Haak Wines (Gulf Coast)

[00:00:06] Howdy Vine Trippers, I wanted to take just a moment to talk to you about the Texas Wine Lover website and their phone app for both iPhones as well as Google devices.

[00:00:16] You can actually download this app, put it on your phone, or just go to the website if you're not an app person.

[00:00:22] And if you ever want to go visit some of these great locations that we've been talking about in the podcast, this will give you great information about the place before you go.

[00:00:30] And you'll be able to find other wineries in the area.

[00:00:33] So if you want to make a day of it, go see several other places as well.

[00:00:37] You can search by region.

[00:00:38] You can sort the listings.

[00:00:40] Find ones that are kid-friendly, family-friendly, even ones that host RVs.

[00:00:44] All kinds of different sortable listings you can find there in that app and on the website.

[00:00:49] You can find other things as well in the area like restaurants, accommodations, maybe events that are going on at the different wineries.

[00:00:56] So it's your one-stop resource that goes hand-in-hand with this podcast to be able to find those great places to go visit.

[00:01:04] So check out the Texas Wine Lover website.

[00:01:07] It's txwinelover.com.

[00:01:09] Or go to their app.

[00:01:11] You can find it on the Google Play Store or the Apple Store as well.

[00:01:14] Enjoy your trips among the vines and use that app.

[00:01:17] Welcome to Texas Under Vine, an exploratory podcast to scout out the best Texas wine country has to offer.

[00:01:47] 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.

[00:01:56] Each episode will cover a different vineyard, winery, or wine-related business operating in Texas.

[00:02:01] You'll hear interviews, descriptions, and details about each location that will excite you to visit and experience them for yourself.

[00:02:09] Ready to plan a wine tour?

[00:02:10] Use these episodes to choose the most interesting spots for you and your friends to check out.

[00:02:15] Most of all, enjoy hearing about the rapidly growing wine industry in the state and what makes our wines and wineries the best.

[00:02:36] Howdy, fellow Vine Trippers.

[00:02:37] Welcome to episode 50 for Texas Under Vine.

[00:02:41] Now, this past summer, I was actually able to make a road trip down to the Houston area.

[00:02:46] And it was actually about a week after Hurricane Barrel had hit and rolled through there.

[00:02:51] But I stopped on my way at Chapel Hill to visit Roland Taylor Vineyards, where I was able to assist with a Blanc Dubois harvest that morning.

[00:03:01] And had a lot of fun out there in the vineyard doing that.

[00:03:05] Again, if you've never been able to assist with a harvest, I always recommend you take a chance.

[00:03:10] Just talk to your favorite winery and maybe one of your wine club member.

[00:03:14] And ask, when is their harvest going to be?

[00:03:17] It's usually in late July, August time frame, somewhere in those ranges.

[00:03:22] And find you a time to go and volunteer and assist with a harvest.

[00:03:27] You only have to do it once.

[00:03:28] But it's such a great experience.

[00:03:30] They provide all the tools that you need.

[00:03:32] And you really get a feel for all the work and everything that goes into that amazing glass of wine that you get to drink there at your favorite winery.

[00:03:40] But I enjoyed my time there at Roland Taylor.

[00:03:43] And then I packed up and headed on down into Houston.

[00:03:47] And while I was there, I went to a little town called Santa Fe, which is kind of right in between Houston and Galveston, a little bit southeast of Houston, where I was able to visit Hack Wines.

[00:03:57] So Hack Wines is actually an incredible winery down there that's been there for quite some time.

[00:04:04] It was actually started in 2000 by Raymond and Gladys Hack.

[00:04:09] And that's H-A-A-K.

[00:04:12] And they've been running this winery for many years and done amazing things and set an incredible legacy for themselves with this winery.

[00:04:20] It's actually currently owned by a partnership, a group of men who came together and bought into the property.

[00:04:28] Raymond and Gladys have since kind of retired.

[00:04:31] And they still own a portion of the winery itself.

[00:04:34] But it's now being run by this other group.

[00:04:36] And of that group, one of the members is named Kyle Johnston.

[00:04:40] He is their winemaker.

[00:04:42] And I was able to sit down and talk to him a little bit.

[00:04:44] The interesting thing about Kyle's story that you'll hear in the interview is that he has a history himself dating back with Hack Wines in that he was a kind of a seller hand as he grew up.

[00:04:54] That was kind of his home winery.

[00:04:56] His parents were involved with the winery with Raymond and Gladys.

[00:05:00] And he was friends with them.

[00:05:02] And when Raymond and Gladys decided they wanted to let go of some of the reins, he was the first one they called.

[00:05:08] And so Kyle is now their winemaker and one of the owners there, one of the co-owners of Hack Wines.

[00:05:14] That was around 2020 when Kyle and his partner friends were wanting to start their own winery.

[00:05:21] So when Raymond called him up and offered him that opportunity, they couldn't resist.

[00:05:27] You'll find out more about this incredible winery and why it was a can't-miss option for them to, instead of starting their own thing, to take over Hack and really build on the legacy that's already there.

[00:05:38] One of the really cool things about Hack Wines and this legacy that's left is their Madera line.

[00:05:45] So they are one of only a handful of wineries in the United States that can make a Madera-style wine and still use the name Madera to name that wine.

[00:05:55] And one of the reasons is that they are grandfathered in.

[00:05:58] And what I mean by that is that when the EU first took over in the European Union and the wine industry there wanted to kind of distinguish themselves from certain places,

[00:06:08] they began taking certain regions that were very famous for styles of wine.

[00:06:12] Champagne being probably the most well-known of those.

[00:06:16] And barring anyone else from using that name unless it's produced in that particular region.

[00:06:22] And so we can call things sparkling wines here, but we can't use the name Champagne if it didn't come from Champagne.

[00:06:29] Well, with Madera, Madera was typically made.

[00:06:32] It's a Spanish wine off some islands, the island of Madera, just off the coast of Spain that's been being produced for years.

[00:06:39] And it became one of those protected names as well.

[00:06:42] But if any wineries were using it previous to that ruling by the EU, then those wineries could apply to be grandfathered in and still use that name and that label.

[00:06:54] And so they did.

[00:06:54] I think Kyle told me there's only four, he thinks, wineries in the United States that make a Madera-style wine that can still call it Madera.

[00:07:03] And Hack is one of those.

[00:07:05] So kind of a cool little legacy there.

[00:07:07] And they're Madera.

[00:07:08] They make two different kinds.

[00:07:09] Really amazing wines.

[00:07:11] They also make some port-style wines as well that they can still call port as well.

[00:07:16] Again, same restrictions, same things.

[00:07:17] But they make a regular port and a white port, actually, there at Hack.

[00:07:22] So they're very famous for those fortified wines and that legacy that they have there that predates the EU because they're grandfathered in.

[00:07:30] So if you aren't familiar with Madera and Madera wine, it's a really interesting story and a really interesting way that this wine is produced and made.

[00:07:40] There's actually a YouTube video on the Hack Winery website that goes into some of the background and history of Madera and kind of some of the way it's made.

[00:07:50] And I encourage you to go to their website and watch that video if you really want to check this out because it's really interesting.

[00:07:55] But basically, it's kind of like a cooked wine.

[00:07:58] So the wine itself is actually heated in a special room called an estufa where the wine is baked and cooked in this room over a period of time to give it these beautiful caramel and toffee notes to the wine itself.

[00:08:13] And it's a very interesting process.

[00:08:16] Raymond Hack actually built that estufa room back in 2005.

[00:08:21] They used to have a different oven that they used for it.

[00:08:23] Now they have a whole room that Kyle said, kind of like a greenhouse or a sauna kind of a room, I guess, is a better term for that.

[00:08:30] But it's just basically a room where they can put those Madera wines in to produce them.

[00:08:34] Now, in addition to those amazing fortified wines and dessert wines, they actually have some great reds, some great whites, some dry and still and semi-sweet wines as well.

[00:08:45] They have rosé.

[00:08:46] They have a lot of different selections, really the whole gamut for any wine palette there at Hack Wines.

[00:08:51] And since this interview was done and the episode is now released, they've opened up their second tasting room in Brenham, Texas, which is more in the central Texas area.

[00:09:03] If you can't get all the way down to Houston, you can always go check them out in Brenham, Texas.

[00:09:08] And Kyle was telling me they have a really cool visual projection system that they're using.

[00:09:14] You'll hear more about that in the interview there at that Brenham tasting room that is something like no one else has in Texas.

[00:09:20] And so it's definitely even if you've been to Hack Wines in Houston, it's worth it to go to Brenham to check out this experience.

[00:09:27] And did I say experience?

[00:09:28] So another thing that Kyle is really heavily involved in is the Texas Renaissance Festival.

[00:09:34] Now, when you see Kyle in person, you'll see why.

[00:09:37] He looks like a Viking straight out of the Nordic foothills.

[00:09:40] But he loves dressing up and doing the whole Texas Renaissance Festival.

[00:09:45] And he actually applied to get Hack Wines to be the official wine of the Texas Renaissance Festival.

[00:09:51] And they have mead as well.

[00:09:53] And so they have every year at the TRF, they have a booth set up called Odin's Table where they do these tastings of the wines and the mead.

[00:10:02] And I have heard that it is an experience.

[00:10:05] I have not yet had a chance to do that.

[00:10:07] The Renaissance Festival is going on right now.

[00:10:09] And I'm already making plans to try to get out there while it's on this year to go visit.

[00:10:13] For the main reason of going to see Odin's Table and to see this amazing experience that he talks about.

[00:10:19] You'll hear more about it in the interview.

[00:10:21] So another thing that I really love is that Kyle said they have an acronym for kind of their motto there at Hack Wines.

[00:10:28] And it's kind of becoming spread around a little bit.

[00:10:30] It's kind of this little code word.

[00:10:31] It's Slotwame.

[00:10:32] And you're like, what is that?

[00:10:33] It does sound like a weird Viking kind of word, right?

[00:10:36] Well, it's an acronym that stands for spreading love through wine and memorable experiences.

[00:10:42] And that's their goal.

[00:10:44] So they have not only an amazing experience there in Houston and Santa Fe,

[00:10:48] but now they have this cool visual experience there at their Brenham Tasting Room.

[00:10:52] And of course, the Texas Renaissance Festival I mentioned a moment ago.

[00:10:55] And during the interview, Kyle actually had a wine glass that had that in kind of Viking letters on there.

[00:11:01] S-L-T-W-A-M-E.

[00:11:03] Slotwame.

[00:11:04] So remember that.

[00:11:05] That's the secret code word when you go to see Hack.

[00:11:07] So in addition to those amazing wines, they have actually planted some vines on site.

[00:11:13] Their old vineyard has suffered some issues and they've started to replant it.

[00:11:19] And they're planting some of the Walker varietals that I've mentioned before on this podcast a few times.

[00:11:24] These are vines that are Pierce's disease resistant.

[00:11:28] And that's a big problem there, especially in the Houston area because of the high humidity.

