Austin Wine Week

I literally had a dream and woke up, and I was like, Austin Wineweek, huh? I go on to GoDaddy. I go to see like, does anybody have the URL? Nobody had it, so I grabbed it.

Welcome to Texas Undervine, an exploratory podcast to scout out the best that Texas wine country has to offer. I'm your wine guide, Scott, and I'm here to lead you on an auditory expedition to the vineyards and wineries across the great Lone Star State. Each episode will cover a different vineyard, winery, or wine-related business operating in Texas. You'll hear interviews, descriptions, and details about each location we'll excite you to visit and experience it for yourself. Ready to plan a wine tour? Use these episodes to choose the most interesting spots for you and your friends to check out. Most of all, enjoy hearing about the rapidly growing wine industry in the state and what makes our wines and wineries the best. It's the perfect place to talk about this incredible wine community that we're building here, especially in Austin. Today marks the start of Texas Wine Month through the whole month of October. So I wanted to celebrate by releasing this special episode that's a recap of an event that took place last spring, actually, called Austin Wine Week. And I wanted to do a recap of this really special event that took place. It's one of my favorite events I've been to this year. And so I sat down with Amanda Leighton, the founder, after the event had wrapped up to talk about what her thoughts were about how this event was created, how it went, and then what the plans are for the future. So to celebrate Texas Wine Month, let's talk about this amazing wine event that took place in Austin last April and is coming back again next year for the second version in April as well. Now, before we get to the episode itself, I've got a few upcoming events that I want to make sure that you have marked down on your calendars. First off, we have the Texas Wine Jam, which is going to occur in Johnson City, hosted by Venovium, and that's going to be on October 17th. So keep that event in mind. Great wine, great music. It's a really fun event that I've been a part of before. Unfortunately, I can't make it this year, but that shouldn't stop you. Make sure you get out there and visit Johnson City for the Texas Wine Jam on October 17th. Also, the weekend after that, we're talking about the great Fredericksburg Food and Wine Festival for 2026. Now, I came to you live from this festival last year, giving you great interviews with a lot of the different people that were hosting, both chefs and winemakers. And this year, though, I'm not gonna put my mic up to anyone's face. I'm gonna actually go and enjoy the day myself as a consumer, just like you guys. So I'm gonna be walking around the grand tasting event on October 24th, and I'm gonna be looking out for you guys. So if you see me there, make sure to say hello. And I should have a fun Texas Undervine sticker that I can give to you if you're interested. But the whole event goes from October 22nd to October the 25th. And the grand tasting event is that day, October 24th. I think that it may be the only thing they have tickets for left of all the events that are going on for this festival, but it's an amazing event to check out. So get your tickets now while you can and make sure to look for me there while you're there. Let's raise a glass together. Also, I want to call out to any Austin area industry people that may listen to this podcast. So we're talking about hospitality, culinary, beverage, and wine professionals here in the city of Austin. The Texas wine growers are hosting a really cool professional event targeted at wine industry professionals to help elevate your Texas wine IQ. Now, this event's gonna be led by the Texas Hill Country Wine Academy's Kelsey Kramer, who's been on this podcast for the Texas Hill Country Wine Academy as well. And this interactive session is gonna feature tastings of 100% Texas wines from nine different member wineries in the Texas Wine Growers. And they're gonna be pairing those with some light bites as well. Now, this fun event is gonna be taking place on Monday, November the 9th at the Han Agency in Austin, Texas. If you are an ATX Psalms member, the cost to get in is just $10. If you are not an ATX Psalms member, then the cost is $20 to get in. So head on over to the Texas Wine Growers event page for November 9th to get all of the details and to register. If you're an industry pro, you don't want to miss this. All right. As I said, this particular episode is focused in on this amazing event that took place back in April called Austin Wine Week. And we're gonna get to interview the founder, Amanda Leighton. We met over the summer to talk a little bit about the success of the event, her thoughts leading up to it, how the event played out, and then what her dreams are for the future of this event. Now, Amanda has a pretty storied history in the wine world that actually goes back to when she was in grad school in Washington, DC, and a Kendall Jackson representative actually praised her palette for wine, and it started her on this career lifelong path that she's loved of the wine industry, along with other things she's done. She went on to pursue formal wine education with WSET based in London and gained further industry experience working for story brands like Mo at Hennessy and several other French champagne houses. And before launching her venture here in Texas, Amanda built further industry knowledge by forming and running her own wine distribution business. Now, after moving to Austin, she began to notice this strange disconnect where she would go to restaurants here that were proud to feature Texas beef, Texas produce, things like that, but had no Texas wines listed anywhere on the menu. And she knew that we were right here in the heart of Texas wine country. And so one night she went to bed and woke up from a dream with the words Austin Wine Week right in her head. What did she do? She got up, looked it up, and bought the URL right then. Now she began to brainstorm this idea for this event. It really gained crucial momentum and industry credibility when legendary Texas winemaker Ray Wilson began to encourage her to pursue this dream and this idea. Matter of fact, Ray became the first producer to actually commit to it. And the core mission of this wine week festival was to target a younger age demographic to help secure the future of the Texas wine industry, as the traditional age demographic for wine club members is on an upward trend. The inaugural weeklong celebration brought the local scene together through great events such as the opening Texas event held there at Wanderlust at Shady Lane, a hosted happy hour at the famous Die Duai restaurant in Austin, and wrapping up with a Texas Tastemakers finale that featured five different women winemakers from around the state that was held at House Wine. Now, to get all the secrets about how did she wrangle all of these winemakers together to make this incredible dream become a reality? Well, we're gonna find that out in the interview. So let's go hear from Amanda right now. Howdy, Vine Trippers. I'm here actually at Wanderlust in Austin at their Shady Lane location. And I'm here with a bonus episode. I'm really excited today to get to share with you a little bit about an event. If you were paying attention to my YouTube channel and some of my socials, uh, a while back, about a couple of months ago now, ooh, time flies. We had the initial or the inaugural Austin Wine Week here in Austin. And it was headed up by Amanda Layden. It was her brainchild, and she put this all together. It was a huge roaring success. There's maybe even some plans for next year that we'll talk about. And so I got her here with me, and we're gonna talk a little bit about how did Austin Wine Week come about? What were some of the things that went into year one? What are some of the events and the things that occurred there? And then we'll talk about what are maybe some of the future plans for year two. So get excited to hear a little bit about Austin Wine Week here from Amanda. So without further ado, Amanda, tell me a little bit about yourself. So for my viewers and listeners, how did you get into the crazy world of the wine industry?

It started many, many years ago. So I was actually in grad school and I was the social chair for our class. And I thought, huh, you know, we're business students, we're probably all going to be consultants, bankers. I don't know. I didn't know what I was going to do. And I thought we really probably should learn how to buy wine off of a wine list because I thought we'd be wining and dining folks. Right. And so I called the only winery I knew because I really knew nothing about the industry. And I called Kendall Jackson. Okay. And I said, Do you happen to have somebody who can come out and teach business students about wine? And they said, Well, as a matter of fact, we do.

Cool.

So they sent somebody somebody out to Washington, D.C., I'll never forget her name. She was really pivotal in my career. And we had this tasting, and she came up to me and she said, You know, Amanda, you have a really good palate. And I didn't know the definition of that word. I thought she meant like I'm becoming Picasso. Um and she said, You know, you should really consider coming into this industry. Now it wasn't an industry on my radar. I'm from Des Moines, Iowa. I didn't grow up with wine on my table, um, except for Carlo Rossi white Zinfandel or milk. You know, those are the things that got paired on my dinner table.

Those big jugs of ram wine that costs $7.

You got it. Um, that was the extent of what we had. And I thought, huh, tell me more. And so she really piqued my interest. She started sending me articles, uh, pre-releases of KJ wines. I got to meet the winemakers. That's another story, but I I got to interact with Jess Jackson when he was still alive. He came out to DC to lobby for um changes with wine laws, and they did a whole blending session with Congresspeople, and I got to be our student representative and do that. Yeah. It was incredible. And so she really piqued my interest. That's how I got in. Yeah.

