Bar Z Winery in Canyon, TX is a winery that sits at the tip of Palo Duro Canyon allowing visitors to sip wine while watching the sun set over the scenic panhandle plains. The winery does not have its own vineyard, so it partners with the owners of various Texas High Plains vineyards in order to make their wines out of the highest quality grapes. It lays on the outskirts of the town and produces robust red blends of wine that are perfect for sipping while chatting with friends. The winery was opened by Monty Dixon who took an interest in adult beverage making when he was just nine years old.
As the founder of Bar Z Winery, Dixon takes pride in the wines he creates. All of his wines are crafted using only grapes grown in the American Viticultural Area of the Texas High Plains. Many winery’s have opened up in the panhandle between Canyon and Lubbock to take advantage of the environment in order to grow grapes for wine. The Bar Z Winery website says this about its founder:
“Much like his wine, Monty Dixon is unfiltered, robust, and wholly unique. If he has a free moment, he’ll happily bend your ear about the science of wine and Bar Z’s simple, yet effective philosophy: Let the wine be wine.”
This winery is extremely decorated, earning gold medals and beating out wines made in the Napa Valley or even France in various contests. Bar Z creates their wines using the hand cap management method of fermentation which is a time-honored way of fermenting wine. This involves manually pushing grapes that have floated to the top back down into the tub of juice in order to extract the most aroma, color, and flavor possible. While the wine undergoes the fermentation process, hand cap management is performed multiple times a day. Once it is completed, the batch is pressed to rid the mixture of any solid pieces left behind.
Following the separation, the mixture is poured into a tank and the small pieces of leftover grape that cause cloudiness and were unable to be removed during separation settle to the bottom. From there, the wine is transferred to another clean tank by being pumped off of the top. This is called “racking” and is done until the mixture is free of any haze. The wine is then left to age in French Oak barrels until it is ready to be bottled.
If you are interested in visiting Bar Z Winery for a day of wine tasting fun, it is located at 19290 Farm to market 1541, Canyon, TX 79015. The winery operates from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A member of the staff can be reached at (806) 488-2214 for any questions you may have. Other notable locations around Bar Z Winery include Timber Creek Small Animal Hospital, Sweet Treats by Ann-Marie, and Clean Service By Shaw.
As the wine industry in Texas continues to grow, make sure you visit all the best spots including Bar Z Winery!
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