[00:11:34] Major, major issue.

[00:11:35] And so if these vines really take hold and do really well, it could take them into a whole nother level for the amazing wines that they're producing there.

[00:11:44] And more options and more things that they can do.

[00:11:47] So they're excited about those vineyards that they have planted there.

[00:11:50] And while you're going down there, they actually have rooms that you can rent and stay with full access to the winery.

[00:11:55] So if you're looking for a place to stay when you go down there,

[00:11:58] there's no better place than to hang out at Hack Wines and stay in one of their locations.

[00:12:04] They have a treehouse area that kind of overlooks some of the winery.

[00:12:07] But check out those rooms to rent as well.

[00:12:10] But even with all of those really cool things,

[00:12:13] I think one of my favorite things I saw when I was there was in their tasting room.

[00:12:17] They have what are called Napa wine dispensing machines.

[00:12:21] And they're these kind of like it's like a wine ATM.

[00:12:24] You go up to it and you can see the different bottles that they have in that particular one.

[00:12:28] You get a card from the wine steward and you can load that up with credit.

[00:12:33] And then you go over to the dispensing machine.

[00:12:35] You put your glass under the spout of the one you're looking for.

[00:12:38] And you can swipe your card and pour as much as you want of each of those different wines.

[00:12:43] And it's a really cool way to sample different things.

[00:12:47] You can do your own guided wine tour right there at that wine dispensing machine.

[00:12:52] You can even do as I did where I found a few, tasted several different wines.

[00:12:56] I went back to my table, enjoyed a glass for a little bit,

[00:12:59] and then decided to get another glass of something else.

[00:13:01] So I was able to go right back over, slide the card, and get a little bit more.

[00:13:05] So it was a really cool setup and something you have to check out when you're there in Santa Fe.

[00:13:10] Now after I had finished tasting those amazing wines out of that Napa dispensing machine

[00:13:15] and gone around and seen the property and everything,

[00:13:17] I was able to go downstairs into this really cool renovated wine cellar that they had downstairs.

[00:13:23] And I was able to set up and meet with Kyle Johnston, the aforementioned winemaker,

[00:13:29] and one of the owners there at Hack Wines.

[00:13:31] He was just fresh off the harvest of those very Blanc Dubois grapes that we had harvested earlier in the day.

[00:13:38] He actually had come back and was processing those while I was upstairs tasting great wines.

[00:13:44] So he had just finished.

[00:13:46] He was able to sit down with me and talk to me all about some of the history of Hack

[00:13:50] and some of those great wines and his story here.

[00:13:53] It's a really fun interview.

[00:13:54] Let's go to it now.

[00:14:02] Howdy, Vine Trippers.

[00:14:03] I'm here with Kyle Johnston of Hack Vineyards and Winery.

[00:14:08] And we're here to talk a little bit about this great location here outside of Houston.

[00:14:13] And I'm excited to bring this to you.

[00:14:15] So Kyle, I'm going to start with you a little bit here.

[00:14:17] So tell me a little bit about yourself.

[00:14:18] How did you get into the wine industry?

[00:14:20] Do you mind if I fill my glass first?

[00:14:22] I would love if you do that.

[00:14:23] Please.

[00:14:23] I actually brought this.

[00:14:24] This is a 2008 Jacques Madera.

[00:14:26] Whoa, nice.

[00:14:28] We're going to get into the Madera stuff.

[00:14:30] I can't wait to talk about some of that.

[00:14:32] This has been a long day.

[00:14:34] So I think we've earned it.

[00:14:36] Maybe a big boy pour.

[00:14:38] We started today with a little bit of a vineyard experience.

[00:14:43] So we were out at Roland Taylor Vineyards.

[00:14:46] And we were harvesting Blanc Dubois today and spent the morning all doing that.

[00:14:50] And then as soon as Kyle got back here with all of those grapes, he went immediately into the press and started crushing those and pressing those and getting them all set up.

[00:15:00] So here we are at the end of the day.

[00:15:02] Kyle's been working all day long.

[00:15:04] You deserve it.

[00:15:05] Enjoy.

[00:15:06] When you woke up in Austin?

[00:15:08] In Austin this morning.

[00:15:09] Yeah.

[00:15:09] Made the trek over to Chapel Hill.

[00:15:11] So you've had the eventful day as well.

[00:15:13] Yeah.

[00:15:13] It's been a lot of fun.

[00:15:14] I had a blast being out there in the vineyard.

[00:15:16] Three and a half tons is what we...

[00:15:18] Three and a half.

[00:15:18] Really?

[00:15:19] Okay.

[00:15:19] Okay.

[00:15:19] So those bins were heavy.

[00:15:21] Yeah.

[00:15:21] Some of the heavier bins we've gotten this year.

[00:15:24] Weighing in at like right at about a half ton.

[00:15:27] Good.

[00:15:27] I know that Taylor at the vineyard had talked about he was a little nervous after those vines hit really hard with the 21 freeze.

[00:15:34] And he was really nervous about their production and things like that since then.

[00:15:38] Yeah.

[00:15:38] It hasn't completely bounced back to what...

[00:15:40] Because I think at one time they were getting like 10 tons off that vineyard.

[00:15:43] Wow.

[00:15:43] And we're down to three and a half, four or so.

[00:15:46] Yeah.

[00:15:47] Yeah.

[00:15:47] But...

[00:15:48] More than you expected though?

[00:15:49] More than we expected.

[00:15:50] Okay, good.

[00:15:50] And last year was like two and a half.

[00:15:52] So...

[00:15:52] Yeah.

[00:15:53] And that was a machine pick.

[00:15:54] I feel like we got a better...

[00:15:56] Yeah.

[00:15:56] ...better yield this year.

[00:15:58] Just...

[00:15:58] I'm not sure how great that harvester picked.

[00:16:01] Right.

[00:16:01] Because you have to dial them in to basically each vineyard.

[00:16:04] So anyways.

[00:16:05] Well, with the hand pick, you get a little bit more of the eyeballs on the actual grapes and make sure you get bad stuff out.

[00:16:12] And hopefully you get a little higher quality.

[00:16:13] Yeah.

[00:16:14] And even with the machine pick, you do get some berry maceration.

[00:16:18] So you're getting more juice in the bins right off the bat.

[00:16:21] And that juice is in contact with the skin.

[00:16:24] So you're automatically...

[00:16:25] You're already pulling off tannin and stuff like that.

[00:16:28] And phenolic compounds.

[00:16:29] Yeast and all kinds of stuff.

[00:16:30] That you don't necessarily want in your white wine.

[00:16:33] Okay.

[00:16:33] So for us, it just works out better to have Blanc hand harvested.

[00:16:37] Yeah.

[00:16:38] Well, it was a ton of fun.

[00:16:39] I loved being out there.

[00:16:41] Listeners, if you ever get a chance to get out and do a harvest, highly recommend it.

[00:16:45] Go to your favorite wineries.

[00:16:47] Talk to them.

[00:16:47] Say, hey, when do you harvest?

[00:16:48] How can I help?

[00:16:49] And I'm sure you'll find a lot of opportunities to do that.

[00:16:52] Okay.

[00:16:52] So what was that question?

[00:16:53] Okay.

[00:16:53] So back to you.

[00:16:54] So I want to know a little bit about what got you started in the wine industry.

[00:16:58] I would say I started here.

[00:17:00] Okay.

[00:17:01] My grandfather was best friends with Raymond and Gladys Hack.

[00:17:04] Yeah.

[00:17:04] And so when they opened their doors here, I was here when this place opened.

[00:17:08] Really?

[00:17:09] Yeah.

[00:17:09] In 2000.

[00:17:11] In 2000.

[00:17:11] So I have a history with this place.

[00:17:13] I've known the hacks my entire life.

[00:17:16] Brought up on that bottling line right there is where I started.

[00:17:20] And this used to be just barrel storage down here where we're at.

[00:17:23] Yeah.

[00:17:24] And there's some vents right there.

[00:17:26] And that smell was just radiating from those vents.

[00:17:29] Something about that smell kind of resonated with me, stuck with me.

[00:17:33] And so fast forward, you know, I did my undergrad at SMU and then worked in Dallas for

[00:17:39] a while.

[00:17:40] And then you start going through that point of your life where you're like, what do I see

[00:17:43] myself doing the rest of my life?

[00:17:44] What's going to wake me up every day?

[00:17:45] What's going to, you know, get me out of bed, get, get the engine running.

[00:17:49] And there's just something gratifying about a very old practice, human practice, you know,

[00:17:57] winemaking is over 10,000 years old.

[00:17:59] Uh, so something about that and the kind of grounding aspect of it that is just kind of

[00:18:05] rooted in human nature and, and it even in like all, all cultures, right?

[00:18:11] I mean, there's some form of alcohol, whether it was wine or me.

[00:18:15] And so, uh, that, that kind of attracted me to it.

[00:18:18] So I ended up going and getting my master's at Texas tech.

[00:18:21] Okay.

[00:18:22] And, uh, studied viticulture and etiology.

[00:18:23] Mentored under Kim McPherson while I was there.

[00:18:26] Shout out K Mack and Spencer, uh, and high man Juan as well.

[00:18:32] Those guys are just as integral in that operation over there.

[00:18:36] Um, and then went to work for Eric Hilmy.

[00:18:40] Okay.

[00:18:41] Which was, uh, awesome.

[00:18:43] I mean, he's, if you've ever gotten a chance to meet him, one of the best dudes.

[00:18:46] And, uh, we still talk pretty regularly.

[00:18:49] Uh, he's hilarious, but, uh.

[00:18:51] Of Hilmy Cellars.

[00:18:53] Of Hilmy Cellars, yes.

[00:18:54] And then, uh, one of my old professors at Hellman reached out and him and some physicians

[00:19:01] in Avalanche were wanting to develop a winery in Coleman, Texas.

[00:19:05] Kind of a build it and you will come deal.

[00:19:08] So we started that from the ground up.

[00:19:10] That was Rancho Loma Vineyards.

[00:19:11] Okay.

[00:19:12] And they're still around.

[00:19:14] And then I went up and worked for Andy Timmons and Meadow went back up to the High Plains.

[00:19:20] And Andy's a great guy if you had a chance to meet him.

[00:19:22] Um, he's got a lot for Dera Vineyards and other projects up there.

[00:19:27] And, uh, integral in the Texas wine industry, grape growing industry.

[00:19:33] And from there, uh, Raymond called me up and was like, babe.

[00:19:37] Well, they called me babe.

[00:19:38] And, uh, cause my dad's Kyle as well.

[00:19:42] And, uh, say, look, you know, we're going to go ahead and put the winery up for sale.

[00:19:46] Just want to let you know.

[00:19:48] So, uh, we, I say we meet my partners and I, we had kind of been looking for something in the Houston area.

[00:19:54] It was going to be initially kind of a start from scratch deal.