That's fascinating to have that inside look into some huge producer. Say what you will about Kendall Jackson. They have their niche and they're there's their what they're doing, and they know exactly what they're, and it's a huge success.

Huge success. And you know, I think people too. Jess Jackson was a big personality. If you ever got to meet him, if you were around him, he was kind of one of those people that commanded a room. And, you know, people, he was divisive in the industry, but he really did some amazing things for the wine industry, especially California, and especially with lobbying to change some laws to favor uh wineries and winemakers.

Yeah, it's interesting. Usually those visionary type people can be very polarizing in one way or the other. I mean, for sure. Steve Jobs, places like that, people who are really bring out that initiative and are innovators and who really push the boundaries forward, can sometimes throw people the wrong way, but they're making progress and opening up a new world for the whole industry. So all right. Well, so how did you progress from now? You're enjoying these Kindle Jackson wines, you're exploring your palette. Where do we go from there?

Um, so I did a lot of travel when I was younger, in terms of kind of one of my first jobs out of grad school was working for a French company. So I was living outside of New York City, traveling in between Paris and New York frequently. And this is gonna date me, but I happened to be on a flight where um a gentleman during dinner service pulled out a bottle of wine, uncorked it for himself because he didn't want what was being served. Like you couldn't do that now, right? Um so uh anyway, I looked over at him, I was on the aisle, he was on the aisle, and he looked at me looking at him, and I said, What are you what are you drinking over there? And so he pulls it out and he's like, Oh, you know, he tells me I'm drinking this burgundy. And I was like, what? And he ends up telling me that he lives in New York City, he works for private clients, he goes around the world, sources, um, and provides for their private sellers. Okay. So he goes, he's like looking at me, he rolls his eyes, he said, Well, do you want a glass? And I'm like, duh. Um, of course. Do you think I want to drink what they're serving on the plane? Like, no, I want this.

Can I get the whole can, please? Or bottle?

Yeah, I'm like, uh, a little bit more. So um, anyway, it was a Nuit Saint-Georges. Again, no clue what that was. I started doing a little bit more research and I stayed in touch with him fast forward. I ended up leaving my role, and I knew somebody that lived in London and said, why don't you come over, make London your base, and go to wine school? You're super passionate about it. And so I went to school at the Wine School Education Trust, started working for an Italian importer, um, worked around the industry, and um ended up working for some champagne houses, a South African company, ended up sourcing around, mainly around um Spain, France, Italy, uh, South America, South Africa. Um, and then got transferred back to my state, to the States for my old position and um ended up working for Moet Hennessy and then started my important distribution business. Wow. Yeah.

You talk about really explosion into the world of wine.

Um and I've always kind of straddled one foot in, one foot out because I've also worked in corporate. And so sometimes I like leave the industry and I'm still dabbling over here. Um, that folks know, like, unless you know, you come from a lot of money and come into the wine industry, it's really a labor of love. It's a passion. You're not necessarily gonna earn a ton of money out of it, you know, most of the time. Yeah.

Yeah, you're doing it because that's where your heart is and it's fun and the passion project there. Okay, so you have been exposed to the world of wine now. I mean, from champagne to Italian wines to French wines to all of that. And we're sitting here in Austin, Texas. We sure are. An incredibly growing wine region. But tell me about that transition from this international position dealing with amazing international wines to now here in Austin, Texas.

So when I moved to Austin and I started going out to dinner, and I was going to places where we have Texas beef on the menu. We might have pork reared, you know, just up the road. Maybe there's a garden. Some of our restaurants now have gardens. And I started to notice, like, well, hang on. Like, I know Texas wine country is not too far afield from where we are. Why aren't we seeing more Texas wines on the menu? And so I started to ask around a little bit about like, what's going on? You know, why is Austin not supporting Texas? Why can't I order a bottle of Texas wine at a fair price? You know, what is happening? And so I saw a gap in the market and I started to talk to winemakers and heard from them that, you know, it'd be great to get more support here in Austin, uh, much like some of the other cities we in Texas where uh they're pouring more Texas wine, you see more Texas on the shelves. So Austin Wine Week was born out of that idea and me going to other cities, living in other cities, and seeing that there's a week where they support wine from those specific regions, but I didn't see it happening here in Austin.

Sure. Yeah, and I found that to me frustrating to go into. And now, granted, this is a nationwide distributor, but to go into a place like Total Wine and you see these aisles for all this stuff, and you got all, and where's the Texas section? Way back in the corner, and you got a small little thing here. And I understand there's a whole issue with distribution of the three-tiered system, and I I get that there it's difficult for those boutique wineries and the direct-to-consumer to get into those places. But I think about if Total Wine was in France and there was a total wine in Bordeaux, can you imagine going into Total Wine and finding the Bordeaux section buried somewhere in the back corner, right?

Oh, the French would be up in arms. I mean, it'd give them another reason to take to the streets to riot, you know.

It just it's frustrating to me, but I get it. And so you saw this vision and this need. So that must have been kind of leading towards where we are today and why we're here today, which is Austin Wine Week. So, how did this idea for an Austin kind of wine festival start stirring up in your brain a little bit?

It literally, this sounds kind of crazy, but I literally had a dream and woke up out of A real dream. A real dream. Um, woke up and I was like, Austin Wine Week, huh? I go on to GoDaddy, I go to see, like, does anybody have the URL? Nobody had it. So I grabbed it and I started to envision what this might look like. Now, mind you, at that time, I wasn't full-time living in Austin. I was staying at a friend's house up in Situate, Massachusetts, on the South Shore of Boston. Wow. And I had this idea. I knew I was coming back to Austin, but um I didn't know what form that would take. So it took me about a year to start networking a little bit, meeting the winemakers, getting them to kind of know and trust me and know that I do come from a wine background. You know, there's folks that come into this business that may not have um studied, which is totally fine, or may not have worked in the industry. Um, but I've worked on all sides of the industry from retail shops to owning my import and dis own import distance. Yeah. So they started to recognize, like, okay, maybe there's some legs here. Now, the first winemaker, when I was said, you know, I want a week to celebrate Texas wines here in Austin, and at least one big event where consumers can come, because the whole idea was, yes, let's get the industry involved, but let's get the consumer because at the end of the day, you know, the demographics of who buys wine is changing. And um, you know, these winemakers who have been very successful with their wine clubs, those people are starting to kind of disappear because they're aging out, really, truly. And so part of it was how do we get the consumer, the a younger consumer, to come be interested in Texas, start learning more about wine again, start drinking again. But yeah, back to as the idea was starting to formulate, I um ended up going out for bubbles and some nibbles with Ray Wilson, who is, you know, wine for the people, La Valencia. And um, I ran this idea by her. Like I know she's kind of an OG in terms of this space and people.

Very respected.

Very well respected, amazing winemaker. And I ran the idea past her, and she said, Yeah, I think it's a great idea. I'm in. So she was the first one.

Um, I'm not ready to commit yet. Oh, I guess I'm committed.

Um, and so, you know, we talked about dates and when it would work, and this was like in July of uh last year, and um, so yeah, maybe roughly this time last year, or you know, ish. And she's like, Do you think you could pull it off by October? Because that's Texas Wine Month. And I was like, uh, I don't think so. Like, I need to get sponsors involved, I need to get other wineries involved, I need food purveyors. So, you know, we launched it at the end of April.

Okay. Wow. And so that's great. I love Ray, just got you started there. You're like, I'm kind of thinking about this. I mean, oh, well, I guess I'm doing it.

Guess I'm doing it. And then other winemakers started to hear about it. I started to reach out to some of them. Some of them were like, nope, not for us, not this year. Yeah.

Everybody's in different places.

