We often get asked, why a winery? In 2016 we had been married for 30 years and Moira had taught for 30 years. Our only plan was that we wanted to do something together. We have always enjoyed wine and visiting wineries in our travels. Somehow Brian found a Grape Growers Field Day event in Fredericksburg in April of 2016. He then learned about the Winemaking Certificate Program at the Texas Tech campus in Fredericksburg. And that’s how it all got started! Moira claims that she was asked if she would like a lifetime supply of wine. She didn’t realize how much work it would take to get the winery going.
At first we looked into purchasing an existing winery but couldn’t find anything in our budget that we liked. So we started looking for property between San Angelo and Waco. When we saw the property in Early, TX, we knew we found our place! In hindsight, we couldn’t have selected a better location. Brown County is home to some of the most wonderful people in Texas!
We opened the Spirit of Texas Winery in April of 2017. In August of 2022, we changed our name to Skies Over Texas Winery.
This has been an adventure with a few downs, but many ups! We like to say our winery is a work in progress. There is always the next project.
The sign that hangs over the entrance states: ‘Enter As Strangers, Leave As Friends’. We hope you come visit us, try some of our award-winning 100% Texas wines and leave as friends!
Our Team
Brian
Moira
Lisa
Our Mission
It was just the two of us for our first few years, so we have used our personal values to guide the business. To meet our future plans, we realized the need to create our company’s Core Values as we build our team. These core values will define our organization and will help shape our most important decisions. These values will be considered in everything we do with our staff, guests, partners and in the industry.
S Sustainability – Be environmentally and socially responsible
P Purpose – Our purpose is to turn a guest’s experience into lasting favorite memory
I Integrity – Do the right thing all of the time for every person
R Relationships – Our motto is ‘Enter as Strangers, Leave as Friends’ our goal is to know everyone by name. We want you to feel welcomed
I Involved – Give back to the community by donating your time, money or both
T Teamwork – Together we are better, support each other
We will support our community and other local businesses. We are advocates of the Texas wine industry and always promote other Texas wineries. We love all things Texas and are proud Go Texan Partners. We are passionate about what we do, we work hard and have some fun while doing it!
Sustainability
Sustainability is one of our Core Values. Our goal is to develop practices in which allows us and nature to exist in harmony to support current and future generations. Even before we opened, we realized the importance of taking care of our Earth.
Our start here was when we discovered a beehive in our water meter box. That started our journey as beekeepers. Keeping bees has been an amazing experience. Their role in pollination and our food supply are critical and in jeopardy. Along the same lines, we go through pounds and pounds of sugar feeding our hummingbirds every year.
Through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension resources, we started rain water harvesting in 2017 with three 2,500 gallon tanks. We didn’t really utilize them until last year when we planted our small vineyard. We plan on adding free range chickens to the vineyard area to control pest and for organic fertilizer. We are also using mulch from the city landfill to reduce our water consumption and to increase the organic materials in our soil. Our goal is to add another four tanks to bring us closer to 20,000 gallons of water available to use for our future growing needs.
We have been recycling for over 20 years now. Brian’s oldest brother Jim provided the inspiration with his commitment to recycling. Every week, Moira loads up her car with bottles, cans, plastic and cardboard. As a result, we have a very small amount of trash picked up weekly.
Our newest project is our solar well pump. We had a well drilled when we first opened, but never installed a pump. The weather this year has been hot and dry. One of our rainwater tanks has emptied twice already. We purchased a solar well pump for our well that we will be installing in July of 2022.
Kind Words
What a treat! My Dad was showing me around Brownwood and Early and said we should stop in and try them. We got there just as they opened and Moira made us feel quite welcome. My Dad enjoyed a glass of wine and I had a tasting. Each of the six wines was nice, and Moira turned me on to a varietal I had never heard of, Aglianico, it was nice and dry and quite delicious. Can’t wait to come back and spend more time.
