Blumenthal Farms (Hill Country)

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I've always said we don't have our own wine, we have our own experience. So you come for the experience, not for the wine.

An exploratory podcast to scout out the best 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 that will 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. We don't have any big events coming up at this particular moment, so I'm just gonna dive straight into the episode to tell you a little bit about a place that is unique as the hill country itself. And later on, make sure you stick around because I will be revealing my wine wanderer bottle towards the end of the episode. So I'm gonna keep that one under wraps for just a little bit, but first you're gonna want to hear about this great location. So today we are headed out to the Wine Road 290, just a little bit east of Fredericksburg, to a place called Blumenthal, and we're gonna be visiting Blumenthal Farms, where I was lucky to be able to sit down with their owner, Chelsea Chapman, today. Now, Chelsea's story is all about taking a leap of faith and building something that brings the whole community together. She set out with the idea of building a concert venue, but she stumbled on this little town that had so much incredible, unique history to it that was just waiting to be uncovered. So the town of Blumenthal was actually an old cotton farming community, and Chelsea did an amazing job of honoring that past by building the main tasting room here at Blumenthal Farms to represent or kind of look like an old cotton gin. And inside that tasting room, she really focused on this industrial chic kind of look, focusing on a mixture of both the old and the new. She even spent two years obsessing over all of the fine gold details, as well as the reclaimed old buildings that were there on the property. One of those unique buildings there on the property, next to the main tasting room, was an old general store that has been there since around 1900 and has actually also served as a dance hall and a bar in its lifetime. And now it has a brand new life as a scenic part of this particular location and destination. And she wanted to make sure that it wasn't just about the wine, it was about your experience when you go to Blumenthal Farms. So she's made a point of trying to make something for everyone when you go there. Whether you want to just sit back and smoke a cigar, maybe have a little glass of bourbon, try a fun cocktail, or maybe sit down for a round of pickleball. It is a place built on the idea of the revolving door of change, meaning that there's always something new to experience when you go to visit there. Ultimately, she just wants you to feel relaxed, as if you're just sitting out on the back porch with your friends, enjoying a relaxing afternoon. Where is Plumonthal Farms? I'm glad you asked. It is actually about halfway between Fredericksburg and Stonewall on the Wine Road 290. It is nestled just right on the banks of the beautiful Pertinalis River. And as I said, it's built on a historic cotton farming area that was actually started in the 1870s by two brothers, complete with the original structures like that dance hall and a saloon. And this isn't just your standard run-of-the-mill winery tasting room. They want to be a dynamic hill country all-in-one destination, blending that historic feel with a fun modern adult playground. Now, as for what you're gonna drink when you're there, because it's about the wine on this podcast, they do feature a locally curated selection of several different Texas Hill Country wines, along with over 50 global wines, craft beers, cocktails, and fun pours and things like mimosas and shambongs. In addition to that, if you are a cigar aficionado, they also have a separate cigar lounge that's beautifully decorated, very upscale. You can go in and you can have cocktails there as well with your cigars if you would like. They have a lot of different cigar options outside the cigar lounge. They have a putting green where you can do a little bit of putting if you like that. They have cornhole, beautiful view of the Pertinalis River right there as well. And in addition to the putting green and the cornhole that I just mentioned, like I said earlier, they also have a couple of pickleball courts there on site. So if that's your thing and you want to get out there and play a little pickleball, you can do that there too. And they have this beautiful outdoor amphitheater right overlooking the beautiful Petinalis River in the background. And they host things like live music, dance nights, seasonal beverage pairings, and different local social gatherings there. And if you're a party person and you really want to get fun and have a great party time with your friends, you can go to the Wildflower Saloon, which was that old general store, and have this dedicated kind of party atmosphere vibe to really enjoy some wine or some drinks with your friends and not worry about if you're bothering people around you. They really hit a sweet spot of elegant casual, perfect for group outings, weekend getaways, or anyone looking for a lively, multifaceted stop right there along 290. All right, that's a little bit about Bleemethal Farms. Let's go more deeply into it so you can see a little bit of the video from the tasting room and the locations they had there in the video if you're watching this on YouTube, but also be able to hear now from Chelsea Chapman, their owner. So let's go to that interview and learn more about her story and this incredible destination. Howdy, Vine Trippers. So I'm here at Blumenthal Farms in their tasting room, and I'm here with Chelsea Chapman, and I'm really excited to be able to share with you the story of this location and get you excited to come out here and visit this. So without further ado, let's turn our attention to Chelsea. So, Chelsea, welcome to Texas Under Vine. And uh I would like to know a little bit about your wine story. So, what kind of got you started into this industry?

