Lehm Berg Winery offers history, wine

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Carl Droemer stands in front of a vat full of harvested grapes which will be used to make wine. Currently Lehm Berg Winery makes Merlot, Muscadine, a Raisin wine, and the Von Droemer Red. The winery is located on Carl's father's homestead in Giddings. -- Staff photos by Taylor

Sept. 9, 2004 - When John Ewald Droemer and his wife Anna Marie moved back to family property in Giddings from San Antonio in 1913, having a winery in the family was probably not even a remote dream! Droemer made bricks from the clay soil during the fall and winter, after their farm had been planted and harvested in the spring and summer. As their family increased, they decided to build a larger home, which is part of today's Lehm Berg Winery owned by son, Carl, and his family.

According to Carl, his family purchased a brick press and grinder to process the clay in about 1930, and the family began making pressed brick. The bricks were sold and laid for others, but were also used for their own home. Over the next 20 years, rooms were added to the existing house, and by 1950, the "area now used to make the wine was added, and a tin roof was placed over the entire house."

For over 50 years, Carl, his wife Mary Beth and their children, including son, Ben, lived at a different location on the property, and the older home stood vacant for 20 years. In 2002, Carl and Mary Beth decided to restore it for the winery.

Carl started out a brick layer, moved on to work in a hardware store, a construction business and a furniture factory, before taking ownership of the local Ace Hardware in Giddings. Throughout his life, Carl remembered his ancestors making "homemade" wine from an old family recipe, especially during the Prohibition period when purchasing liquor was outlawed.

In 1997, Carl's son, Ben, became interested in wine making, and tried to use the "wine kits" that are now available. As they say, the results weren't what he expected, he determined after doing a taste comparison with one of his uncle's wine. It was about this time that Carl "suggested" that they try the old "family recipe" wine.

According to Carl, the first 42 gallons of wine they made were from wild, mustang grapes, along with wines made from raisins, and several other fruits. After serving their wine to friends, they were urged to build a winery in Giddings and offer their wines to the local population and others. It seemed their "old family recipe" brought back good memories to many in the German-settled community.

After visiting many wineries and grape growers in the area, Carl and Ben joined the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association and attended special classes to learn just how to go about making the wines of their choice. Finding a name seemed fairly easy ... Lehm Berg Winery ... since "lehm berg" means "clay hill" (as was used in the brick making) in German, and was a reminder of how the winery was first made possible.

In 2001, Carl obtained a commercial wine-making license and started experimenting with the various types of local grapes, including Blanc Du Bois, Lenoir (Black Spanish), Favorite and Cynthiana. It was about then that the decision was made to turn the old family home into the winery.

The vineyard was started in November of 2002, said Carl, and they have bought grapes, locally, from Cat Springs and New Elm, and strawberries from Poteet, while establishing their own vineyards.

While Carl is "retired," he said wine making is a good "hobby" for him, and Ben operates the Ace Hardware store, full-time, and helps with the wine making after hours, as does a daughter and granddaughter that live in the area. More family members get into the act for special occasions.

The Droemers use stainless steel vessels to allow the lighter wines to mature and maintain their "fruitiness," and the red wines are aged in oak barrels to "increase their complexity," said Carl.

Also, Lehm Berg Winery has the distinction of being the only winery in Texas to use natural yeast in their processing.

Some of the wines they make include Merlot, Muscadine, a Raisin wine and the Von Droemer Blush (made from local mustang grapes), and the Von Droemer Red. They, also, offer a sherry and other fruit wines.

Carl said there hasn't been a "down" side to their wine making, and the family has enjoyed meeting all of the nice people who are either involved in wine making and/or just enjoy a "good wine at a reasonable price." The Lehm Berg Winery is open to visitors for wine tasting and complimentary tours and sales, but groups need to schedule a time to visit.

At "80-plus-years-old," Carl has lots of plans for his "hobby" that has ripened into a business. He is hopeful that the sixth-generation of Droemers will still be on the land, making wine and enjoying their families, and he asks that visitors remember, "Wine belongs ... Enjoy it!"

(For information: www.lehmbergwinery.com or 979-542-2726)