Triple N Ranch Winery is just 63 miles from Dallas, but its setting — a 140-acre working ranch near Cedar Creek Lake — feels a world a way. Since opening in August of 2020, the winery has become a weekend hub for enjoying wine with food and entertainment.
The ranch’s original barn was converted into a comfortable tasting room that offers rotating flights culled from the 20 wines produced by the winery. Almost all the wines are made with grapes grown in the Texas High Plains, and the lineup includes many Mediterranean varietals. Most of the wines pair well with the winery’s excellent wood-fired pizzas, panini, charcuterie, and snacks. The tasting room opens to a patio and lawn with sweeping ranch views. If your timing’s right, you’ll have a primo table for viewing the ranch’s Longhorn cattle as they feed.
“I feel like a zookeeper,” says winery owner Nan Michelle Anderson. The Longhorns are such an attraction that guests often ask when she’ll herd them for feeding, she explains. “Sometimes I do it if the kitchen gets backed up,” Anderson says. Guests also enjoy playing trivia games, corn hole, bocce ball, or croquet, and making s’mores around the fire pits.
On weekend nights, the winery hosts tribute band concerts. The ticketed events are held under a covered patio — and for those who want 6-feet of space, on the grass. Lately, ticket sales have been capped around 50. “We limit it so that if it gets too cold or rainy, we can move inside and allow for social distancing,” Anderson says. To support local charities, the winery periodically holds bingo and karaoke nights.
Triple N Ranch Winery also hosts seasonal wine dinners, prepared by its chef, Anthony Cordova, a veteran of several Dallas restaurants. For Valentine’s Day, he created an elegant four-course Asian fusion menu with a choice of seafood or meat for each savory course. Offerings included: steak tartare with pickled mustard seed; lamb with ginger-carrot puree; scallops with ginger-cauliflower puree; braised short ribs with polenta; and chocolate cake with five-spice ice cream. Periodically, Pecan Lodge Catering of Dallas prepares the menu for wine dinners, anchored by dishes like Guajillo grilled Texas quail and Spice Crusted Beef Tenderloin.
The ranch’s “Triple N” name refers to three generations of women named Nan in Anderson’s family, starting with her mother, who owns the ranch. Anderson launched the winery in response to a request made by her 84-year-old father, Ed Creel.
“He said, ‘I want you to breathe life back into the ranch,’” Anderson recalls. Her parents enjoyed living on the ranch, especially entertaining friends from nearby Cedar Creek Lake. But as the couple and their friends settled into their 80s, the visits dwindled. The Creels missed the bustle of activity.
Anderson had grown up in a wine and food loving family; her father has collected wine for decades, and his cellar holds thousands of bottles. Making wine and opening a tasting room on the ranch seemed like a perfect response to her father’s challenge.
Anderson enrolled in viticulture classes at Grayson College. Her son, Richard II, who worked for several years at a vineyard in Verona, Italy, joined her, and took an oenology course too. Her husband, Richard — a Dallas surgeon — studied the legal and business aspects of winemaking and marketing. One year later, at age 60, Anderson entered the winemaking business.
Although Triple N Ranch is licensed as a winery, its wines are made at Sages Vintage in Nacogdoches, by Michael McClendon and Wes Jensen, who own the custom crush facility. Anderson’s son selects the grapes he wants McClendon to source, focusing on varieties that grow well in Texas. Among the winery’s many food-friendly wines are: a crisp roussanne with apricot and citrus notes; a refreshing, dry montepulciano rosé; and dry, fruity reds including negroamaro, malbec, tannat, and cabernet sauvignon. There’s a sweet white in the lineup, too. A small vineyard on Triple N Ranch is planted with two new disease-resistant grape varieties.
Brisk tasting room and wine club sales of Triple N Ranch’s wines have been a mixed blessing. “We want to age the wines longer in the bottle,” Anderson says. Soon, she hopes to expand production and add a storage facility to the ranch for an aging program.
Know before you go
Triple N Ranch is located at 5220 Key Ranch Road, Trinidad. triplenranchwinery.com. Advance reservations for the tasting room visits are recommended, to ensure proper staffing.
Regular Hours: Friday 3:30-7:30 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m.; and Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tribute concerts and wine dinners start at 6:30 p.m.; purchase tickets in advance, online.
Families: The winery is primarily an adult venue, but children are welcome provided they are with an adult at all times. No pets allowed.