Well, um, so I lived in Midland and just needed a change because my parents were in Bernie. Okay. And so um I was moving this way. I didn't know where I was going, I didn't know what I was doing. And then I started to think, you know, I want to own a concert venue down here in the hill country. And so we started looking for property, and my dad was just driving down the road and stumbled across Blumenthal, and we looked into it. Well, then when we bought it, I put an amphitheater in and we kind of were just dressing around the ideas of what I need to do, how do I bring people here other than concerts? And learning that this was an old town, it kind of just placed it all together. And so I decided to do um each bar, uh each building as a bar. So that's kind of how it started. And I knew with uh cigars that you needed bourbon, and so I couldn't do just wine. I had to do everything. So that's kind of like where it started.

So you have multiple buildings here on site. Can you tell me what each of those are?

So we have the tasting room, which is our big wide room that we do our tastings in. Yes. And then we have the cigar bar and saloon. Saloon's gonna be more upbeat music, it's gonna be fun, party town for all the bat track girls, and then cigar bar is gonna be more speakeasy and kind of just relax and smoke your cigar and hang out.

Okay. And you could get drinks, the same drinks in each one, or you have to serve different things.

So the tasting room has everything we offer on the menu. Okay. Cigar bar is gonna be cocktails and beer, and then saloon is um canned cocktails, some wine, some beer, but it's a little shorter menu, but you can walk across the property with all your drinks. So you wanted something in the tasting room and wanted to take it over to the saloon, more than welcome.

So visitors could go from place to place on the property.

Grab a drink and walk around and explore. That's what we always say.

Okay. And when did you purchase this property?

In 2021.

2021. Okay, good to know. And then you that's when you started the process of building everything out and planning everything. When did you open your doors?

In 2023. And June 6th. So we just celebrated three years. Oh, okay.

Congratulations.

Yeah, so um, it was a long process of getting it ready. I mean, it was an old town, there were buildings here, so we just had to remodel those. We had to build our tasting room. Um, Blumenthal is an old town, uh, cotton farming community. And so I built our tasting room to look like a cotton gin because there once was a cotton gin that sat here. Really? Yeah. So um, I kind of wanted to bring the old in with the new and kind of give the town a new flair, and that's why it's called Blumenthal Farms.

Yeah, that was that was gonna be my next question. So, was it was there a history to this site and this location? You gave us a little bit of that.

Yes, and it's so cool because we still have some neighbors that come and they're like, we used to shop in that general store right there, and it's really neat to hear everyone's stories of what they remember when they were little kids and what it looked like. And um, I actually met a lady that lived here for years and and raised her family, and she gave me all the old pictures, all the old um land deeds from 1800s. So it's really cool. So the general store, well, actually, our two-story building on the property that is not being used right now, it was built 1870-ish. Okay, and then the general store was built in 1900 and was made into a dance hall. But apparently they couldn't compete with the other dance halls, and so they made it half bar, half general store. So you could go get flour and a beer if you wanted. Yeah, so it's a really neat um property, and they later built the house, and that was about 1930s. Okay, yeah, so we've remodeled all of them, and they're kind of just sitting and having a new flair and a new meaning now.

Yeah, so you built this tasting room from the ground up, yes, but the other buildings were repurposed.

Yes, and we actually moved the two-story from the front of the property to the back.

Okay. And how big is your physical layout here? How big is the property?

Seven and a half acres.

Okay.

Yeah. So we have our amphitheater, which goes down to the river, and so we're riverfront, and you can sit out there and hang out and um view the river. The best part of the cigar bar, it's its patio, because it has the best view of the river. Oh, okay. Yeah. And then we have Putt Putt and Pickleball as well.

