Stay at a Vineyard in Wild West Texas

Good Sam Elite Members can book unlimited nights at select private camping destinations through the Overnight Stays portal. Here, we chat with John Oswald of Oswald Vineyard, a family operation on the dramatic plains south of Lubbock. 

Wildsam: What’s the brief history of Oswald Vineyard?

John Oswald: In 2007, John and Dina-Marie decided to move from the Gulf Coast of Alabama to the South Plains of West Texas to start Oswald Vineyard. We planted five acres of grapevines in the spring of 2008, and have continued to expand to 43-plus acres. Most of our grapes are sold to other Texas wineries, but we make our own wine from Aglianico, Albarino, Montepulciano, Moscato Giallo, Petit Verdot, Roussanne and Vermentino. 

People often ask why we left the warm pine woods of Citronelle, Alabama and moved to the hot, dry, windy, semi-desert high plains of West Texas—and to grow wine grapes, of all things? A few years before, the whole family made a trip to nearby Levelland for a bluegrass music camp. We met a farming family at the camp, and quickly became friends before heading back east—but not before our oldest son took notice of their oldest daughter. Their emails turned into phone calls, which turned into visits back and forth, which turned into a wedding. 

I was able to take a few weeks off from my chemist job and had a great opportunity to "play" farmer. The farming family had recently started growing wine grapes (the area is home to 85 percent of Texas wine grapes) and the excitement was somewhat contagious. Nevertheless we drove back to Alabama, content to continue our life there. Until new management made me rethink my long-term employment with the chemical company. I quit, and called my grape-growing friend. He then helped me find suitable land, procure grape vines from California and even get Texas wineries to promise to purchase grapes from us in the future.

The income from harvests starting in the third year allowed us to buy our own equipment, build a barn (now winery), expand the vineyard and build our new home right there by the vines. As the years passed, some of the children moved away, but three sons, Julian, Christoph and Zane, decided they wanted to continue on with us. They all are now married and starting their own families and building their own homes on the land also.

We had planned only to farm the grapes and sell to other wineries. But to expand the revenue base for the extra families, we decided to start making wine ourselves. Since our first vintage in 2017, our wine production has grown to consume 40-50 tons of our grapes while we still sell 200+ tons to Texas wineries.

Along the way we have had chickens, cows (for milk and beef), ducks and many, many dogs.

What experiences do you offer Overnight Stays guests?

JO: Our vineyard is definitely off the beaten path—but somehow a worthwhile cross-country stop. Most city folks have never seen the stars so bright at night. There's no Interstate highway noise, just the howl of coyotes. The weather is VERY extreme at times: near hurricane-force winds; single-digit cold and 110-plus ° heat; months of no rain. But these factors only weed out those who can't see the beauty of a big, blue, cloudless sky, the breathtaking expanse in the brilliant color of a 360 degree West Texas sunset or the calm of the constant breeze rustling the grass and vines. 

Grape harvest, from late August to October, is the best time to visit, when the canopy is full, the temperatures are beginning to moderate and ripe wine grapes are abundant. 

Elite Member Benefit: Book a night at Oswald Vineyards via Good Sam.

What’s your favorite question a visitor has asked?

JO: “How do you make such good wine from wine grapes?” This was asked by someone who had never been on a farm or seen really ripe fruit. They had heard that wine grapes were not as good as table grapes, because they had seeds.

For more on this destination and others, explore Overnight Stays.