Feature Article
Brushy Creek Winery in the Cross Timbers area of Texas is the wild domain of winemaker Les Constable who wrangles some unusual varietals.
Brushy Creek Winery’s Les Constable
Has A Lot on His Mind
AVAs are a marketing tool. The question is do we wait till the AVAs reveal themselves via the quality of the wine produced there or do we market geographic areas because we think it will sell more wine. I am of the former view and think it too soon to say what the real AVAs in Texas should be.
~Les Constable
by
Wes Marshall
March 5, 2007
Wes Marshall: So how did you get interested in wine?
Les Constable: I remember making wine with my dad in our basement in West Virginia in the ‘50s. He had served in WWII in a little place called Dijon and liked the wine. He was also a research biologist, so he got me interested in figuring out plants.
Later, I joined the Navy Submarine service and fell in with people who enjoyed good wine and good food. It wasn’t long before I became curious, or maybe
Welcome to Brushy Creek Winery, winemaker Les Constable’s varietal wonderland.
obsessed would be a better word – obsessed with looking at and tasting a wine and wondering how they did that. I wanted to know why a Napa Cabernet tasted different than a French Cab, or why a Mondavi Cab tasted different from a Beaulieu Cab.
I worked for 30 years in the nuclear business, mostly inspecting nuclear power plants for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. During that time I made wine as a hobby and continued to enjoy good wine and good food.
When I first came to Texas in the mid ‘70s, I tried Texas wines and felt they didn’t measure up to the good European wines I usually enjoyed. Of course, at that time, I felt the same about California wines.
Wes: So what made you change careers?
Les: Everything changed in 1991. My life took a right turn. A friend brought me some grapes grown in the Cross Timbers area of Texas and I made a small batch of wine. I was amazed at the flavors and aromas I was able to get from this Texas wine. A few years later, I retired at age 49 to begin a new career in the wine business. I went back to school and got a degree in winemaking and grape growing from Grayson College and then set out to learn all I could about commercial wine making. I visited lots of wineries and vineyards during this period and worked for free anywhere they’d take me.
My wife and I spent a year looking for the right piece of property in the Cross Timbers and found it in Wise County, Texas. We sold our home and started planting grapes. It took 7 years before we had enough grapes to justify opening our winery.
Wes: Why would a winery choose to list a Texas appellation rather than a specific one? It seems you think the Cross Timbers is a special enough area to warrant an Appelation.
Les: AVAs are a marketing tool. The question is do we wait till the AVAs reveal themselves via the quality of the wine produced there or do we market geographic areas because we think it will sell more wine. I am of the former view and think it too soon to say what the real
AVAs in Texas should be. I also feel that having AVAs will slow the progress of learning how to make really great wine.
In Europe they have many years of experience with different grape varieties and soils and have learned what to grow where and how to make the wines from a particular area. We do not know what grapes to grow where yet nor how to make the best wine possible in Texas. I strongly support the notion that we need to develop our own agriculture to provide the grape we need. As it is now, we have too few Texas grapes to supply the needs of our wineries so some are looking out of state. Grapes are moving all over the state from locations where grapes are being grown to where the wineries are located. It seems to me that AVAs do not mean much at the moment and (would) just get in the way of trying to make good wine.
Wes: Well, you’ve certainly tried your fair share of grapes. Which seem to be the big winners?
Les: We don’t know yet and won’t know for 10 or 20 years. That said, I started out planting Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc and Malbec because I wanted to make a Bordeaux style wine. While the Cab and Merlot have done well, I have seen that most people in our tasting room prefer the Tempranillo, Carnelian, Mourvedre and Tannat wines when they can compare the red wines side by side. Likewise folks seem to prefer the Roussanne and Rkatsiteli to locally grown Chardonnay. I grow all of these in my vineyard. Since I started planting, I’ve experimented with 36 different grape varieties just trying to learn what will do best for me here.
Wes: What are people planting the most of in the Cross Timbers?
