Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail Country - Pleasant Hill Winery

Pleasant Hill...

This was the second winery my husband and I would visit on this Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail.

As the name might indicate, Pleasant Hill Winery is located on a hill.

The old barn which was meticulously reconstructed and fashioned into the winery and gift shop overlooks some staked grape vines and also overlooks a colorful field of wildflowers in the Spring of the year from that vantage point.

Pleasant Hill's physical address is 1441 Salem Road in Brenham, Texas. The zip code is 77833 and their telephone number is 979-830-VINE.

About seventy miles west of Houston it is easily located.

After our visit to Colony Cellars Winery we made our way to Highway 290 heading west.

Exiting 290 at Highway 36 and heading south for only 1/2 mile, one then takes Salem Road to the right (west) for 1 1/2 miles and one easily spots the winery on the rise of the hill to the left.

The winery...

The two pictures below show the view as one approaches Pleasant Hill Winery on Salem Road off of Highway 36 and the view from the parking lot of the winery.

It was a very busy day the Saturday of our visit with not only Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail visitors, but also a steady stream of tour groups that kept the owners and staff engaged.

The fields surrounding the winery have well maintained grape vines which add to the ambiance of the place. 

Wine related artifacts...

Outside of the winery are these old rusted wine related artifacts which were interesting to view.

Exterior landscape views...

My husband and I chose to sit on their covered outside deck and taste the Pleasant Hill Sauvignon Blanc (a white wine) and their Pleasant Hill Sangiovese (a red wine) which were their offerings that day for the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail attendees.

In addition a goat cheese with sun-dried tomatoes was served on crackers and an herbed goat cheese spread on bread with a couple of skewered olives were paired with the wines.

We could have chosen to sit inside in air-conditioned comfort surrounded with the eclectic mixture of an old television set, a wicker sofa, old pictures and an assortment of stamped towels, corkscrews and everything and anything one might expect to see in a winery gift shop.

Some blooming plants set into emptied Blue Bell ice cream cardboard containers were on one of the tables as decorations. They might also have been for sale. Blue Bell ice cream is made right there in Brenham...thus the connection.

For people who like to browse for typical or unusual gifts...this would definitely be a place of interest. The owners must have fun stocking this unique gift shop!

Instead we enjoyed the warm but still comfortable weather outdoors and while sipping our wines and nibbling on the tasty goat cheese appetizers we enjoyed the scenery.

As the photo shows, there is a church directly across the street from Pleasant Hill winery which is picturesque especially as viewed from the decking with the grown trees serving as a frame to the steeple.

Looking down the hill we also enjoyed the field of wildflowers in bloom as well as the staked grape vines that would soon burst forth with new bright green and tender grape leaves starting a new season.

It was a pleasant way to spend some time in lovely surroundings.

Texas Winery PASSPORT...

The gentleman behind the counter at Pleasant Hill Winery offered us a Texas Winery Passport.

We were unfamiliar with it and he explained that the Texas Department of Agriculture provides these publications as a public service.

The passport opens up and provides a place for each of four wineries to add their stamp and winery code number. Tasting notes are also provided on each page for people who wish to jot down impressions of wines that they taste.

Once the book is filled one logs onto www.gotexanwine.org and enters the codes. A free reward item is shipped for completing each book...or a number of books can be entered at one time to qualify for an even greater reward.

Apparently each Texas winery has these passports and it can provide a fun way to keep a record of one's travels throughout the State while exploring new wineries and their distinctive liquid offerings.

We were happy that the gentleman at Pleasant Hill took the time to explain this and give us our first stamp in our new Texas Winery Passport. 

Bluebonnets and other wildflowers...

Yes, the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail also has bluebonnets! 

In fact, as we got closer to Brenham, Texas there were glorious fields of them!

Whenever we saw a number of cars parked on the sides of the roads, we knew that there would be extra-ordinary sightings of the bluebonnets as well as other types of wildflowers.

Whether there are large patches of them such as in these photos or smaller groupings, wildflower photography is at its peak in the Spring of each year.

This year the wildflowers are reputedly to be at their best and certainly from what my husband and I saw, we would not disagree. 

Conclusion...

If one is simply looking for a spectacular wildflower display, head on up to the Brenham area and your wishes cannot help but be satisfied.

Be sure and take your camera!

If you wish to enjoy the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail, be sure and stop at Pleasant Hill Winery. One can visit them year round but this is an especially pretty time of year with moderate temperatures and fields painted with color from the profusion of wildflowers.