Fair. Um, or no, we have too much going on, or uh, let's see, proof of concept. They wanted to know it could be successful. Um, and then it was, you know, it was really funny because towards the run-up, the sprint to the event, there were still a few spaces available for wineries. And I think a FOMO effect started to happen. So I started to get calls from other wineries and winemakers like, hey, do you still have spaces? And I'm like, I do. Uh so you know, we ended up filling the room. You were here, so you saw it. Yeah.

So it started really, it kind of started slow, but then it started really at the end tumbling and gaining a lot of momentum. Yeah. It's uh it's interesting here in Austin. Uh we kind of getting back to that first, just a second. You know, I was born and raised here in Austin and been to a lot of different things here. And it still amazes me to this day. Maybe being part of the industry, I take it for granted. But it still amazes me. Almost every day I'm coming across people and I talk, say something about I have this wine podcast about Texas wine. They're like, Texas wine? I'm like, huh? Texas, what? You know, and I just assume that like everybody knows, it's just such an educational thing. And um, and I have seen things like the the Austin rodeo here, which I think maybe they're starting to change things a little bit there, but at the food wine festivals here in Austin, and it's all no Texas wine represented at any of those things. And you think, like you said, Austin a place that values the heart of Texas and Texas local and keep Austin weird and really be this local kind of thing, but that was a missing component that was just completely ignored. Why do you think that it just we just missed the boat on that?

That's a really good question. I don't know if I have a great answer for it. I would I wonder if part of it is um people kind of, you know, I think wine can be scary for folks, right? And unless you're well versed, like, you know, you and me or other people out there, when you start to talk in wine terms, like people look at a label and sometimes they don't even know Chardonnay is the grape.

Yeah.

You know, they might think it's I don't know the name of the colour. Cadillac, a brand name kind of thing. So they're not really sure. Or maybe they've had a wine before with that name on it that didn't suit their palate, or maybe there was a fault in it. And I think part of it is that fear, and so people start to get stuck in their ways, right? So people go, Well, I know I like this Pinot Noir from Oregon, and so I'm gonna stay there. And maybe that's part of it. Yeah, um, or just, you know, you look at a price on a wine list now, and you know, there's a lot of factors that go into pricing, even though we are local, you know, growing grapes is not a cheap endeavor. Um, glass is uh expensive, you know, being a farmer, there's a lot that goes into it. And maybe people go, okay, I'm seeing a $60 of Texas wine and a $60 of Meteorcore Bordeaux. Right. I'm gonna go with that name because I know it. Right. So I think part of it is, and what I'd hope to accomplish too with Austin Winemake and continue with some of the things we have going on is get more people really out here trying it. Because what I've explained to folks too is you know, it's like anything else. You may have gone and tasted Napa and you've gone to 10 different wineries, you're not gonna like every single wine at every single winery. But if you start to know who the winemakers are, you know, at my event uh here, the big Sip Texas event, a lot of winemakers were represented here. So um they were all here talking to the consumer about their wines and they're proud and they should be. And so I think once people understand there's a person behind the label and that Ray Wilson is a real person. Um, you know, Jaclyn Renee, Jackie over at Jacqueline Renee, she's a real person. Andy over at Adega Vino, you know, he's a real person. It's his family, his last name is on the vineyards. Once people start to understand that and they're like, oh, I can see the story behind it, and now I know Texas is really, really good, then I think that's starting to bridge the gap.

Okay. Thinking about how to bridge that gap between tasting, like I I think of people maybe coming here for the Sip Texas event and tasting these great wines and going, Oh, that was, oh, this is better than I thought. Oh, this is really good. But then walking out and not really having any kind of tie-in or connection to okay, now how can I go get those wines? Yeah, because it's gonna take some research or some, you know, it's gonna take some effort on their part, and they're gonna go home and think, I had this really good wine, but I can't remember what it was or can. And I was thinking, I it would be kind of cool to when people came in, and it's a again, I know that there was so much last-minute additions and all that, but if there was almost like a paper or a card that had the different wineries with the different things they were pouring where they could kind of circle, man, I really like this one. Oh, at this winery, I really like this one, and maybe even some information like where can you get those wines? Like you, they're all DTC only. You got to go to their website, or they're an HEB, or they're in, you know, that way they could take something home with them and go, What was that one? Oh, yeah, I really like this. Oh, I can get the H E B. Let me go look for that. You know, I wonder if there's a way to kind of that's just a I think for sure. I think a way to bridge something.

That you know, we being year one, sure, we missed some tricks, you know, and I think that's one for sure because one of the things we really wanted was to get pull-through for the winemakers, like you know, that they're starting to see a surge in people asking for Texas wines. We also encouraged people at the various events. If you don't see Texas wine on the menu, if you're out to dinner, it ask for the general manager, ask for the Somelier, tell them the name of your favorite Texas wine. Uh, and also, you're right, you know, being able to provide something that's a takeaway for them to go, oh, here's my notes, here's what I really like. For sure, there's a lot of things we're gonna change or upgrade for 2027 so that that happens. You know, one of the things that I'm proud of, it's it's sometimes hard to quantify the success of something like this. However, I've spoken to several of the winemakers or wineries since the event, and at least three of them have told me that they've had probably a dozen people come out to the winery mentioning Austin Winemake, and that's how they found out. So you do the math on that, and then I know from a few of them that they've then now subsequently joined their wine clubs.

Oh, what a win, right?

So that right there, like to me, that's a win.

Yeah. That's interesting. Maybe even if it was like just a QR code they could scan to take you to a website, because that's something you'll be more of a living document that could be.

We had that, um, and I think some people missed it.

Yeah.

Interesting. But, you know, it's a good point because we're gonna start updating the website now with the new dates for 2027 and even putting where folks can go and get that, or you know, featuring there's um something I'm about to do, and you know, featuring some of those wineries like weekly, so um, that we're participating in the events. Awesome.

Well, let's let's go back, let's rewind now. So we've got a little bit of the how the idea started and kind of started to come to play. Let's actually recap a little bit about what the week looked like. So the very first event was where we're sitting here today, here at Wanderlust. How do you feel like Wanderlust really fit the vibe of how you wanted to kick this thing off?

You know, I know Sammy Lamb, who is the founder and owner of Wanderlust. Um, he is a big supporter of anybody in the industry. So, first and foremost, I wanted to help support him and give back to him and his family as well. And just knew that, you know, Sammy is such a professional, as is his team, and knew that they'd be able to support. And, you know, even if there were issues on the day, nobody would notice. Right. Um, and I also wanted a place where people could walk in and feel like, okay, this is comfortable. This isn't pretentious. Uh, I'm not gonna feel like I have to know all the wine lingo. You know, coming in, I'm sure you remember there's there was a DJ. So um it was more of a chill Sunday vibe atmosphere, um, and just I think very welcoming and unassuming. And so, you know, sometimes when people go to these tastings, we've all been there where you walk in, you're like, oh stuffy, stuffy, I can't speak. Uh, you can hear a penny drop, everybody's sniffing and swirling. And I didn't want people to feel like they had to know anything, um, but just come and have a good time and maybe at least walk away with one new favorite or something they're gonna buy again.

Yeah. This wasn't an event at an upscale social, top of the mark penthouse thing. This is an Austin feel, a vibe. And that's one of the things I love about that. I mean, you see these fun little murals and stuff is all over this place. But to me, again, being a native Austinite, this place just has that funky, fun Austin quirky appeal to it that to me says screams Austin, and then you connecting the wine into that mentality.

And it's you know, it's a unique vibe here, right? It is that keep Austin weird. Plus, they have the barrels out there, which are the tables. It's very wine-centric. Yes. Um, with again, without being stuffy and pretentious.

Excellent. Well, let's talk about the the first event, SipTexis, was held here. So tell me about that event, why you wanted to kick off with that event, what it looked like, all that.

I wanted to kick off because I wanted the week to start off with real energy.

