If you’re a fan of Texas wines, you’ve certainly heard of Driftwood Estate Winery. Their 2012 Longhorn Red was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and received the Top Texas Wine award at the 2015 Houston Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition. Founded in 2002 on 200 acres, the winery has beautiful hill country views and 100% Texas wines. While the winery is less than an hour from my home, I haven’t visited in years. It was time for a revisit, and I was excited to spend some time with winemaker Jackie van Sant Downes.
Jackie and I sat outside on a breezy spring afternoon and enjoyed the view overlooking the vineyard. We talked about her childhood in Houston, her family (she’s a triplet), her introduction to wine, how she ended up in California, and her good luck in making it back to Texas.
Jackie went to Texas Tech to study Communication Studies and Psychology. Her aunt and uncle opened a wine bar in Katy, and Jackie was lucky enough to be in on some tastings when reps came by to pour wines. She started to develop her palate, and in no time, her aunt Robin had secured a harvest internship for Jackie in California. She graduated in August of 2007 and was on a plane three days later. Jackie didn’t plan to become a winemaker, it just seemed like an interesting temporary job. She quickly learned that she was good at manual labor and paying attention to detail,
This Article was originally published on Texas Wine Lover
