Why one winery is banking on fizz in the heart of Texas
Inspired by travels around Europe, Elisa Jones took a gamble and made traditional method sparkling wines in Texas. Now, Elisa Christopher Wines is winning medals at international competitions.
The world of traditional method sparking wine seems to grow by the year, with historic regions now joined by innovative producers the world over. Champagne and Cava, naturally, lead production, with crémant and Franciacorta also representing Europe’s historic winemaking centres. Yet you can now count Hungary, England, South Africa and Texas among the makers of serious, bottle-fermented sparkling wine.
You might think Texas appearing on that list is a typo. Yet the Lone Star State can proudly boast of making award-winning traditional method sparkling wine. Specifically, Elisa Christopher Wines has claimed the style as its calling card.
The wife and husband team of Elisa and Chris Jones began making wine in 2020, but the foundations were laid long before that. In a previous life working for the Department of Defence, Elisa travelled through Europe and took any opportunity to visit wine regions. She then helped her father plant a Texas vineyard in 2007 and took a course in winemaking at Texas tech. She now works full-time at Elisa Christopher Wines. Christopher helps in the cellar at the weekends, while their teenage son lends a hand during harvest.
The passion is clearly there. Yet the American south can be an unforgiving climate for winemakers. The question remains: how can you produce sparkling wine in one of the southernmost states of the US?
Natural resources
The answer is complex, a testament to how winemaking choice boils down to far more than plotting a latitude.
The winery sits at approximately 30º north, on the very limit of the 30–50º band in which the world’s wine regions generally sit. With the right terroir, however, latitude is not a barrier to quality. Both Elqui Valley and Yunnan Province, for instance, sit closer to the equator.
What, then, makes viticulture possible in the southern state? One answer lies in Texas’ diversity in topography. Elisa Christopher Wines has a number of sources for its grapes, each at a distinct elevation.
The estate’s 17.4 hectares of land sit just as hills begin to rise from the state’s eastern coastal plains, with an elevation of around 500 metres. Elisa and Chris will plant on their property in 2026; meanwhile, they use grapes from Elisa’s father’s vineyard, planted on a lower site 156 miles to the east, as well as grapes from the Texas High Plains AVA, in the state’s northwest. There, the vineyards range from 950–1250m, comparable to Mendoza or the highest regions of continental Europe.
Elisa Christopher Wines therefore can select grapes from cooler, higher sites to ensure its sparkling wines have enough fresh acidity in them, while the lower sites can add fruity ripeness. The more continental inland sites also benefit from a high diurnal range, accumulating acidity during cool nights to maintain the eventual wine’s balance.
Yet the sites are not the only consideration; grape varieties also play a role. The hero grape for Elisa Christopher Wines’ production is Blanc du Bois, a hybrid variety that is little-known beyond Florida and Texas. It was initially developed in 1968 for its resistance to Pierce’s disease, a bacterial threat in the hot and humid southern states. But at the winery, that is far from its only appeal.
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“My Dad, Bob Hensz, grows this Blanc du Bois on land that has been in my family since the 1870s,” explains Elisa Jones. “After our harvest in 2013 I told him that Blanc du Bois would make a great sparkling wine given its high acid, and that we constantly picked it early in the season. I said I wanted to make a sparkling Blanc du Bois one day, never dreaming I would be making it to the scale and level I do now.”
Driving the industry forward
The couple’s drive to succeed also has had a key role in driving the unusual winery’s success. A combination of an experimental approach and uncompromising standards has steadily built the Elisa Christopher Wines’ reputation as a Texas pioneer.
The experimental attitude is clear from grapes they picked for sparkling wine. So far, in addition to Blanc du Bois, the winery has produced sparkling wine made from Grenache, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sangiovese. It also has plans for Chenin Blanc this year.
“I am excited to be in Texas, where we have such a variety of grapes to work with,” explains Elisa Jones, “and we love the challenge growing in Texas brings for sparkling wine. Texas wine is on the rise and we cannot wait to continue our journey.”
Elisa Christopher Wines’ high standards, meanwhile, are evident in the winery’s equipment. Having seen the heartlands of traditional method production, Elisa Jones was convinced that her project needed the best, and so a gyropalette, neck freezer and disgorging line were all imported from France. This investment made Elisa Christopher Wines the first producer in Texas to move towards automation.
That is indicative of the winery’s focus on sparkling wines. They are not a side project, but instead the main product: 51% of production is sparkling wine, with the rest devoted to still red wines. The focus on sparkling wines also follows through in the ageing regimen, with late disgorged releases demonstrating a commitment to quality rather than ease.
Ultimately, the winery’s success demonstrates how passion and dedication can result in a truly bold venture. From her days travelling Europe’s fine wine hubs to bottling her own estate-grown wines, Elisa Jones has realised an impressive project.
And, having seen how other regions could build their fine wine reputation, it seems the sky’s the limit for both her winery and her state. “I lived in Cambridgeshire from 1997–2001 when I worked for the Department of Defense,” she explains. “If someone told me I would be drinking English sparkling to the scale it is made now when I moved there, I would have not believed them. I think people might say the same of Texas.
Siobhan Turner MW offers her take on one of the estate’s wines below, having blind-tasted it at The Global Sparkling Masters 2025.
Elisa Christopher Wines Blanc du Bois 2024
A pale wine, made from the Pierce’s Disease-resistant hybrid variety Blanc du Bois particularly common in Texas. Bright and fresh on the nose, the aromas are very floral, with honeysuckle, pear blossom and a touch of grapey-ness showing its muscat heritage. Some toasty notes, bringing warmth and a touch of richness. The palate has a bright high acidity and some crunchy red apple notes. An interesting wine, well-deserving its Bronze medal.
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