Yeah.

You know, I think some people thought I was a little bit crazy with not doing it in reverse, like not ending with that event.

Like the big blowout at the end.

Yeah. And maybe I was because by Friday of that week I was exhausted. Um, but it was an event where we highlighted uh 31 wineries. Um, and uh either the winemakers were here, part, you know, part of the family of ownership, or people who just represented those wineries were here to talk about the wines. Um, people could come in, they could taste as much or as little as they wanted. Some tasted a little too much. Um and then there was a DJ setting the vibe. We also had some amazing food purveyors. We had Frank from Churroboro. Um, we also had uh Mickey's uh hot mustard, Mickey's mustard. So good. So good. Um we had um uh chocolate mouth uh chocolates, which are hand painted, really beautiful. Oh, so beautiful. We had Sloane from Sloane's Seasonings, a lot of fun there. Oh my gosh, I know I'm probably oh, how could I forget? Horndogs.

Yeah.

Horndogs, high-end uh hot dogs, which were the best.

Um, I love there's a huge line out there and they kept selling out.

Yeah, they sold, I mean, we weren't sure. I I ended up, you know, as part of our our deal being like, okay, I'm gonna purchase 50 dogs from you. And then Laura and Mike made, I don't even know how many above that, maybe another 50, and they were out. Yeah.

Um, so the They were so elevated, they were just these really cool.

One was called Girl Dinner, and the other was Chip Chip, which so so great. Like their marketing is so clever. Um, and then we had, yeah, we had Kathy from the The Hats who can make your custom hats. And I'm sure I'm probably missing somebody, and I apologize if I am. But yeah, it was just really like it wasn't we weren't showing five-star Michelin dining or James Beard. It was more of like, grab your dog, grab your glizzy, get your glass of wine, uh-huh, you know, get into the vibes and go talk to the winemakers.

Yeah. Learn some of the story of what goes into your glass. Yeah. Because each bottle tells a story and of itself. And to hear then connect that to the owner, the winemaker, and all that, even makes the wine. You know, when I open a glass at home and I drink a glass of wine, okay, it's nice. I it's a good wine, I enjoy it. But when I'm there with the winemaker and I'm hearing their stories, it's like the wine tastes even better. It's just so fascinating the way it comes alive in your glass, you know. Yeah, there was a huge energy crowd here, uh a lot going on, a lot of people coming in and out. Did you feel like that was a good kickoff success event?

I did. You know, I think like anybody who's producing an event, especially in a city like Austin, where there's something happening all day, every day. People have choices. You know, people could have done whatever that day. Um, and so I was sweating it. Like in the run up to that like week and a half, I was in full on panic mode, like, oh, are we gonna have enough people there? Are we gonna sell enough tickets?

We've built it. Will they come?

Yeah, will they come? And um, you know, we had just under 200 tickets sold uh for the event, which for an inaugural event I think is pretty good. Yeah. Um, and you know, I know we had a few people say, like, oh my gosh, the noise level at certain times, it's just because the amount of people that were in here and tasting and talking to the winemakers, um, yeah, you're right. It just created an energy. So, yes, uh, from all the winemakers I've spoken to, everybody that I've spoken to after the event, everyone is in for next year. So that is also a marker of success to me. So I've been out, I've been out to Fredericksburg a few times and Kerrville as well. I don't want to miss out Turtle Creek.

Sure.

Um, I've been out there a few times now since Austin Wine Week ended uh to meet with the winemakers, to talk about what's next for next year and next in general.

Right.

Um, and everybody's in. And you know, the other thing is a few of them have said to me, hands down, in terms of Austin events or even events, wine events in general, this was the youngest, most diverse crowd they've ever had. And um, they appreciated that because that's like a nut they're trying to crack in terms of getting that younger consumer.

I think more people are looking for these more urban style experiences than they are looking for let's go on a day trip somewhere. And so that's why I think I was so impressed with this event of yours, because I think this is hitting that. We're trying to hit this demographic and get those younger people in and get, and I think this we need more of this in the city kind of stuff. And then it might inspire some of those people who tasted a great wine. Oh, was this a Dega Vino? I remember this. Where are they located again? Oh, okay, now I want to go take a trip out there. But start things here and build that excitement.

It is so true. I mean, uh you kind of have to read the room. You know, I think, and I know disrespect to what everybody has built here in Texas, but I think sometimes people just start resting on their laurels and they're not watching the market shift and change. And so, even going out and meeting with some of the winemakers after the event, you know, some of the things they're saying to me is like, again, like no disrespect, but like their clientele's dying. They're just getting older. And so, like, every month they're losing wine club memberships, not because they can't afford it, yeah, but because literally they're not here anymore. And so, how do they start to find that younger consumer? And, you know, it may be that consumer that may not have the most sophisticated or experienced palate yet, right? But start them in and get some brand loyalty and let them know, like, there's some cool winemakers. Like, I can't even tell you how many people came up to me and were like, wait, Ronnie's is a real person. I'm like, yeah, he's a real person. Like, like, and he's a character, so go talk to him. Go talk to him. He's hilarious, he has great wine, he's got great branding, he's thinking outside of the box. Like, go talk to him. So, but people just don't, you know, like you said, that story behind the label, people just don't know until it's in front of them. And now it's like, okay, what's next? And and I will say, of the three events we had, there were three very different consumers at each event. Yeah, but they were crowd for a different crowd. They were not the same consumer.

Interesting. So it really hit a different demographic.

It did. And I saw a little bit of overlap. Sure. Like one person, a few people came to two things during that week. Some of my friends, obviously, who were supporting me, came to a few things, but um, it was not the same group of folk.

Interesting. Wow, I I I I'm just gonna say it was one of my favorite events that I've been to. It was just again, especially the the Sip Texas part here at Wanderlust. It was again such a high-energy event talking to so many people. It was to me, it was impressive because I've been to different wine kind of festivals and things like that before at different places where you might have 12 to 15 or 20 or so winemakers up at tables. But I I would say 70 to 80 percent of those, it's not the winemaker there, it's a representative, it's just somebody, and I saw so many people like Ron Yates and Andy Bilger, and you know these people that were the people at that winery, they're represented on site like Bay Tech, you know. Yeah, it was just fascinating to me to be a part of that. They were here, yeah.

I mean, you know, uh yeah, I mean, they were here, like the people who are really behind the scenes making the decisions, uh, talking about what's fruits being picked when, maybe they're vinifying, like you know, they were here.

And I think you nailed a perfect time. I know you talked about October. October, not a good time for winemakers because of harvest and uh harvest is gonna be cleated now. Now they're busy in the cellar. There, it's a crazy busy time. April, kind of quiet for those winemakers. I mean, we got people coming to the tasting rooms and such, but you you know, the vines are doing their thing, their bud break. They're they're not as I think that was a perfect window of time. So yeah, I like that.

And it's April 2027 again. We've pulled it up by about a week and a half um just for some reasons of other things going on. But um, you know, the dates are published. So if anybody says they didn't know about them, we published them like two weeks after the event. So uh they are out there and we've started planning. Um, and uh, you know, we're reimagining some of what can happen that week.

Right.

And we're definitely gonna do a better job this year of the downloadable passport and choosing your own adventure, and then also um some other just uh some some surprises, but also some partnerships we have up our sleeve, right now.

Well, I want to move for just a moment from day one, and we'll wrap up this amazing event that we had here. And so you're you're feeling like, okay, the first event is done. It was a wild success, maybe more than you expected. And now we got day two coming, which is a little bit later in the week. You had a happy hour at Daidu. Yeah. Very good, amazing restaurant here in Austin. Amazing. Focuses on local cuisine, local foods, farm to table, and their menu is almost different almost every day, it feels like when you go in there. But one of my favorite things about Daiduay that I constantly tell people who say, Where should we go for a restaurant in Austin? They have a local Texas wine menu.

Yes.

