Sara Potter

Bending Branch

Bending Branch is home to Bending Branch Winery, Ursa Vineyards, Bending Branch 1840 Bourbon and ChickenDuck Bourbon. Bending Branch Winery is the Tannat House of Texas. Robert W. Young, M.D., MPH, and Brenda Young founded Bending Branch in 2009 with their daughter Alison. Bending Branch is best known for its experimentation in every facet, including unique grape varieties and extraction methods, and production processes. Dr. Bob was the first to introduce Thermoflash and Cryo-Maceration in Texas. His choice of grape varieties, such as Tannat, Sagrantino, Souzão, Charbono, and Picpoul Blanc, also is innovative for Texas. Bending Branch's 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Newsom Vineyards, was the first Texas Cabernet to win Double Gold at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. Bending Branch Winery was awarded Top Texas Winery at the 2018 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition in Houston and Best of the Herd at the 2021 San Antonio Rodeo International Wine Competition. In 2014, the Young Family bought the Ursa Vineyards brand. Ursa Vineyards is located in Placerville, California, and it was founded in 2001 by husband-and-wife team Greg Stokes and Deborah Elissagaray. Dr. Bob Young hired Greg Stokes as a consultant for Bending Branch Winery in 2007. Their professional relationship flourished, and Greg and Deborah became a permanent part of the Bending Branch team in 2014. The Branch on High tasting room in Comfort, Texas, became the primary Ursa Vineyards tasting room in 2019. In 2023, out of a desire to bring some of their Kentucky Bourbon Contry heritage to Texas, and out of a mutual interest in quality bourbons, daughter-father duo Alison Young and Dr. Bob Young launched two bourbon brands.