Texas Wine, Hops and Shops Festival: April 23, 2023

We are thrilled to host our second annual Texas Wine, Hops & Shops festival at McPherson Cellars in downtown Lubbock! Wineries, breweries, and boutique shop vendors from across the state will gather here to showcase the best of the Lone Star State.

Ticket-holders will receive a wristband with 10 drink tickets to taste among 25+ beverage stations. Guests are encouraged to explore the winery, shop among arts vendors, and enjoy live music from Lubbock’s favorites. Local food trucks will be lined up offering many tasty options to choose from. Stick around through the evening for the celebratory street concert.

Visit the Texas Wines, Hops and Shops website for tickets.

Please email Thomas, thomas@mcphersoncellars.com if you are interested in participating as a vendor.

McPherson Cellars Winemaker Dinner

This September, we welcome you to join us for a specially curated dining experience from nationally acclaimed chef Angie Ragan and wines from twice nominated James Beard Semi-Finalist Winemaker Kim McPherson.

Born and raised in Lubbock, TX, Chef Ragan has grown her catering business “Salt by Angie” for the past decade. In 2022, she starred on “Next Level Chef” with Chef Gordon Ramsey, representing West Texas with pride. She continues to hone her culinary creativity, and we’re so excited to share what she and Kim have put together.

This delectable experience will take place September 23rd from 6-9pm at the winery. Attendees will enjoy a menu of four-courses, each thoughtfully paired with one of our wines. Given the intimacy of this event, we recommend reserving tickets in advance.

Click here to purchase tickets.

2022 PATIO NIGHT SCHEDULE

We are so excited to welcome back our Patio Nights for this spring and summer! Come out with friends and neighbors, meet someone new, fall in love with a new wine, and support our greater community. Join us every Thursday evening from 6-9pm with music and bites from your favorite local food trucks. See our start to the 2022 schedule below, and make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for weekly updates! ​

August 4 Micah Bynum, Mijo’s Food Truck
August 11 Courtney Nicole (Duo), The Lunch Box
August 18 Jere Lowe and Steve Fillipp, Pies BBQ
August 25 Kenny Maines, Farm to Fork

Texas Tapas Night

Recipe thanks to Melissa Guerra, Kitchen Wrangler

To highlight our very first varietal bottling of Alicante Bouchet, we partnered with Chef Melissa Guerra of The Kitchen Wrangler to showcase just how we’d sit down to enjoy this wine! Melissa is an 8th generation Texan, born and raised on a working cattle ranch in South Texas. She is a self-taught culinary expert and food historian, specializing in the food ways of the American continent, especially Texas regional, Mexican, and Latin American cuisine. And even though we love seared filet mignon paired with our Alicante Bouschet, you can substitute thinly sliced pre- cooked roast chicken or pork garnished with pesto sauce and soft cheese. Even Sunday evening leftovers get a welcome boost when served tapas style—crispy vegetables, savory flavors and McPherson Cellars! Recipe serves 2.

INGREDIENTS

Filet Mignon with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Soft Cheese

• • ¼ cup vegetable oil, such as canola oil (60ml)
  • 2 tbsp. coarsely ground sea salt (24g)
  • 2 tbsp. coarsely ground cracked black pepper (12g)
  • 8-16oz filet mignon* (250g-500g)
  • 1 onion, peeled and sliced
  • 8 oz mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (250g)
  • 2 oz soft cheese, such as goat cheese or cream cheese (57g)
  • 1 bottle McPherson Cellars Alicante Bouschet to enjoy alongside!

Pesto Toasted Baguette:

• • ¼ cup prepared pesto sauce (2 oz/60ml)
  • 1 French baguette or loaf of French bread, sliced

Side Dishes:

• • 2 ripe tomatoes or 12 cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
  • 1 pear, sliced
  • 1 bunch grapes, rinsed
  • Mixed olives (our mixture included cubed cheese & pepperoni slices)
  • Your favorite choice of fresh herbs for garnish – parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, basil

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a 9” (22cm) cast iron or stainless-steel skillet on the stove over high heat. Mix the salt and pepper together in a shallow plate. Season your filet mignon by pressing the filet into the salt and pepper mixture, coating well on both sides and around outside edge.