Texas wines all over that menu. And so I love that restaurant. So to see that you were partnered with them was really cool for the second event, which was a happy hour event. So fill me in on that event. I was unfortunately unable to attend that one. So I want to hear a little bit about it.

Well, as you just mentioned, the space is incredible. So we had um, you know, outside of the restaurant in the back, they have a patio that was ours for that event. Now, this is the first time Daidui had done an event at the same time as being open. Okay. So they had regular diners there plus our event in back. So we it was a smaller crowd because the team wasn't sure, like, how are we gonna be able to pull this off? It is it gonna work. That event sold out um pretty quickly.

Yeah.

Uh, because people who are fans of Daidui, like they know it's 98% Texas, it's amazing. So we we partnered over there with Charlotte and Janie, who's the chef and um one of the chefs, and Janie prepared um small bites that paired with four winemakers' wines. Um, and it was perfect. So people could, you know, walk around, talk to the four winemakers, have a nibble, and then if they so chose, they could stay and eat dinner after I did with uh my group. We stayed, we had another couple bottles of Texas wine on the venue um to support Texas. But you know, it was four amazing, uh actually in at that event it was four female winemakers. Okay. Um, and uh, you know, uh Jackie being one of them over from Jacqueline Renee, yeah, Alisa Jones from Elisa Christopher, um, oh my gosh, who oh, uh Alta Marfa was there and Colosi was there.

Oh, cool. Yeah, yeah. So Nikki, I guess, from Colise. And so uh it was just this kind of come and go happy hour type of event. People got to meet with them and talk. Did they give any kind of like a little spiel or talk about their wines?

So they were just as consumers were coming up, myself and Charlotte stood up, welcomed folks. I talked about, you know, why Austin Wine Week was born, why it's important. Um, and then, you know, people could just come in and really like in that intimate setting, intermingle with the winemakers. So I thought it was just, I mean, the the team over there is incredible, and it was just very well executed. And the pairings, the bites that Janie prepared were perfect for every single winery. Wow. Uh, and so yeah, it was just it was a very intimate experience. Yeah.

What a way to celebrate windown Wednesdays, right?

Right. And I would say like half of those guests end up staying. So that was also good. It was on a Wednesday night, great for the restaurant. Absolutely. Great for them to try their things on the menu, try their wines, yeah, um, and support local.

All right. So day two has now wrapped up, and we moved to the final event of the week, which was at House Wine. A little crowded. The Tastemakers event.

Yeah.

And so you had five different female winemakers there telling their story and sharing some of the things of their wines. You had a great little kind of charcuterie table set up there and everything. Tell me about the vision for that event.

You know, it originally started uh with those, I didn't know. So, first of all, I didn't know Daiduy was going to choose all females. So there was one day where I thought, you know, we really should support the Lone Star Ladies and let's do this event to support five female winemakers. Reason being is that, you know, winemaking, as you see, is still predominantly male. And we don't have a ton of female winemakers here in Texas. There's probably maybe you can count on two hands. And I really wanted to support them and highlight their wines. They're all incredible winemakers. Some are newer than others, some have just gone out on their own. And so they had their own labels. So that was amazing. Um, and the vision was originally we were gonna have a sit-down dinner with five course parents. Wow. Just didn't work out logistically, and it was a lot to pull off for an inaugural year. So I moved it quite quickly to just, okay, we're gonna have some light bites, we're gonna bring the ticket price down so people can meet these winemakers, and then also buy wines on the night. So the good thing about being there is that people could purchase wines, walk away with them, and a lot of folks did.

Oh, yeah, we did.

Yeah.

I I love that, and I love the little cards you had for each person. This is kind of what I was talking about earlier. And having those wines that they brought, and you could easily buy those bottles, you could walk right up and buy them at the counter.

Yeah.

I was so impressed, and I don't want to like single out other, there's so many great things there. But Dina and I fell in love with uh Ray's Sauvignon Blanc.

Oh that was the first wine to go.

We are not Sauvignon Blanc drinkers per se, but we fell in love with that when we were like, no, we gotta go home with a bottle of that. It was so good.

Somebody beat us to it. We went to get the last bottle, and um, Alex, who was working over there, is like, I've got you. We've hidden it. I don't know who got it. Somebody's drinking my Sauvignon Black.

Hopefully it's not me.

No, I mean, I'm sure if I really want, like, Ray probably has to be bottles stashed somewhere. I could ask her, but yeah.

No, that was a fun event. It was really great to see each of these. Female winemakers to be able to stand up in a again in a very male-dominated industry and share their stories, share the creations that they put their heart and soul into, and to have see people around the room, you know, as as they poured the wines and then they would and their eyes would light up and that wow, this is really good. And yeah, and hearing that story was really fascinating.

I mean, it was perfect. I mean, it was perfect in that the winemakers were there. Not so perfect from a space perspective.

Sure, it was crowded.

Uh, it was very crowded. It was like, like if you if anybody else had come in, they would have had to pick a lap to sit on. And I think, you know, that's how many people bought tickets for that. And so again, lessons of of year one. Well, how do we do it? How do we support the winemakers for next year? Um, but yeah, I I enjoyed, you know, just having them there to share their stories. And and as you said, to see people be like, whoa, this is what?

Yeah.

You know, this is this is Texas. And you know, it was always interesting to me because I wasn't quite sure how people were finding out about events. And you know, it's kind of funny. Um, in the run up to that week, I happened to be in San Antonio at an event uh with a friend of mine, and I walked into this restaurant, and this woman comes up to me and she goes, Are you Amanda?

And I'm like, Well, I don't know, who wants to know?

Yeah. Um, and she's like, You're Austin Wine Week, right? And I was like, Yeah, I am. And she's like, Oh, I've been watching your social media. So it was, I was like, Oh, and and the same thing happened at house. Um, this couple sat there and and they're like, Hi, Amanda. I was like, hi, and you know, now I'm like, Do I know them? Do I not know them? Am I being rude?

Yeah.

Um, and so they're like, No, we saw you on social media, so we decided to come. So I was like, Oh wow, this is like actually working. Like what we're doing is working.

When those light bulbs come on.

Yeah, and so we were like, they're like, we thought we'd come along and you're doing a great job. And I was like, Oh, you know, that it's like one of those things you're like, oh, this is weird. Yeah, this is kind of weird.

It's always interesting.

Yeah.

So let's call them out. So we had the five female winemakers that were there, represent it. We had Alisa Jones from Lisa Christopher, Benedict Rhyme from Rhyme Wines. We had Remy Gregory, was there and from the Berg. From the Berg. And then we had Adrienne Bellou. Yes. And then who Ray Wilson. Ray Wilson, okay, of course. I'm just talking about buying her wine out of I was just trying to think back to that day. Yeah. And so they got to share their those wines and stories there. Well, and it was a House Wine 2. Not only was it crowded with people like trying to pile in to get in there, but they were also doing their regular service as well. I wonder how much bleed over there might have been. Like somebody's like, what's going on in here?

Kind of we sold a few last-minute tickets right then and there. Nice. Yeah, you know, in general, like luckily they weren't that busy with regular customers. But the good thing is that people stayed and bought more glasses, bought more wine. And so I don't think on that night they would have had that amount of crap. No, no. Um, but yeah, it was great. I mean, those are five amazing winemakers. I have to tell you a funny story. Okay. So a couple weeks ago, my boyfriend and I were in um San Antonio.

Okay.

