farmhouse with grapevines growing up the side of the front porch — and notes that Hill Country farmers often made their own wine. To further commemorate the winery’s heritage, Bending Branch has come out with their Ultra Premium 1840 wine to honor the first German settler on their land, Christian Johns, who acquired the land through service with the Republic of Texas.

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