Really? Yeah. So all kinds of amenities on site. Beautiful view. I we're sitting here towards the back of the tasting room, and I'm getting to look out, listeners, over this beautiful valley with the river right here and everything. So, yeah, definitely a gorgeous view.

Yeah, with the rain, it's been amazing. So it's running. Yeah. Yeah, and the river's running. Usually, sometimes you can step across those rocks, but right now it's it's running for us.

Yeah, lots of water back there. Awesome. So, as a wine destination here, you offer, we talked about wine and things like that. And since most of my listeners are really focused in on the wine aspect of things, tell me about how you choose the wines and the things. How do you curate the wines that you choose to bring in?

So we hold a few catalogs. We hold Joseph Wagner's catalog. Um, we hold Oliver, the sweeter wines, Moscato, and then the Senegal. And um, we're about to bring in Stagley's catalog. So we really curate our wines about around like being exclusive. And yeah, you can find some in the store, but you can't find all of them. And that is one thing that I wanted everyone to come and still be able to have a tasting or, you know, branch out and have a cocktail tasting or a bourbon tasting, but still have that aspect of the hill country and the wine country and at that aspect. So I really wanted to bring in great wines. So a lot of them are ones I love. But but there are some great ones, and we've had some great winemakers come and, you know, show us their wines, and we've tasted them, and we're just we add it a lot and then slowly take it away to see what people love. Yeah. And then we just really stick with those ones that are very popular and that you really just cannot go out and get every day. And so they're more boutique-ish, but we also do have uh local wines as well. So we have a local menu and we sell those as well, but we also have some great Napa in California and and the Olivers, Indiana. And so it's just kind of all over the map.

So it's a true wine destination, and then you can get things from all over and even the local. What are some of the local wineries?

We have Texas Heritage, Messinahoff, William Chris. So we have those, yeah. And they do pretty well. And and there are some people that come in and only want local, and so that's why we do offer, and we offer also non-alcoholic um wines. So for our pregnant girls.

So do you have kind of a a range of wines? You already mentioned that you have like Moscato, sparkling, some things like that. Do you have, I guess, roses, whites, reds, yes.

We're kind of all across the board. So we have a ton of reds, a ton of whites. We have blends. I mean, we have pickpool and rose. Rose is my favorite, so we have to have that. I love a good cab, but we have a lot of Merlot's and all that good. So San Jovese, we we kind of, it's all over the board. We've kind of we try to be very extensive at a sound. Yeah.

How do you go about choosing those? Do you do people from an insider's perspective, do the wine representatives come in and you get to taste different things and decide if you want to sign on to their catalog, or how do how do you negotiate those types of things?

Well, you know, at the beginning, I didn't really know how that was gonna go. I kind of was like, I love this, let's put it on the menu. And and then we had a ton, you know? And then we started noticing what was popular and what's not. And a lot of that's your server, you know, what they like, they'll they'll show you. But we we started making tastings and learning that people love this wine or this wine or that one. And Joseph Wagner's kind of stuck because he's son of Kemus wines. They're just, I mean, they know how to make it, you know. And so and Oliver's a great sweet wine. Or they're all Moscato, some are made with real fruit, some are not. There are pies in there. And so it's just, it's we've kind of just learned as we have gone and learned what people love and don't. And then we're able to know when new winemakers come in and we sit down and and have tastings with them, what our customers really want and what they don't, you know. And so that's kind of how we're picking and choosing right now.

Are you open to still adding more things in, or you do kind of think you've curated things down to the room?

No, I'm always I I think forever changing. I mean, if you've been with us for three years and you've come for three years, you love that it's for the revolving door of change, you know.

So there's some old standbys that you can count on, but there's always some new things coming in.

There'll always be those staples, but I do like we are um right now forever changing our bourbon tastings. So we're bringing in big brands, but once we get rid of those, we'll bring in a new one. And so we have our staple, our premium in Texas uh bourbon tastings, but then we have our exclusive that are a revolving door of change. So yeah.

Well, let's breach out for a moment then because you you've led us down that path beyond the wine. So you you mentioned already you have some bourbon, you have beer and things like that here. Tell us about some of those offerings and and what can people get?

