Fredericksburg: The Heart of Texas Hill Country

Above image: Augusta Vin Winery; photo by Jena Kessel

For years, I ignored what I imagined sounded like the clink, clink, clink of Texas Hill Country tapping spoon to glass, attempting to garner my attention. The gestures came through friends, family and neighbors, all praising the region as a spectacular wine destination.

Wine doesn’t interest me enough to inspire a trip, so I brushed off the recommendations. Then two road trip routes took me close to the region, providing glimpses of the namesake rolling hills, and that persuaded me to plan a proper visit.

Central Texas’ Hill Country encompasses roughly two dozen counties north from San Antonio and west from Austin. The region is infused with geographic diversity—from rolling plains and prairies to stony hills and limestone outcroppings, plus canyons, rivers, lakes and other natural features.

Superlative wine country

I flew into San Antonio International Airport and drove an hour northwest to Fredericksburg. It’s the largest town in Gillespie County and despite having just 12,000 residents, there are in the ballpark of 1,500 accommodations, from rooms at hotels and inns to rental houses, cottages and treehouses.

Wine is a core reason for the tourism infrastructure: Texas is the fifth-largest wine-producing state in the country, and Hill Country is the largest by acreage of the Lone Star State’s grape-growing regions. Winegrowers here produce an array of varietals because it’s such a big area with a range of soil types and microclimates.

The region has more than 100 wineries and vineyards, and Gillespie County is home to more than half of them, with the majority in or near Fredericksburg. The self-proclaimed food and wine capital of Hill Country has tours, shuttles and a walkable Urban Wine Trail encompassing a dozen downtown wineries and wine tasting rooms owned by area wineries.

Clearly, this was the worthy wine destination people had been talking about, yet I also found many activities to fill a three-day stay aside from drinking in the culture.

History in abundance

My rental house was within Fredericksburg’s National Historic District, which comprises Main Street and the Warehouse District in the downtown area. German immigrants founded the town in 1846, and the district still has 700 historically significant structures. Two museums bookend Main Street’s nearly 150 art galleries, independent shops, eateries, tasting rooms and historic points of interest.

At the east end is the unexpected, the Smithsonian-affiliated National Museum of the Pacific War. Filled with stories of those who served in World War II’s Pacific Theater, a museum highlight is a close look at Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who was born in Fredericksburg in 1885 and was a key figure in the victory over Japan as Commander in Chief of Allied Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas. Don’t miss the outdoor areas of the 6-acre complex, including the Pacific Combat Zone, a living history battlefield with demonstrations and reenactments on select weekends March to November.

At the west end of Main Street, the Pioneer Museum comprises ten 19th-century structures, including a one-room schoolhouse and a log house. Part of the Pioneer collection but across the street at Main Street’s Market Square, called Marktplatz, is the Vereins Kirche Museum, a reproduction of the area’s first public building. It now houses modern displays about the octagonal building’s history as a social gathering place. Another way to explore the historic district is via Fredericksburg Tours, which operates themed trolley tours, including a history ride.

Farms and festivals

It’s worth driving 17 miles north from downtown to reach one of Hill Country’s most scenic viewing spots: atop the sloping pink granite dome of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. I was visiting in February, too early for the wildflowers that typically bloom roadside, but if you visit March through October, head to Wildseed Farms’ 200 acres of wildflower fields ranging from Texas bluebonnets in the spring to zinnias in the summer. Open to the public, the farm has display gardens and trails, as well as shops selling seeds, plants and more.

Fredericksburg is a year-round destination with events matching the season. It starts with those blankets of wildflowers and continues with peaches in summer before embracing fall’s arrival with October events like Oktoberfest and the Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival. The bustling winter holiday season features nightly lighting of a 26-foot-tall German Christmas pyramid and a 30-foot tree at Marktplatz.

Farm-to-table culinary creations are the norm in Fredericksburg, from schnitzel and wurst dishes at Otto’s German Bistro to small-batch peach ice cream at Clear River Ice Cream, Bakery and Deli. A sixth-generation Texan family makes pecan-oil-based body and skincare products to sell from their San Saba Soap Company shop. And the retail store Chocolat sells European-style liquid-center chocolates (filled with spirits, wines, coffees and fruit nectars) made by Lecia Duke, owner of Quintessential Chocolates.

I spent my last night in Fredericksburg at the Fischer & Wieser Farmstead. The land just two miles south of Main Street started as the Wieser family’s small peach orchard in 1928. Today, it’s home to multiple generations of the Wieser and Fischer families, their roadside fruit stand, a wine tasting room, guest houses, the Dietz Distillery specializing in German and Austrian techniques for making gin, vodka and fruit brandy, and Das Peach Haus, where they sell Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods jams, jellies and sauces and host cooking classes.

From beneath the age-old pine trees at the historic country store, I watched the sun set behind the pond and orchards. It was the perfect Hill Country memory.