Growing Texas wine since 2008
A collaboration between William “Bill” Blackmon and Chris Brundrett, built on one shared conviction about where wine comes from.
Forty years of getting here
The winery is from 2008. The work behind it starts a quarter century earlier, in a cotton field.
Bill Blackmon moves from cotton into grapes and plants his first vineyard — years before Texas had a single legally defined growing area.
Bill plants in the Hill Country and names the site Granite Hill, after the Llano Uplift formation underneath it.
Chris Brundrett meets Bill. Around the same time, Chris tells High Plains cotton grower Andy Timmons he ought to try Mourvèdre. It was the first planted in the region; today it is one of the most planted grapes in Texas.
William Chris Vineyards is founded at the Hye Estate with forty grand and an American Express. The first wine is Enchanté, made from Granite Hill fruit.
The first William Chris tasting room opens in the old farmhouse at the Hye Estate.
Skeleton Key launches. Named for a skeleton key found in the old farmhouse, the wine is meant to unlock Texas wine for a wider audience and broader distribution.
William Chris Wine Co. is founded as an umbrella brand for William Chris, Uplift, Wine for the People, and Skeleton Key, plus future brand Rebecca Caroline.
We help champion new Texas labeling legislation, so a Texas wine has to be grown in Texas.
Named to the World’s Best Vineyards Top 100 list for the first time.
No. 31 — the first and only Texas winery in the World’s 50 Best Vineyards.
Rebecca Caroline, our first traditional-method Texas sparkling wine, gets a home across the street in the historic Hye Post Office — and William Chris Vineyards opens its first tasting room outside of Hye in downtown Fredericksburg.
Bill has always held that a wine is a moment in time that can’t be recreated. Forty vintages on, that is still the story.
An acquaintance that became a partnership
What began as a friendship between two Hill Country winemakers grew into a partnership between William “Bill” Blackmon and Chris Brundrett, built on a shared philosophy and a vision for what Texas wine could become. They believed great wine is not made, but grown in the vineyard, and that its greatest purpose is bringing friends and family together. Those principles continue to guide every vintage.
Today, William Chris Vineyards remains committed to producing wines that represent the very best of Texas, with confidence in our process and pride in our team, our community, and the place we call home.
Enchanté, y’all.
The story begins in the dirt
At William Chris, we believe great wine starts with where it’s grown. Texas vineyards, Texas farmers, Texas soil. That’s why we’re proud to stand alongside 23 of the world’s leading wine regions in the global Wine Origins Alliance, advocating for truth in labeling and the protection of place names around the world.
Thoughtful winemaking begins long before a bottle reaches your table. Harvest timing is a balance of chemistry, experience, and farmer’s intuition, and every vintage is shaped by Mother Nature herself. Weather, ripeness, acidity, and flavor all come together in ways that can never be repeated, only respected.
The land behind the label
We don’t own most of what we grow. These are a few of the families and sites we grow it with.
La Pradera Vineyard
Our longest-running grower partnership — and home to what might be Chris’s favorite block on the whole vine list.
Vintage Press Vineyard
A limestone hillside just down the road from our Hye estate, and arguably the most awarded vineyard in Texas.
Alta Loma Vineyard
The name means “tall hill,” which feels generous for the modest slope it sits on. Don’t let that fool you — there is something special happening in those vines.
Boxing Rabbit Vineyard
A historic Texas High Plains site in Lubbock County, where well-rooted old vines still reach deep through red sandy soil.
Letkeman Family Vineyard
Pedro Letkeman farms some of the only Pinot Meunier in Texas, on hillside rock and flaky limestone just south of the High Plains AVA line.
Dell Valley
The high desert of far West Texas, at the foot of Guadalupe Peak — about as close to extreme viticulture as Texas gets.
We helped write what “Texas wine” legally means.
We championed new labeling legislation here in Texas so wine lovers could know, with confidence, what truly makes a Texas wine Texan: grown here, crafted here, and reflective of the land we call home. In the world’s great wine regions, that standard is understood. We believe Texas deserves the same clarity.
A light hand, on purpose
Chris and Tony guide each wine with as little intervention as the vintage allows, so what ends up in the bottle still tastes like the vineyard it came from.
Processing
After the fruit is harvested, destemmed, crushed, and pressed, our team uses open-air fermentation whenever possible, honoring time-tested, pre-industrial methods that let the wine develop naturally.
Throughout fermentation, multiple daily punchdowns are done by hand to encourage a gentle maceration and thoughtful extraction of color, texture, and aromatics. Once each wine is barreled or transferred to concrete to age, we practice minimal handling.
Aging
Our still wines are racked with the goal of minimal air contact over a 12 to 18 month period. The barrel program includes high-quality French, American, and Eastern European oak, using first through third-year barrels with toast profiles matched to the needs of each variety.
Alongside oak we age select wines in concrete, which provides a slow, natural exchange of oxygen. William Chris is home to the first Galileo concrete tank imported into the United States from Bordeaux, crafted exclusively for our cellar.
Every label is somebody
Some of our flagship blends have been made since the beginning, others are helping tell new stories. All of them represent who we are.
Mary Ruth
An elegant, crisp, dry white blend named for Mary Ruth Blackmon — Bill’s mother, who was instrumental in helping him get his start in winegrowing.
Hunter
The Hunter family were some of Bill Blackmon’s earliest backers. The vineyard he planted for them in 1985 was given over to two of his favorite varieties, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon — and every year since 2011, the Hunter red blend has been made in tribute to those grapes, that family, and the Texas High Plains, where Bill got his start.
Enchanté
Enchanted to meet you. Our first wine was born at the first vineyard Bill Blackmon ever planted in the Hill Country, on an ancient dome of cool granite called the Llano Uplift. That original vineyard no longer stands, but the Bordeaux varieties for Enchanté still come from the same ground every year.
Artist Blend
A GSM-inspired blend with a Texas twist. The label artwork is chosen from submissions by artists around the country, and our members vote on the winner each November.
Winegrower’s Wife
Named for Katharine Brundrett and what it means to build a life alongside a winegrower, this spiced Mourvèdre-Sangiovese blend comes with a choice of label — Chris, Katharine, or blank — so you can tell your own story.
Rose, Thorn & Seed
Named for the Brundrett family’s tradition of sharing a rose, a thorn, and a seed at the table — a high, a low, and a lesson from the week. This Mourvèdre-based red asks the same of everyone who pours a glass.
Our Executive Leadership Team
A winery is a group of people who keep showing up. These are ours.
Chris Brundrett
Katharine Brundrett
Anthony Harvell
Dan Graham
Valerie Elkins
Seth Urbanek
Kelsey Kramer
Evan Falbaum
Tony Offill
Tate Gregory
Claire Richardson
A proud member of Texas Wine Growers
Texas Wine Growers is a 501(c)(6) non-profit dedicated to promoting and protecting the integrity of Texas wine. We believe Texas has the potential to be one of the great wine regions in the world, and we are committed to helping Texas winemakers achieve their full potential.