Les: There’s no consistent pattern yet and only a few acres being planted. Some growers feel they need to grow Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot because that is what they grow in California. Others are planting Tempranillo, Mourvedre, Carnelian & some Tannat
Wes: Based on what you’ve learned so far, what are the best white grapes for your area?
Les: I really don’t know yet. I’ve only been growing grapes in this area for 15 years (Here Les pauses to see if I laugh. I do. ). I like Roussanne and Rkatsiteli much better than Chardonnayor Riesling when it comes to growing and taste of the finished wine.
Wes: How about the best red grapes for your area?
Les: Cab has done well the past two cool summers, but both were abnormally cool. Tempranillo, Carnelian, Mourvedre also grow well and make good wines but we have too little experience to know the long term viability of these grapes. For example we have had mostly warm winters. But we can have vicious cold snaps and it’s possible we will lose a lot of vines if we have a very cold winter.
Wes: Any interesting new trends you see?
Les: People are starting to plant warm climate grapes and we have several wineries starting up in our Cross Timbers area. I am the first, but expect 5 to 10 more wineries over the next few years.
Wes: If you had the opportunity to predict five or ten years from now, what do you think your area will be best known for?
Les: The Cross Timbers area of Texas is as attractive as the Hill Country (traditionally considered Texas’s prettiest area) but as yet we’re undiscovered. Over time, as we grow more grapes and more wineries open, we will likely see more folks visiting us for our wines. If we can get a critical mass of grapes growing here, we have the potential to produce the best wines in all of Texas.
Wes: So what’s stopping people? What is the biggest issue confronting growers in your area?
Les: No single issue. Finding the right location is the biggy. Then figuring out what grapes we should grow. We have problems here with deer, birds & coons who all eat our crop. Plus, like anywhere else, it takes five years before many grapevines produce much and you’ll know if you’ve got the right grapes in the right location. And in general, this is a very capital intensive business, which makes it hard to get started. I think people get scared to come to a new area because it’s too easy to make big mistakes and not be aware of them until too late.
Wes: Fill in the blank: I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger. What do you wish you had known.
Les: A winery/vineyard owner, about my age, from Austria, came by one day. His family had been in the wine business for generations. I lamented that I had so much to learn and envied him having been in the wine business all his life. He said “Oh, but one lifetime is not enough to learn all that one needs to know”
~ Wes Marshall, Regional Correspondent
Les Constable: I remember making wine with my dad in our basement in West Virginia in the ‘50s. He had served in WWII in a little place called Dijon and liked the wine. He was also a research biologist, so he got me interested in figuring out plants.
Later, I joined the Navy Submarine service and fell in with people who enjoyed good wine and good food. It wasn’t long before I became curious, or maybe
Welcome to Brushy Creek Winery, winemaker Les Constable’s varietal wonderland.
I worked for 30 years in the nuclear business, mostly inspecting nuclear power plants for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. During that time I made wine as a hobby and continued to enjoy good wine and good food.
When I first came to Texas in the mid ‘70s, I tried Texas wines and felt they didn’t measure up to the good European wines I usually enjoyed. Of course, at that time, I felt the same about California wines.
Wes: So what made you change careers?
Les: Everything changed in 1991. My life took a right turn. A friend brought me some grapes grown in the Cross Timbers area of Texas and I made a small batch of wine. I was amazed at the flavors and aromas I was able to get from this Texas wine. A few years later, I retired at age 49 to begin a new career in the wine business. I went back to school and got a degree in winemaking and grape growing from Grayson College and then set out to learn all I could about commercial wine making. I visited lots of wineries and vineyards during this period and worked for free anywhere they’d take me.
My wife and I spent a year looking for the right piece of property in the Cross Timbers and found it in Wise County, Texas. We sold our home and started planting grapes. It took 7 years before we had enough grapes to justify opening our winery.
Wes: Why would a winery choose to list a Texas appellation rather than a specific one? It seems you think the Cross Timbers is a special enough area to warrant an Appelation.