[00:19:57] But, uh, when this came up, it was, you know, a little more turnkey operation.

[00:20:02] And, and there were some other pieces that kind of, uh, case my, one of our partners, case Keenum, he says it was a God thing.

[00:20:11] Uh, so there was kind of those types of variables that, that, uh, brought us all together, all together and just felt like this was the right move for everyone.

[00:20:20] And, uh, so that was back in 2020, right after the pandemic that we took over and this was the first place that we renovated.

[00:20:28] Wow.

[00:20:29] So here you are in the winery that you grew up at and you get the dream of being able to come up in and take the reins from the legacy that the hacks had, had established here and to build on that and make it your own.

[00:20:44] Exactly.

[00:20:45] Yeah.

[00:20:45] We're just, we're trying to make them proud, honestly, and, uh, and just build upon what they started and their legacy and just building on the hack name and the brand and, uh, trying to do some different things and, you know, the Renaissance fair and, uh, and just try to put our own little spin on it and take it to the next generation.

[00:21:03] Yeah.

[00:21:04] So you build on that foundation they had already established with things like the Madeira program and their ports and things like that, that they're known for.

[00:21:11] And, and a lot of that was just untouched.

[00:21:14] I mean, that's, that's not a broken, you know, thing.

[00:21:16] So we're, we're continuing that.

[00:21:19] I mean, you can't talk about Madeira in Texas without, I mean, we're the only one.

[00:21:23] Yeah.

[00:21:24] There's lots of other Madeira styles, but you know, we're the only winery in the state that can put Madeira on the label.

[00:21:30] Well, let's talk about that for just a second.

[00:21:31] Cause I don't know how many of my listeners really know about that.

[00:21:33] So, uh, the EU has, uh, for several different things, uh, wines in the European union, uh, put restrictions on naming things, um, based on those locations like port and champagne and Madeira and sherry and things like that.

[00:21:49] Um, but there's several wineries that are grandfathered in because you were producing before the EU started these regulations.

[00:21:57] And so hack is one of those for Madeira.

[00:22:00] Yes.

[00:22:01] Yeah.

[00:22:01] Okay.

[00:22:01] And, uh, from what I understand, we're one of maybe three or four in the entire country.

[00:22:06] Really?

[00:22:06] Um, they got grandfathered into that.

[00:22:07] So our, our initial government approved labels, uh, were in 2002 and, um, I think the EU passed those laws in like 04 or 05.

[00:22:17] Yeah.

[00:22:17] I think it was somewhere in that range.

[00:22:18] And, uh, so actually when we create a new Madeira label, we have to submit the original 2002 and like the letter that says that we're grandfathered in, in order to even get the, the approval of the new labels.

[00:22:29] So.

[00:22:30] Do you have the letter like framed or anything?

[00:22:32] That would be really cool.

[00:22:33] That would actually be really cool to, to get that done, put that, maybe put that at the end of the tour or something.

[00:22:37] As a talking point.

[00:22:38] Yeah.

[00:22:38] But, um, no, it's just, I haven't saved on a file.

[00:22:40] I'm like, it's very, very uncool, but.

[00:22:44] So that's really cool.

[00:22:45] What about port?

[00:22:45] Do you have the ability to do port as well then?

[00:22:49] We do.

[00:22:49] We have, uh, reserve tawny port that we do in the, the white port.

[00:22:53] Wow.

[00:22:54] Uh, so Raymond initially was, was making port and then he entered that into like a blind tasting or something with like a master song.

[00:23:03] And this was like circa like 2000, 2001.

[00:23:08] Mm-hmm.

[00:23:09] And the song is the one, it was like a master song said, uh, you know, your ports Raymond remind me of Madeira.

[00:23:15] And at the time he hadn't really researched that or heard about it.

[00:23:18] So he started and he, you know, he made his first Madeira in 2002, um, after kind of learning about the process.

[00:23:25] And I think him and Gladys took a research trip to the island and everything.

[00:23:30] So.

[00:23:30] Must be rough.

[00:23:31] Uh, but that's kind of how the Madeira was born was, is his ports were similar.

[00:23:37] Yeah.

[00:23:38] To the flavor profile of Madeira already.

[00:23:41] Now you make a, you make a, uh, Madeira from Blanc de Bois as well as one from Lenoir.

[00:23:48] Yeah.

[00:23:48] Black Spanish.

[00:23:49] Um, were those the same grapes that he was using at the time?

[00:23:53] Is it, those always been the same?

[00:23:55] Those always been the same.

[00:23:56] Yeah.

[00:23:56] I think one year they, they did like a blend too.

[00:23:59] It was like Blanc and Jacquez that was kind of like a, like a, yeah, just a blend of that.

[00:24:05] Yeah.

[00:24:05] I think we've got something back here.

[00:24:07] Oh, wow.

[00:24:08] Yeah.

[00:24:08] This is a really cool event space down here with, uh, all the library bottles and all the things like that.

[00:24:13] It's really cool.

[00:24:14] Yeah.

[00:24:14] We, uh, when we took over, all the bottles were in the library on the cage back here.

[00:24:18] And we thought we wanted to display them.

[00:24:21] Display them, put them in.

[00:24:21] Cause it's, it's literally the, the history of the winery.

[00:24:24] Um, so you can, you look over here and you can find like bottles from 2000.

[00:24:29] 2001.

[00:24:30] Wow.

[00:24:30] The history going all the way around the room.

[00:24:33] That's really fascinating.

[00:24:34] And then the lockers are, we have wine club members who have lockers.

[00:24:38] Oh, really?

[00:24:39] Cool.

[00:24:40] So, um, you got the Madera, you've got the port, um, and those things really established

[00:24:45] Hack Winery and were made, made, I mean, like you said, if there's only four places in the

[00:24:50] U S and you're the only one in Texas that can do, you can still call it Madera.

[00:24:54] I mean, people could still make their style.

[00:24:57] Yeah.

[00:24:58] Which there's, there's, we say we, there's some copycats out there trying to do what we're

[00:25:01] doing, but everybody knows.

[00:25:03] Everybody knows that's the original deal.

[00:25:05] So tell me for a second, and I don't want to branch off too far because I do have more

[00:25:08] questions about this later, but for Madera, um, how, I know that some of the history of

[00:25:15] Madera is that, uh, when they were bringing the wines across and the casks in the, the

[00:25:21] hulls of these ships, there would be months long voyages and the heat would bake and cook

[00:25:25] the wine.

[00:25:26] Are you sure you haven't seen the, the, the show, the Renaissance period?

[00:25:29] Cause that's almost like verbatim.

[00:25:30] No, I haven't really.

[00:25:31] Yeah.

[00:25:32] You know, when you're doing that, you try to have, you try to condense, condense the

[00:25:36] history.

[00:25:37] Yeah.

[00:25:37] Yeah.

[00:25:38] Yeah.

[00:25:38] Uh, and still make it somewhat interesting.

[00:25:41] Exactly.

[00:25:41] But, um, but the wine cooked in these casks and then it turned out actually better when

[00:25:47] they got here.

[00:25:47] And one of the things I will say too, I did cheat a little, I read on the, on your website.

[00:25:52] Uh, and so listeners check out the website cause there is a load of a history of Madera

[00:25:56] on there and about with the YouTube video and some other cool, fun things, um, that

[00:26:01] you got to check out.

[00:26:01] But so it's cooked in these ovens or nowadays they do, they, they cook the wine rather than

[00:26:08] they're not going to put on a ship for a couple of months.

[00:26:10] But so what's the process?

[00:26:12] You're kind of mimicking that process of building a whole, the ship during the summertime.

[00:26:16] Um, so we, we built a Raymond built, um, in 2005, uh, cause before he was making it

[00:26:23] in like a insulated cooler, I think, uh, with a heater inside.

[00:26:27] But he built the Estufa in 2005, essentially just the heated room.

[00:26:32] Imagine like a sauna for barrels, um, dry sauna for barrels.

[00:26:36] And we really have to kind of monitor the temperature cause if it gets too hot, some

[00:26:40] of that alcohol can evaporate.

[00:26:42] Um, so we keep it at around 110, uh, for about six months.

[00:26:46] I'm going to give away all the trade secrets, but, uh, uh, uh, and yeah, Aaron, during that

[00:26:50] time, we get a lot of water evaporating out of the barrel.

[00:26:53] Um, we sweetened it beforehand.

[00:26:56] That is a secret.

[00:26:57] Yeah.

[00:26:57] And, uh, because of that, like this, the wine's already kind of sweet, those sugars caramelize

[00:27:02] and, and creates this flavor profile.

[00:27:05] And it's so good.

[00:27:07] There's so much, I love the, your Madera.

[00:27:09] I love, um, all the caramely, the almond kind of flavors that come in there.

[00:27:14] Toffee, apricot, maraschino, cherry.

[00:27:17] That was so good.

[00:27:17] But, uh, uh, when we first, I mean, I had been drinking Madera for a long time, but,

[00:27:22] um, when I, when I got here and had like access to it, you know, you're, it's just, you smell

[00:27:28] it and you smell it for 10 minutes and it opens up and the layers and the complexity and

[00:27:33] you can just sniff it.

[00:27:35] And before you even take a drink, you know, for, for 10 minutes and, uh, yeah, it's, it's

[00:27:40] delicious.

[00:27:40] And when we take it to festivals and get in front of people who've never heard of it,

[00:27:44] they fall in love with it.

[00:27:45] No, I don't know that I have the patience to wait 10 minutes for it to open up.

[00:27:50] Start getting those salivation going.

[00:27:52] Yeah, exactly.

[00:27:53] Well, um, let's steer back for a second to the, the location of the winery itself.

[00:27:59] So, um, a little bit about some of the history of the location here.

[00:28:02] So we are in Santa Fe, Texas, which is a little, it's kind of a little Southeast of Houston,

[00:28:09] kind of on the way to almost to Galveston, not quite to Galveston, but Southeast here.

[00:28:13] So what was the, what did the hacks have in mind when they, they purchased this place?

[00:28:18] Did they?

[00:28:18] So this was their house.

[00:28:19] Oh, okay.

[00:28:20] They lived, they lived right here and they, um, in their first retirement, as we say,

[00:28:26] they, uh, they sold some property and then decided they were going to retire.

[00:28:29] And then in that retirement, they decided to start a winery.

[00:28:32] And, um, I think they were even in, they were in their fifties by then.

[00:28:36] And, uh, this is, this was their land.

[00:28:39] Yeah.

[00:28:39] And so instead of going out and buy some commercial property, they were like, well, let's just

[00:28:43] do it right here.

[00:28:44] We have the space, you know, we're not going to be that big.

[00:28:47] And, um, you know, four expansions later.

[00:28:52] Little did they know what was in front of them, huh?

[00:28:54] So, uh, yeah, they, that initial building that, uh, room that you were in earlier and

[00:28:59] then they expanded once, twice.

[00:29:01] And then we did a third, uh, expansion just to try to make room for some of the case goods,

[00:29:07] barrels, all that sort of stuff.

