Crafting the perfect sip-and-stay vacay in Lubbock

Bottoms Up

Photo courtesy of Visit Lubbock

Did you know that around 80 percent of all grapes sourced by Texas wineries come from the High Plains AVA in West Texas? Or that Lubbock has its own signature cocktail? The city's craft beer scene has also exploded in the past five years.

All of this means that the West Texas city is now bubbling up with ideas for a refreshing getaway, whether you're a hophead, oenophile, or even a mocktail maven.

Curious to taste these bevvies for yourself? Here's what's brewing in Lubbock:

Cheers for beers

Two Docs Brewing Co.: The double doctors in the brewery's name are Dr. Eric Cunningham (a veterinarian) and Dr. Tyson Purdy (a family medicine practitioner), cousins who took their love of beer public in 2019. Located in the Cultural District, the environmentally-conscious brewery is known for its Buddy Hoppy IPA, Lubbock Light lager, and Two Docs Bock.

The Brewery LBK: USA Today crowned this newish brewery the Top Brewpub in the Nation, and it's a title head brewmaster Sally Taylor and general manager Mike Nghiem don't take lightly. The beers are a mix of classic profiles and inventive flavors, with plenty of seasonal rotations and nods to Hub City. Try the Low Hanging Fruit, made with Albarino grapes from the local Veesart Vineyards. Wine on the nose with flavors of bright citrus complement a wheat and barley backbone with farmhouse ale notes.

Good Line Beer Co.: What began as a true garage start-up is now a celebrated brewery in the historic Tech Terrace neighborhood, putting out brews with whimsical names like Catastrophe Girlfriend (a raspberry weisse), Range Life (a pilsner), and Bitter Buffalo (an IPA). Owners Chris Troutman and Shawn Phillips are heavy on community, with local artist Dirk Fowler creating the label designs.

Wine time

Syrah is one of the key grape varieties grown here, alongside Tempranillo and Grenache — two other varieties known to perform well in warm, dry climates like the Texas High Plains AVA. White grapes are also grown, but to a much lesser extent, mostly from Viognier, Chenin Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc..

Seek out your next favorite glass (or bottle!) at Bolen Winery Vineyards, Burklee Hill Vineyards, English Newsom Cellars, McPherson Cellars, La Diosa Cellars, and Llano Estacado Winery, the second-oldest winery in the state. Adelphos Cellars will also open soon, inviting Lubbock into the city's newest winery, tasting room, and event venue.

The famous Lubbock Chilton

Called "a cocktail as bright and pure as the West Texas sun" by Texas Monthly, the Chilton is a refreshing cocktail comprised of vodka, fresh lemon juice, bubbly water, and a salted rim. The story goes that years ago, a parched Dr. Chilton instructed a bartender at the Lubbock Country Club to mix these ingredients together, and a signature sip was born.

You'll spot the Chilton all around town, with variations that range from fruity to spicy and even as the inspiration for a few seasonal beers. Here's a primer if you're not sure where to start.

Zero-proof pours

Alcohol isn't required for a great drink — just ask The West Table Kitchen and Bar and The Nicolett.

Everyone is included in the toast at The West Table with offerings such as the tropical Riki Tiki and "gin" rambler Baby Blue, among others. Each libation feels even more elegant thanks to the restaurant's location within the historic Pioneer Building in downtown Lubbock.

Photo courtesy of Visit Lubbock

Two Docs Brewing Co. was actually founded by two doctors.

At The Nicolett, 2022 James Beard Semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas and owner of The Nicolett, Finn Walter incorporated several non-alcoholic beverages into his cocktail menu to serve a craft experience for all to savor. From the botanical Garden Gimlet to the sweet-tart I Love Yuzu, each showcases an alcohol alternative in the ingredients list.

Where to rest your head

Stow your suitcase at the newly opened Aloft hotel, or check into an Airbnb managed by Home on the Range LBK, which owns four beautifully decorated properties all near Texas Tech University.

Looking forward

In the coming months, Lubbock will see the debut of Milestones Park and a new Dave & Busters. Even if you've visited before, there's always more to discover in Hub City — plan your next visit now.

Photo courtesy of Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau

New Vintage Wine + Gallery Trail

Grapevine’s 31st Annual New Vintage Wine + Gallery Trail & Art Show begins with the Blessing of the Vines.This centuries-old European tradition features a blessing performed by a priest to ensure a bountiful harvest.

New Vintage passport holders can stroll along Historic Main Street and sample wines and light bites at Grapevine’s winery tasting rooms. As visitors walk along Historic Main Street, they'll see sculptures that commemorate Grapevine’s history. Visitors can also check out Grapevine’s art galleries to see colorful and unique works of art and experience the all-new Fine Art Show on Peace Plaza.

SBG Hospitality

H-E-B presents Allen Food + Wine Festival

The Allen Food & Wine Festival will feature wine tastings, craft beer, cuisine, live music, shopping with local boutiques, photo-ops and more.