Les: AVAs are a marketing tool. The question is do we wait till the AVAs reveal themselves via the quality of the wine produced there or do we market geographic areas because we think it will sell more wine. I am of the former view and think it too soon to say what the real
AVAs in Texas should be. I also feel that having AVAs will slow the progress of learning how to make really great wine.
In Europe they have many years of experience with different grape varieties and soils and have learned what to grow where and how to make the wines from a particular area. We do not know what grapes to grow where yet nor how to make the best wine possible in Texas. I strongly support the notion that we need to develop our own agriculture to provide the grape we need. As it is now, we have too few Texas grapes to supply the needs of our wineries so some are looking out of state. Grapes are moving all over the state from locations where grapes are being grown to where the wineries are located. It seems to me that AVAs do not mean much at the moment and (would) just get in the way of trying to make good wine.
Wes: Well, you’ve certainly tried your fair share of grapes. Which seem to be the big winners?
Les: We don’t know yet and won’t know for 10 or 20 years. That said, I started out planting Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc and Malbec because I wanted to make a Bordeaux style wine. While the Cab and Merlot have done well, I have seen that most people in our tasting room prefer the Tempranillo, Carnelian, Mourvedre and Tannat wines when they can compare the red wines side by side. Likewise folks seem to prefer the Roussanne and Rkatsiteli to locally grown Chardonnay. I grow all of these in my vineyard. Since I started planting, I’ve experimented with 36 different grape varieties just trying to learn what will do best for me here.
Wes: What are people planting the most of in the Cross Timbers?
Les: There’s no consistent pattern yet and only a few acres being planted. Some growers feel they need to grow Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot because that is what they grow in California. Others are planting Tempranillo, Mourvedre, Carnelian & some Tannat
Wes: Based on what you’ve learned so far, what are the best white grapes for your area?
Les: I really don’t know yet. I’ve only been growing grapes in this area for 15 years (Here Les pauses to see if I laugh. I do. ). I like Roussanne and Rkatsiteli much better than Chardonnayor Riesling when it comes to growing and taste of the finished wine.
Wes: How about the best red grapes for your area?
Les: Cab has done well the past two cool summers, but both were abnormally cool. Tempranillo, Carnelian, Mourvedre also grow well and make good wines but we have too little experience to know the long term viability of these grapes. For example we have had mostly warm winters. But we can have vicious cold snaps and it’s possible we will lose a lot of vines if we have a very cold winter.
Wes: Any interesting new trends you see?
Les: People are starting to plant warm climate grapes and we have several wineries starting up in our Cross Timbers area. I am the first, but expect 5 to 10 more wineries over the next few years.
Wes: If you had the opportunity to predict five or ten years from now, what do you think your area will be best known for?
Les: The Cross Timbers area of Texas is as attractive as the Hill Country (traditionally considered Texas’s prettiest area) but as yet we’re undiscovered. Over time, as we grow more grapes and more wineries open, we will likely see more folks visiting us for our wines. If we can get a critical mass of grapes growing here, we have the potential to produce the best wines in all of Texas.
Wes: So what’s stopping people? What is the biggest issue confronting growers in your area?
Les: No single issue. Finding the right location is the biggy. Then figuring out what grapes we should grow. We have problems here with deer, birds & coons who all eat our crop. Plus, like anywhere else, it takes five years before many grapevines produce much and you’ll know if you’ve got the right grapes in the right location. And in general, this is a very capital intensive business, which makes it hard to get started. I think people get scared to come to a new area because it’s too easy to make big mistakes and not be aware of them until too late.
Wes: Fill in the blank: I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger. What do you wish you had known.
Les: A winery/vineyard owner, about my age, from Austria, came by one day. His family had been in the wine business for generations. I lamented that I had so much to learn and envied him having been in the wine business all his life. He said “Oh, but one lifetime is not enough to learn all that one needs to know”
~ Wes Marshall, Regional Correspondent
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