Yeah, so we um also offer beer tasting. So it's a um four flight beer tasting, and you can choose anything off of our draft. Okay, and that's kind of all over the place a lot. Right now, we have a lot of um Texas, we have a local, we have fat ass local wine beer. And um, so we have you can choose any from eight and choose four. And then we do our cocktail tasting, which are our top three cocktails, and um, so you get a little bit of all three.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

So there's a lot of choices for people when you buy beer.

So it's more, I've always said we don't have our own wine, we have our own experience. So you come for the experience, not for the wine.

Well, and I like that it meets if you have a especially a big party of people, there's so many different tastes in that party. It's hard sometimes to narrow down. So this could be a great place for people who like beer. You can get that. If you like bourbon, you like wine, you got so many options to really meet the needs of a of any large group.

Yeah, I've always wanted to be accommodating for everyone and not kind of just single it out for just oh, only wine or beer or you know, cocktails. There's and that's why we have brought in a non-alcoholic line. So we have beer, wine, and mocktails. And so if you're sober or you're pregnant, you're more than welcome to join the party as well, just in a different way, you know?

I gotcha.

Yeah.

Well, what are some of the most popular drinks that that customers?

So espresso martinis is by far our number one. And then we have we make our old fashioned a very special way. So that is the top player, and then our mint cake mule will have to be right in there, which it's a Moscow mule, which is yeah, get a little bit of mint, a little more mint to it, and really kick it up a little bit. And then we have a Blumenthal tea that's very refreshing. It's a um honey whiskey with sweet tea and lemon. So it's and then my manager probably makes the best Letty Mary around. So I would go up to bet for her.

What are some of the popular wines that that people like to choose from?

Um so Argancia, which is an Italian Moscato's, our popular sweeter wine, which and so is Oliver. So Oliver blueberry. And that's made with real fruit.

Okay.

And then it'll have to be the Romance Rose, which was is a French rose, and then um probably the Caemas blend and um the thread count cab or the quilt cab is probably right up there. Okay. So, and then uh S. Valley Savion Blanc, which is New Zealand. So yeah, it's just all over the board. I mean, it's just like which what do you like? I'll tell you what you'll want.

Yeah, yeah, I got you. Do you do any kind of wine cocktails as well?

Um, no, we we used to do our slushy machine, but that's kind of played out.

Yeah, I guess.

Yeah, well, I think when you have such a variety of choices, it's kind of everything is just kind of on the board, you know?

You can dilute yourself a little bit too much. You really want to focus in on those things, I got you. So tell me a little bit about the Wildflower Saloon and some of the fun, kind of high culture things that you've got going on there, and things like shambongs and shot skis and stuff like that.

Well, it originated as a um general store. And then I was like, people are not coming out here to shop like that, you know. What are we gonna do? How do we change it? And we would have some fun girls come in here, but then we would have customers that didn't want the fun, you know? They wanted laid back more elegant, yeah. And you know, so I was like, I need to create a room for them, and that was the perfect spot because the general store wasn't really working out, and so then I had this whole building, and so I just kind of put some color into it, and then one day I saw shambongs and I was like, that's it. And then um an employee said, I can make a shot ski, and I was like, Let's just make this a whole party in there, you know? And so it's fun music, it's um uh like batch rat music, so it's like party music, and then you just have a party, you know, and so do a shambong, do a shot ski. Kind of just dance and let loose and be as loud as you want in there, you know? And then if you want to come over here and relax, you can and go back, you know, take a rest, go back for more. It's just the property gives you so many different experiences. And so you can sit out on the back porch, you can come in here and hang out with live music, or you can go be crazy in the saloon. So it's just kind of a little bit of how are you feeling today kind of thing.

What's your mood like?

Yeah.

So uh I don't think I've been to a winery yet that has shambongs and shot skis. So for my viewers who may not know, fill me in on what some of that is.

The Shambong is a champagne flute, and then you just shoot it.

Okay.

And then the shot ski is um four shots together with your friends, and you just take it at once. Yeah, it's like they originated from like a ski, yeah. We just made ours out of boards. Okay, that's all right.

