Longhorn Cellars — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

Longhorn Cellars had a special place in our hearts as being very kid friendly and overall we have enjoyed stopping by on our way back from Luckenbach on each of our bi-annual trips to Fred.

This past week, we dropped in on Wednesday around 3:30 to do a tasting and check out the progress on the new building and see the farm animals.

I promptly went in to talk to the server to let her know we'd like to do tasting but we were waiting for the rest of our party. She handed me the sheet and I walked back outside to brief the newbies.

When I was explaining the tasting (it's unique - because you get to pick your own which is a nice treat) the server came by and just said "No you cannot share a tasting" which was in response to when I told the couple we were with that she could try a sip of each (since she does not drink wine). I thought she was coming to ask if we wanted water or needed help.

Note: I've never had any issues sharing or letting others try my tastings in the past so it was odd that this was the only thing she said to us and walked back in.

When I went back in to grab more sheets to do the tasting, it was about 4:07 and she said that they are closing at 4:30 and that no tastings could be taken to go... okay: 1) why would I want to take my tasting to go and 2) why didn't you let me know of the closing time when I arrived so I could either start a tasting or pivot?

I'm not sure what happened but based on the server tone and lack of communication, we decided to grab a bottle down the road. I hope it was just an off-day ? We all left feeling very disappointed and I hope to give them another chance...

Who Knew! Texas wine country and these folks are doing it right. Ambitious construction plans, super nice patio, well appointed tasting room, and complete with living, breathing longhorns out back. I am no wine expert and have not much knowledge on Texas wines. But we lived in the Oregon Pinot region for 5 yrs and were living in North California adjacent to Sonoma and Napa, and know what we like. We are part of Harvest Hosts which is why we stopped there and frequently visit wineries in our RV and have had both wonderful and some pretty poor wines across the country. These folks are doing it right with an amazing assortment of pure grape varietals which are more often seen in a blend. We tried the Tempranillo, Merlot, Alicante Bouschet, Petite Sirah, and a Tannat. Our favs were the Triple M Blend and the Alicante Bouschet. We camped right in front of the winery due to bad weather and chance of rain but they have a large dirt lot for multiple RVs if dry. Friendly folks. If you go, take time to speak with the young female vintner who is doing a phenomenal job and can give some of the history of Texas wines. Move over...

This place was on our Wine Shuttle stop so we stopped in to try a glass. We weren’t sure what we wanted but said we just wanted a glass. Ken offered us a taste of a wine and my wife said she wanted the full glass of that. I didn’t like it so he poured something else which I took a glass of. We bought 2 bottles only to find out we had been charged for 2 tastings and a glass but then credited back a tasting. We made a comment but were told that a tasting was credited. We didn’t do a tasting. Felt very taken advantage of here and would not come back or recommend.

In addition they were very funny about which person served next. It wasn’t like a discreet thing. You could watch every time someone came in they went through this cycle of names audibly naming all the servers. We barely got any attention- in fact we were asked if we were tragedy influencers. We don’t even look like influencers. Maybe 290 Wine Shuttle needs to pull them off the list. Lesson learned for us - too many wineries to spend time in one that takes...