Wine News

Award-winning winery opens charming tasting room in downtown McKinney

It'll be the third tasting room in McKinney's downtown square.

Photo courtesy of 4R Ranch

There's wine being poured in McKinney, via a new tasting room open in the Historic Square downtown.

4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery, the award-winning winery from Nicole and Walt Roper based in Muenster, has opened a Tasting Room at 110 E. Louisiana St., in a former hair and nail salon, where it hopes to introduce its wines to a new audience.

This is the winery's second tasting room; the original is on their property in Muenster, which also includes estate Viognier and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards, the Vineyard Flea Boutique, and multiple venues available for weddings and special events.

A new 7-acre vineyard was planted in April 2020 to expand the estate varietal offering including Tempranillo, Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne, Trebbiano, and Albarino.

The McKinney outlet will serve 4R Ranch's dry reds and whites, sweet, bubbles, and dessert wines, including its award-winning Portejas, either by the tasting, glass, or by the bottle. Their newest releases, Zinfandel 2018 and Petit Verdot, will be available for $26 per bottle.

They'll also offer a small, seasonal menu of snacks to pair with their wines.

Wine retail veteran Jayme Greeson will be manager. She has more than 15 years of customer service experience in the wine industry, including stints at John Anthony Wine and Spirits, Constellation Brands and Rutherford Hill Winery in California. She also brings expertise in social media and special events, which the Tasting Room plans to host throughout the year.

The 3,500-square-foot space has a modern rustic aesthetic, with graphics of 4R Ranch's winery, vineyards, and landscape. They'll display artwork and wine competition awards, as well as a selection of retail items from Nicole's Muenster shop, The Vineyard Flea. An adjacent event space will be unveiled this spring.

Walt says in a release that they've welcomed many a visitor from McKinney and the surrounding areas of Plano, Frisco, Celina, and North Dallas at their Muenster headquarters. They're also big fans of McKinney's downtown. Walt calls the Historic Square "one of the most charming and unique, locally-focused communities we have experienced."

They like the synchronicity of joining two other Texas wineries, Landon Winery and Lone Star Wine Cellars, also located on the square, along with all the shops and restaurants.

"It is an engaging community of individuals, local retailers, restaurants and services," Nicole says. "Everyone in the community has been so welcoming, and we are delighted to be here!"

They'll be open Wednesday-Thursday, 12-8 pm, Friday-Saturday, 12-9 pm, and Sunday, 12-6 pm, following strict COVID-19 protocols, including limited county-mandated capacity, seating for parties of six or less, and mandatory masks if not seated.

4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery recently received three silver medals at the 2020 Lone Star International Wine Competition for its Cabernet 2018, Trebbiano 2019, and Viognier 2019. A bronze medal was awarded for their unique Blackberry Red Blend. Another silver medal was awarded at the 2020 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for its port-style wine, NV Portejas Texas, while in 2019, 4R received the competition's Sweepstakes Award/ Double Gold for its Nectar Nero dessert wine, the only Texas winery in the history of the competition to take home a Sweepstakes award. Since January 1, 2017, 4R has won a total of 45 medals and awards.

wine

Cinnamon Roll News

Breakfast-lunch cafe in Celina bakes its own cinnamon rolls and breads

The Wick

Decadent French toast at The Wick

There's a mom-and-pop breakfast and lunch cafe in Celina serving some drive-worthy cinnamon rolls: Called The Wick, it's in a historic home at 107 S. Colorado St., in a space that was previously Swirls Bakery.

The Wick is owned by Cleve and Kim Wickliffe — hence the name — who also owned Swirls. The two have a sweet story: They dated in high school, then reunited 27 later, and decided to pursue their culinary and business dreams together.

Cleve is a former optician but spent most of his life in the kitchen baking and trying out new recipes. He oversees the kitchen. Kim, a former manager and market for stores like Walmart and Dollar General, handles the front of the house.

The spark that lit the business was a bad cinnamon roll from Cinnabon. Cleve vowed he could make a better one. They opened Swirls Bakery in 2020, then expanded and rebranded in 2024.

"We had always wanted to do a restaurant," Kim says. "We thought we'd get our feet wet with the bakery, and were doing menu development all along until it was time to go beyond what we were doing at Swirls."

They're open for breakfast and lunch with a menu of soups, salads, plump breakfast tacos, and sandwiches. Everything is made fresh daily, even including the breads for the sandwiches, some in gluten-free varieties.

The Wick breakfast taco Breakfast tacos at The Wick are nice and plump.The Wick

Standouts include:

avocado toast
roast beef sandwich on pretzel bread
tomato soup, which can be ordered solo for $10 or with a half sandwich for $14
chili starring Wagyu beef with a 3-bean combo, served with a cornbread muffin, also made in-house
focaccia pizza with roasted vegetables and bacon on foccaccia bread, also made in-house

Prices range from $10 to $16.

One pleasant surprise about The Wick is that they serve cocktails: margarita, paloma, blackberry basil smash with choice of whiskey or voda, and martinis in variations such as the popular espresso martini, the peppermint espresso martini, or the chocolate-covered strawberry martini that Kim says is like dessert in a cup.

There is also coffee; they get their beans from Fourteen Eighteen Coffee Roasters in McKinney, who make them a custom-made blend with notes of vanilla, chocolate, and citrus.

And of course the cinnamon rolls that are Cleve's signature — fluffy and moist, sometimes topped with pecans or else cookies & cream.

"Lots of bakery items start as the base to our sandwiches or entrees," Kim says. "We make French toast from our cinnamon rolls, too. The restaurant menu was built on that."

desserts breakfast