And we go to eat at this restaurant, which we both really like. And I look, I love this place. It's this Peruvian restaurant called Leche de Tigre. It's incredible. The best ceviche. I walk up, I walk up to the to the um door and I go, I like elbow him and I go, Ray Wilson. And she's like, Who's calling my name? She treats right, she goes, Amanda, what are you doing? I go, what are you doing? So her and Claire from Uplift were there with part of the team from William Chris, and it was so funny. So I was like, Well, we're going to have dinner. And they had been doing some trade things that day, like, you know, tastings and things. So then as we came back out, they're still sitting there with all their bottles of wine. So I was like, Can we should we join you? She's like, Yeah, because I don't really know Claire. Now I know Claire, but yeah, I hadn't really tasted it. Claire Richardson. Yeah. And she's an incredible winemaker too. So we tasted through some wines, and then Ray's like, where are you all going now? And I go, I don't know. Like, we were gonna go back to the hotel, we can go grab a drink. So I know a place that's nearby that we could all walk to. So it's like, me, you know, like this troop of winemakers, and Ray, Ray kind of like steps back and because we have to go over railroad tracks and this road, and she like she looks at my boyfriend, she goes, I don't know where Amanda's taking us, but right now I trust you and I don't trust her. So we get into this place, we go to this underground bar, she's like, Oh, you were right. There's an incredible bar here, but it's just like now it's just so funny because what are the chances we're in the same place at the same time in San Antonio? Um, and then you know, that's like I enjoy winemakers so much because I think they're so funny and they're all characters, and so just getting able to like be out in the wild and have a drink and you know get them out of the cellar and yeah, oh yeah, so funny.

That's great.

Well, what was we've talked about the three main events now that concluded then the inaugural Austin Wine Week. So, what was one of the biggest logistical or operational challenges that you felt like you faced that the public never saw?

Figuring out how uh to support winemakers to sell wine on the day.

Yeah.

Huge challenge.

Okay.

Um, didn't quite crack that correctly, like didn't quite do that. I think the other thing is just, you know, as I mentioned, people are last minute in Austin. There's so much going on, and we could see how much traffic we were getting, like on our Instagram, on our website, on the TikToks or whatever the threads we were doing. And they weren't yet converting to tickets. And I think that you're just like, you're sweating it. You know, you're just like, oh no, that was a big challenge. Um, I think also just, you know, you everybody says they're gonna show up, like winemaker-wise, and they're kind of sometimes like wrangling cats, and you're just like fingers crossed, you know, fingers crossed, they all get it right, they all remember. Um, you know, like there's all these emails going out, and people don't recognize that. I mean, you know, we may have talked about this before, but I'm a basically a one-person show. And so I yes, I part-time I had a social media person who was like, I don't know, maybe a quarter of the time-ish, um, who was sometimes pushing out my socials, but all the planning, all the logistics, everything else was down to me. And so sometimes I was just asking people for grace. Like, if I'm not getting back to it, it's because I have a day job and I'm doing this. Yeah. Um, and so that I think is a challenge. You know, as we continue to grow and scale, I'm definitely gonna need a team. And I don't want to be be remiss and not thank all the volunteers who helped. There were so many volunteers. Yeah. I mean, so many people that jumped in and were supportive. And Sammy's team, of course, is incredible. And, you know, my friend Oscar Valenzuela, he was my captain on the day. So I would like catch his eye and I'd be like, you know, somehow we were speaking, like, especially here at Wanderlust, we're speaking the same language, like, go check on that, go do that. Oh, and what also what people didn't know is that, you know, we were accepting walk-up tickets on the day here at Wanderlust. And uh, we had partnered with a great company here, Brandon and the team over at Goodwolf, who are local at local ticketing agency. We didn't do any of the event brights or anything like that. We wanted to support local. So um, Brandon was supposed to be here to help with like the ticketing machine on the day. And I got a message from him that morning saying he thought he had broken his foot, so he was in the ER.

Oh gosh.

So, right before doors are about to open, like literally, we don't have the square, we don't have anything to accept money. We printed out my personal Venmo to try to because we weren't sure how we were gonna take money for walk-ups.

Yeah.

And Brandon came in with on crutches.

Oh gosh.

Made sure the team was set up and the team of volunteers sitting at the front desk who were incredible. But I was like, you gotta be kidding me. Like, we're not gonna, and we weren't like able to figure out like like the mission, like it wasn't kind of working where we could see the entire list of people who had actually bought tickets. That that was like, I kind of like laughed it off as like, can somebody just give me a glass of wine? Because like this is crazy. Uh, but it ended up working out.

It all came through at the end.

Yeah.

Well, and Texas wine country is spread out. I mean, Texas is a huge state. Now we focused a lot on those hill country type of producers or someone in our backyard, but that's still for some of those places, a couple hours, so you know, getting here to Austin. What was the hardest part about coordinating? You mentioned like Wrangley Cats, but coordinating these people that are spread out throughout the hill country to converge on this one location.

I think part of it is that um they have so much going on so that even when I was sending them out instructions of like, you can bring your wine on the day, or if you're in Austin, you can drop it off. And like, you know, some of them just weren't necessarily like, you know, I had so many calls like, wait a minute, can I drop, can I bring it on the day? I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You could bring your wine on the day. Things like that. There happened to be one one person who forgot his wines. Yeah. And he had somebody, he had a, I'm not gonna name names wrong yet.

We see you wrong.

We see you wrong. I was like, uh, are you missing anything over here? So funny. I was like, of course, you know, like so funny. I think just you know, legit, like just the basic details, because you know, winemakers are often off doing other things and then to show up and be on time and you know, know when doors are opening and when to set up, you know, but a lot of them are just professional teams. So they come in, they've got their things, they know what to do. But yeah, that was pretty funny. Uh Ron had somebody come in pretty quickly behind him and bring the wines. There we go. I was laughing. I was like, you gotta be kidding me. Like they like, and uh, because that morning too, I jokingly sent out an email reminding everybody what time I was, don't forget your wines. And I put ha ha. Like uh, no one's gonna forget. No one's gonna forget their wines.

There's one. Yeah, that could be a problem if you gotta set up and I got anything to pour.

So yeah.

So when the weekended, the smoke is now permeating off, the dust is settling. When was that moment where you kind of had that aha feeling of we pulled this off?

I think so. After the Thursday event, a few of us um went to go grab like some snacks after that at a different restaurant. And I like, I think I started to get that glazed look, like, and you know, one of our group asked me, like, how do you feel? And I was just like, I feel like I'm in a fever dream. Like, did that week actually happen? Did I dream it? Did I did I dream it? Was it real? And I was so exhausted. So woke up Friday morning, did my normal thing, go to walk the dog, whatever, and I'm just like, I think it took me about a week to then reflect. And like I kept getting asked the question, like, but how do you really feel? And I was just like, I don't, I don't really know. And then it kind of hit me as I started to talk to some of the wineries and winemakers, like, oh, holy shit, like, oh, I did that. Like, that was a thing. So it took me probably about a week to realize I actually shut off like all my emails and basically my phone for two weeks. Yeah. I was just like, I can't talk to anybody, I need to recharge, get back to normal life, like yeah, not talk to anybody about this, not hear anybody's feedback, like I don't want it. Um, and then once I kind of came up for air after two weeks, I was like, huh, okay, yeah, here we are. What's next? What's next? Yeah.

It was fascinating to me to watch, to see all the fun social reels and media and things that were coming out after the event. It was funny because I I I had done so much filming here because I knew we were gonna do this episode and I was holding everything back. So it was fun seeing everyone else sharing all this stuff. And I'm like, I can't wait to share my stuff. I can't wait to so the viewers, you're getting to see some of that throughout this episode. But it was just really neat to see the post-event kind of hysteria going on and sharing of all these people's experiences.

And the different perspectives, you know, of what people, what their highlights were. Right. You know, whether it was a food purveyor, you know, Frank's churros or Laura's hot dogs, you know, whether it was that or um people loving the DJ, like so many younger women wanted me to get up on stage with them and dance. I was like, you can get up on the stage, like go for it.

I got a lot going on.

