Triple N Ranch Winery and Vineyard

Set on 160 acres of rolling East Texas prairie, the Triple N Ranch Winery and Vineyard near Cedar Creek Lake is a melding of family matriarch Nan Creel’s love for ranch life and her late husband Ed’s love for fine wines.

Their daughter, Nan Michelle Anderson, the second “N” of the Triple N name, now operates the family enterprise of ranch plus winery and vineyard — an endeavor she calls a marriage of her parents’ great passions.

From the entry gate, a long straight road divides the two. On one side, the estate’s 600 vines spread across the vineyard’s trellised rows. The grapes are mostly Camminare Noir and Paseante Noir, disease-resistant red varietals.

Across the road, a herd of 70 longhorns looks up from grazing with a sweep of their magnificent horns. Their hides are spotted and speckled, no two exactly alike. The curious little ones scamper from their mothers’ sides to peek through the fence. In a field closer to the winery, a gigantic steel longhorn, a welded sculpture created by local artisans, stands tall against the blue sky, an affirmation of the family’s high regard for these Texas icons.

The tasting room, a converted hay barn, is a natural gathering spot for neighbors and visitors, who spill out to patio tables on weekends with flights of small-batch vintages and plates of wood-fired pizzas and light bites.

The Creels’ multigenerational story began simply with a 10-acre swath of land, a two-room cabin (made from a kit) and a single longhorn. Hardly a ranch.

When they purchased the land in 1985, the little house was meant to be Nan’s retreat. The former Dallas Independent School District librarian wanted a place to read in peace, far from their large family’s chaotic lakeside property down the road. Nan also dreamed of raising longhorns. She’d become enamored of the breed when she was a girl, traveling with her family to various ranches in the 1930s and ’40s, following her dad’s job as a bronco buster.

Over the years, Nan and Ed, a respected Dallas bankruptcy attorney, added more land and structures to their rural property — a little barn here, a bunk house there. More longhorns and horses. Then came the big barn, a foreman’s house, a pavilion and, eventually, a massive main house with an elevator that descended to Ed’s 2,000-bottle wine cellar. One thing led to another, and the little house had grown up to become a ranch.

In 1995, then 60-year-old Nan, her horse Charlie and other family members, including Ed, Michelle and Michelle’s daughter Nan Christina (the third “N”) participated in and helped sponsor the Great American Cattle Drive from the Fort Worth Stockyards to Miles City, Montana, a re-enactment that commemorated the historic drives of the 1800s. Nan’s longhorns Carrot Top and Chocolate Chip led a herd of 100 during the six-month, 1,600-mile journey through six states.

“In Oklahoma, Mom got thrown,” says Michelle. “She broke three vertebrae, dislocated her hip, even had to have a blood transfusion, but within a month, she was back on the trail.” The episode speaks to Nan Creel’s tenacity.

For nearly two decades, after Ed retired in 2004, the couple immersed themselves fully in the ranch and Cedar Creek Lake community.

In 2018, when Ed was diagnosed with a progressive illness and realized that Nan would likely outlive him, he asked Michelle to help him create something to ensure that her mother could always remain on the property with her beloved longhorns.

Michelle searched for direction and believes that it was a divine voice that gave her the answer: Why not convert the hay barn into a tasting room?

“My dad was crazy about wine,” Michelle says. For 20 years, the extended family had celebrated his fall birthday in Napa during the harvest. The project honored both of her parents, and for the next few years, Ed was able to watch the winery come to fruition.

In 2019, Michelle enrolled in Grayson College’s Viticulture and Enology program to learn about the complex world of winemaking: both its chemistry and business aspects.

“My first thought was, ‘What am I doing?’” she says with a laugh. “‘I’m a mother, a grandmother. I’m 60. I don’t need this.’”

For a year, she spent 10 hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays, studying, and other family members embraced the pursuit as well. Her husband Richard, a surgeon at Dallas’ Presbyterian Hospital, joined her in the enology classes, taking his knowledge of chemistry in a new direction, as did her son Richard, who’d just returned from three years in Italy where he’d gained hands-on experience working for an artisan winery while pursuing his graduate degree.

The conversion of the 40-year-old barn into a tasting room began in January 2020. There were stalls to remove, a bar to build, insulation, shelving and air conditioning to install — plus a road, a parking lot, a pond.

COVID hit that spring, and with indoor gatherings restricted, the Andersons ran nine months of outdoor-only events following the opening in August, partnering with Dallas’ Pecan Lodge for barbecue. On opening night, a throng of 150 people set up their lawn chairs by the pavilion and enjoyed live music, food and Texas wine crafted from High Plains and Hill Country grapes. Sitting in their rockers, Ed and Nan watched and waved from the safety of their screened porch.

Finally, the vineyard was planted in May 2021 with the help of one of Michelle’s Grayson College professors. Their Texas A&M Viticulture advisor recommended Michael McClendon at Sages Vintage in Nacogdoches to custom craft their wines. Michelle laughs remembering 84-year-old Ed’s comment after spending an afternoon with Michael and tasting his wines: “Well, I think I have my first man-crush.”

Michelle credits friends who have wineries in the Hill Country with generously sharing their advice. “They’re all very gracious. They’ll loan you equipment. They’ll come help you harvest. You help them harvest. We’re all very much a family.”

Triplenranchwinery.com

EPILOGUE

L.E. “Ed” Creel passed away on April 7, 2022. Nan, 91, still lives at the ranch house, where ranch manager Jayden York oversees her daily care. Michelle and her family, the winery’s doting staff, and a loyal dog named Ranger keep a watchful eye on her.

This year, that devotion extended beyond the ranch house. When a Kansas developer set its sights on the pastureland across the road for a massive data center, Michelle didn’t hesitate to fight for it — a battle of its own.

On weekends, Nan visits the tasting room, with its view of the longhorns, to enjoy music and a glass of non-alcoholic wine. The winery just celebrated its sixth anniversary in August. Ed would be pleased.