[00:29:09] You know, in winemaking, you need room to operate and, uh, work barrels and stuff like

[00:29:14] that.

[00:29:15] So we just, we needed a little elbow room.

[00:29:17] Yeah.

[00:29:18] Well, and you're expanding even further in that I heard a little bit of a sneak peek today

[00:29:22] that you're about to open a tasting room in Brenham, Texas as well.

[00:29:25] Is that correct?

[00:29:26] Brenham will be open by end of summer.

[00:29:27] Uh, so we're excited about that.

[00:29:29] Um, so if you're listening out there, go check out the new tasting room, Brenham, Texas.

[00:29:34] You can go get you some blue bell ice cream and then go get some great wine at Hack Wine.

[00:29:39] Yeah.

[00:29:39] Pour some of that Madeira over the vanilla, vanilla ice cream.

[00:29:43] Could you take that inside of the factory with you?

[00:29:45] Put it in a flask.

[00:29:47] Yeah.

[00:29:47] Yeah.

[00:29:47] Put it in a flask.

[00:29:48] That's awesome.

[00:29:49] Well, that's a really great experience.

[00:29:50] So you've, you've expanded, you can, you built on this place, you've expanded and now you're

[00:29:55] even expanding to further locations.

[00:29:57] That's really great.

[00:29:58] Yeah.

[00:29:59] And the Brenham location is going to have something really cool that we're working on.

[00:30:02] Um, our marketing director, Nestor, uh, is working on a, like a video mapped tasting.

[00:30:07] So, you know, you'll sit down at the table and we'll use projectors to kind of like project

[00:30:12] different things on the table, on the walls, um, to kind of like immerse you into the tasting.

[00:30:17] Uh, you, you can probably look up, there's been dinners done, uh, like that, but no one

[00:30:24] else in Texas is doing that.

[00:30:25] So, you know, you're always looking for ways to separate yourself and do something different.

[00:30:29] It's like a 4D theater.

[00:30:31] And offer, you know, a memorable experience.

[00:30:33] So that's, I don't even see all this glass, S-L-T-W-A-M-E.

[00:30:38] Yeah.

[00:30:39] Slotwame.

[00:30:39] That's our, uh, Slotwame.

[00:30:41] Slotwame is our like acronym, but it stands for, uh, spreading love through wine and, uh,

[00:30:47] memorable experiences.

[00:30:48] Nice.

[00:30:49] Um, I feel like that's a memorable experience and, uh, spread the love.

[00:30:54] I gotta get down and check that out.

[00:30:56] Cause you're adding in a whole not, I mean, you get the visual experience with wine because

[00:31:00] you're getting to see the color, you're seeing the, you know, the legs on the glass as you

[00:31:04] swirl and all these different things.

[00:31:06] But to add in even a greater visual experience there, you're, you really taste expanding

[00:31:10] your senses, um, beyond you've got taste, you got smell, you got visual.

[00:31:15] I mean, just a sensory overload.

[00:31:16] Right.

[00:31:16] Like for, for example, like let's say in the tasting, you're on the Tempranillo, right?

[00:31:21] All of a sudden, like, you know, maybe it transports you to Spain and talks about kind

[00:31:27] of the origins of the variety and kind of how it ended up coming over to Texas.

[00:31:31] Meanwhile, it's showing kind of like cool stuff on the walls and shooting over from Spain

[00:31:36] over to Texas and the high plains and why, why those growers planted Tempranillo, you

[00:31:41] know, and make it an educational, but yeah, memorable experience.

[00:31:45] So we're excited that, uh, we'll be able to offer something like that.

[00:31:48] I'm going to have to get Nestor on board to help me with some of my video stuff.

[00:31:51] That sounds really cool.

[00:31:52] Yeah.

[00:31:53] And you'll see, I mean, I don't, I don't want to, uh, talk too much about the tasting

[00:31:58] at the Renaissance fair, but that's unlike any tasting you've ever done as well.

[00:32:02] Well, perfect, perfect window.

[00:32:04] Let's talk about that for just a second.

[00:32:05] So I know you've got a big hand into the Renaissance fair here in Texas and, um, and y'all

[00:32:11] do, you're the official wine of the Texas Renaissance festival.

[00:32:15] So tell us a little bit about some of that.

[00:32:17] How did that get started and what does that look like?

[00:32:19] So real quick on how that started, it was just, you know, it was a few years, four

[00:32:23] years ago now, um, that I was there.

[00:32:26] I, I was just happy to be back this direction to be able to go.

[00:32:29] Yeah.

[00:32:30] Uh, I love the fair and, um.

[00:32:31] This is a little North of Houston.

[00:32:33] Yeah.

[00:32:33] Correct.

[00:32:33] Okay.

[00:32:33] Yeah.

[00:32:34] Just North of Tomball.

[00:32:35] It's in Todd mission.

[00:32:36] And then, um, you know, you're walking around like, man, we, you know, how, how can I

[00:32:40] get hack wine over here?

[00:32:41] Yeah.

[00:32:41] So I just started calling the offices and, um, one day somebody picked up, it was Darla

[00:32:47] Smith.

[00:32:47] She was the vendor coordinator at the time.

[00:32:50] And she said, you know, it's funny you call, we're actually looking for a wine tasting.

[00:32:55] You know, we offered it up to the current sponsor and they kind of declined to develop,

[00:33:01] to develop it.

[00:33:03] And, um, so I just kind of jumped at that opportunity and, um.

[00:33:07] Right time, right place.

[00:33:09] Exactly.

[00:33:09] And so we spent, you know, the first year as a vendor and then in the second year they

[00:33:14] asked us to be the sponsor.

[00:33:16] So this will be now our going into our third year as the wine sponsor.

[00:33:20] So we're just, we're grateful that they're, uh, keep asking us back and, um, they're,

[00:33:27] they're a great group of people to work with and, uh, it's just, it's a lot of fun.

[00:33:31] And then, you know, we get in front of a different crowd and get to share the wines

[00:33:36] with people that wouldn't have otherwise been able to have, you know, have them.

[00:33:39] And then, you know, the tasting that we do, we do it this year, we're doing it four times

[00:33:43] a day.

[00:33:44] Um, it's curated by myself and, but I'm kind of like in a Viking character and like a

[00:33:51] little bit of background of my character, which kind of segues into this story.

[00:33:56] Uh, and then we kind of weave a wine tasting into that story.

[00:33:59] And then we use, um, those like 3d fans.

[00:34:03] It's like a, it's a fan and it kind of projects this 3d image or it looks, you know, 3d.

[00:34:09] Can't touch it.

[00:34:09] Cause it's like, it's an LED fan.

[00:34:11] Um, but we use that as kind of like a mystical element to show, show some images.

[00:34:17] And then we summon Odin at the end and all this kind of stuff.

[00:34:20] So it's, it's, it's fun.

[00:34:21] It's cool.

[00:34:22] It's a whole experience of theater in and of itself.

[00:34:24] Yeah.

[00:34:25] Yeah.

[00:34:25] And you make specific wines just for the Renaissance festival.

[00:34:29] We do.

[00:34:29] So we developed, uh, the Huguen Immunin and then we have like a mead style white wine,

[00:34:34] uh, that we call the Hackmiod.

[00:34:36] And that, that's been real popular out there.

[00:34:38] Cause, uh, it's just, you know, the, the, I don't know if you've seen the back label.

[00:34:43] So the back label, everyone loves it.

[00:34:45] It says drink, fuck, fight.

[00:34:46] And, uh, and that's basically sums up Renaissance festival.

[00:34:51] And I mean, you know what I mean?

[00:34:53] It's just that, the debauchery and the mayor and the camp.

[00:34:55] Chaos and the love and the, the fun and camaraderie.

[00:34:59] And, um, so it's, it's, it's fun out there and, and those wines are, are well received.

[00:35:05] And, uh, we're going to do something a little different for the pubs and the taverns this

[00:35:10] year, but we'll keep Huguen Immunin at the Odin's table.

[00:35:13] Okay.

[00:35:14] So Odin's table is the name of the, the booth that we have out there.

[00:35:18] Um, so it's Odin's table by Hack wines.

[00:35:21] Yeah.

[00:35:21] Sure.

[00:35:22] And you can purchase tickets.

[00:35:24] I don't know if I'm sick.

[00:35:25] Yeah.

[00:35:25] I'll do a plug.

[00:35:26] Purchase tickets, uh, on the Texas Renaissance festival website, um, to do the tasting.

[00:35:31] Dust off your tunics, your boots, your, you know, your sword frog and all that fun stuff.

[00:35:38] It's a, it's judgment-free zone.

[00:35:40] We're, we're right next to the joust arena too.

[00:35:42] And, uh, the overlook the, the lake and the fireworks are go off right behind us.

[00:35:48] And so it's kind of like where everyone gravitates toward the end of the night to watch the fireworks.

[00:35:52] We're going to get our tickets to come, come check that out while you're there.

[00:35:55] Cause I want to see your presentation.

[00:35:56] So, so as a winemaker, what are some of your favorite wines to make?

[00:36:01] Like, well for here, I mean, the Blanc de Bois is kind of our flagship wine, you know, and we do a lot of different things with it.

[00:36:08] We do the dry, the semi-dry, we do the port, we do, um, and then the other half of that is the Madeira.

[00:36:14] Um, we, we use it in the blush.

[00:36:17] Uh, so it's, it's a real versatile wine that we use.

[00:36:20] Um, it can be kind of finicky as far as, you know, we've kind of found that the sweet spots like 19, 20 bricks.

[00:36:28] Um, I know a lot of the high plain stuff, people try to push for like around 22, something like that.

[00:36:32] But Blanc does really well.

[00:36:34] Um, more in that 20, no more than really 21.

[00:36:38] Um, the, the higher alcohol tends to kind of like make it a little unbalanced.

[00:36:43] Yeah.

[00:36:44] Knows with acidity.

[00:36:45] Personally though, I really love making rosés.

[00:36:47] Um, I mean, in the high plains, I used to have more access to like Sangiovese.

[00:36:54] I really liked making like rosé of Sangiovese.

[00:36:57] Um, we, we, last year we got, um, Grenache Syrah Morved, and so we did a Sonier.

[00:37:03] We bled off, we bled off that.

[00:37:04] And I don't know if you got, got a chance to taste that, but, um, we did a GSM rosé.

[00:37:09] Um, so I, I think it's, it's fun to do rosés and the different ways that you can make it.

[00:37:15] Um, this, the, the Sonier turned out really nice.

[00:37:20] Real, you know, it's got this nice like raspberry cream characteristic to it.

[00:37:23] And then we're going to do a rosé of Lenoir off of, um, the Roland Taylor Vineyards block.

[00:37:29] Okay.

[00:37:30] Yeah.

[00:37:30] Yeah.

[00:37:31] Yeah.

[00:37:31] Getting ready for that.

[00:37:32] Tarvest that one coming up soon.

