George Ray
McEachern
KOV Supreme Knight Dr. George Ray McEachern, Professor of Horticulture at Texas A&M University, is a central figure in the development and growth of the Texas wine industry, and in KOV’s support of this growth. In the early days, he was widely known as “the wine guy,” and with good reason. With a B.S. and M.S. degree in Horticulture from Louisiana State University, he went to Texas A&M in 1969 to work on a Ph.D. and was hired as a half-time faculty member. Initially, Dr. McEachern specialized in growing pecans, but, as the nationwide interest in wine began to emerge, he was called upon to use his horticultural expertise to help launch grape growing in the state of Texas. Then, there was only one vineyard in the state, Val Verde Winery in Del Rio. Today, nearly 50 years later, there are over 520 wineries in Texas and more than 4500 acres of vineyards planted. Right after his appointment at Texas A&M, Dr. McEachern coordinated planting 23 early vineyards, was a founding member of the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association (TWGGA), started an experimental vineyard at Texas A&M, sponsored a “shootout” wine competition between Texas and French wineries with the Texas Department of Agriculture, led Texas winegrowers on educational tours in Burgundy in 1991, Bordeaux 1994, Tuscany in 1998 and Alsace, Mosel, and Rheingau in 2000, taught students who are now leaders in the wine industry today and, by his account, scored over a thousand wines in his classes at Texas A&M and Grayson County College.
Clearly, “the wine guy,” has a long and storied history with Texas wines, and with KOV. He took time to share these stories with us — stories that, basically cover the entire history of Texas wines.
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THE ARBOR (TA): Dr. McEachern, it sounds like you hit the ground running when you arrived at Texas A&M. Tell us about that. GEORGE RAY MCEACHERN (GM): I requested an assistantship at A&M to work on my Ph.D., however, the A&M Director of Extension talked to my major professor at LSU and decided to hire me as an employee of A&M Extension Service working half time with pecan and grape growers and half time on my studies. It was not a normal situation. So, I worked full time while I completed my degree, and finished in three years. That year —1973 — I was recognized as the most outstanding horticulture Ph.D. graduate in the Southern Region of the American Society of Horticultural Sciences. TA: Initially, you were hired as a pecan specialist. How did you get into wines? GM: In the early 70s, Texas A&M was planting experimental vineyards in College Station, Seguin, Midland, Overton, and Lubbock. I was asked to share the history of the A&M vineyard program with a group of Houston wine enthusiasts. At that meeting, a wine grower from California was presenting a vertical tasting of his wine and upon hearing our story, he said “I can help” and handed me a check for $1,000 to help get our program going. The next year, they invited me back and wrote me another check. This was before
By Nan McCreary continued >>>
The Arbor