The Wine Tasting Pass gives visitors 20 one-ounce tastings to use at any of the wineries. Tickets also include an event wine glass with the Allen Food+Wine Festival logo. Wineries will be set up at the festival and throughout the local shops at The Village at Allen. Attendees who visit the wineries located inside the local shops will be entered to win a $500 gift card from H-E-B.

The food pass gives access to taste cuisine from 10 of the best local restaurants. Attendees with the Food+Wine tasting pass can visit the H-E-B tent to enjoy food and wine pairings from their lead chef and culinary team.

Photo by David Capote

Lauded Texas winemaker uplifts Hill Country town with new vineyard and tasting room

NEW CRUSH

One of Texas’ most prominent winemakers is stomping on new grounds. William Chris Wine Companyis opening of a new vineyard and tasting room on a gorgeous 78-acre property in Burnet, about 190 miles (or three hours) southwest of Dallas.

William Chris founders Chris Brundrett and Andrew Sides purchased the property, formerly named Hoover Valley, in 2021 from a private owner. The rebranded Uplift Vineyard hired the vineyard team and rehabbed the existing structures to offer elevated wine-tasting experiences and host future private events.

Uplift will be William Chris’ first estate wine brand. For those not up on wine-speak, the offerings will use grapes exclusively grown in the vineyard instead of those harvested by outside growers. Winemaker Claire Richardson will head the program, featuring a surfeit of single-varietal wines and proprietary blends.

Fall releases will zero in on hefty sippers like a single variety Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec, as well as a Bordeaux blend. Springtime will lighten up with Italian grapes such as Montepulciano, Aglianico, and Sangiovese.

Eventually, Uplift Vineyard will expand its wine offerings to a medium-body Rhône blend featuring Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre and explore white blends and rosés.

“Every bottle of Uplift wine will come from only the best grapes harvested from this spectacular site, situated in the Llano Uplift geological region,” says CEO Bundrett via a release. “We’re looking forward to bringing awareness to this unique location within the Texas Hill Country AVA because the fruit that’s being grown here is just outstanding.”

Guests can enjoy the vintages at the tasting room or via a limited-capacity wine club, the Uplift Viticultural Society. Uplift is in the final stages of filling the first 300 of 1,000 total spots for the ultra-exclusive Founders Club.

Looking forward, Uplift will host onsite cooking demonstrations and full-day experiences that take advantage of the bucolic setting. For now, the tasting room is open for reservations only, Thursdays through Sundays, 11 am-6 pm.

Last fall, William Chris Vineyards came in at No. 56 on the World’s Best Vineyards' list of top wine destinations for 2022. It was the only Texas vineyard on the list and one of only seven wineries from the U.S.

One of the majestic homes on tour in the Munger Place Historic District.

Munger Place Historic District Association presents Wine Walk & Historic Home Tour

Munger Place Historic District Association will present their 2023 fundraiser, Wine Walk & Home Tour. Visitors can join for a walk-through history while sipping wines hand-picked by Jimmy’s Food Store and appetizers, and enjoy the architecture, design, and history of homes established over 100 years ago. The homes will be in walking distance of each other.

Proceeds support the Boys & Girls club and local schools.

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Busy Dallas hard rock music venue Amplified Live to close this week

Closure News

A Dallas live music venue is shutting down: Amplified Live, which has been one of the city's most popular venues for live rock music shows for the past decade, is closing its doors.

According to a staffer, it'll close down at the end of March, with the final show on March 31, featuring Exciter and Night Cobra.

The venue is closing because the building, at 10261 Technology Blvd., has been sold, and will remain a live music venue but will no longer host rock shows.

As a mid-sized stage with a capacity for 1,200, Amplified Live filled a valuable niche, by hosting major touring acts that were too big for small clubs but not quite big enough for arenas.

It represents a loss to the local live music scene, an increasingly shrinking realm, and did not close for lack of business, with many shows selling out (and some, such as a recent show starring WASP, so packed that it was shut down by fire marshals).

The venue opened in 2021, in the former Gas Monkey Bar & Grill space in Northwest Dallas, which had been there since 2013, following the departure of former co-founder Richard Rawlings. (Rawlings is currently working on opening two new venues, one in the Mercer Boardwalk development and another restaurant, bar, and entertainment destination in Lewisville.)

Armed with a renovated interior, improved audio system, and new menu, Amplified Live picked up where Gas Monkey had left off, hosting metal and heavy bands such as Murder Junkies, Cold, and Suicide Commando -- popular bands for whom live stage options are slim.

It also had unique assets including having an outdoor stage, which became especially valuable during COVID-19, but off the beaten path and therefore not subject to ordinances for sound or having to be done by a certain time.

Employees began to hint that change was in the air in mid-March, and some acts such as Ville Valo, who were scheduled to play at the venue on April 25, were informed in mid-March that their shows were being relocated to other venues. In their case, the show was moved to House of Blues, although other acts will be moved to the Granada.