Add the vegetable oil to the skillet and allow to heat for 1-2 minutes until the vegetable oil appears thin and shiny. Using a fork, transfer the prepared filet mignon(s) to the heated pan and allow to sear on one side for 5 minutes. Carefully turn the steak over to the other side and allow to sear for another 5 minutes. Remove the steak from the pan once the interior temperature of the meat registers 120°F (49°C) on a meat thermometer. Allow the filet to rest on a carving board for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, add the onions to the same cooking pan and sauté for 4 minutes, until the onions are translucent and well caramelized. Remove from the onions from the pan and place in a serving dish.  Add the sliced mushrooms to the heated pan and sauté until browned, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Turn off the heat from the stove and remove the mushrooms from the pan. Place the mushrooms in the serving dish along with the caramelized onions.

To prepare the Pesto Toasted Baguette, heat the broiler of your oven. Spread a small amount of the pesto on one side of a baguette slice. Prepare all of the baguette slices in this fashion. Toast the prepared baguette slices for 1-2 minutes under the heated broiler. Remove and allow to cool before serving. (You can also use a toaster oven to toast the baguette slices but not a regular toaster.)

Slice the filet thinly and place in the serving dish with the onions and mushrooms. Top with the soft cheese. Drizzle with extra pesto. Serve alongside sliced ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, pears, grapes, olives and garnish with your choice of fresh herbs.

*Serving size for filet mignon is either 4oz (uncooked) per person for appetizer sized portion or 8oz (uncooked) per person for dinner sized portion. For best results, sear one (for appetizer) or two (for dinner) 8oz portions of filet mignon for juicy steaks. This recipe is for medium rare steak. Cook for 1 more minute per side for medium doneness and 2 more minutes per side for well doneness.

New Fall & Winter Hours

McPherson Cellars family, we are transitioning back to our Fall and Winter hours! Starting Friday, October 1st, the tasting room will be open from 12-6 PM Tuesday through Saturday.

McPherson Cellars New AirBnB

We’re excited to announce the availability of our new AirBnB, perfectly situated in the heart of Lubbock’s Tech Terrace neighborhood. This charming, airy, and peaceful Texas-stone corner house is a project of love, carefully renovated from the inside out. The home’s decor and feel pays homage to the West Texas desert in both decor and function. Guests will find themselves surrounded by original works by local artists, some of which are specifically commissioned for sale.

Just minutes from downtown Lubbock and Texas Tech, this home is a perfect location for visiting family and friends, football season, graduation weekends, or simply to enjoy ample privacy and comfort during your time in town. Family-friendly Wagner and Tech Terrace parks are walking distance away, while Palo Duro Canyon State Park is a mere hour and a half’s drive, and offers a range of opportunities to experience the natural beauty of the region.

The full details:

The house consists of one master suite and two additional bedrooms, each with queen beds. There are two full baths and a guest half bath. An air mattress is also available (meaning the house can accommodate up to eight guests). The renovation includes all new interior structure, windows, doors, plumbing, and electrical, and an enclosed utility room for doing laundry, if needed. The family room is full of natural light during the day thanks to a wall of windows opening into the backyard, perfect for sitting and sipping coffee while you’re bathed in the soft sunshine of a cool, Lubbock morning or enjoying a glass of wine in the glow of a West Texas sunset. The fully equipped kitchen design offers a sky-lit Quartz-topped kitchen island overlooking the living room, dining area, and parlor for effortless entertaining. Feel free to lounge outside on the deck under the pergola (soon to be constructed), or strike up the gas grill for casual dining. The house is equipped with an integrated sound system and Google streaming TV in the family room and master suite. The master suite also includes a separate privacy room, shower, and vanity, and features its own private patio with custom-designed peek-through steel panel walls and lounge seating.

Please consider Casa Roca Blanca your new go-to AirBnB, designed to encourage creativity while offering a respite from the world. During your visit, feel free to enjoy the coffee and tea provided, or relax with a glass of our wine—your first bottle is on us! We look forward to hosting you! Click here to see more.

‘Let the Grapes Speak for Themselves’: Texas High Plains’ Wine Country Contains Multitudes

Local growers and winemakers say that the iconic landscape of West Texas transcends clichéd stock images of oil rigs, ranchland and Friday Night Lights. Click here to read more from Wine Enthusiast.

