bella vista ranch

It was a beautiful Valentine's Day in Wimberley for the tour at Bella Vista Ranch. Plan on at least 2-3 hours for the lecture, tour and tastings.

I did not know anyone in Texas grew olives and made olive oil. My husband and I have been to Italy and Greece and visited olive growers and tasted their wares. This was our first time trying out a local and we were not disappointed. The young lady that assisted us for our tastings was very knowledgable and informative. We sampled several items and of course spent more then I intended. If you are ever in the area this is a must see! Very fresh olive oil, excellent olives (of course I bought some), homemade soap, jams, etc.

This was the first of four stops on our winery tour. We arrived and were informed the olive oil tour was almost over, but she opened the door to the press room and allowed us to join the last 10 minutes of it. Shortly thereafter we were given a sample of their olive oil to drink. I have to admit, this was my first time doing so, and it was okay...I simply don't have anything else to compare it to. Sadly, all of their olive oil products, stuffed olives, soaps, jams, etc., were a tad overpriced in my opinion. We wound up paying nearly $10 for a jar of jalapeno/garlic stuffed olives. We then decided to do the wine tasting for $10 a person (5 wines)...yes $10 each! I thought that, too, was overpriced...and it was quickly confirmed when I tasted the different wines. They were just okay and they were highly conservative in their pours. I would not recommend this place for the wine. I learned a lot about making olive oil in those last 10 minutes of the tour, so if that is what intrigues you, then I would recommend the tour. Otherwise, there are other wineries in the area that have a broader selection of wines for a better price. I do think the scenery here was very nice though and the gentleman who conducted the tour was well versed in olive oil production.

I love going to Bella Vista. It is lovely there and you can take a tour when scheduled. It is a working olive ranch and vineyard. They sell awesome olive oil and balsamic vinegar plus wine, olives and a few other products. It is off the beaten path and may not be especially interesting to young children.

The ranch was beautiful but it stopped there. We did the tasting but the owner was in a hurry to lead a separate tour. Not very friendly.

GPS location is off for this winery. Keep going just a little down the road and you will see their large sign.Great tasting room with free olive oil and jam tastings. Wine tasting is available (4 wines for $7 or all 7 wines for $10). You can also do a tour of the grounds and a tasting for $15. The host was polite and knowledgeable about the wines and oils. We went at about 1pm on a Thursday and were the only ones in the tasting room, so it was like a private tasting. They only had one white wine at the time of our tasting so if you like darker wines then you should definitely stop here.

Spent a couple of hours there for the tour and tastings!! I would highly recommend visiting and learning more about olive oil. It's not just for dipping bread in it!!!

Really enjoyed the tour and learning all about olive oil! Couldn't believe all of the interesting information and how much we don't know about what we buy in the stores. Make sure you don't have a time limit or another appointment close after the tour time. We were there about 2hrs 15 minutes and could have stayed a little longer visiting. Great tour and lots to learn!

I have never been to an olive oil tasting, but did indeed enjoy learning about the process and what to expect in a quality oil. Thanks for this opportunity right in the middle of our great state. Although a bit pricey, I did leave with a couple of bottles of oil (love that peppery taste) and a bottle of wine. The olive tasting is free, but you do pay $6.00 to sample 4 wines which turned out to be a great deal. I have sampled wines before and the amount poured to try was quite generous. The best part is that the wines were all very high quality. Sometimes local Texas wines can have a 'bite' to them, but none of these did. They are all very smooth and enjoyable to the palette. The only reason I didn't give a 5 star rating is the price. The olive oil is a bit expensive at $19./25. Per bottle. Honestly, If they had been a few $ cheaper, I would have bought some for gifts and left with 5 or 6 bottles, not just 2. This was a fun experience and I will go back for some quality olive oil when I'm in the area.They are closed on Tuesday and Wed.; we arrived on Monday and went straight to the ranch before checking into our hotel. I'm so glad this was suggested to me when I called to inquire about their hours. Also, there are no signs off the main highway so enter the address on a maps App. or GPS.

Wow! What a unique experience here in the Texas Hill Country. We went for the tour and Olive oil tasting and were not disappointed. We learned a TON of info about Olive trees and the actual process of making olive oil. Highly recommend doing the tour. The price includes the tour plus wine tasting. Worth the time and money!

We didn't do the olive oil tour but just stopped in to taste the award-winning olive oil produced in Texas. They do a nice little tasting demo and it was very informative. The olive oils were very nice and we ended up buying a couple of bottles of their olive oil, basalmic vinegar and stuffed olives. It was definitely not on the "fancy" side, but was enjoyable and interesting. The area reminds you of Napa Valley with the rolling hills, olive trees and vineyard.

The olive oil tasting was.....different. I had never considered just taking a swallow of olive oil! This is one of the only (perhaps the one and only) olive oil growing and producing locations in Texas. We bought a bottle of fresh olive oil, a dipping sauce made with their own oil plus balsamic, cheese and spices and (our favorite) a bottle of lime-infused olive oil. We have enjoyed the lime infused oil as a salad dressing with strawberries and mixed greens, as a marinade for beef fajitas and as a light topping for sauteed tilapia. Delicious! We did not arrive at a tour time, but I think that would be a fun and interesting activity.

This was an olive oil tour instead of a winery tour. It was very interesting and the staff was very pleasant. They have a wine tasting and olive oil tasting area, with their little store to buy different wines and olive oils. The scenery was great with the hills in the back ground. Will be returning in the future.

First the good, the information about olive cultivation and manufacture of oil was outstanding. The tasting was very nice and generous with oils, jams and wine. The owner is entertaining and informative. However his hints at his political and social views was unnecessary, unwanted and for me detracted from the tour. I suspect he doesn't care.

Jack, the owner of Bella Vista provides visitors with a fascinating and informative history of olive farming throughout history as part of a tour at Bella Vista. Jack's knowledge of olive agriculture and sense of humor is a delight for anyone unfamiliar with the versatile olive. The tour also includes a tasting of locally grown products they have for sale in their gift shop. Touring Bella Vista will leave you with a new respect for the olive and the Texas hill country. Since olive oil is big business around the world, you owe it to yourself to find out more about this product and how it has impacted your life along with how to tell if you are purchasing fresh quality olive oil or being sold a cheap substitute. This was an issue in the ancient Mediterranean and for the world as a whole now.