In the early 2000s, Kert Platner, a co-founder of Dallas-based Times Ten Cellars, was looking to establish a small vineyard in West Texas. Its warm days, cool nights, and low humidity made conditions perfect for growing wine grapes. In 2003 Platner finally found what he was looking for, and one hundred acres on U.S. Highway 118 about 18 miles south of Alpine became Cathedral Mountain Vineyards. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Texas produced 14,180 tons of grapes in 2019, up 22% from 2017. Bearing acres in vineyards for 2019 were 5,020 acres, up 11% from 2017, and the total value of wine grape production in the state for 2019 was an estimated $22.7 million, up from $18.9 million in 2017.
https://www.alpineavalanche.com/news/article_f309671a-245c-11eb-b0ad-7b5dc19e3af4.html
