winery wins

Popular winemakers in Austin and the Hill Country team up for a new tasting room

Wine tasting, William Chris Wine Company

The Fredericksburg tasting room is Wine for the People's first Hill Country location.

Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi on Unsplash

Texas winemakers Wine for the People and William Chris Wine Company (WCWC) are teaming up to open a new tasting room in Fredericksburg in January 2024.

Wine for the People founder Rae Wilson and partner Anne Spalding are overseeing the opening of the brand's first Hill Country location at 113 East Park St. Wilson's Dandy Bubbles and La Valentína brands are also going to be integrated with WCWC's portfolio, according to a press release.

Wilson has been making wines for nearly a decade, and has previous experience as a sommelier and wine educator. She has a longstanding history with the WCWC team, including the Texas-based product series the Grower Project, which she co-founded in 2015 with Andrew Sides, the founder of WCWC's flagship brand, Lost Draw Cellars.

Lost Draw Cellars previously occupied the Park Street location, and is undergoing its own relocation to a new estate vineyard in Johnson City as of January 1.

"I couldn’t be happier to have Rae and Anne joining our team," said WCWC founder and CEO Chris Brundrett in the release. "As a fellow champion of the Texas wine industry, Rae has been a partner to us in many ways for a long time, so it feels incredibly natural to have Wine for the People become part of our family at William Chris."

The move to the Hill Country leaves behind Wine for the People's Austin tasting room, which is now closed, according to its website. Wilson expressed her excitement to embark in this new journey with WCWC in the release.

“I’ve worked with Chris and Andrew for years on sourcing fruit and making wine together, and this move presents an opportunity for our business to flourish and expand into the Hill Country to reach a new audience of Texas wine lovers," Wilson said.

Wine for the People will host preview tastings for its members and Lost Draw members in December leading up to the official opening. Reservations for full wine tasting experiences at the Fredericksburg location begin January 27, 2024, the website says.

winery hill country austin wine william chris vineyards

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