Yeah, so four people can line up. Four people you go up and off.

Yes, and so it's a fun time. I mean, yeah, a lot of them are coming in with tours, so we're like, you're not driving, have fun, you know. Go ahead. So yeah. So it's turned into a really good time in there, and you go in there and you're like, Oh my gosh, the building's shaking, and it's just a good time.

Yeah, completely, I'm sure, different atmosphere from the cigar bar.

Oh, yeah. It's real chill and relaxed, and yeah, just smoking cigars and hanging out, and we put some rock music in there, so it's kind of just a different vibe. Every every um building has a different music too.

So well, I'm not personally a cigar person, but I'm sure we do have some people out there that are cigar enthusiasts. So tell me a little bit about what you have serving on there.

So we have 62 different varieties of cigars. We have local cigars, we have cigars all over the place. I mean, it is you if you smoke them on a regular basis, we probably have something for you. But if not, we have uh our guy in there, Jose, he can help you and let you know what you might like, hopefully. But we have flavored and non-flavored, and you know, we have smaller nubs so that they're faster smoke. And so we just have a little bit of everything for you in there.

And I've I know I've talked to friends of mine who are really into cigars and they love cigars and wine together. So you can maybe come here, grab some wine, and then go over there and enjoy cigars and wine together.

And then we also have our certain cocktails that pair well, and he can tell you which ones to like with the old fashioned or the tea or whatnot. So there's just certain especially yeah, cocktails that pair well with cigars.

Interesting. You think about wine and food, and at least I just have never, but again, I like I said I'm not a cigar person, but to think about pairing certain things and almost like a Somalier of cigars to be able to pair certain things with certain drinks.

Yeah, and we also we have um those pairings, and then we also once a month do um some sort of food and wine or some sort of food and cocktails, and so we kind of mix it up. So every month we have a different pairing.

Yeah. Well, let's move into this tasty room for just a moment, where we are here. It's very elegant, very gorgeous, very beautiful. Dean and I, the first thing we noticed when we walked in is just there's so much to look at, beautiful chandeliers, all kinds. I love all the skulls on the wall behind you there. There's so much to see, and it's very elegant and chic. So tell me a little bit about what you you were telling us before the interview a little bit. But tell tell the viewers a little bit about your thought processes of putting this place together and some of the work and the details and things that you put into it.

Yeah, so I don't know. I just wanted it kind of different from everything else around here, I feel. And so I wanted it just like an industrial chic, is what I called it. And so I wanted those industrial, like our floors are not, you know, colored. They're just very you see the paint marks on it, and it's industrial. And then I brought in that gold, you know, and it's all about the detail. And so my bathrooms are my favorite spot. So if you ever come, go to the bathrooms. I have one tour guide that takes all the groups into the guy's bathroom because that's the best. I love it. But yeah, so like just little every little detail mattered to me. And it for two years, that's all I worried about was detail.

So yeah, yeah. And you put a lot of work into all the the we were talking about the chandeliers earlier and all the things that you put into making it.

1200 pieces. So it was it was a lot, but it was well worth it. Well worth the weight, well worth all the hard work, you know?

I think it looks great. So you also have some other amenities on site. You mentioned a moment ago, pickleball and putt-putt and things. Tell me about some of that.

So, like I said, we wanted to create an experience here at Blumenthal. And so we do have the pickleball courts, we have put putt. I mean, we've even brought on mahjong, so we have open play mahjong. So there's just like a little bit of everything for everyone. I mean, we have outdoor games, we have an axe throwing um machine. It's like a big blow-up axe throwing thing. And so it we put it out on weekends, but yeah, we just wanted people to come and feel like it's home or like you're on your back porch, or you know, just feel relaxed and have fun and really enjoy your time and your experience here.

And are those things that people need to make reservations for? I know pickleball is very popular these days, it's sometimes it can get crowded.

Do people need to make reservations for reservations for pickleball, but that's it. And it's free. And we do have paddles for rent, but it's free to play. And um, yeah, just to reserve, just in case there is somebody coming. But we have a lot of locals that come early in the morning, so they just get it out of the way. It gets too hot during the day.