[00:37:34] Two weeks.

[00:37:34] Yeah.

[00:37:35] That'll be here before we know it.

[00:37:37] You're going to come back for that?

[00:37:38] Maybe.

[00:37:39] I'll see.

[00:37:40] So as a winemaker, are there any varietals that you haven't yet really worked with very

[00:37:46] much that you would love to work with if you got a chance?

[00:37:49] Um, that I have not worked with.

[00:37:51] So when I was in Meadow, that was a custom crush facility.

[00:37:55] Okay.

[00:37:55] Um, so I actually felt pretty lucky that I got to work with pretty much every variety that

[00:38:02] Texas grows because, uh, you know, they were all getting sent to us and, and I was making

[00:38:07] wine for a lot of these winers in the state.

[00:38:10] Um, there was one that I made one, uh, wine for it was Graciano.

[00:38:17] Okay.

[00:38:18] Um, I'd like to work with that one again.

[00:38:20] That was just, uh, I mean, it was just like super easy wine.

[00:38:24] It just made like the best, you know, Carmenier is another one.

[00:38:28] Oh, Chisau.

[00:38:31] Yeah.

[00:38:31] Yeah.

[00:38:32] Portuguese.

[00:38:33] Yeah.

[00:38:34] I thought, you know, we could do some cool stuff with that and then maybe even experiment

[00:38:38] with doing like a Chisau Madeira.

[00:38:40] Oh, really?

[00:38:41] Yeah.

[00:38:42] Do you ever, and I thought about this a second ago when you talked about your Madeira.

[00:38:45] So you do the, the, uh, black Spanish and you do the Blanc de Bois.

[00:38:49] Do you ever, and your ports are both black Spanish and, or Lenoir and, um, Blanc de Bois

[00:38:56] as well.

[00:38:56] Yeah.

[00:38:57] The white port.

[00:38:58] Um, do you ever use, and you said that B, someone had Tariga in it.

[00:39:01] Do you ever use Tariga for the port?

[00:39:02] We haven't just because, uh.

[00:39:04] It's a standard port grape, so that's why I was curious.

[00:39:06] Yeah, no, that, that one's kind of been in the back of our minds.

[00:39:09] Okay.

[00:39:10] Maybe we'll try the Tariga because it's like traditionally, uh, a port or Madeira wine.

[00:39:15] Um, but, uh, it ends up just being so good as a dry red and we don't get a lot of it.

[00:39:21] Um, and we've made just, we've, we've had some pretty like gold metal Tarigas.

[00:39:26] Yeah.

[00:39:27] And so it's, it's kind of one of those things where it's like, do we want to make it as Madeira

[00:39:34] or just keep it as a dry red?

[00:39:36] Cause like, it's kind of developed, it's developed a little bit of a following.

[00:39:39] And, uh, if we got more of it, then I'd be open to it.

[00:39:43] But, uh, just the fact that it's, we get kind of a limited quantity.

[00:39:46] Gotcha.

[00:39:46] We just keep it as a, as a dry red.

[00:39:48] Yeah.

[00:39:49] I love a good dry Tariga.

[00:39:51] Not to say that, uh, it's not in the cards in the future.

[00:39:54] Yeah.

[00:39:54] That's what's cool about being small.

[00:39:56] Yeah.

[00:39:56] Is that we have kind of that freedom and flexibility to be creative with different lots.

[00:40:01] Yeah.

[00:40:02] And depending upon what harvest brings or different contracts and things.

[00:40:05] So cool.

[00:40:06] Um, well, what are some of your kind of favorite wines with customers?

[00:40:10] What are the ones that, I mean, just keep flying off the shelves.

[00:40:12] It's hard to keep it stock.

[00:40:14] They just people demand.

[00:40:14] So we're, we're about to be sold out of the, the Beesome one, which is a, uh, Beesome one

[00:40:20] is some kind of locally famous graffiti artwork out in Houston.

[00:40:24] Okay.

[00:40:25] Um, you can find it on the like 45 South.

[00:40:29] Yeah.

[00:40:29] And, uh, we, we actually contacted the artist.

[00:40:32] It was kind of hard to track him down because, uh, technically.

[00:40:35] Graffiti, they're tracking things.

[00:40:37] So, um, but we kind of, we got his backing and support to do it.

[00:40:40] Okay.

[00:40:41] We didn't just like rip it off.

[00:40:42] Yeah.

[00:40:42] Um, but the Beesome one.

[00:40:44] It has been really popular just because of it's recognizable, but, um, also the wine

[00:40:49] is fantastic.

[00:40:50] It's, uh, a blend, a 50-50 blend of Monte Pulciano and Toriga.

[00:40:54] Okay.

[00:40:55] Um, it's, that's the second iteration that we've done.

[00:40:57] The first one was a Malbec Merlot blend.

[00:41:00] Okay.

[00:41:00] Um, but the Beesome one flies off the shelves here.

[00:41:03] Um, the wine club members really liked the, uh, Astrolab, um, or Astrolabe.

[00:41:07] And then, uh, that was a, that was a Merlot Malbec blend as well.

[00:41:11] And then, um, the Cotton Candy Dreams.

[00:41:14] Yeah.

[00:41:15] Yeah.

[00:41:15] And I guess probably the top skew.

[00:41:17] Yeah.

[00:41:18] It, uh, it, it sells really sweet wines.

[00:41:20] Sweet wine.

[00:41:21] It's kind of, you know, the gimmicky thing, but, um, at its core, it's a very good wine.

[00:41:27] Yeah.

[00:41:28] Yeah.

[00:41:28] And, and the essence that, that you get of the Cotton Candy grapes, uh, or it's not really

[00:41:34] the Cotton Candy grapes, but it's the essence of like a Cotton Candy.

[00:41:37] Okay.

[00:41:38] So imagine just like drinking kind of a semi-sweet Rose, and then you walk past the Cotton Candy

[00:41:43] stand and kind of like catch that aroma.

[00:41:46] That's what it's like.

[00:41:47] You know, you don't really taste it heavy on the front, but it's like after you swallow,

[00:41:50] you kind of get on the back end.

[00:41:51] And, but that kind of stemmed from my partner, Austin Elrod.

[00:41:56] He, uh, he was like, man, have you ever had those grapes at the store?

[00:42:01] You know, I'm like, yeah.

[00:42:02] He's like, what if we need a wine that kind of tasted like those?

[00:42:05] And I was like, hmm.

[00:42:07] Okay.

[00:42:08] Okay.

[00:42:09] Challenge accepted.

[00:42:10] So we, uh, we did, we started with a small batch gone.

[00:42:13] Really?

[00:42:14] And I was like, oh man.

[00:42:15] Okay.

[00:42:15] So we had to make more.

[00:42:17] So, uh, it's, it's done really well.

[00:42:20] And it was actually the first AI generated wine label thing.

[00:42:24] Okay.

[00:42:25] Got in there.

[00:42:26] Yeah.

[00:42:26] So, well, and you know, some people might poo poo sweet wine.

[00:42:30] Some people might not.

[00:42:31] Some people, there's a huge audience for sweet wines.

[00:42:33] One of the things I really appreciate about your wine selection here is you have the gamut.

[00:42:38] So when people come here, they're going to get their sweet wines or their off dry or their dry wine.

[00:42:43] You've got a selection for anybody and they're hit their palates here.

[00:42:47] I don't want to say we've got 31 flavors, but, uh, we definitely have something for everyone.

[00:42:53] Yeah.

[00:42:53] Definitely have something for everyone.

[00:42:54] And then at the root of what we're doing is we're trying to make premium Texas wine,

[00:42:58] but, um, obviously there's a, a market for the sweeter, sweeter wines down here.

[00:43:03] So we, uh, got to make something for everybody.

[00:43:09] So you got, you got all these grapes.

[00:43:11] Uh, where do you source most of your fruit?

[00:43:13] I saw a little bit of some vines here on the property here.

[00:43:16] And I know we were at Roland Taylor today.

[00:43:18] Uh, but where all do you source all of your fruit?

[00:43:20] I'm sure you have to get more than just those little areas.

[00:43:22] Yeah.

[00:43:23] So real quick on this, uh, this was a four acre Blanc de Bois vineyard.

[00:43:27] Okay.

[00:43:27] And, um, it was mostly killed back by winter storm Urie in 21.

[00:43:33] We tried to salvage some of it.

[00:43:35] Um, there are still some of the older vines in the back and those are like 20, 25 year old

[00:43:38] vines, but we decided to go ahead and replant last year.

[00:43:42] So we've got Ambulo Blanc, Camonete Blanc, and, uh, Arante Noir and Pazante Noir.

[00:43:49] So two whites, two reds.

[00:43:50] Yeah.

[00:43:51] Those are Walker varieties.

[00:43:52] Okay.

[00:43:52] New stuff out of UC Davis.

[00:43:55] Um, so far it looks like, like the Pazante and Arante are doing a little bit better.

[00:44:01] Um, those are the ones a little closer up, which is nice because they're filling in a

[00:44:05] little bit better.

[00:44:06] Um, but you know, we, we put them in the ground last April, May, and it was where I was pretty

[00:44:14] saturated at the time, but then all of a sudden we hit a drought and, uh, I was like having

[00:44:18] to water a lot to, uh, cause it was just so dry.

[00:44:22] Yeah.

[00:44:22] And, but I think they, they rooted pretty well.

[00:44:26] And, but obviously that, that vineyard is not producing grapes for us just yet.

[00:44:31] Um, and really that it's, it's more of an aesthetic kind of vineyard for us.

[00:44:36] We'll probably, when it does start producing, we'll probably put it into like the pork production.

[00:44:41] Okay.

[00:44:41] But we source 90% of our grapes from the high plains.

[00:44:45] Okay.

[00:44:46] Um, and then the other 10% comes from just West of the Houston area, kind of where we were.

[00:44:53] Uh, we call it the greater Sealy area, but we bought grapes from maybe eight kind of mom

[00:44:59] and pop growers.

[00:45:00] Okay.

[00:45:00] Yeah.

[00:45:02] Yeah.

[00:45:02] So we harvested six plus Roland.

[00:45:05] So seven, um, different vineyards for Blanc du Bois.

[00:45:09] Oh, wow.

[00:45:09] Okay.

[00:45:10] And then we'll do, including Roland Taylor, we'll do five different vineyards for Lenoir.

[00:45:16] Okay.

[00:45:17] Mm-hmm.

[00:45:17] Cool.

[00:45:18] So overall, let's see, we've got three and a half tons today, did 18 and a half two weeks

[00:45:24] ago.

[00:45:25] So what was that?

[00:45:27] 22?

[00:45:27] 20, 22.

[00:45:29] Yes.

[00:45:29] My math is great.

[00:45:31] I'm over here mathing.

[00:45:32] Well, I bet I was just three.

[00:45:33] Right.

[00:45:34] Uh, so 22 tons of Blanc du Bois, which is good for us.

