POTEET, Texas – Poteet is known as the strawberry capital of Texas, but the sweetest fruit in town is being labored and reaped at the BlackBird Winery.
Owner Donovan Garcia spent over a year crafting a peach and blackberry-flavored wine, which has a sunset-colored hue.
“It’s made specifically for the eclipse,” he said.
“Why make an eclipse-themed wine?” asked reporter Daniela Ibarra.
“I’m in love with celestial-type events,” responded Garcia. “I’m the guy that goes out when they say that there’s going to be a meteor shower at 2:00 in the morning. I will be out there at 1:45 waiting.”
The day of the eclipse, Garcia will be in Del Rio along with thousands of others waiting for totality.
“I will be selling my heart out up until one minute before, and then my intentions are to do nothing but enjoy the eclipse,” said Garcia. “I have no intentions of doing anything for anybody at that given moment, for the next 3.5 minutes. That is what I’ve lived my life for the last, the last year or so.”
Garcia created the wine to be enjoyed while waiting for totality.
At the right angle, the bottle’s label reveals its own version of an eclipse.
“It’s nothing more than a fluke,” said Garcia. “So originally, we wanted the label to have a hole right through the center so you could actually see what color the label was.”
Garcia said people from as far away as Hawaii have ordered bottles.
“As of right now, they’re on backorder,” said Garcia.
The next total eclipse in the U.S. is in 2044. Garcia will be 75 years old.
“God willing, I’ll still be here to see the next one,” he said. “But if I’m not. I got to see this one.”
Garcia said the bottles of wine can be purchased in person at the BlackBird Winery.
