Thousands of GrapeFest revelers have turned in their ballots, and the results are in! The winners of the People’s Choice Wine Tasting Classic were revealed on the afternoon of Sunday, September 14 in Grapevine, Texas.
All together, 34 wineries brought more than 120 wines to compete over the four days of GrapeFest. It’s all Texas wine, and it’s 100% consumer-judged. Unlike many other wine competitions–which are scored by panels of critics, sommeliers, and winemakers–People’s Choice entrants put their fate in the hands of a thirsty public.
GrapeFest, the Southwest’s largest wine festival, attracts over 200,000 visitors annually. While I’m not sure how many People’s Choice tickets are sold each year, firsthand observation will reveal that it is a lot. Judging happens in 10 sessions over four days, each a little rowdier than the one before it.
For just $32 at the door, anyone over 21 can be a wine judge for the day. Ticket-holders receive a booklet and a #2 pencil. Then it’s into the big white tent to taste as many wines as you can in just 90 minutes! Voters choose a favorite wine in each of 10 designated competition divisions that span sweet, dry, bold, and blended styles.
Inside the tent, it’s a crowded, chaotic scene. But Texans are seriously dedicated to our homegrown wines. At the end of each session, clusters of tasters assemble on the edges of the green turf walkway to deliberate their choices and fill out their ballots.
On Saturday, I was there with my wife, voting along with the crowd. On Monday morning I was at my keyboard, eagerly hitting the “F5” key until the results were announced online.
This 2025 People’s Choice list includes some repeat victories, some local wine heroes, and a few surprises, too. As is normal with anything having to do with wine, we have some thoughts and takeaways. But first–here’s the complete list of winners from the 2025 GrapeFest wine competition.
Category: Red (Bold)
Gold: Messina Hof Winery – Sagrantino Reserva
Silver: Whiskey Road Winery – Tempranillo
Bronze: Bull Lion Ranch & Vineyards – Malbec
Category: Red (Blend)
Gold: Bull Lion Ranch & Vineyards – Texianti “Texas Chianti”
Silver (Tie): Deschain Cellars – CdR
Silver (Tie): Red Dirt Cellars – Red Blend
Bronze: Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards – Texican
Category: Red (Medium)
Gold: Landon Winery – The Texan
Silver: Blue Ostrich Winery & Vineyard – Cabernet Sauvignon
Bronze: Bull Lion Ranch & Vineyards – Montepulciano
Category: Red (Light)
Gold: Messina Hof Winery – GSM
Silver: Blue Ostrich Winery – Dolcetto
Bronze: Red Dirt Cellars – Wildcatter Pinot Noir
Category: Red (Sweet)
Gold: Silver Dollar Winery – Boot Scootin’ Boogie Chocolate
Silver: Red Dirt Cellars – Sangria
Bronze: Enoch’s Stomp Vineyard & Winery – Potters Hand
Category: White (Dry)
Gold: Enoch’s Stomp Vineyard & Winery – Hell or High Water
Silver: Blue Ostrich Winery – Esprit
Bronze: Llano Estacado Winery – Sauvignon Blanc
Category: White (Off Dry)
Gold: Housewife Rebellion – Pinot Grigio
Silver: Messina Hof Winery – Off Dry Riesling
Bronze: Tara Vineyard – Blueberry Blanc du Bois
Category: White (Blend)
Gold: Silver Dollar Winery – IM’Peached
Silver: Bingham Family Vineyards – Cloudburst
Bronze: Deschain Cellars – The Hermit
Category: White (Sweet)
Gold: Messina Hof Winery – “Angel” Late Harvest Riesling
Silver: Los Pinos Ranch – Pinos Colada
Bronze: Landon Winery – Dolce Fine
Category: Blush/Rosé
Gold: Housewife Rebellion – Rebel Rose
Silver: Bull Lion Ranch & Vineyards – Bella Rosa
Bronze: Bingham Family Vineyards – Summer Nights
Three Takeaways from the 2025 People’s Choice Winners
Now that the results are official, here are a few observations from your devoted Texas wine correspondent:
Grapevine’s favorite reds showed up strong.
