It took Ulf and Inga-Lill Westblom of Sweden many years to realize their American dream. But now — like the prize port they produce from the fertile soil between Tehuacana Creek and the Brazos River — how sweet it is.

They are co-owners of Tehuacana Creek Vineyards and Winery, located outside of Waco on Highway 6 just past the namesake creek. They have been harvesting for three seasons, and in two weeks will begin picking harvest number four.

Robyn Kenagy (ENLARGE)

Inga-Lill and Ulf Westblom in their vineyard.

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But up until U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved their label last month, they had been unable to sell their product. The couple hope to start selling their wine this weekend.

In the summer of 2005, after a complicated process, Tehuacana Creek became the 101st licensed winery in the state.

The state now boasts some 115 wineries and more than 3,700 acres of vineyards, with an estimated economic impact of more than $200 million annually.

State agricultural officials and wine industry spokespeople say more than a dozen new wineries open every six months in Texas. The Lone Star State ranks fifth nationally in wine production, bested only by California, New York, Washington and Oregon, according to Tim Dodd, director of the Texas Wine Marketing Research Institute.

Texas' annual wine production is consistently over 1.5 million gallons, with the majority of that being consumed within state borders.

A growing business

Ulf and Inga-Lill met 30 years ago in their homeland, united by their affection for the grape. Ulf Westblom's parents had practiced the craft on the side — his mother made sweet wines and his father made a barley wine.

Ulf and Inga-Lill had been semi-professional wine tasters and wine critics, and they also discovered they shared a vision of moving to the United States to plant a vineyard and open a winery.

"We came to this from the consumer side. We know what we like," said Inga-Lill.

In 1981, after Ulf Westblom graduated medical school and finished taking the many tests that would allow him to practice in the United States, they moved to St. Louis.

Ulf worked in the Division of Infectious Diseases at St. Louis University School of Medicine for many years. But the couple always had their wine dream on the side.

During a weeklong vacation more than a decade ago to Galveston, friends recommended they go to Bryan and spend a night in the villa attached to Messina Hof Winery and Resort. The Messina Hof Winery is one of the oldest in Texas, established in 1977.

"We had our wine and a picnic basket," Inga-Lill recalled. "At 9 p.m., they locked the winery and went home, and we went out on the balcony to look out on all their vineyard and pretend it was ours."

They had never realized before how feasible grape cultivation was in Texas, Ulf said. They had thought that to realize their vineyard dreams, they'd have to partner with someone in California.

As soon as they got back to St. Louis, Ulf started looking for work in Texas, he said. He landed the job of chief of medicine at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Temple facility.

The Westbloms said they spent every weekend after moving to Central Texas looking at property, seeking sandy loam soil because it retains moisture. They had some help from a Texas A&M University professor, who pronounced their find at 6826 East Highway 6 suitable for a vineyard.

They had to mow down mesquite and cactuses and disturb great mounds of fire ants on the land, site of a former Indian trading post. Tehuacana Creek is named after the American Indians who lived in the Waco area in the mid-1800s. The creek forms the western border of the Westbloms' land and runs into the Brazos River just half a mile south of the vineyard.

The Westbloms planted their first 100 grapevines in 1997, growing a variety known as Norton or Cynthiana, a grape developed in the 1800s in Virginia. But because it takes five years of development before a vine is ready for the first harvest, they just trimmed back grapes as soon as they appeared.

"This is a red grape that produces a dry hearty wine suitable for aging," Ulf said. "We had experience with this grape from Missouri, where we lived before, and we knew it to make an outstanding red wine."

In subsequent years, they planted a white grape called Blanc du Bois and another red grape, Black Spanish, from which they have crafted the dessert wine port.

"This part of the country is great for making port. The heat and the sunshine, we're on the same climate as southern Spain. This will become our signature wine in Texas," Ulf said.

The Westbloms currently have 1,300 grapevines on some 200 acres, with plans to buy more land as the vineyard grows. They make nine kinds of wine, growing three kinds of grapes — Norton, Blanc Du Bois and Black Spanish.

In 2005, they produced 3,600 bottles. Ulf said the 2006 harvest will be smaller than last year's because they lost half their crop to a late April two-night frost.

A growth industry

The Westbloms say much of the success of the growing Texas wine industry has to do with the support shown it by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

A cooperative advertising program for the vineyards done through the Texas Wine Marketing Assistance Program, with the slogan "Toast a Rising Star," sends consumers a message that Texas wines are serious contenders for connoisseurs.

Dodd's most recent studies note that in 2004, tourists visiting Texas wineries spent an estimated $27.7 million on just wine purchases, not to mention souvenirs, meals and lodging nights. Some 80 percent of all wineries in Texas are small operations with that produce less than 10,000 gallons of wine each year, so they rely on tourism to make point-of-purchase sales and develop mailing lists for future sales. Texas wineries can ship to 20 other states.

The Swedish-born couple note that being networked into the Texas wine community helps them find resources that enrich their business, and helps their customers find them.

"Ninety percent of our visitors say they found us first on the Web," said Ulf Westblom. And, he added, first lady Laura Bush is on the mailing list for the winery.

The couple said they've seen interest in their locally produced wines from The Grape, a 5-year-old wine bistro in Waco; Vito's, an Italian eatery in China Spring; and DiamondBack's restaurant of Waco.