Wes Marshall's "The Wine Roads of Texas" (Maverick Publishing Company, 2007) was fodder for a namesake PBS documentary. (Courtesy photo)

It’s practically spring already in Texas. Wine enthusiast Wes Marshall, author of “The Wine Roads of Texas,” has a few suggestions for those who wish to spring break in wine country—Texas wine country.

“The Wine Roads of Texas” (Maverick Publishing Company, 2007) is the definitive roadside sidekick for traversing Texas wineries. Marshall logged over 13,000 miles and thousands of tastings to chart and summarize 80-plus wineries across Texas. He breaks them into six geographical areas: Panhandle Plains, Big Bend, Hill Country, Prairies and Lakes, Piney Woods, and Gulf Coast. Each section has information about its wineries’ owners and winemakers, along with top picks for each. He even recommends places to stay and eat in between sips.

Marshall’s book was fodder for last year’s PBS documentary of the same name. He writes about Texas wine for everything from the Austin Chronicle, to Saveur magazine, to the Dallas Morning News. This and Robert Mondavi’s forward in the book’s second edition speaks to Texas’ growing importance as a wine producer. Many say the state—the fifth-largest wine producer in the country—is reminiscent of Napa Valley before its big boom.

“I see distinct parallels between the Napa Valley in the middle of the last century and Texas as this century beings,” Mondavi says. “First, both needed to pay attention to the grape varieties and the viticulture. Second was the need to adjust to the climate, then the need for committed pioneers and financial support to make growth happen. We realized all that then, and Texas is realizing it now.”

Part of the pioneers’ task to create a viable wine market is harnessing Texas’ pre-existing tourism economy. “People putting wineries in the Hill Country want to put them somewhere with traffic, because of what they’re calling agri-tourism: They want people to come and taste the wines, and then buy wine. It’s like in Napa, if you’re driving up Highway 29, you can almost walk from winery to winery.

“The Hill Country has done a good job of putting them in a relatively small area, so if you’re driving from say, Johnson City, to 10 miles the other side of Fredericksburg, you can pass eight wineries within 40 miles. For Texas, that’s pretty good. As soon as you start going further into West Texas it’s less populated.”

This isn’t to say there aren’t phenomenal wineries in the less-populated areas like Big Springs, which is home to Ste. Genevieve winery. Ste. Genevieve is one of the 25 largest wineries in the U.S. But its large size doesn’t accommodate wine tastings or tours. The winery is so big because it’s a boon. “It’s big because it makes great wine for the price,” Marshall says.

Agri-tourism isn’t the only thing Texas wineries have in common with California. Texas wineries produce so much wine, many of them get some grapes from California.

“They’re getting them from the same place that a lot of Napa wineries do—between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe,” Marshall says. “The way a regular consumer can tell is if the wine they pick up in a Texas winery says ‘Texas wine,’ or the name of one of the Appalachians. If it says one of those two things it has to be from that area. When you look at a lot of the less-expense wines from Ste. Genevieve, they won’t say Texas. But the more expensive ones do.

“I can’t think of any really creamy wine sold in Texas that is not 100 percent from Texas [grapes]. The ones you find that aren’t are the ones selling for five bucks a bottle.

Texas grapes—which Marshall says revitalized the European wine industry circa the late 1800s by introducing phylloxera-resistant rootstocks—can rival the best in the world in some interpretations. “I’ve taken [Ste. Genevieve] Fume Chardonnay, which I think is one of Texas’s best . . . about $7 for a liter and a half. And I put it in French bottles and served it. All of the guests thought it was one of the best wines, and thought it was $25 to $30 a bottle. It’s great wine for the price.”

In Del Rio area, Marshall fancied the 125-year-old Val Verde winery port. He also gives high marks to Zin Valle: “They make a really good sparkling wine,” he says.

In San Angelo area, Brennan Vineyards rates high on Marshall’s list.

“This guy [Pat Brennan] is making phenomenal wine,” he says. “He’s done it just from day one. He’s up in Comanche. And also, Sandstone Cellars makes some really good wines in Mason. And there’s some vineyards that are over in—what’s the name of that town between El Paso and Austin on Highway 10? Just north of that. There’s a guy that planted a100-acre vineyard, and he had abandoned it; I’m not sure if anyone else has taken it up or not.”

Perhaps Marshall, who includes an interlude on the daunting costs of winemaking, could successfully take over the lot?

“I don’t have enough money,” Marshall blurts. “I would—it’s so much work, making the wine is. You really have to love chemistry, and you have to love glad-handling people. There are so many things you have to love, and I’m really content sitting back drinking and writing about it.