A mighty consensus formed around flavorful reds from established Grapevine wineries. North Texans handed Gold medals to some local favorites, like Landon Winery, Bull Lion Ranch, and Messina Hof. They found some new reds to love, too: A Tempranillo from Whiskey Road Winery, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Blue Ostrich, and a Rhône-style red blend from Deschain Cellars.
Texans have developed our own style of red: Dry, red-fruited, with overtones of smoke and spice. It’s often made from Mediterranean varieties. It’s robust in alcohol, lightweight enough to be chilled in the summer, and it goes great with grilled food and tacos.
Our previous GrapeFest post highlighted Messina Hof’s GSM and Sagrantino Reserva as some of this year’s standouts. (Both wines won Gold in their respective categories.) Voters also approved of the reds from another Downtown Grapevine mainstay, the Italian-focused Bull Lion Ranch & Vineyards. Bull Lion medalled in four divisions: Bold Red, Red Blend, Medium Red, and Blush/Rosé (for Bella Rosa, their rosé of Sangiovese).
Nobody knows what Texas white wine is supposed to be like (yet).
Red wine medalists followed a certain template at this year’s People’s Choice, but winning white wines were all over the place. Riesling, Pinot Grigio, flavored wines, hybrids, white Rhône blends, secret blends…if you’re wondering how to craft a white wine that appeals to the Texan palate, 2025’s winners will leave you scratching your head.
Sweet styles–fruit-flavored and late-harvested whites–are very popular in Texas. Dry styles are growing in importance, but are arguably harder to get right. We love all the experimentation, and the fact that wineries are finding success with so many different varieties all across the state.
The biggest surprise in this category was Llano Estacado‘s Sauvignon Blanc. I’d never encountered a really good Texas Sauvignon Blanc. To be honest, I’m puzzled that anyone in Texas attempts this variety, given our extreme summer heat which tends to collapse acidity and stunt flavor development in most of them.
But a sip of the 2023 vintage caught my attention. (Voters evidently agreed and awarded Llano’s Sauv Blanc third place in the Dry White category.) Un-oaked and blended with 19% Picpoul Blanc and 2% Semillon, it pops with fresh citrus, gooseberry, and a slight grassiness. The price is right, too, at around $13. It’s sold at H-E-B and some Texas liquor stores.
Texans love Texas.
Three medal winners (Texianti, Texican, and The Texan) had a variation of “Texas” in the name. While all of these wines stand on their own merits, the branding surely didn’t hurt their chances when it came time to mark the ballots.
Countless other wines–including the newcomer (and 2025 Silver Medalist) Red Dirt Cellars Red Blend–prominently feature the state of Texas or the Texas flag on their label. If I had a Texas winery, I’d do the same, y’all.
Opinion Time!
I love the People’s Choice competition. I love the party atmosphere–and I love the spirit of letting regular Texans judge Texas wines.
While I do believe in objective standards for gauging wine quality, I also believe that “wine experts” can get too far up their own butts about what makes a wine good. To some degree–a large degree–local wines ought to reflect the habits, tastes, and preferences of everyday drinkers.
However, there are a couple of limitations. Number one, people can only give an accurate ranking for wines that they’ve tried. And as a participant, there’s no way to taste everything at People’s Choice. Between the crowds, the lines, and the limits of human fortitude–you’re hosed. There just isn’t time.
The second thing to keep in mind is that wines at People’s Choice aren’t judged blind. Voters can see exactly what they’re tasting and who makes it. That means labeling, presentation, and reputation can matter just as much as what’s inside the bottle. Some may feel that it’s not completely fair to the wines, and that’s understandable. But this is how consumers evaluate wine in the real world…by the entire package.
We had a great time at GrapeFest, and we’re grateful for a festival that puts Texas wines front and center. We’re excited to see what our local wineries come up with next!
Congrats to all the winners–and to the ones we didn’t get a chance to try, we’ll catch you next time!
The 40th Annual GrapeFest will be held September 17-20, 2026, according to the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau website.
Related: A celebration of Texas wine at GrapeFest 2025
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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