Kirk Williams

I was born and raised on the South Plains of Texas (Southern Part of the Panhandle) near Plains, Texas which is in Yoakum County. This is about 70 miles southwest of Lubbock, Texas. My grandfather moved there in 1916 and my family has been farming and ranching there ever since. Our family was primarily involved in livestock (cattle and goats) and grain sorghum production. I have a B.S. in Crops from Texas Tech University and an M.S. in Agronomy from Oklahoma State University. I worked as a Pest Control Advisor for an agricultural chemical company both at the corporate headquarters in Wilmington Delaware and for eight years in Sacramento, California.

It was in California that I developed a love for grapes and wine. We lived in Sacramento and my territory was part of the Central Valley—from Modesto through Lodi to Sacramento and also the North Coast—Napa, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino Counties.

Working with wine grape growers and pest control advisors of wine grapes was a large aspect of this territory and I learned a great deal about grapes and grape pest control.

We moved back to Texas in 1996 because our families were there and I had grown tired of corporate life. My wife is from San Antonio so we chose to move there. Since I had always wanted to return to the family farm I bought 80 acres of land from my dad with plans to eventually plant grapes. I knew that our neighbors, the Newsom's, were growing grapes successfully in the area and it was an attractive crop to grow in terms of potential returns. During this time period I started teaching full time at Palo Alto College in the Agriculture and Horticulture program.

In 1998, in partnership with my stepfather and mother, we planted one acre of Cabernet Sauvignon. This planting was successful and we have continued planting grapes. We now have 7.5 acres of grapes planted in varying stages of maturity. In the Summer of 2014 I was able to move back to the South Plains and teach full time for Texas Tech and devote all of my time to Viticulture.

I have learned a lot about grape growing through hands on experiences but with a better background in viticultural knowledge I would have been better prepared and might have made fewer mistakes. That is why I am so excited to be teaching in both the Viticulture Certificate program and the undergraduate courses.