Go for it. Um, or it was, you know, people really highlighting one of the wineries or wines that was like their aha. Like they're like, oh wow. Like I had a few people, you know, there were kind of like hits that people didn't expect. Um and all the wine, all the winemakers, all the wineries, amazing, impressive. There were a few that people time and time again kept coming up to me saying, Hey Amanda, have you gone to try that? Now, being responsible for the event, I didn't get around to even half of the wineries. Um, you know, it looked like I was having glasses of wine on my hand all the time, but that was to settle you a little bit. Yeah, it was like you know, I I really didn't get to taste like I would have wanted. But um, you know, I know people kept coming up to me saying, Have you tried Jackie's peak pool over there? And I'm like, I know, it's great. Andy's um Alvarino that he had um over at a Dega Vino, like people kept saying, like, oh my gosh, you know, that's like a Vino Verde. I'm like, exactly. Like that is what the point is. So I think there were things that I was experiencing as well through other people's eyes and their perspectives that also helped when their reels and things were coming out. I was like, oh wow, like you know, you kind of look at it and you're like, there was a buzz here and there was energy, and uh, you know, it was just a different lens that I wasn't able to see.

I love that because you were so focused from the organizer perspective and the details, making sure this connects here and these people were taken care of here. And so then be able to sit back and now see it from the consumer's viewpoint and their experience of it was like uh offer year.

Yeah, for sure.

Okay, so year one in the books. So now did you when did you start to think, okay, you know, I think this this really worked? Let's think about year two.

I realized after I came up for air after those two weeks that there was something here. I had, you know, anytime I've built a business or built something, I generally get like a gut sense that like I've about to be onto the precipice of something. I knew that starting Austin Winemeek, that the Texas bubble is about to burst in a good way in winemaking. And part of it is informed by life experience. Part of it was, you know, I lived in England for 10 years. I saw what happened with the South Downs before everybody started to, everybody outside of the UK started to know about English sparkling.

Yeah.

Um, and what was happening with the winemaking there. Like I was kind of there before that went. And I had the same sense that that's what's about to happen with Texas.

Okay.

And so I knew a couple weeks after, and when I started to go out to see the uh, you know, winery owners, winemakers, that they also thought there's something going on. And um, you know, I think a couple of things. Some of the winemakers had said to me, you know, the way we view you now is the face of Texas wine. So we're on board.

Yeah.

And I was like, what? Or like, you know, one of them had said, well, now you're a Texas wine influencer. I was like, uh, well, then I should get paid for that, but um, you know, so no, I mean, uh, all kidding aside, I started to realize that, okay, we have some momentum here.

There's a ball rolling.

And what's next? And I think, you know, we're filming right now on a Sunday afternoon, and uh last week, last Wednesday, the Decanter Wine Awards just came out. And those are huge wine awards in the world. And for folks who don't know, based out of London, I used to be a judge in there, like one of the judges. Cool. So um, I'm very familiar with the awards. And I knew there was a group of Texas winemakers, about 20, 25 of them, who had sent over a container of wines. I knew that. Um, and we were just all waiting to see, you know, what's gonna happen. And it is so exciting. Like four of our wineries and all four of those who were here, were present, uh, got gold. So, you know, we had a Degavino, Spicewood, who's Ron Yates. Um, we also have Ab Asteris and Turtle Creek. Yeah, they were all here. Yeah, and so we've also been talking about some things uh with the four of them about what's next, um, and highlighting them. And then there were several others that got silver and bronze. Now, this is the first time in the history that Texas has gotten gold. Yeah. So that is like, you know, there's some things where people are starting to watch and realize that there's a really impressive wine country here and some really impressive winemaking.

Impressive to get out there on that world stage and the world taking notice that not only Texas, but Austin being in the heart of that. And that's really exciting. Yeah. And yeah, to have that those four golds that they were all represented here throughout the Austin Wine Week is really exciting.

Very exciting. I had a friend who called me. She's a um, she's in the PR space out of California, and uh, she called me last week and she goes, I made it, I just saw decanter. And she's like, How many of those do you know and who were represented at Austin Wine Week? And I said, All four of them.

They're all my buddies.

All my buddies. And so she's like, No way. And I said, Yeah, they were all here, plus a plethora of others that uh placed and like I didn't I didn't have insight into who actually sent wines over. Like I had an inclination, um, but I knew that the container had gone over. Yeah uh yeah.

That's an exciting, exciting use for the Texas wine industry. Now, year two. So you got it on the books.

Yeah.

For my viewers, what was the what are the dates now for year two?

April 10th to 17th.

Okay, 2027.

2027.

And what made you decide I want to go ahead and lock these dates in this early?

I like to be a first mover sometimes. I like to people go, wait, is anything else happening? Oh, amazing.

They can plan around that.

Yeah, you're gonna have everybody else, you're gonna have to plan around. My dates are locked and loaded. Yep. I spoke to uh, you know, January over at um uh Texas Hills Country Winery Association to find out what they had going on. I spoke to some of the winemakers and I was like, all right, we're doing it. Um and not only that, uh, what is different for this year into 2027, we are going to be doing various events throughout the year in the run up to the big week. So um stay tuned for some of those. Um, some of them might be more formalized, sit-down dinner, some of them are gonna be more pop-up style. Um, and then um we have some partnerships that are happening this year that I can't announce yet. Um, but very, very exciting conversations that are going on. Um, and then you know, one of the other things is that um uh we'll have a presence at um the Texas Food Championships, uh, which is the feeder into the world food championships.

Yeah.

So I'll be there with um as a judge, as a food judge, but also uh uh with a couple of the wineries who are gonna activate there as well. Um and so that's very exciting that we'll have, you know, a kind of uh space dedicated to what we have going on as well.

Leveraging those partnerships into other events as well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Super exciting.

So now that we're on the books and you've got proof of concept down, and you kind of mentioned a couple of things, but what do you kind of have on tap for next year that you want to do a little bit different or bigger or better?

Yeah, um, definitely want the big tasting, like we had the SIP Texas. Um we are kind of ironing out some of those details right now. Uh, would like probably throughout the week to have some more education. Um, so maybe that's with industry, maybe it's consumer as well. Um, and you know, doing some partnerships there to think about how do we have, you know, we didn't have any master classes or anything here. It was really, that was not the vibe of it. Uh, but I think there's opportunity to improve on that. Um, there's also, I think, an opportunity to have a sit-down dinner this year. Um, and then we do, we are doing something which is more chef Texas chef led, uh, which is gonna be a lot of fun and very interactive. So that will be the following Saturday. So that'll be on the 17th. So we're gonna close out with that.

Yeah, that's your big pleasure.

Um, yeah, that'll be SIP Texas will kick it off. And then that food event will close it out. So, and then the passport, as I mentioned, just getting better if consumers don't necessarily want to pay the ticket price or come to one of those events and want to do their own thing. And so, you know, we're having conversations now with various retail outlets and other things to be able to um really highlight Texas wines throughout the week and become a true partner in that.

Yeah. Well, we've talked a little bit towards the consumer, and hopefully you guys have your dates saved now for April 10th to the 17th. Here to here. Go ahead and put it on your Google Calendar, whatever you need to do. But let's talk to the industry side for a second. So if there are people watching that maybe you're involved with Austin with restaurants or bars or even some winemakers, things like that, how can they say, I want to be a part of year two? How can they get involved and be a part of things?

Yeah, they can just reach out to me. I mean, conversations are starting now.

Yeah.

Um, and we'd like more retail restaurants, we'd like more of the trade, the industry to get involved for this next year. Um, and you know, I think we did change some some hearts and minds. There was, there was industry here.

Yeah.

Uh, we had representation and people were pleasantly surprised about what Texas is doing. Um, so yes, I think just reach out to me at Amanda at AustinWineweek.com, ping me on Instagram. I look at those messages. Uh so now would be the time because we're starting to, you know, anybody who supported us for this year gets first right of refusal. Okay. So um on anything we're doing.

The founders.

Yeah, they are. So um they were here from the ground level, and they know I've been sitting down with a few of especially the winemakers and telling them what's in store. Uh so you know, same with industry, same if you're a buyer somewhere, if you want to get involved or the education side, or maybe a Psalm group or a tasting group, happy to have those conversations.

