Kerrville winemaker’s Grenache named a 2026 Texas Vintners Cup winner

Kerrville winemaker John Rivenburgh’s 2022 Grenache is one of 12 winners of the 2026 Texas Vintners Cup. The competition is run through the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Uncork Texas Wines program.

The winners were announced in the October issue of Texas Monthly to mark Texas Wine Month.

The wine, released under the Rivenburgh Wine label, is made from grapes grown at Canted County Vineyards in the Texas High Plains. Rivenburgh fermented the grapes as whole berries and aged the wine 12 months in neutral oak barrels before bottling it unfined and unfiltered.

Judges described it as savory and distinctive. Rivenburgh said he is now testing how Grenache performs in the Hill Country, using fruit from the 2026 vintage.

“What ends up in the bottle should taste like Texas, nothing more and nothing less,” he said.

The sixth annual competition drew more than 275 entries, its largest field yet. Master sommeliers Jack Mason and Craig Collins and wine journalist Jessica Dupuy judged the wines blind, and also named 25 honorable mentions. The section singled out Rivenburgh Wine among the newer names that rose to the top.