And for people that want to do the miniature golf stuff, do you have the equipment for that?

Yeah, so that's all there right behind the cigar bar. So that's just more of an enjoyment. It's it's not a huge um green, but yeah, but it's just like a little fun little extra thing. And then we have cornhole, and that's all there too.

Cool. Yeah, and then you talked about your amphitheater. So what kind of events and things do you host here?

So we've done dueling pianos, we have private parties, we've done what we actually have a wedding on Friday, we have rehearsal dinners, we do mixers for other um local companies and other companies, and we have a smaller stage here that they can put their bands on or whatever they need. Our amphitheater is more for you know sitting and hanging out. But if when we have our bigger concerts, the stage is closer to the river. So you're looking down at it. So yeah, so we have that, but we also have a smaller stage in case your event needs a band, a smaller band and needs to be up on top of the property instead of down by the river. Yeah. Yeah.

Do you host like live music and things like that here sometimes as well?

So Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is live music. So we have it every afternoon. Yeah. So we have a local guy come Friday and Sunday, and then on Saturday it's someone new every Saturday.

So when one of my viewers decides they want to go check out Blumenthal Farms and they come here for the first time, what can they expect when they come in? Should they come into the main tasting room? Or I mean, I know when you pull into the parking lot, you've got different spots. What should they do when they first arrive on site?

Yeah, I would say come into the tasting room, kind of see what's going on there. We always encourage either grabbing a drink and walking around the property and kind of figuring out where you want to be, or just hanging out in here. We have no rules. I'm just kidding, we have some, but we love for it to just be wherever you want to be. So um we encourage grabbing a drink or looking at the menu and grabbing a seat in here, grabbing a seat outside, or even going to one of the other bars. Or if they would like to just explore the property and kind of fill it out and see where they'd like to be, we encourage that as well.

Okay. Well, can you walk me through? Somebody comes in, they say, I want to do a tasting, like a wine tasting here, or walk me through with some of your tasting flights. We talked about the beer one a little bit earlier, but what are some of the tasting flights?

So we have the Oliver, and that has four wines out of Oliver. You'll get a melon mint, um, a peach pie, apple pie, and blueberry. So two of those are made with real fruit, and um, so you have less sugar additives, they come off more refreshing. And then two are pies, and they taste like a pie. So it is intense, but yeah. Um, and then we have the Senegal. So Senegal's more known for their cabs, but they have Senegal and Details by Senegal. So we um have two Sauvignon Blancs and two cabs that will come with that. And then Joseph Wagner will have um Sauvignon Blanc, a rose, a red blend, and a cab. So that's more of your mix for your dries. Right. So we have two dry tastings, one sweet.

Okay. So it gives them a variety of if you want to go all sweet or if you want to go with uh standard. So the Wagner is gonna be your standard kind of a white and then a rose and then a couple of reds and that color.

Yes, and we are um about to bring in Stag Leap. Well, it's it'll be more of a mixture as well, but it'll have like the Chardonnays and just different wines from those Joseph Wagner's. And so um you'll have more of a variety with those two.

Do you have any tasting flights with Texas or local wines?

Yes, so so we kind of let you pick whatever you want. Okay, so we have ours, yeah. So we have your Texas list, I mean, or your local list, and then you can go through that and pick the four wines you'd like.

Okay. And what does a tasting typically cost?

Um, anywhere from $25 to $30.

Depending upon what you've chosen. Yes, sir. And then we talked about the beer flights.

Are there any kind of tastings or anything for some of the spirits or yeah, so the it's just the cocktail tasting that we have, and um that's a mitten yolder, espresso, and the tea.

Okay. Yeah, excellent.

Yeah, so you get the top three cocktails that everyone likes. Yeah, yeah.

Do you have any kind of food options here, or can people bring their own food if they wanted to?

So all foods welcome.

Okay.

And then we do have snacky items like charcuterie, smaller cheeses and meats, and then crackers, popcorn, pretzels, all that good stuff. Yeah, chips.

Okay.

Yeah.

And we talked a little bit about reservations for the pickleball a moment ago, but do people need to make reservations for tastings or to come in or think anything?