[00:45:39] Yeah.

[00:45:39] And, uh, expecting around that much of, uh, Lenoir, maybe a little bit less.

[00:45:45] Yeah.

[00:45:46] Yeah.

[00:45:46] And then you process all of that here on site?

[00:45:49] Yes.

[00:45:49] Everything's down right here.

[00:45:50] Okay.

[00:45:51] So you've got your old crush pad and all your stuff and you're firming it here and you barrel

[00:45:55] storage here and everything.

[00:45:56] Full, full production.

[00:45:57] The only full production winery down here.

[00:45:59] This is where the magic happens.

[00:46:00] It's where it all happens.

[00:46:01] And then, uh, we've got Messina Hoff a little North and a few different wineries up over there.

[00:46:07] Yeah.

[00:46:08] Bernhardt's over there and, um, Chapel 10, I think I think.

[00:46:12] Okay.

[00:46:12] They just started over there.

[00:46:13] Yeah.

[00:46:14] So.

[00:46:16] Okay.

[00:46:16] So you had this great, incredible building here that you said you've already done three

[00:46:20] renovations on.

[00:46:21] Right.

[00:46:22] Um, and I love the facility here.

[00:46:24] It's got such a great indoor space.

[00:46:26] It's got great outdoor space, you know, band playing out there.

[00:46:29] Um, I've, I was able to pick grapes today with your event coordinator and, uh, talked about

[00:46:35] some of the weddings and things that you have here and all kinds of different events.

[00:46:38] So tell me about the, the space itself.

[00:46:40] So what types of events do you typically do here?

[00:46:43] Yeah.

[00:46:43] So down here in the cellar, we've, we've done everything from, you know, smaller weddings,

[00:46:47] showers, um, anniversaries, birthdays, everything gets done kind of down here.

[00:46:53] Um, it may be on a smaller scale if it's, you know, weddings and stuff like that, but, um,

[00:46:58] everything, this, this space gets rented out for everything, you know, they may, or they

[00:47:02] may do the wedding out at the chapel and then they come down here for the dinner or something

[00:47:04] like that.

[00:47:06] Um, but yeah, everything, Superbowl parties, like every, everything.

[00:47:10] Um, we've also got the rentals on site too.

[00:47:13] So we've got the three bedroom state house, the tree house, and then the bridal suite.

[00:47:17] Um, so you can, you know, visit our website and check out different pictures and stuff like that.

[00:47:22] And you can rent those out.

[00:47:24] Um, and some of those are included in the like wedding packages, different various wedding

[00:47:29] packages.

[00:47:30] Um, and then we've got the pavilion and that holds up to like 250 people.

[00:47:34] Yeah.

[00:47:35] Um, so it's, it's a big part of the, uh, the business here, the revenue stream and having,

[00:47:41] um, the private events, they kind of help propel things.

[00:47:44] So cool.

[00:47:46] And then on that event pavilion, you, like I said, you had a band out there.

[00:47:49] Do y'all bring in a lot of live bands?

[00:47:51] Yeah.

[00:47:51] So we try to have, I mean, we're open every day with Tuesday, you know, Mondays are like

[00:47:57] four to eight.

[00:47:58] Um, but then Wednesday nights we've got half price glasses.

[00:48:02] So that always kind of brings people out.

[00:48:03] And then Thursday we will, sometimes we'll have like trivia nights or something like that.

[00:48:09] Or we have something called single bingo, uh, single bingo.

[00:48:14] It's just, it's just like sip and sing.

[00:48:16] That's what it is.

[00:48:16] Oh, okay.

[00:48:17] Sip and sing.

[00:48:17] Somebody suggested to me, we should have.

[00:48:20] Single bingo.

[00:48:20] Single bingo.

[00:48:21] I had to like, um, apparently that's like karaoke stuff or bands or.

[00:48:26] Yeah.

[00:48:26] So the sip and sing we do down here and it's essentially karaoke.

[00:48:30] Okay.

[00:48:30] Cool.

[00:48:31] And we always get a big turnout on that.

[00:48:32] Yeah.

[00:48:33] But when that alcohol starts flowing, you get a lot of people.

[00:48:35] Well, we've got some talented people on staff too.

[00:48:37] Really good voices.

[00:48:38] Yeah.

[00:48:38] So they, they kind of carry the, or kind of host the show a little bit.

[00:48:42] I bet that's fun.

[00:48:43] And then we've got, you know, good singers that around from around here too.

[00:48:47] So, and then, yeah, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we, we try to have live music.

[00:48:52] Okay.

[00:48:53] Every, every one of those nights.

[00:48:54] It may just be a duo or a solo artist in the tasting room.

[00:48:58] Um, you saw the band out there tonight.

[00:49:00] Yeah.

[00:49:01] Uh, so yeah, Saturdays and Sundays, we typically try to have bands or concerts.

[00:49:05] Local musicians.

[00:49:06] Uh, for the most part.

[00:49:08] Yeah.

[00:49:08] We get a lot of people out at Houston too.

[00:49:10] Um, and then the, the bigger concerts, you know, we'll get a couple hundred people out

[00:49:15] here and, um, those are like a ticketed event and it's only ever like six or seven bucks.

[00:49:20] Okay.

[00:49:21] And there were people setting up telescopes out there.

[00:49:23] I saw.

[00:49:24] Yeah.

[00:49:24] Wine and Stars is tonight.

[00:49:26] You know, I wasn't sure.

[00:49:27] Cause it's always kind of a game time decision.

[00:49:30] Uh, whenever it's down here, when the weather is so shifty, you know, so it could be clear.

[00:49:36] It could not be, you know, and they have all their apps that kind of are pretty accurate.

[00:49:41] So I always come, you know, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I start getting the texts, like, I don't

[00:49:48] know.

[00:49:48] It looks like it's going to be clear.

[00:49:50] And they've canceled like the last four, but, um, I think they were, they did get a couple

[00:49:54] out there today.

[00:49:55] Right.

[00:49:55] Cool.

[00:49:56] Yeah.

[00:49:56] I saw a couple setting up up there.

[00:49:57] So yeah, I saw at least the moon was clear.

[00:49:59] Yeah.

[00:50:00] Yeah.

[00:50:01] Well, let's say that, um, now listeners are starting to get really interested, really excited

[00:50:05] when to come down, check it out.

[00:50:07] Either people that live in this area or people are traveling to this area.

[00:50:10] Um, and they want to come in and do a tasting.

[00:50:13] So, uh, what does a typical tasting look like?

[00:50:15] Do you, does the person get to choose their wines or the wine's chosen for them?

[00:50:20] Or what does that look like?

[00:50:21] Yeah.

[00:50:22] Yeah.

[00:50:22] So we almost have too many options for people.

[00:50:24] That's like, so you could come in and we have a $15 tasting where, um, you know, you

[00:50:29] just, you try five different wines.

[00:50:30] Um, and our, our wine enthusiasts, we call them kind of take you through that.

[00:50:36] Um, and, um, and then we, we have another tasting it's, um, we're like $35.

[00:50:41] Okay.

[00:50:41] And it's kind of a sit down and it's curated by, uh, one of our, our managers and it's

[00:50:47] a little bit more in depth.

[00:50:48] Um, our, our management has like their W sets and stuff like that.

[00:50:52] So they can provide a little bit more information for more educational.

[00:50:55] Digital, those wine drinkers that are looking for a little bit more educational elevated

[00:51:00] experience.

[00:51:01] Um, and then we have our tours, our tours are $40 a person.

[00:51:05] And that includes, you know, a tour of the entire property, vineyard, production area,

[00:51:09] crush pad, barrel hall, all that down.

[00:51:12] And then it kind of finishes up down here and you taste wines all throughout that tour while

[00:51:17] you kind of learn about the history of the winery and kind of what we're doing now and

[00:51:20] different stuff with the, the Renaissance fair and, uh, everything we have in the, in

[00:51:25] the back.

[00:51:26] So it's, it's pretty cool.

[00:51:27] Um, and then that kind of translates to people want to join the wine club.

[00:51:32] Um, so that's, that's one of the big things for us is our, any wineries, wine club.

[00:51:38] Well, the, the next thing we were just talking about the tastings and what that looked like.

[00:51:43] And I'm going to bring this up and I don't want to walk off with your car here, but, um,

[00:51:48] um, you'll have this, uh, Napa system, which is really cool.

[00:51:51] So, um, Kyle lent me his card today.

[00:51:55] A really cool little card system with some dispensers where customers can actually put

[00:52:00] the card in and dispense different wines.

[00:52:03] So tell me a little bit about that situation and how that works.

[00:52:06] Yeah.

[00:52:06] So as I mentioned, we took over right after COVID and things were still kind of touchy.

[00:52:11] Yeah.

[00:52:11] And, um, so one of our partners, Troy, Kyle, um, he thought it, you know, he had had these,

[00:52:17] you know, used these before, I think he had one in his office too.

[00:52:19] And he thought it would be cool to get a few for the winery as another way for customers

[00:52:26] to kind of do a wine tasting, but more of a self-guided wine tasting that was kind of

[00:52:31] contactless and didn't have to be close to a wine enthusiast or staff, stuff like that.

[00:52:36] They could still, you know, maybe it's like wine club members that kind of already are familiar

[00:52:40] with the wines and they just want to come in and maybe try some of the new stuff.

[00:52:43] And, uh, we even put some of the wine club exclusive wines in there so that, you know,

[00:52:48] people who aren't in the wine club can at least maybe try some of those and maybe enjoy it.

[00:52:53] And, um, but yeah, so basically we, you know, load the card and it's almost, it's funny to

[00:52:59] see people, it's like kidney candy shop because they're just like trying all the different

[00:53:03] flavors, you know?

[00:53:04] And, um, no, it's a cool way to, uh, kind of sample a lot of different wines, maybe more

[00:53:10] than five, you know, cause we have like what?

[00:53:13] 20, 20 or so, 16, 16 spaces.

[00:53:15] Yeah.

[00:53:16] So like the up four.

[00:53:16] So that's great.

[00:53:18] Uh, and then there's like a one ounce, two and a half ounce and a five ounce pour.

[00:53:21] Yeah.

[00:53:21] So you find one you like and get a glass and don't even have to mess with any, uh, any,

[00:53:27] any staff or anything.

[00:53:28] Is the card tied to their account to, do they pay afterwards?

[00:53:33] Do they load the prepaid, the card?

[00:53:35] How does that work?

[00:53:35] Yeah.

[00:53:36] So they'll, uh, the customer will give us their debit card, credit card.

[00:53:40] We'll hold onto that.

[00:53:41] Okay.

[00:53:41] And then we'll.

[00:53:42] It's like opening a tab.

[00:53:43] Yeah.

[00:53:43] So then whatever they, the, the card tracks kind of what you're accruing, um, as far as

[00:53:49] the charges.

[00:53:50] And then when you turn it back in, we just see, okay, he spent 50 bucks.

