Gretchen Glasscock

Texas Wine Pioneers Gretchen Glasscock

In the early seventies, when America began to awaken to locally sourced food and wine, Gretchen Glasscock, returned to Texas from the East with a degree from Columbia University and a penchant for research. Taking over management of the family's 20,000 acres of ranch land and seeking to diversify their interests, she upended a Texas A& M Study asserting that all Texas was a hot and humid climate suitable for growing only jug wines. She identified the region around Blue Mountain in Fort Davis, as cool and crisp, like Napa or parts of France. Before planning and planting her vineyard, Glasscock proceeded to bring in renowned viticultural and enology experts to guide her and others in developing what has become an award winning multi-billion dollar Texas agribusiness. This book provides new details recorded by a Texas wine pioneer, advocate, activist and entrepreneur who lived it. Her groundbreaking research and hard fought wine legislation laid the foundation and enabled the development of an award winning Texas wine industry. This is a tale of epic battles and larger-than-life personalities, including iconic global winemakers, titans of the wine industry, newcomers who wanted to create this groundbreaking new industry and Texas legislators who either caved or fiercely fought the well-financed liquor lobby that had one goal: to kill change. It explores the future of the Texas wine industry, particularly in this present moment of a pandemic that has forced wine-tasting rooms and wine festivals to shut down. Glasscock's solution is to establish an online wine sales platform for all Texas wineries to be able to market their wine online and deliver it to a wine lover's door, in a way that will create a new prosperity for the Texas wine industry.