Today we’d like to introduce you to Audelio (Sonny) Rivera.
Hi Audelio (Sonny), so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Our story began in 1997, when we purchased our little piece of Texas land and began building a life rooted in family, hard work, and the outdoors. In 2007, we planted our first grapevines and olive trees, never imagining just how much those vines would shape the years ahead.
What began as a passion slowly grew into Red Rock Vineyards. Over the years, we learned the vineyard from the ground up by planting, pruning, harvesting, pressing, fermenting, and eventually creating all natural wines of our own. We chose early on to farm as naturally as possible, without pesticides, and to make a great wine without added sugars, preservatives, sulfites or unnecessary additives. For us, wine should begin with beautiful fruit and stay as close to nature as possible!
Today, Red Rock Vineyards is much more than a vineyard. It has become a winery, tasting room, gathering place, and wedding venue where people come to celebrate milestones, sit among the vines, listen to music, share a bottle of our Estate’s all natural wines, and make memories of their own without the headache or bloated tummy.
We are still very hands-on in everything we do from caring for the vineyard and making the wine to welcoming guests through our doors. What started with a piece of land and a dream Dr. Rivera had, that has grown organically over the years, and we’re incredibly proud that it still feels personal, family centered, and unmistakably the best all natural wines made in Texas.
At the heart of it all, our story is really about growing something meaningful and sharing it with others.to enjoy a delicious quality wine, without all of f the stuff added to it. We work with what Mother Nature gives us.
Our family owned and operated crew is Dr. Audelio (Sonny) Rivera, Angela Rivera, James and Sue Kitchens.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a perfectly smooth road—and in many ways, that has been part of what shaped Red Rock Vineyards.
When we began, we knew very little about what it would take to grow grapes and produce wine as naturally as possible. We quickly learned that this approach is more labor-intensive, more expensive, and far less forgiving than conventional winemaking. But we also learned that the extra work is worth it. Our goal has always been to create wine that is pure, beautifully balanced, and expressive of the fruit and the land it comes from, without relying on unnecessary additives to get there.
Texas has been our greatest teacher. Not every varietal we planted in the early years thrived in our soil and climate, so there was plenty of trial, error, replanting, and patience along the way. Over time, we discovered varietals that truly flourish here particularly Sangiovese (Black Spanish), Blanc du Bois, and Abo Blanc and that discovery has helped define the character of our Estate Wines.
Even now, we continue to experiment and evolve. We’re introducing a few new varietals for the 2027 season and are excited to see how they respond to our vineyard. For us, winemaking has never been about taking the easiest route. It has been about learning the land, respecting what grows well here, and continually refining the wines we’re proud to put our name on. Give our community a high quality, all natural wine that is delicious.
We created our first wine pairing dinner this summer and it was a huge success.
Our wine club is open and growing each week.
Our harvest season and annual Grape Stomp is a great way to have fun, involve the community and check off a bucket list item. We do the Stomp annually in late July.
The ups and downs have really become part of the story and ultimately, part of the wine.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Dr. Sunny Rivera’s vision for Red Rock Vineyards began as something deeply personal.
As a neonatologist caring for some of the sickest and most fragile newborns in the Austin area since 1990, his work in the neonatal intensive care unit was both meaningful and intensely demanding. He wanted a place that felt completely different from the hospital a place where he could step outside, work with the land, and reconnect with something slower and more tangible.
That began with large piece of acreage, a herd of cattle, and a growing interest in agriculture. Olive trees came first, along with the craft of making pure cold pressed olive oil. Then came the vineyard and winemaking. Over time, almost organically, the property evolved again with the addition of the vision my wife (Angela) had of a vineyard wedding venue. None of it was built all at once. Each piece grew from the same idea: creating a retreat from the intensity of medicine and building something meaningful with his own hands.
From the beginning, he also wanted the wine itself to be different. At the time, naturally made wines were much less common, and he was drawn to the idea of producing wine with as little intervention as possible. Rather than relying on added sugars, preservatives, or unnecessary additives to manipulate the finished wine, Red Rock Vineyards focuses first on the fruit.
The grapes are organically farmed, closely monitored as they ripen, harvested at the proper sugar levels, by hand and then allowed to ferment naturally to dryness. The philosophy is simple: grow the best fruit possible, intervene as little as possible, and allow the vineyard to speak for itself.
That approach requires more work, more patience, and a great deal of attention in the vineyard, but it is also what defines Red Rock Vineyards today. The wines are intentionally clean, dry, and fruit-driven, with minimal intervention from vine to bottle.
In many ways, the winery became the perfect counterbalance to Dr. Rivera’s life in medicine. One world was built around caring for fragile new life; the other around cultivating vines, olives, livestock, and eventually a place where families could gather and celebrate their own milestones.
Red Rock Vineyards was never simply about making wine. It was about creating a life rooted in the land, making something with intention, and offering people an experience that feels genuine from the moment they arrive.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
One of the most important lessons we’ve learned is that you can’t rush a vineyard and you certainly can’t control it.
There has been a tremendous amount of trial and error along the way. You can research, plan, test your soil, choose varietals carefully, and do everything you believe is right, but ultimately the vineyard teaches you what it needs. Some grapes flourish, others simply don’t, and learning to recognize that and adapt rather than fight it has been an important part of our journey.
Patience may be the greatest lesson of all. In winemaking, very little happens on your timetable. A vineyard takes years to establish. A vintage is shaped over an entire growing season. And once the grapes are harvested, fermentation and aging have their own rhythm. You learn very quickly that some of the best things you can do are simply pay attention, make thoughtful decisions, and then allow nature to do its work.
And then there are the things completely beyond our control. Texas weather keeps you humble. Rain can arrive when you desperately need dry conditions or disappear when the vines need it most. Heat, drought, storms, freezes, humidity, wildlife. With every growing season brings a different set of circumstances. There is no formula that guarantees the same outcome year after year.
That uncertainty has actually become one of the things we appreciate most about making estate wine. Each vintage captures a particular year on this land. The weather, the growing season, the condition of the vineyard and the timing of harvest all become part of what ultimately goes into the bottle.
We’ve also learned that taking the more natural, minimally interventionist approach requires an extraordinary amount of attention. When you aren’t relying on a long list of additives to correct or manipulate a wine later, the work has to begin in the vineyard. The quality of the fruit matters immensely. You watch the vines, monitor the grapes, test the sugars, taste constantly, and make decisions based on what that particular harvest is giving you.
Perhaps the biggest lesson has been learning not to force the vineyard to become what we originally imagined it should be. Instead, we’ve learned to listen to the land and discover what it naturally does well.
After all these years, there is still something new to learn every season and we hope that never changes.
Wine teaches patience. Farming teaches humility. And the vineyard teaches you that sometimes the most beautiful results come when you stop trying to control every part of the process.
Pricing:
- We have a tasting room- find your perfect match !We offer a four and five wine tasting experience $20 & $25
- Also we sell our bottles of wine and sangria
- $35 bottle of white Winet
- $49 Red Wine bottles
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.redrockvineyards.com
- Instagram: Red Rock Vineyards Winery
- Facebook: Red Rock Vineyards. And Red Rock Vineyards Weddings
- LinkedIn: Red Rock Vineyards
- Twitter: Facebook Red Rock Vineyards
- Other: Google reviews Red Rock Vineyards
