Last Sunday we went on an adventure! The weather was beautiful with temperatures in the mid to low sixties and not a cloud in the sky. We were trying to figure how we wanted to fill our day, when I simultaneously got a phone call from my Mom and a text message from our Neighbor. Everyone wanted to get outside and do something!

Our neighbors wanted to do some wine tasting, and they also just rescued a little dog named Ginger, so we decided to take Ginger and my parent’s dog Cooper on hike together over to Purple Hands Winery via the Harvey Creek Trail.

The trail head is located on the north side of the Dundee Cemetery just off Viewmont Drive. You know you’ve arrived when you see the sign!

The trail is a bit steep in a few locations, but the views were stunning! As you walk down the backside of the hill you peak through fir trees over a valley of wine vineyards and happy cows.

The map below is my very crude drawing of the trail alignment (image credits to Google), please forgive my extreme over simplification. Purple Hands Winery is located in the center of the purple heart.

We had the whole crew with us on the hike, and the dogs were absolutely loving it! Cooper and Ginger quickly became best buds.

At the bottom of the hill near NE Red Hills Road, you actually cross over Harvey Creek using this nice little foot bridge. The water was clear and the frogs were being noisy croaking away in the sun.

This is where you come out on Red Hills Road. From here it was a short walk to Purple Hands Winery. Thankfully we had the gravel road mostly to ourselves with very few passing cars. Although when a car did go by it threw up quite the dust cloud!

A short time later we arrived. I love the Purple Hands logo…the wings are totally rad!

And here sits the little red house surrounded by huge oak trees. Winemaker and founder Cody Wright told us that the house was original to the property. They did a bunch of remodeling to the inside and made sure to salvage materials as they went. The original footprint of the building remained, but the once two story house is now a one story house with beautifully vaulted ceilings.

Inside we had the opportunity to tastes five different pinot noirs. Also check out the beautiful shelves made with some of the salvaged materials!

I fell in love with these wine barrel tables, and the warm sunlight streaming into the tasting room. The rustic feel was so inviting and I instantly felt at home.

My Mom and Dad aren’t big wine people, so they hung outside with the dogs at a picnic table. They had a great time!

After doing a tasting, we decided to purchase a bottle of 2013 Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir and split it among our group. This was my favorite wine of the tasting, and I’m glad it’s the one we decided to share!

The tasting notes include strawberry, red cola, mineral stone, rhubarb, black/red licorice, dried guava, dried mango, spicy black earth, salted white chocolate, espresso. All I know is that this wine was so yummy, we decided to buy two more bottles to take home with us!

Ginger in tan and Cooper in black and white loved being outside all afternoon!

Our Neighbor’s couldn’t be happier with the newest addition to their family, Ginger is such a good dog! Totally makes me want a puppy dog of our own.

Have I mentioned that I love where we live? Nothing like a Sunday walk and some wine tasting!

We also made friends with the Texas Longhorns along the way, Hook’em Horns! I’m a proud Texas grad so I made sure to say hello to the Longhorns! Ha!

The next thing you know were were walking down NW Dogwood Drive toward our house. In all, I think we were gone from the house for about four hours including drinking a bottle of wine together at Purple Hands Winery. We’re guessing that the walk was no more than three miles round trip. The only thing that made it feel longer was all of the elevation gains and losses going down and then back over the hill.

It was the perfect Sunday spent exploring the stunning Dundee Hills!