Kilgore retiree expands winery with new vineyard

Kilgore, Texas (KLTV) - From an old elementary school to a vineyard, Britt’s Wine and Dine opened February of last year when owner Britt Davis brought his love for pairing wines with food to east Texas.

“No one else was doing that and so I decided hey let’s start something like that. So we called it Britt’s Wine and Dine. So I was able to teach people a little bit about wines from around the world and also teaching them about food and that passion led into, I could create my own wines from this region, from Texas.”

Davis said they lease space out in west Texas where his wines are made. But he wanted to make the experience more personal with this new addition, the vineyard. Along Hwy 31, you can see the eight rows of 136 plants.

“And we did some soil testing and found out this is a great place. This area would be great for grapes and there’s a few other wineries around but I wanted to be able to go through the whole process myself from Earth to the bottle.”

Davis started planting these Andy Walker grapes in April, which are suitable for the east Texas climate. He said the first quality harvest will be in 2025.

“I’m so excited. It’s just been a good labor of love. This is my retirement, something I want to pass on to our community and maybe even my family you know to come out and work and have a part of it.”

Davis plans to include the community after the first harvest, and allow them to pick grapes and make their own wines.

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