Word from Fall Creek Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country is that they have hired Sergio Cuadra Schlie as their new winemaker. Schlie is a Chilean who brings a vast range of experience with working for or consulting to such names as global superstar winemaker Paul Hobbs, Chile’s largest winery Concha y Toro and California vintner Fetzer Vineyards. He trained at the Unversidad de Talca in Chile as an Agronomy Engineer.
This is a very significant hire for Fall Creek. Not just because of Schlie’s qualifications and experience, but because of what it signifies about the winery’s intentions. Here is a Texas winery entering the global winemaking employment market for talent. The rationale has to be a push to the top of the pack among Texas wineries. I suspect this kind of reaching with become more common in the near future and interpret it as yet another indication of the increasingly maturity of the Texas wine industry.