Okay, so year two is previewed. We're getting excited about that. Let's, I want to just sit down in a time machine for a second. And let's go forward five years, and the fifth annual Austin Wine Week has just completed. How would you hope that you've really affected the story of Texas wine and this local industry here in Austin?

I hope that um not only Austinites here, people who live here, are buying more Texas wine, tasting more Texas wine, supporting uh some of the wineries, whether they're in Hill Country or beyond, they're going out and using their dollars to support local. But I also hope that um this becomes more global, that we start to see um industry and other consumers coming into Texas and really taking Texas seriously and starting to recognize what amazing winemaking we have here, what amazing land we have here, uh, and really putting their, whether it's their words, their journalists or critics or what have you, or just consumers really putting their dollars behind it and coming to support Texas. Uh, you know, we're we're sitting here, we're filming during the middle of the World Cup.

Yes.

And before uh we sat down, we were watching there's a Spain game going on, uh Spain and the uh Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and we were just talking about how funny it is right now seeing all these Europeans or folks from around the world that are coming and trying things that are Texan. And so, you know, you're seeing Buckies, you're seeing um chips and queso, you're seeing like Tex Mex for the first time. Well, why not Texas wines? Right. You know, we're all here doing that. And so I, you know, I really hope that um I'm part of the story to put Texas further on the map so that the next time when people are going to a store, to a restaurant, that they think, you know what, I'm gonna skip over that French section. I'm here in America, and let's go to Texas.

Let's think local.

I have something else to share. Okay, yes, yes. Um, so if people follow my Instagram stories, they may have seen. Uh this week I was on a plane. I flew from Austin to Fredericksburg. Uh and um then landed in Fredericksburg and then uh went and tasted over at Invention Vineyards, um, you know, met with the team over there, uh Ryan and Ashley. And uh Ryan's a winemaker who does the sparkling program with his team for Heath. Uh and you know, fantastic. But um you know, if people really want a unique high-end luxury experience and to leave for Millionaire out of Bergstrom to get to uh Fredericksburg or Kervo, yeah uh we are doing that now.

Really?

Yeah. So uh that stay tuned, but um, we're starting to put people on these, you know, uh uh like wine flights. Yeah.

Gives a whole new meaning to wine flights.

Fly, sip, and stay. And we're also in uh partnership with a hotel out there, so um yeah.

That's it. Keep your eyes open for that one coming. That's really cool. Follow Amanda's socials and uh Austin Wine Week to hear some of those things. So I love that. Well, I'll tell you what, there are a lot of places in Texas that we can go to different wine festivals and different things. What is it that you would say really characterizes Austin Wine Week as unique and different that people would say, I've got to get April 10th to the 17th, 2027, put on my calendar and be in attendance next year?

Well, I think one of the things is what we talked about before is that the winemakers are here.

Yeah.

Um, and we're bringing a piece of wine country here into Austin. Uh so that's one thing. And it really is wine-led. Yes, we have food components, yes, we want people to experience that cuisine, but it really is wine-led. Um, so I think that's one thing. I think also the the vibe of it, the uh, you know, anybody is welcome, everybody is welcome. And, you know, for next year we're gonna have some interesting surprises. Yeah. So it's not, I don't think, your tried and true wine festival, so to speak. Um, and you know, we're not putting out wines that we wouldn't be proud of. Uh, all the winemakers, uh, and myself included. So, you know, I think sometimes we go to some of these things and you're paying for them, but you're like, oh, I wouldn't normally drink that. You know, I can get that on the shelf for X dollar amount. That's not what we're aiming for. And we're just aiming for people to have a really good time and find something that they they love. You know, we we talked about Austin Wine Week and the events and um having it be something near and dear to my heart. And this was the first year, the inaugural year. It really is part of a bigger vision. It it was like I wanted to test the waters. So it was kind of my petri dish to see if I could get people out in Austin, see if I could get the winemakers out, see if we could get people really interested in what is going on with Texas. But it's really part of a bigger vision to support the Texas ecosystem as a whole, here and abroad.

Yeah.

Uh so stay tuned. There are some other things coming up that will possibly be branded Austin Wine Week, possibly something else. Yeah. Um, and uh, you know, I am, and I I guess I can say this because I also own the URLs for Texas Wine Week and SATX Wine Week.

There we go.

There we go. So uh stay tuned.

Yeah.

There could be something else coming. Um, you know, this was just a foray into my true bigger vision of how to support Texas through not only the dollars that are supporting the winemakers, um, and uh, you know, again, the ecosystem of the farmers to the purveyors, like um, you know, Sean over at uh, you know, Mickey's mustard, like, you know, everybody who's doing these things that really need to get in front of a different consumer and have us start thinking differently about the choices we're making, um, but also to support Texas on a bigger scale.

It's just incredible to see how Austin Wine Week has become this really fascinating petri dish for the local ecosystem, supporting everyone from boutique winemakers to local farmers, and even some of those fun ones like artisanal mustard, fun hot dogs. And they all come together in this blend that really makes our local culinary scene so vibrant. All right. If you want to get in on the action next year, and trust me, you do, you're gonna want to go to www.austinwineweek.com. And you'll be able to look at things like that passport option that lets you kind of choose your own adventure throughout the week for next year and get all the details of the event there. Now go ahead and mark your calendars. Remember, it's gonna be April 10th through the 17th, 2027. And don't forget, when you go to those events next year, make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast, Texas Undervine. All right, now for the section of the podcast when I would normally do a wine wanderer bottle reveal. But because of the special nature of this podcast, I don't have one specific bottle. So instead, we are raising a glass to the event itself and to Amanda for her vision with this, but also to four specific wineries that participated in the event who just brought home historic gold medals from the Decanter World Wine Awards in London. Now, that would be Spicewood Vineyards, Av Astris, Adega Vino, and Turtle Creek Vineyards. It's such an incredible honor for them to be notified that they won these awards and to lift up the Texas wine industry on the world stage at an even higher level, that we are making incredible fine wine in this state. It truly is not just great for those wineries, but it's a massive win for the whole state. So you better run, don't walk, to go to those four providers and taste some of those amazing wines that are now being praised on the world stage. But don't let that neglect all the other great wineries we have here in Texas as well, because that rising tide does lift all ships. And I can tell you that there are world-quality wines at many wineries we have here in Texas. And that's what Texas Wine Month is all about. Such a great opportunity to go taste amazing wines this month here in our backyard. And Austin Wine Week is just one of those ways to bring some of that here to our city. But whether you live here in Austin or whether you live in different places of the state, or even if you live outside of the state, make sure you get here or order some of those wines online. We should be celebrating Texas and lifting up our incredible Texas wines. All right. As we get ready for year two of Austin Wine Week and we look for some of those fun pop-up events that Amanda hinted at throughout the coming year, I want to hear from you. Head on over to the YouTube channel if you're not watching this video, or if you are, head down to the comments and leave me a comment. I want to know what are you looking to see when it comes to local wine representation in Austin bars, Austin restaurants, or even some of your other city's restaurants and bars. And while you're there on YouTube, make sure you like, follow, and subscribe to the podcast. And if you want to support the show and get even more insider tips, make sure you join our community on Patreon. You'll get access to some extra things that the average listener doesn't get. And with that, my time is up. So don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be notified anytime a new episode is released. And until then, happy trails and bottoms up, y'all. Thanks for listening to Texas Undervine. We strive to provide you with the best information about wine businesses all over Texas. Be sure to check out our website at Texasundervine.com and follow us on our socials at Texas Undervine to stay up on all the upcoming episodes. Please email us with any suggestions or feedback. Also, contact us if you're interested in donating, sponsoring, or advertising on the podcast just to help us cover our expenses and bring even more great info to you in future episodes. Above all, travel safely and most especially, drink responsibly.