My wife and I visited the winery Saturday evening for supper and some wine. The service was quick and pleasant, and we felt very welcome. We tasted several wines and had a bottle with our supper. We had panini sandwiches and they were excellent. Moira and her staff visited with us and made us feel right at home. The atmosphere inside and out is very relaxing, and we had our supper out under the large, covered area which has soft lighting and music. We enjoyed the visit very much and we will be going back for more.
Relaxed and inviting vibe with the best wine and paninis I’ve ever had! The owners are passionate and definitely know how to make incredible wine! My husband and I enjoyed our evening here and will be back soon. LOVE 🍷
We had a great time. Wonderful people, beautiful place, and good wine. It is a must stop if you like wine
This is our favorite place to go! Moira and Brian are the nicest people you will ever meet and they are extremely knowledgeable about wine! The service is always spectacular and the food and wine is all amazing! We felt right at home from the first time we visited and just love everything about the winery!
Love visiting the winery. Always comfortable and inviting. Friendly staff. Atmosphere is terrific. Staff is very knowledgeable. And the wine is great!
We had a most enjoyable afternoon with the whole family, young and old. Great wine, pizza, and customer service!
Great Texas Winery that produces wonderful wines from Texas grapes. The owners are extremely knowledgeable about their wines and Texas winemaking in general. A guided tasting is a great way to learn more about the wonderful wines being produced in Texas! Highly recommended!
I absolutely love this place! Brian and Moira are very friendly and welcoming! A great place to hangout with friends and family and is also great for a couples date! Aside from the great wine choices they have delicious pizza and fun games you can play outside while enjoying the nice views. I definitely recommend this place!
Not only is the wine great, but the owners are outstanding! Great place to relax and unwind. We sat on the swing out back and decompressed after a family visit.
The owners are above and beyond kind and helpful.
If you are in the area, you should take the time to stop in and enjoy all that they have to offer.
This was our first stop in Texas and the name really captures this winery and the fine people who own it. Moira and Brian were so welcoming that it cheered our weary family to the core.
This is our favorite Harvest Host! The owners welcomed us with such a sweet spirit and wanted to make sure we were okay. They even invited us to the community group who come by on Sunday evenings. We loved being there and hope we get to come by this way again. Try the pickle pizza, It was great!
We really enjoyed our stay. The owners were so friendly and the accommodations were excellent. Felt safe and comfortable and entry/exit was very easy! Definitely recommend and would stay again. Thanks for allowing us the pleasure of meeting you all and enjoying your winery!
This was our first Harvest Host stay. It was a joyful and comfortable stay. The hosts went above and beyond to make our stay pleasant. We met some very friendly local people, and truly enjoyed the wine and food. The parking was roomy, clean and level. Great spot for our dogs too. We will be back!
Such a fun winery with the most accommodating Owners and staff! Highly recommend for an afternoon or evening of fun with delicious wines!
Great winery! Great wine! Greatest people who made us feel like family! Food looked good but we didn’t have any:-(
Love this place! Absolutely no complaints! Atmosphere is great! Wine and food are yummy!! 😋 The owners and employees are so nice!! Highly recommend!
We absolutely love coming to Spirit of Texas Winery. It is a wonderful experience every time. Brian and Moira are great people who love getting to know their guests. The wine is ALWAYS top-notch. Plus, they have some great food to pair with their wines. 10/10 recommend.
Great place to have some good wine and the staff is very kind and knowledgeable.
The people that own it are wonderful, the food was excellent and the wine was delicious. A five star winery!
Great place we stumbled across as we traveled through the town.
Lovely atmosphere, great selection of wines and the hosts made us feel right at home and like the closest of friends. Met interesting locals around the bar area too! Definitely would travel back to visit and order more of their delicious wines!
Lovely place with great atmosphere, delicious variety of wines and the food is great! Moira and Brian will welcome you like if they were family. Exceptional customer service. I highly recommend this winery.
Stopped in on our way home from vacation and what a find! Had an awesome tasting, find several wines perfect for me and even joined the wine club. Can’t wait to go back!
Giving
Our community has been our biggest supporters and we understand to importance to giving back to our community. We are committed to making a difference in the community where we live and work. We are proud to support these select local non-profit organizations that do so much for our community:
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