Bishop Arts News

Popular Hill Country winery to open tasting room in biggest city yet

Charcuterie and wine from Baron's Creek Vineyards.

dallas.culturemap.com

A winery from Central Texas' wine country is opening an outlet in Dallas. Baron's Creek Vineyards, dubbed one of the most Instagrammable wineries in Fredericksburg, will open a new tasting room and wine lounge in the Bishop Arts District.

The winery, which posted a help-wanted note on the door to the space at 418 N. Bishop Ave., was founded in Fredericksburg, and has three other locations in Georgetown, Granbury, and McKinney. This will be the fifth.

According to Meghan Delgado, who manages the Fredericksburg location, the vineyard aims to open Bishop Arts in mid-October.

A family-owned venture from a trio of businessmen brothers, Baron's Creek opened its first location in Fredericksburg in 2015.

Baron's Creek Vineyards make wines from Texas grapes — the unofficial litmus test for authenticity — but also use grapes from other districts in the U.S. and Spain, from vineyards owned by their winemaker Russell Smith, formerly of Becker Vineyards.

Baron's Creek is a big tourist attraction not only for their wine-tasting options, but also for their on-site villas where visitors can stay overnight. Two Italian-styled villas with six rooms each accommodate up to 24 guests. The vineyard rents out the property, which has a cool outdoor courtyard defined by an almost Alice-in-Wonderland checkerboard pattern of stone platforms, for weddings, corporate retreats, and other special events.

Its satellite locations, including Georgetown Square, Granbury, and McKinney, which opened in 2022, serve as lounge/tasting rooms with flights, tastings, and tapas.

Delgado says that Bishop Arts will be most similar to the McKinney location. "It'll have two separate bar areas, and will definitely be serving food including charcuterie," she says.

Other menu items include a trio of pizzas that include pepperoni and artichoke & goat cheese. The tasting rooms offer mixed flights of five white and red wines or a flight of five red wines for $21/person, as well as wine by the glass.

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Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.