The Wine Fairy

They say you can’t grow Pinot Noir in Texas…but Texans are a feisty bunch who don’t hearken to the word “can’t.”

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Pinot Noir, as a rule, likes a long, consistent growing season and a cool to moderate climate. Those are two things we definitely don’t have here, where summer temperatures are regularly above 100 degrees and every season threatens a different type of weather hell.

Still, pinky-up wine drinkers love their Pinot. And Texans love their Texas wine. So it was only a matter of time before someone planted the “heartbreak grape” in the Lone Star State.

I tasted this Pinot pioneer at the new Red Dirt Cellars tasting room in Grapevine, Texas. The distressed-font, Texas-grit “Red Dirt” brand is owned by Landon Winery, which has seven other locations in North Texas.

Landon acquired Sloan & Williams Winery in early 2025 and wasted no time moving in and making over the tasting room at 401 S. Main Street. The vibe is farmhouse-chic hotel lobby meets cellar door: Exposed bulbs, brick ‘n barrels, trestle tables, and cowhide rugs. The bar is captained by a team of efficient servers pulled from Landon’s other locations. Urns of ice water are placed around the room to ward off the autumn heat that’s toasting the sidewalk just outside.

The Red Dirt Cellars concept is focused on serving Texas wine. (Though not exclusively–you can also find popular world regions like Bordeaux, Napa, and Chianti on the list.) Most of the Texas wines appear to be Landon’s own bottlings, including their popular Cabernet Sauvignon.

Additional brands include their “Pinnacle” (more premium, classic styles, California juice), “Red Dirt Cellars” (Texas blends and sweet wines), and “Wildcatter” (inexpensive varietal wines from Texas). It’s the latter two categories that we tasted from, and I’ll get to those in a sec.

First, food and drink: For by-the-glass winos, there’s a very respectable number of choices–30 or more–grouped by color and style. All are offered as 6- or 9-ounce pours.

Wine flights? Oh, yes! For $22.50, you can sample any 5 standard wines from the menu. The staff are happy to make recommendations or direct you to the detailed tasting notes in the multi-page “Tasting Menu” folder.

If you’ve been to any of Landon Winery’s DFW locations, this menu will look familiar. It’s heavy on the robust reds, with sweet wines and wine-a-ritas in good supply for the weekend crowd. Dips, flatbreads, cheese boards, and other standard tasting room grub can be made to order.

Our group visited on a festival weekend and they were on a limited menu. So, we settled for a reheated pretzel ($9) which was served in a styrofoam container. Not the most elegant fare, too be sure–but it was tasty with wine and consistent with Red Dirt’s man-cave aesthetic.

We began our tasting day with two Texas wines: The 2023 Red Dirt Blend ($12.50/glass) and the 2023 Wildcatter Pinot Noir ($14/glass). Both are made from Texas High Plains fruit.

The Red Dirt Blend ($25) is Red Dirt Cellars’ namesake wine, so we were eager to give it a try! Bordeaux-style in its composition only, this wine is pure Texas. It’s in the genre of ripe, smoky, medium-acid wines that Texan wine lovers call “BBQ reds.” They’re often based on Tempranillo–but the grapes in this particular blend are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

In the glass, Red Dirt Blend shows deep ruby with slightly cooked port-and-plums aromas. Black plums, black cherry, chocolate, and coffee round out a dry, full-bodied wine with some tannic grip. Mouth-filling fruit dries out to just a hint of leather and tart cherry skins.

It’s a heavy style, but easy to sip. Voters in the 2025 GrapeFest People’s Choice Classic–the nation’s largest consumer-judged wine competition–were also kind to the Red Dirt Blend and awarded it a silver medal in the Red Blend category later that weekend.

My wife’s eagle eyes then landed on the Wildcatter Pinot Noir ($29.50). A Texas Pinot–what? So we ordered that too, expectations set tentatively on “low.”

Wildcatter Pinot Noir is made in a fresh, low-tannin style with juicy fruit and restrained use of oak. Light cherry-red in the glass, it smells of cherries and vanilla at first, before spiraling out into intriguing earthy and vegetal flavors: Watermelon, crushed mint, rhubarb, and leather. Acidity is plenty adequate, supporting a clean and bright finish with red cherry, pomegranate, and orange zest. As much as we’ve heard that Pinot Noir cannot (or should not) be made in Texas, we were delighted by this well-priced, totally drinkable Texas Pinot.

A few notes on wine bar practices: Sitting at the bar, we noticed that all of the bottles were marked with the date upon opening. This is a system that The Wine Fairy mightily approves of–because nothing annoys me more than getting a pour that’s been sitting open on the counter for a week. As a result, we had confidence that the wines we were tasting were all at their best.

If you prefer to order by the bottle, the “drink here” premium is around $12 for most wines. (Or if you prefer it look at it another way, the discount for “to-go” bottles is $12.) The average bottle seems to be around $35, so you’re looking at a markup of about 30% to drink it on premises. This is a totally fair pricing policy that helps offset glassware and other costs, while not exploiting people who want to linger with friends over a bottle or three.

Red Dirt Cellars is ideally located in picturesque, walk-able downtown Grapevine. Its kitschy Western feel will likely make it a popular destination for tourists and proud Texans alike. There are plenty of options for non-wine drinkers, but the menu centers wine and backs it up with fresh pours and quality glassware.

With an expansive by-the-glass menu and friendly service, Red Dirt Cellars is a cozy spot to escape the heat and crowds while expanding your palate. The tasting room looks great and offers an admirable range of wine styles (including some rarely-seen ones, like that Pinot Noir!) that are currently being produced in Texas.

If you’re visiting Grapevine, why not stop in for a glass? Red Dirt Cellars is open daily until 9 PM (weekdays) and 11 PM (weekends). Reservations are not needed except for large parties.

Where: Red Dirt Cellars, 401 S. Main Street, Grapevine, TX.

Wines tasted:

Red Dirt Cellars “Red Dirt” Blend (2023) – Texas High Plains AVA – $25

Wildcatter Pinot Noir (2023) – Texas High Plains AVA – $29.50

Further reading:

Red Dirt Cellars: About Red Dirt Cellars

The Chalk Report: Why Is Pinot Noir So Hard to Grow in Texas?

We ❤️️ Texas wine! Read more about local producers and businesses here in the “Texas Wine” archive.

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.