More than welcome to make a reservation, but as you see how big the property is, we kind of we don't it's not a must because we kind of want you to come and see where you'd like. We get a lot of people that reserve and then never come back to the table because they're like, oh, we want to be over here, you know. And so we encourage people just to come and um get a seat. We have tons of space.

So much room to accommodate.

Yes. So either outside, inside, other buildings. So we just have a ton of space. So we just encourage, unless it's probably eight or above, and you would love a seat, then yeah, holler at me, email me, call us, whatever you need to do to get that seat. But if it's just five or six, we just tell you to come on in.

Okay. And which kind of leads me into the next question of do you have any maximum group sizes? No. Okay. So how can somebody, if they have a big group of friends and they want to go take over the wildflower lounge and or wildflower facility to really just uh knock it out there? Do they need to reserve anything with you or just let you know you're coming or Yeah.

So if you want to reserve it, if you had 30 people, let's say, and you wanted all in that room, I could reserve that for you, whatnot. As long as we're not having a close down to the public, it's free. Um, closing down the public is a whole other thing, it's private. So yeah, we've um we've done this whole side of this uh building, the tasting room, and kind of reserved it for a whole party before. So we had 35 ladies from Round Rock about two or three weeks ago. And so we did this whole side for them.

Nice in a little mixer in this side.

Yeah, and we pre-pour drinks. So we also give that option as well. If you have a bigger party and you're you know you'll be here at a certain time, you can pre-order your drinks and your drinks will be ready when you walk in.

Okay.

Yeah, so no, no wait time.

What are your operating hours?

We are our Thursday is um 12 to 6. Friday is 12 to 7, Saturday, 11 to 7, and Sunday, 12 to 5.

Okay, excellent. And then off on those other days.

Yes.

What are the best times would you say to come visit? What what are your busier and slower times that you've noticed?

So um Fridays are a good like it's not slow, but not super busy. And then um Saturdays, it is pretty busy in here from at 12 and 2. We usually are pretty packed with tastings. Okay. And then throughout the day, it kind of calms down, but it's everyone's so spread out, it doesn't feel like it. So yeah, it's busy on Saturdays, but it's not to where you can't move through here kind of thing. I gotcha. And then Sundays are real laid back. Thursdays are our ma mahjong days, so it gets pretty exciting with all of our ladies. Interesting. Yeah.

Yeah. That's a game I never play, but I've always been fascinated by it.

It's mine and they get intense.

They are dude.

And we have tournaments. So we have four tournaments a year.

Oh, wow.

We just started that this year. So our upcoming tournament is in July, and then we'll have one in October and December. So we're bringing in about a hundred ladies, hopefully, for that. That's crazy. So we kind of like to go all over the board with different um aspects of the mahjong, the dueling pianos, just different events kind of thing.

Yeah, I like that. So, what about family friendly or pet friendly? Sometimes people need to bring their kids along or they have their their dogs or things like that.

Yeah, so both. And dogs can come inside, outside, kids can come inside, outside. Whatever you'd like. We're we're not we're not um strict here. So we kind of allow everything. We just uh we just ask that no kids throw rocks. We've been experiencing that lately, but you know, they love it, but our our blades on our mowers don't.

A lot of glass on this taste room for sure.

So yeah, there we have a ton of rocks in our landscaping and but when we go to mow, it doesn't really care for it.

So bad, yeah. Do you have any kind of for those people who come here frequently, do you have any kind of membership club or VIP club or anything like that?

Yeah, so we don't have any memberships, but we do have rewards. So if you spend a certain amount, you get um ten dollars off, a hundred dollars, ten dollars off, that kind of thing.

So how does that program work?

Um you do it's either through your credit card or your phone number, it'll catch it, um, our system. And so you just do it like that, and it'll let you know you have points. And if you want to use them or keep adding to, it's kind of why not.

Okay, so the more you come, the more you build up and save that credit towards things and purchases.

And then hopefully get free wine tasting.

There you go, you gotta like free.

Right?

So, since your experience here is deeply tied to a lot of the events and the things like that, how do people keep track of some of the live music that you have or those mahjong tournaments or things that you have going on here?

