Retreat Hill Winery ~ Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail Country Pictures

Bluebonnets and wine tasting...

This last Spring my husband and I ventured out from our home in Houston, Texas as we do each year by automobile.

Our primary mission was to soak up the ambiance furnished by the springtime Texas temperatures while enjoying the profusion of wildflowers gracing the roadsides. Bluebonnets and many other wildflowers are in abundance and the newspapers keep us apprised of when they are approaching their peak blooming time.

This last year we decided to also explore some of the nearby Texas wineries that were open for the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail and Retreat Hill Winery was on the list of places to experience.

Thus our mission took on an extra flavor of discovery.

Retreat Hill Winery

The address of Retreat Hill Winery is 15551 FM 362, Navasota, Texas 77868. Their telephone number is 936-449-5285.

Conveniently open from 11 AM to 6 PM on Saturdays and Noon to 5 PM on Sundays (and other times by appointment) this winery is tucked away into the gently rolling countryside.

The people that worked there appeared to us as though they were all the best of friends and had probably worked together at Retreat Hill Winery for years. Whether that was in fact the case, it was our impression from all the jovial banter back and forth between them.

For the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail, once we showed them our pre-purchased tickets, we were ushered outside under a covered patio and were given some tasty morsels of food to accompany the wines that they were sampling that day.

A very friendly college student was there to serve us and answer any questions that we had about the wines.

A Texas friendly atmosphere prevailed and the picture to the right shows the typical Texas country farewell posted by a sign as we left the Retreat Hill property.

Billy Cox

While we did not happen to see the owner and winemaker of Retreat Hill Winery on the day of our visit, Billy Cox is very involved as a director of the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association and he is also takes an active role in the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail.

Vineyards, Wineries and Wine

Growing grapes as a crop is an agricultural business and farming the land, trimming the vines, keeping the grapes pest free, and a myriad of other activities dictated by the season and weather keeps grape growers busy just like any other type of farming.

Knowing exactly when to harvest the grapes to get the peak of flavor and other desirable components from the fruit takes knowledge and then turning those grapes into good wine is an art form orchestrated by the seasoned winemaker.

There are many steps taken in between the newly harvested grapes to the final product of what the consumer sees and gets to enjoy in each bottle of wine. Much of this step by step process is the same from winery to winery but the final product depends upon decisions made by the winemaker and, of course, Mother Nature.

Once bottled, the wine continues to evolve. It is a living and breathing thing! Some wines are meant to be aged and continue to improve over the years while others are purposely meant to be drunk soon after purchase. It is fun learning about different types of wine and broadening one's wine experiences.

Farmland and surrounding countryside

In addition to passing glorious fields of wildflowers on our sojourn into the countryside looking for Retreat Hill Winery and other wineries on the Texas Bluebonnet Wine trail, we passed numerous fields that were plowed and planted with various crops.

Cattle were grazing in many of the pastures and my husband and I spotted animals such as horses and goats as shown in these accompanying pictures.

The weather was bright and sunny and couldn't have been better had we special ordered it for our daytrip out of the city.

Cemetery

Not far from Retreat Hill Winery is a small cemetery.

What drew our attention was the carpeting of wildflowers that adorned this final resting spot for people who had passed from this life to the next.

Armed with camera in hand, my husband graciously agreed to stop and let me take some extra photos.

I did not see a sign which would have let us know the name of this little country cemetery. However it is on FM 362 off 105 for those who wish to find it.

While the gravestones were not large and grand, the setting with some old moss laden trees and the blanketing of wildflowers surely presented a beautiful picture.

If you happen to be visiting Retreat Hill Winery in the Spring of the year, they can probably point you in the right direction if you wish to visit this little cemetery.  It is a serene setting made even prettier with the splash of Texas Wildflowers. 

 Second Winery location!

Since the time of our visit to Retreat Hill Winery in Navasota, there is now an expanded second location called Retreat Hill Cellars in downtown Montgomery, Texas.

When my husband and I visited Cork This! Winery in Montgomery, Texas we had noticed the old and historic First State Bank building and even photographed it.  Built in 1906 and located at 14343 Liberty Street ( SH 149 just one block north of SH 105) this is now the new home of Retreat Hill Cellars. 

We enjoyed our visit to Retreat Hill Winery and since these pictures were taken on the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail, I will leave you with a final picture of some bluebonnets.  Cheers!