The fourth annual Texas Wine Auction Foundation kicked off its 2025 festivities on 25 April at the newly opened luxury Albert Hotel in downtown Fredericksburg, Texas, with a live taping of the Texas-based television programme Texas Music Scene. The event featured four Texas country music artists in an intimate night of storytelling and songwriting.
It was a distinctly Texan way to saddle up for a weekend dedicated to raising funds in support of charitable causes within the Texas Hill Country winemaking community – one of the fastest-growing wine regions in the United States. Amid a steady influx of luxury resorts and a proliferation of new wineries, the region’s restaurant and hospitality scene is thriving.
Between the Friday night launch and the main auction held on Saturday 26 April at the expansive Arch Ray Resort just outside Fredericksburg, a total of 21 live auction items and 65 silent lots brought in just over $233,000 – the highest amount raised in a single year since the auction was founded in 2022 by partners Dave Bryant, Valerie Elkins and Chris Brundrett. In four years, the auction has raised over $1m.
The top lot featured an experiential trip to Brooks Wine in Oregon and William Chris Vineyards in Hye, Texas – both wineries named on the 2024 Top 100 World’s Best Vineyards list – which sold for $15,000.
A 15-litre blended bottle, crafted by 19 different wineries to benefit student-led education and research initiatives, was produced by William Chris winemaker Tony Offill and consultant winemaker Jean Hoefliger (known for his work with AXR, The Debate and Alpha Omega). The bottle sold for $11,000.
Another highlight included the sale of a half-barrel of wine, which came with a custom blending session, dinner, and personalised labelling through William Chris Vineyards. It also fetched $11,000.
‘The Texas industry has grown significantly over the past five to seven years, and launching the auction was a way for us to collaborate across the wine industry and give back to our community,’ said co-founder Valerie Elkins. ‘Recognising that both our local area and the wider state of Texas lack sufficient mental health resources, we began fundraising to support programmes that offer easier access to care, including individual and group counselling, virtual and in-person educational seminars and mindset coaching aimed at helping individuals achieve both personal and professional goals.’
Credit: Howdy Hill
The Texas Wine Auction Foundation also supports sustainability and industry advancement through initiatives such as Grafted – a personal and professional development programme for women working in wine.
‘Backing these efforts not only strengthens our community but also fosters the growth and success of the industry itself,’ said co-founder Dave Bryant. ‘Our next step is to expand our impact, supporting students at the middle and high school levels through mental health programmes.’
Chris Brundrett, also a co-founder and owner of William Chris Vineyards – considered one of Texas’s most formidable producers – expressed hope for growing attendance in future years. ‘This event offers supporters of Texas wine a forum to celebrate our growers and winemakers, while also introducing many new people to what Texas wine is all about.’
Brundrett and Elkins are also partners in Texas Wine Growers, a non-profit organisation and members of the Wine Origins Alliance. The group is committed to increasing consumer awareness around what constitutes a truly Texas-made wine, supporting those who produce ‘real Texas wine’ made from ‘100% Texas grown’ grapes.
Currently, the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) allows wines labelled as ‘Texas’ to include up to 25% fruit from outside the state, provided that at least 75% of the blend is Texas-grown. By contrast, California and Oregon require 100% in-state fruit for regional labelling; any wine using fruit from multiple states must be labelled ‘American’.
In 2021, the Texas state legislature passed the Texas Wine Labelling Law, intended to clarify and tighten definitions of ‘Texas-made’ wine. The law introduced stricter requirements for wines utilising AVA, county, state, or vineyard designations.
‘We want Texas to be recognised for producing high-quality wines and to be named among the premier wine regions in the United States,’ said Brundrett, who has been a leading voice in the movement to mandate 100% Texas-grown grapes for any wine bearing the Texas label. ‘We talk about this at the auction and will continue to do so because educating the public about what we’re doing in Texas is essential to our continued growth.’