Chocolate Covered Orange Biscotti

Recipe thanks to Manda Levy, Uprising Texas

In 2017, when we were presented with the opportunity to work with orange muscat, we knew it was both a challenge and an opportunity we could not turn down! While dessert wines are not regularly part of our portfolio, we hope you’ll enjoy this wine as much as we do. The amazing dried fruit flavors and floral characteristics of this bottling are tantalizing—there are few other wines we’d rather drink after dinner or alongside dessert. We collaborated with Texas baker Manda Levy of Uprising Texas, who created this orange biscotti recipe that makes the perfect match to a small glass of this special wine!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 and 1/3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Zest of 1 medium orange
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) of unsalted butter
• 3 large eggs
• 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (not flavor)
• Egg wash -two eggs and 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• two 4-ounce dark chocolate bars
• 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
• 1 bottle McPherson Cellars “Fleur d’ Oranger” to enjoy alongside!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Combine all dry ingredients and zest in a large bowl, and then cut in cold butter. Use pastry cutter to create a crumble combination of the dry ingredients, zest, and butter.
3. Combine juice, eggs, oil, and extract in a medium bowl. Add this to the dry mix and bring those two together to a dough consistency, add a tablespoon of flour as needed.
4. Roll out on to flour dusted counter and knead about 10 times. Divide dough into halves and flatten onto the baking sheet into roughly 4×8 inch rectangles.
5. Bake for 23 minutes and then remove from oven. Slice into 1/2 inch slices (~4 inch tall). Bake on each side for 8 minutes per side. Remove and cool.
6. Melt chocolate on double boiler and drizzle over cooled biscotti. Add a few chopped pistachios to garnish. Let set about an hour, and then enjoy!

French Onion Soup

Recipe thanks to Kaleigh McMordie, Lively Table

This easy french onion soup is the perfect cozy, healthy soup recipe to warm you up on cold winter days! Caramelized onions in a savory beef broth using McPherson Cellars “Chansa” Sherry, topped with croutons and melted cheese—is there anything more delicious?

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 8–10 cups 

INGREDIENTS

South Texas Shrimp Fajitas

Recipe thanks to Lisa Fain, Homesick Texan

Along the Texas coast, fajitas made from Gulf shrimp fresh from the ocean are a local favorite. After a lively bath in grapefruit juice and lime, the shrimp is quickly cooked on a hot skillet then stuffed into warm tortillas with peppers and onions. Lively and satisfying, these South Texas shrimp fajitas pair well with a crisp glass of white wine, like McPherson Cellars Verde Verde. And no matter where you find yourself, these tacos will remind you of a day at the beach.

Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Ruby Red grapefruit juice
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 jalapeño, chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Pinch cayenne
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• Lime wedges
• 12 flour tortillas, warmed, for serving
• Guacamole, pico de gallo, and sour cream, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To make the marinade, in a blender or food processor, mix together the olive oil, grapefruit juice, lime juice, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and salt. Blend until well combined then pour over the shrimp and marinate, refrigerated, for 30 minutes. (Don’t marinade longer than that or the citrus will turn the shrimp mushy.)
2. To make the fajitas, drain the shrimp from the marinade, discarding the marinade. In a large, heavy skillet, heat up the canola oil on medium heat. Add the peppers and onion and cook while stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until softened.
3. Remove the peppers and onions from the skillet. Add the shrimp to the skillet. While stirring occasionally, cook until pink and firm, about 3-5 minutes. Squeeze a couple of lime wedges over the shrimp. Turn off the heat.
4. Return the peppers and onions to the skillet and combine with the shrimp. Serve in the skillet immediately with warm flour tortillas, guacamole, and pico de gallo on the side so people can make their own fajita tacos.

Lisa Fain is the seventh-generation Texan behind the regional food blog Homesick Texan. A James Beard award-winning writer, she is also the author of three books—The Homesick Texan Cookbook, The Homesick Texan’s Family Table, and Queso: Regional Recipes for the World’s Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip. She has been featured in many publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Parade, Southern Living, and Texas Monthly, and she has photos in the permanent collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and The Library of Congress. While she was indeed homesick during the two decades she lived in New York City, the call of family, friends, bluebonnets, and Tex-Mex recently brought her back to the Lone Star State and she now calls Dallas home.