Behind the Scenes at Tyler’s Kiepersol Winery
On Feb. 2, 2024,
Ron Martin -- the Brand Ambassador and tour guide over Kiepersol -- shows the process of pouring the wine from the barrels into bottles in the distillery room.
By MEGAN WILLIAMS/Staff Writer
On Feb. 2, I toured the Kiepersol Winery, located in Tyler, with Brand Ambassador Ron Martin guiding me along the vineyard, distillery and infusion room. Through this tour, I learned about the Kiepersol history, brand crest and where the name was established. The winery, once founded by Pierre de Wet in 1998, is now owned by sisters Marnelle Durrett and Velmay Power.
The vineyard grows Cabernet and Sangiovese grapes, which are taken into the distillery to be crushed and seasoned into wine. Kiepersol also creates award-winning spirits such as Texas-based Dirk’s Vodka, Pierre’s Rum and Jimmy’s Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
The Estate History Tour walks visitors through the vineyard, distillery and infusion room. Visitors are shown the process of wine making and given a seated tasting of three wines and one spirit.
Tour times are Fridays at 1 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. In order to visit the winery, one must be 21 years or older and have comfortable shoes on, because the tour lasts just over one hour.
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- A photo inside the old tasting room of Pierre de Wet. Feb. 2, 2024. Photo courtesy of Megan Williams.
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- The entrance into The Grand Room at Kiepersol. Feb. 2, 2024. Photo courtesy of Megan Williams.
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- The vineyard that grows multiple types of grapes such as Cabernet and Sangiovese. Feb. 2, 2024. Photo courtesy of Megan Williams.
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- Buds on a pruning vine that will soon have a cluster of leaves exploding out of it to grow grapes. Feb. 2, 2024. Photo courtesy of Megan Williams.
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- The inside of the wine production room where the grapes get crushed and “seasoned” into wine. Feb. 2, 2024. Photo courtesy of Megan Williams.
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- A lineup of various types of spirits such as vodka, rum, bourbon, gin and tequila. Feb. 2, 2024. Photo courtesy of Megan Williams.
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- One of the stainless steel tanks that is used for pasteurizing the products used to make bourbon, so that there’s no bacteria in it before fermentation. Feb. 2, 2024. Photo courtesy of Megan Williams.
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- A used stainless steel tank that Pierre de Wet bought that use to be for creating ice cream. It is now used at Kiepersol for storing grain. Feb. 2, 2024. Photo courtesy of Megan Williams.
This review of Tyler’s Kiepersol Winery offers engaging insights into the distillery and infusion room, providing a fascinating glimpse into their operations. Thanks!
Yes! It was amazing learning about the history, and process into making the wine and spirits from Ron Martin.
Awesome. Thanks for the tip on comfortable shoes for the tour!
Yes! I’m glad I wore them during the tour, it was about an hour long and we went down and up some steep stairs, so shoes are important!
This is great I bet it’s beautiful when the vines are full, I love a good wine I’ll have to go visit them.
According to Ron Martin the grapes look delicious and during the tour the tour-guides will typically give you some grapes! There is also a wine tasting and you can try one of the spirits as well!
This a great I bet it’s tea beautiful when the vines are full , I love a good wine so I’ll have to go visit them
This was an amazing article about the winery.. I definitely will be visiting soon!
Yay!! And you should, the place is beautiful and they even have a bed and breakfast restaurant inside the neighborhood!
Great article, keep up the great work!!
Thank you, so much for reading!