Texas Monthly Spotlights Fredericksburg Sparkling Wine Makers, Including Festival Favorites

Texas sparkling wine has arrived and Texas Monthly magazine just said so on a national stage.

The magazine’s June 2026 issue covers the growth of Texas sparkling winemaking, with Fredericksburg and the Texas Hill Country at the center of the story. Several wineries pouring at the Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival are highlighted as pioneers of la méthode traditionnelle.  This is the same labor-intensive, bottle-fermented process used to make classic French Champagne, but right here in the Hill Country.

Invention Vineyards, located just five miles from downtown Fredericksburg, takes center stage. Owner Brian Heath has invested more than $5 million in a state-of-the-art 25,000-square-foot sparkling wine facility, now producing varietals including a Texas High Plains chenin blanc, a copper-toned Ebullience, and an elegant blanc de blancs. Heath’s commitment to “cradle-to-grave” Texas sparkling wine, using only grapes grown in-state, is a new chapter for what Hill Country wine can be.

Also featured is William Chris Vineyards in Hye, a long-standing presence at the Festival. Cofounder Chris Brundrett, motivated in part by the carbon footprint of shipping base wine to California for processing, has brought sparkling wine production home. His new Rebecca Caroline line and the forthcoming tasting room at the historic Hye post office represent an evolution for a winery that’s been shaping Texas wine culture for years. William Chris education director Kelsey Kramer tells Texas Monthly, “This is one of the places where Texas wine is going.”

Rounding out the Hill Country trio is Elisa Christopher Wines, whose founder Elisa Jones became the first vintner in the region to acquire traditional-method sparkling equipment in 2023. Today she produces her own sparkling labels while also processing wines for fellow Texas producers. Elisa is  not so quietly becoming an essential part of the state’s sparkling wine movement.

Together, these three wineries reflect something we’ve long known at the Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival: the Texas Hill Country sets wine trends. That spirit of experimentation, of investing deeply in craft and terroir, is what makes this region one of the most exciting wine destinations in the country right now.

Read the full Texas Monthly feature  “The Future of Texas Wine Is . . . Champagne?”  and then come taste the wines for yourself at the Festival.