So, our social media is exactly where you need to be if you want to find out uh events or what we have going on down the road. Open play mahjong. So our website, Facebook, Instagram, and then the CBB has a lot of our events that are posted. And so anything social media you can find.

Okay.

All of our all of our events coming up or pairings that we have that month. And then, yeah, so just check on our socials.

Excellent. Do you have any plans for future growth? I know you're probably only three years old, so you're trying to kind of settle into where you're at right now. But do you have kind of dreams or thoughts of things you'd like to expand or add or do different ways?

Yeah, so we eventually want to do something with the two-story. Um I have had so many ideas thrown around, so I can't really tell you which one, but um yeah, we want to expand that. We would love to do something there and just kind of expand our week as well, you know, make our Thursdays more lively. Um, nighttime events, it kind of gets a little uh scarce around here after seven. So I would love to do something like trivia nights or more involved on the nighttime activities, but it's just a slow growth.

Maybe some extended hours with evenings and things like that.

And we would love to bring in different experiences with our beer reps or uh liquor reps or wine and just have different types of events to where you could come and experience those different lines and make it a full day of function specialized tasting dishes and things like that. Yeah. Yeah.

So cool. Well, there are a lot of great places in Texas for people to go and drink great wine. So, what would you say really sets Bluebenthal Farms apart from a lot of other places that my my watchers and listeners would say, Oh, I've got to I gotta go check that out as soon as I can?

I think it is the variety that we offer. So we have the great wine, but we also have great cocktails and great beer, you know. And if you like a cigar, we have that too. So it's just the variety of what we offer and that you're not just secluded just to wine if you have a big group with you and not everyone drinks wine. So you a it's a little bit of everything, you know, for everyone. Yeah, we try to just, you know, accommodate people and give them the best experience possible. So I think that's like our main goal as a company, you know. Just and like I said, feel at home like you're in your backyard kind of hanging out.

The thing that really sticks out to me from my talk there with Chelsea is how she has created a true destination that breaks the traditional winery rules by offering such an incredible variety of drinks and activities to make sure that every single guest who comes to Blumenthal Farms feels right at home. Now, as always, make sure you check out their website before you go visit them. It's www.blumenthalfarms.com. And on their site, you're going to find info about those mahjong tournaments that Chelsea spoke about in the interview, live music schedules, and information on those incredible amenities they offer, like that Riverfront Amphitheater, as well as the pickleball courts and maybe reserving those. And don't forget, when you go to see them, make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast, Texas Undervine. All right, the time of the episode has arrived for me to reveal my wine wanderer bottle from this particular location. And I had so much fun in that tasting room. The wine wanderer bottle that I walked away with that I got there was the Napa Valley Quilt. This is a Cabernet Sauvignon. Really incredible, great wine, part of that Wagner collection that Chelsea spoke of. It's got a deep flavor as you'd expect from a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, lots of bright fruit. It's exactly that kind of bold, rich red that pairs exactly with that elegant industrial chic atmosphere that Chelsea has managed to create there at Blumenthal Farms. So make sure you try that one when you go to see them. Alright, just like Chelsea packed up her things in Midland and set off on her brand new adventure and created Blumenthal Farms. It is also time for me to pack up my gear and head on down to our next vine tripping destination. Now make sure and check out our Patreon for lots of extra exclusive content there. Helps to support the podcast. And make sure you're watching this video on our YouTube channel. If you're only listening to this on audio, you're missing a huge array of beautiful visuals that I lay over with the video. You're gonna see a lot of video of the tasting room, a lot of these locations, things like that. So check out that video version as well. And while you're there on YouTube, make sure you like, follow, and subscribe. All right, for our YouTube comment prompt this week, I want to know what are you most excited to go check out first when you go to Blumenthal Farms? The cigar bar? The saloon for some of those shotskis or shambongs, or maybe even those pickleball courts? Drop a comment below and let me know. And as always, a huge shout out to my Patreon subscribers. You help keep this journey through the vines moving forward. Thank you. And if you're interested in Patreon, go check that out. And with that, my time is up. So don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be notified any time 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 Texasundervine 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.