[00:53:54] So we'll charge your card $50 and then there you go.

[00:53:57] There you go.

[00:53:58] Cool.

[00:53:59] So you can kind of pay, pay afterwards, do it as you want and then pay afterwards.

[00:54:03] Uh, we've also got, um, some grab and go items and charcuterie cheese and charcuterie

[00:54:07] board.

[00:54:07] Okay.

[00:54:08] Yeah.

[00:54:08] I was going to ask about food options.

[00:54:09] Um, we've got some like non-alcoholic beverages.

[00:54:12] Okay.

[00:54:12] For kids.

[00:54:12] So those and kids, yeah.

[00:54:14] Lunchables and stuff for kids.

[00:54:15] We have a lot of space for, uh, kids to run around outside.

[00:54:18] So we do encourage like, you know, bring your little ones.

[00:54:22] Um, so you're our kid friendly.

[00:54:23] We are.

[00:54:23] We are kid friendly.

[00:54:24] We're pet friendly.

[00:54:25] As long as, uh, the pets stay on a leash outdoors.

[00:54:28] Uh, we don't, uh, want them indoors.

[00:54:31] There are a couple of chickens running around upstairs.

[00:54:33] I saw.

[00:54:33] You know, uh, somebody was like feeding them one day and then, and then they just, they

[00:54:38] stuck around.

[00:54:38] Stuck around.

[00:54:39] Yeah.

[00:54:39] Um, they're from a couple of doors over, but it's like, I kind of like them, but then

[00:54:43] I started seeing their shit.

[00:54:44] I'm like, these damn chickens, man.

[00:54:47] We don't want dogs chasing the chickens throughout the winery.

[00:54:50] Well, you know, at Helmy, they've got, they've got the guinea fowl.

[00:54:53] Yeah.

[00:54:53] True.

[00:54:54] Uh, so I've, I've wanted to get like some guinea fowl out here.

[00:54:57] Yeah.

[00:54:57] That was cool.

[00:54:58] Um, just a cool touch.

[00:55:00] We need some, we need some animals out here.

[00:55:02] We're in the country.

[00:55:02] So people expect to see, you know, some lifestyle country animals.

[00:55:06] Yeah.

[00:55:07] So you, we were talking about food situation.

[00:55:09] So you got food.

[00:55:10] I think I saw on the pavilion, they were like serving people out there.

[00:55:13] Yeah.

[00:55:14] So, uh, we, we partner with kind of a third party caterer.

[00:55:19] Naina's catering is what they're called.

[00:55:21] Yeah.

[00:55:21] And they, um, they kind of have like a Mexican flair.

[00:55:24] Okay.

[00:55:25] Quesadillas and tacos and nachos and burger.

[00:55:28] Oh, really?

[00:55:29] Um, so they, they kind of, we kind of partner with them to have a little bit heartier food options

[00:55:35] during concerts and stuff like that.

[00:55:36] Okay.

[00:55:37] Yeah.

[00:55:37] Cause people, people get hungry.

[00:55:39] Rip up that production a little bit for those special events.

[00:55:42] Yeah.

[00:55:42] Yeah.

[00:55:43] And then coming up, uh, next week, actually we've got, um, chef Mary Bass.

[00:55:50] When we've heard her, she's kind of, she actually used to be a chef here at HACC.

[00:55:53] Oh, really?

[00:55:53] And kind of branched out and started her own catering company.

[00:55:56] Um, but she's making a return to do a wine club dinner.

[00:56:00] Yeah.

[00:56:00] So we have this like, like cool wine club dinner planned out and, um, it's going to be good.

[00:56:06] Yeah.

[00:56:06] I'm really excited about that.

[00:56:08] I like that.

[00:56:08] So this card keeps track of everything you do.

[00:56:11] I'm going to erase that before you see where that is.

[00:56:14] I have to use it.

[00:56:16] What about groups?

[00:56:17] So if you have big groups, do you have limitations on group sizes or people need to make, here's

[00:56:23] another good tag onto that.

[00:56:24] Do people need to make reservations before they come?

[00:56:27] I would, uh, if it's on the weekends, I would encourage reservations just because, you know,

[00:56:32] if you're doing a tour or something like that, the tours do fill up on the weekends.

[00:56:36] Okay.

[00:56:36] Um, so if you want to guarantee, if you have a larger group, you want to guarantee a spot,

[00:56:40] I definitely encourage them to make reservations.

[00:56:43] They can do that online, uh, through our website.

[00:56:45] Um, they can also call or, um, call the tasting room or email reservations at hack wine.com.

[00:56:51] Um, but for larger groups, definitely if you have like a, you know, maybe 20 plus, um, we

[00:56:59] definitely want you to reach out to reservations at hack wine.com to organize that.

[00:57:05] Um, just cause we, we want to give the best experience to people, right?

[00:57:09] Sure.

[00:57:10] And if there's 20 plus come in, we're not really anticipating it.

[00:57:14] Sometimes that can like throw you for a loop.

[00:57:16] Stretch it thin.

[00:57:17] Um, stretch it thin.

[00:57:18] And so we just want to be prepared so that we can give you the experience that we want

[00:57:21] to curate, you know?

[00:57:23] So if we know you're coming, we can, we can do that a little bit better.

[00:57:27] We're more prepared to do that.

[00:57:29] Um, so yeah, reservations at hack wine.com.

[00:57:33] You can email them, uh, for, for large groups.

[00:57:36] Um, but if you're just, you know, husband and wife or, uh, let's say you've got an underage

[00:57:42] minor, um, they're allowed to accompany you on the tour.

[00:57:46] Um, no issues there.

[00:57:48] Um, and then if it's like up to the parents, right?

[00:57:52] If one, if they want to taste anything.

[00:57:54] So, uh, I know some thoughts have like a, it's legal in Texas for, uh, for a, as long as

[00:58:01] the guardian provides it.

[00:58:02] Yeah.

[00:58:03] So tell me about your wine club.

[00:58:04] I heard you mentioned something about the very best of the wine club dinner and stuff.

[00:58:08] So what does your wine club look like and how can somebody join it?

[00:58:10] All right.

[00:58:11] So if you want to join the wine club, really the best ways to go, you can do it on our website.

[00:58:16] Okay.

[00:58:16] Um, if you're onsite, we've got a few kind of depending on the palette, right?

[00:58:22] So if you're a sweet drinker, we've got the Dulce.

[00:58:25] If you're a dry white, we've got the Blanca.

[00:58:27] If you're kind of a mix, we've got the San Pasquale.

[00:58:29] Um, but if you just like dry reds, we've got the Roa.

[00:58:33] So, uh, depending on your palette, uh, you can join one of those clubs and that's a four

[00:58:39] bottle allocation four times a year.

[00:58:41] Okay.

[00:58:42] Okay.

[00:58:42] So, uh, once you join, you're essentially committing to two allocations.

[00:58:46] Okay.

[00:58:47] All right.

[00:58:47] So eight bottles of wine.

[00:58:48] You can drink that in a week.

[00:58:49] Yeah.

[00:58:50] Uh, but, um, and then just all kinds of, you know, all kinds of the normal perks.

[00:58:55] You get 20% off wine.

[00:58:56] Now we do have another option that's a fully customizable.

[00:59:00] You can be a six or 12 bottle member and you can pick which wines you want.

[00:59:05] Okay.

[00:59:06] In the four bottle club, I pick which one you get.

[00:59:08] Yeah.

[00:59:09] It's winemaker selection.

[00:59:10] So in the six and 12 bottle club, uh, you get to choose the wines that you want.

[00:59:15] So it's, it's fully customizable.

[00:59:17] And we, we get a lot of people kind of upgrading to that six bottle because they want, they want

[00:59:22] to choose the wines.

[00:59:23] Yeah.

[00:59:23] And once you join the wine club, you get a, you get a,

[00:59:26] you get prompted to kind of create your account on our website.

[00:59:29] Okay.

[00:59:29] And you can completely, uh, manage your wine club allocation through, through that portal.

[00:59:35] Okay.

[00:59:35] You know, so you can go in, select your wine, set them for that allocation and you choose

[00:59:40] to be a pickup.

[00:59:41] So we'll have pickup parties four times a year.

[00:59:43] Um, so you can either come, if you live in the area, come pick up your wine, enjoy the

[00:59:48] party that we have.

[00:59:49] We shut the winery down, uh, just for wine club members.

[00:59:52] And we have a big shindig and it's a lot of fun.

[00:59:56] We have raffles and give away some, we even, we send people to like Napa, we've sent people

[01:00:00] to Mexico.

[01:00:02] So, um, we, it's some pretty cruises.

[01:00:06] Yeah.

[01:00:06] We've had some, we've had some big ones over the years.

[01:00:09] Um, but yeah, the wine club is, uh, I encourage you to join it, especially if you like our wines.

[01:00:15] Um, it's the, it's the best way to get them and you get them at a minimum 20% discount.

[01:00:20] Cool.

[01:00:21] The, the six bottle gets 25, the 12 bottle gets a 30% discount on wines.

[01:00:26] Okay.

[01:00:27] Nice.

[01:00:27] Okay.

[01:00:28] So people are getting excited.

[01:00:30] They want to come to Hack and try these amazing wines that we're talking about here, but for

[01:00:34] whatever reason they live in a part of the state where they can't get here or they're not

[01:00:37] able to get to the area.

[01:00:39] Um, do you do any kind of distribution or selling on your website or things like that where

[01:00:44] people can taste the wines without having to be here?

[01:00:46] So I'll say if you're out of town, the best way to get our wines, order them on our website,

[01:00:50] we'll ship them to you.

[01:00:51] That's the best way.

[01:00:53] Um, because we're in distribution, uh, but not like if you go to H-E-B and grant, you

[01:01:03] know, uh, Dallas.

[01:01:05] Yeah.

[01:01:05] Right.

[01:01:06] Uh, I don't even know if there's H-E-B.

[01:01:07] There's actually a couple of new ones up there now.

[01:01:08] Oh, really?

[01:01:09] Okay.

[01:01:09] So if you go to H-E-B in Dallas, maybe they only have like our Thomas Jefferson series

[01:01:13] Madeira, which was like a 375 milliliter version of that.

[01:01:18] Um, but like if you come over here to the H-E-B in, in League City, they've got our Tempranillo,

[01:01:24] the Amrecito, um, the, the semi-dry, the purple porpoise they've got.

[01:01:30] So it's kind of like.

[01:01:31] For regional.

[01:01:31] It's regional.

[01:01:32] It kind of hit and miss on.

[01:01:33] Okay.

[01:01:34] The H-E-Bs that carry the different SKUs.

[01:01:36] So we're also in some specs and total wine.

[01:01:39] Um, so if you go to those places, you can go to the Texas section, ask the wine stewards

[01:01:45] for hack.

[01:01:46] And then maybe they'll be like, oh, if people keep asking for hack, maybe we should carry

[01:01:50] some hack.

[01:01:50] Yeah.

