Surprisingly, Wineries Thrive in Hot and Dry West Texas Panhandle

The Texas panhandle is the last place on earth you would expect to see a vineyard and a winery, but they're there, several in fact, producing wines and selling them nationwide.  They're also hoping to attract oenophiles and create a "wine tourism" industry in the hottest and driest part of a state famous the world over for being hot and dry.

Napa Valley this is not. Nor is it even Bordeaux, which isn’t all that pretty, either. But the Bordelaise at least have grand chateaus and centuries of history to go with their acclaimed wines.

Truth to tell, the South Plains of Texas’ Panhandle is unique in the world of viticulture because the finest vineyards offer little in the way of scenic splendor and, stranger still, they’re separated from the vast majority of their winery destinations by hundreds of miles.

But most of the grapes growing here, often against long odds on land only recently reclaimed from water-sucking cotton and peanut fields, are proving to be world-class fruit.

via West Texas wine pioneers | Food | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle.

The growers say it's the geography, which is surprisingly friendly to growing grapes and producing tasty wines.  That may be true, but the panhandle is also known for weather extremes, and it's also in Tornado Alley.  Even so, the wineries are there to stay.