I wrote this piece for a magazine that decided not to publish it. Rather than let it linger away on my hard drive, I decided to publish it on here. Thank you. 

Handcrafted With Heart: Barking Rocks Vineyard and Winery

A black lab wearing an Elizabethan collar greets you as the door opens. After a quick sniff, he turns away, flopping down next to a counter where two people taste their way through wine.

Tiberia, one name only, explains each wine sample: sweet or dry, full-bodied or light, earthy or airy. Even if you’re not a fan of red wine, his passion about it convinces you to try a sip.

The wines at Barking Rocks Vineyard and Winery in Granbury, Texas, are grown further west, closer to Lubbock than Dallas, and it produces 800 to 1,000 cases a year, a small number compared to larger operations.

“Robert Mondavi produces that amount in a weekend,” Tiberia says. “We’re more a boutique winery, which we’re perfectly happy with.”

As you drive to the winery, located a few miles north of the historic town square, you pass houses with huge green lawns adjacent to tawny wheat fields. Take a curving right past horses shading under an awning, and you’re here. Mesquite trees stand in full sun, while clusters of prickly pear cacti frame the entrance gate. A few rows of grapevines hang in the distance. Beyond is the forever-flat-top of Comanche Peak, an old Native American hideout that watches over Granbury.

The tasting and event room is a former horse and cattle barn made of rock and wood accented by a slanting tin roof rusted in spots. The unmarked entrance door is opposite wild watermelon vines showing first signs of fruit.

“Do I know you?” Tiberia asks, as you walk through the door. “No? Maybe? Let’s find out.”

Tiberia is a toned, tan man who looks like he’d be just as comfortable running a survival camp as he is serving wine. Despite all the awards his wine has won over the past 10 years, he’s humble, only opening up about them when prodded.

“Yeah, we’ve entered a few competitions, and when we do we usually medal,” he says. “But they’re so subjective, we don’t take too much stock in the awards.”

Tiberia’s trade is making sure your wine experience is good. The room houses two wooden tables, and stacks of folding chairs lean against the walls, ready to be used for monthly events. Several abstract and Western paintings hang on the walls, making the place more like an art gallery than a tasting room.

The atmosphere of high-brow and low-brow makes Barking Rocks an interesting place to visit in Granbury, a town that strives to keep one foot in the country while reaching for high-dollar tourism stars.

Money, though, doesn’t matter to Tiberia.

“Sure, if some restaurant wanted to buy a ton of cases from us, I’d do it in a heartbeat,” he says. “But, really, this is what we like, selling wine to walk-in customers, meeting people, making the experience more personal.”

He signs every bottle you buy, and before you leave, you hear him say to visitors, “Our sole goal is to make wines that taste good.”

It may not be Napa Valley, but Barking Rocks and its vintner has heart. And that’s the first essential ingredient to any great wine.