[01:01:51] Um, ask hashtag ask for Texas wines.

[01:01:53] There you go.

[01:01:54] So to answer your question, you can find our wines and specs, total wine, H-E-B, uh, and

[01:02:01] some select Kroger's as well.

[01:02:03] Um, but if you have a certain wine that you're really want to try, the best way to get it is

[01:02:08] through our website.

[01:02:09] And I've, I've heard that, uh, people who have worked at H-E-B have said that, you know,

[01:02:15] if it's in the system, the SKUs in the system, even if they don't necessarily have it at that

[01:02:18] store, if you ask for it, they can probably get it in there.

[01:02:21] Yeah.

[01:02:21] So, um, knowing that those SKUs are there, if you don't see it in your H-E-B or whatever,

[01:02:26] your total wine, your specs, whatever, ask for it and see if they can get it brought in.

[01:02:30] So, so you've done all these great renovations.

[01:02:33] You're taking this legacy that you inherited, that you brought in, uh, that you lived as a

[01:02:39] child, as you came up through hack winery and you've done so many great things here.

[01:02:43] Besides the Tasty Room in Britain that we talked about, what does the future hold?

[01:02:47] Do you have big plans for future growth or ideas of things you'd like to do and see?

[01:02:51] Uh, we do.

[01:02:53] So, you know, you talked about distribution where we, where there's still plans to kind

[01:02:56] of like expand on that and kind of like get a better strategy.

[01:03:00] Um, and then we're also, I mean, I don't, this, this might be shooting it too early, but

[01:03:07] we're, we're, we're eyeing Galveston as having another tasting room in Galveston.

[01:03:11] Okay, cool.

[01:03:12] Um, you know, I'm BOI born on Island.

[01:03:15] Yeah.

[01:03:15] So that for me, that's, that's kind of like a dream come true to have like a, you know,

[01:03:21] a presence, uh, in Galveston for the winery.

[01:03:25] So, um, hopefully that, hopefully that works out, you know, but you know, things have to

[01:03:29] align and there's timing and other variables obviously.

[01:03:32] But, uh, that's kind of, that's kind of where we're at as far as a winery is, um, you

[01:03:37] know, we're going to continue to do the thing at the Renaissance Festival and, and that's,

[01:03:40] that's been really great for us, uh, opening the Brenham tasting room and then potentially

[01:03:45] Galveston.

[01:03:45] Uh, we've got some plans, uh, capital improvements that we want to do here.

[01:03:50] Okay.

[01:03:51] Including, um, like a kid's, like a organic kind of playscape.

[01:03:55] Okay.

[01:03:55] Um, we're going to put in some RV sites, uh, for people to be able to come in and have

[01:04:02] their RVs.

[01:04:03] Cause we get a lot of harvest hosts.

[01:04:04] Okay.

[01:04:04] Um, there's one in the parking lot right now.

[01:04:07] Okay.

[01:04:07] Cool.

[01:04:07] And, uh, so actually offering some pad sites with water and electricity and, um, have,

[01:04:13] you know, kind of build that more in and, you know, cause we have the whole backside

[01:04:16] of the vineyard that essentially goes unused.

[01:04:19] Uh, so those, those are all kind of plans for onsite expansion.

[01:04:24] Yeah.

[01:04:24] And you've been breaking new ground with literally with talking about those new varietals that

[01:04:29] you're planting here on site.

[01:04:30] So you're definitely treading the water and blazing paths for many people behind you.

[01:04:37] Um, okay.

[01:04:38] Well, there are a lot of different places in Texas that people can go to get great wine.

[01:04:44] Um, a hack is one of them.

[01:04:45] So tell me what really sets hack apart.

[01:04:48] What are the things that really make hack special so that people would say, you know,

[01:04:52] of all the places out there, I must go see this place.

[01:04:55] Well, the property is beautiful for one, you know, we get gorgeous sunsets over here.

[01:05:00] Um, the wine is some of the best in Texas, you know, so people don't realize they don't

[01:05:06] have to go to Fredericksburg to have the premium wine experience.

[01:05:11] Right.

[01:05:11] Obviously that's, that's a, that's a fun thing to do, but, um, it's also an expensive weekend.

[01:05:16] Right.

[01:05:16] Right.

[01:05:17] But if you just pop down here, uh, it's a family pet friendly, you know, people friendly environment.

[01:05:24] Right.

[01:05:24] Uh, and without the pretension, you know, that sometimes can come with wine, you know, uh, so what sets us apart.

[01:05:34] Um, it's a beautiful property, premium Texas wine, no pretension, judgment-free zones come as you are.

[01:05:43] Um, and, and have a good time and get to enjoy great wine with great people and great staff and, uh, have a memorable experience.

[01:06:02] Slot wall, man.

[01:06:04] I love that.

[01:06:05] So whether you're actually in Santa Fe at the main winery, or if you go check out their brand new room, tasting room there in Brenham, or maybe you're being served wine by a Viking at the Texas Renaissance Festival, you can be sure that you are going to feel the love through that amazing Texas wine and that memorable wine experience that you will have there.

[01:06:25] So, Slot Wame, that should be my new cheers whenever I visit somebody.

[01:06:30] Definitely when I go to Hack, I'm going to pass that word back along to Kyle.

[01:06:34] Now, as always, be sure to check out their website before you go.

[01:06:37] So, it's www.hackwines.com.

[01:06:41] Now, it's H-A-A-K-Wines.com.

[01:06:44] It is pronounced Hack.

[01:06:46] Um, I've seen other people who saw it and thought it was Hawk, but it's Hack Wines.

[01:06:51] And you can easily find the website.

[01:06:52] There, you're going to find some good information about their history, especially Raymond and Gladys, and what they've done to start that winery and where it came from.

[01:07:01] And you'll find that cool video there about Madeira.

[01:07:04] You got to watch that.

[01:07:05] That's a really neat thing.

[01:07:06] And you'll also see things like the awards that they've won, those amazing wines, their locations, the places that you can rent to stay, their event calendar, and even the wine clubs that Kyle mentioned and talked about in the interview.

[01:07:19] And don't forget, when you go to see them, make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast, Texas Under Vine.

[01:07:26] So, as we wrapped up the interview, I had to make the hard decision of which wine did I want to purchase to bring home for my library bottle for this episode.

[01:07:34] And I tasted so many great things.

[01:07:36] I'm a huge fan of both of the Madeiras and both of the ports that they make.

[01:07:41] I made sure to bring home a bottle of each of those just for my own private fun consumption.

[01:07:46] But I needed to pick out a special bottle just to be the library episode bottle for this episode here at Hack Wines.

[01:07:54] And so, I decided to settle in on the Be Someone Wine that Kyle talked about there in the interview.

[01:08:00] This is a tribute to a famous graffiti like Kyle talked about in the interview there in Houston.

[01:08:05] And it is a delightful mix of Tarika and Montepulciano.

[01:08:10] It was a very smooth blend.

[01:08:12] I think it's 50-50 of both of those two grapes that had some mesmerizing dark fruits on my palate.

[01:08:20] And really kind of burst out very smooth but lasted for such a long time on my palate.

[01:08:25] It was a great blend, great mix.

[01:08:27] I can see why this one's going so fast.

[01:08:28] Like Kyle said in the interview, I was lucky to grab one.

[01:08:31] So, this is my library bottle for this episode.

[01:08:34] Be Someone from Hack Wines.

[01:08:36] It may be in short supply, but you need to try to taste this when you go visit for yourself if they still have it available.

[01:08:42] All right.

[01:08:43] One more glass of Madeira and then it's time to hit the road and go see some more great fun wine destinations

[01:08:49] to bring you all the great information of those locations as well.

[01:08:53] But before I leave, would you be willing to do me a favor?

[01:08:56] So, if you're enjoying this podcast, would you make sure and share it with your wine-loving friends?

[01:09:01] There may be others of your friends that want to go visit some great wineries here in Texas

[01:09:05] and they just don't know where to go and need more info.

[01:09:07] And this could really provide some of that info for them.

[01:09:10] And if you'd be willing to leave me a rating and review for the podcast, it's free to you.

[01:09:15] And it's very simple to do wherever you get the podcast.

[01:09:18] And that really helps move the podcast up in the algorithms to be seen by even more people

[01:09:22] who might be interested in our Texas wine scene.

[01:09:26] And if you're watching this on YouTube, make sure to click the like, subscribe,

[01:09:30] and be notified button down there to be notified every time the new episodes come out in my YouTube channel.

[01:09:37] And if you're on YouTube, leave a comment down below.

[01:09:40] Tell me what is your favorite thing about Hack Wines if you've been there?

[01:09:44] Or if you haven't been, what is the thing you're most looking forward to when you go to see them?

[01:09:49] And with that, my time is up.

[01:09:51] So don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be notified anytime a new episode is released.

[01:09:57] And until then, happy trails and bottoms up, y'all.

[01:10:01] Thanks for listening to Texas Undervine.

[01:10:08] We strive to provide you with the best information about wine businesses all over Texas.

[01:10:13] Be sure to check out our website at texasundervine.com

[01:10:16] and follow us on our socials at Texas Undervine to stay up on all the upcoming episodes.

[01:10:22] Please email us with any suggestions or feedback.

[01:10:25] Also, contact us if you're interested in donating, sponsoring, or advertising on the podcast

[01:10:30] just to help us cover our expenses and bring even more great info to you in future episodes.

[01:10:34] Above all, travel safely and most especially, drink responsibly.

[01:10:49] Howdy, Vine Trippers.

[01:10:50] Did you know that I now have a merchandise store for Texas Undervine?

[01:10:54] I only have a handful of limited items, but you can go check those out and wear your Texas Undervine swag

[01:10:59] if you'd like to tell all your friends about the great wine locations we have here in Texas

[01:11:03] and maybe get them interested in the podcast as well.

[01:11:06] So there are things like t-shirts, there's a hoodie, there's a beanie, a ball cap, things like that.

[01:11:12] But one of the most exciting things I have right now is my limited time offer t-shirt.

[01:11:16] That's my season one t-shirt.

[01:11:18] So this is your Tasting Through Texas, Texas Undervine season one t-shirt.

[01:11:22] It's only going to be available for a little short amount of time.

[01:11:25] On the back, it has all the different locations like a band tour t-shirt.

[01:11:28] So this is a limited time item and you can go out and get it now.

[01:11:32] And one of the great things about that t-shirt is a portion of every sale

[01:11:36] goes to support the Texas Hill Country Winery Scholarship Fund.

[01:11:40] So you know that by buying that t-shirt, you're also investing in the growing and flourishing

[01:11:45] of an amazing wine industry here in Texas

[01:11:48] and all of those people that are going to come and make it even better.

[01:11:51] Check out that merchandise store.

[01:11:53] It's on my website at texasundervine.com.

[01:11:55] Just go up to the top.

[01:11:56] You'll see the link for the merchandise store.

[01:11:58] Thank you.