This is how much money you need to live comfortably in Dallas-Fort Worth, new study finds

Money wise

Inflation is high, interest rates are skyrocketing, and honestly, just existing is expensive. Whether it be the price of eggs or a new car, trying to have a financially stable life in one of America’s largest metropolitan areas is becoming more and more difficult.

So, how much money do you need to make to live comfortably in Dallas-Fort Worth? Approximately $64,742 a year post-tax, according to a new study by financial tech company SmartAsset.

That’s an $11,000-plus increase from their previous annual report, where Dallas-Fort Worth residents only needed to make $53,680 a year post-tax to live comfortably in the area.

Their experts collected data from MIT’s Living Wage Calculator to determine the cost of living for a childless individual in the 25 largest American metro areas. They also used the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy to figure out what a “comfortable lifestyle” meant for the purpose of their study: 50 percent of their income goes to a person’s needs/living expenses, 30 percent to a person’s wants, and 20 percent for their savings or paying down debt.

To live a financially stable life, a childless Dallas-Fort Worth individual would need to spend $32,371 of their salary on their living expenses, $19,423 for discretionary expenses, and put $12,948 toward their savings or debt payments.

Considering rent has increased up to 15 percent since 2022 in some Dallas suburbs, that might be a tighter squeeze for some. And if you aren't a man, the Dallas-Fort Worth gender pay gap also plays a factor.

Susannah Snider, SmartAsset’s managing editor of financial education, says in the study that budgeting should be the “bedrock of many people’s financial plans.”

“And it’s especially essential to understand and track your spending when the cost of everyday items is rising,” said Snider. “Being able to stick to a 50/30/20 budget means you have enough to fund short- and long-term goals while paying for essential living expenses.”

To live comfortably in the largest metro areas in the United States, on average, an individual would need to make $68,499 a year after taxes, which is a 20 percent increase from 2022.

In other Texas metro areas, like Houston and San Antonio, a person would need to make $62,260 and $59,270 a year post-tax.

The full study and its methodology can be found on smartasset.com.

John Mayer goes acoustic for latest tour with stop in Dallas

Concert news

Singer/guitarist John Mayer will show off both skills during the fall leg of his 2023 solo acoustic tour, which will come to Dallas' American Airlines Center on Saturday, October 28.

Mayer's tour is currently in the middle of a spring leg, with dates continuing through April 14. The fall leg will include 17 more stops, starting on October 3 in New York City. Along with the Dallas date, Mayer will also play in Houston on October 30 and Austin on November 1.

The tour features solo performances by Mayer, leaning heavily on his acoustic guitar work with special performances on piano and electric guitar.

Mayer is now in his third decade of performing, releasing seven solo albums since his debut in 2001, most recently 2021's Sob Rock. The seven-time Grammy winner is known for hits like "Your Body is a Wonderland," "Daughters," "Gravity," and more.

He's also a member of the Grateful Dead continuation band, Dead & Company, which will play at Dos Equis Pavilion on May 26 as part of its final tour.

Tickets for the fall leg of the tour go on sale starting on Friday, March 31 at 9 am at Johnmayer.com. Presales start on Wednesday, March 29 at 9 am and run through Thursday, March 30 at 10 pm. Fans can sign up to receive a unique code to access presale tickets via seated at Johnmayer.com. A limited number of VIP packages will be available including premium tickets, exclusive merchandise, and more.

Two pairs of front-row tickets will be auctioned off for each show on the tour through charityauctionstoday.com. All proceeds from the ticket auctions will go to the Back To You Fund, which has supported many charities, including John’s Heart & Armor Foundation, as well as programs supporting at-risk youth and the homeless.

JOHN MAYER FALL 2023 TOUR DATES

Oct 3, 2023 - New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
Oct 6, 2023 - Boston, MA, TD Garden
Oct 7, 2023 - Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center
Oct 11, 2023 - Nashville, TN, Bridgestone Arena
Oct 13, 2023 - Tampa, FL, Amalie Arena
Oct 17, 2023 - Indianapolis, IN, Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Oct 18, 2023 - Chicago, IL, United Center
Oct 20, 2023 - Baltimore, MD, CFG Bank Arena
Oct 21, 2023 - Belmont Park, NY, UBS Arena
Oct 23, 2023 - Charlotte, NC, Spectrum Center
Oct 25, 2023 - Atlanta, GA, State Farm Arena
Oct 28, 2023 - Dallas, TX, American Airlines Center
Oct 30, 2023 - Houston, TX, Toyota Center
Nov 1, 2023 - Austin, TX, Moody Center
Nov 5, 2023 - Salt Lake City, UT Vivint Arena
Nov 7, 2023 - San Francisco, CA, Chase Center
Nov 10, 2023 - Los Angeles, CA, Kia Forum

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