Hamilton Pool Vineyards & Farms (Hill Country)

[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. You can actually download this app, put it on your phone or just go to the website if you're not an app person. 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 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. You can search by region, you can sort the listings, find ones that are kid friendly, family friendly, even ones that host RVs. All kinds of different sortable listings you can find there in that app and on the website. 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. So check out the Texas Wine Lover website. It's txwinelover.com. Or go to their app. You can find it on the Google Play Store or the Apple Store as well. Enjoy your trips among the vines and use that app.

[00:01:17] Welcome to Texas Undervine, 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. 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 them 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.

[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. Howdy, fellow vine tripper. Welcome to episode 62 for the Texas Undervine podcast.

[00:02:41] On the tales of our last episode, which featured West Cave Sellers, today I ventured down to what was their old previous location, which is now called Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms. To witness this vineyard that had been planted a couple of decades ago and to meet their new owners and to find out a little bit about their offerings and what they are bringing to the table here in the Texas wine industry.

[00:03:09] Now, this winery is owned by several people. Brian Paul Scipione, Sam Jett, Lindsey Holderby, and Andrew Escher. They actually purchased the winery back in 2023, but it had previously been owned by some other owners and was actually previously the home, as I said earlier, for West Cave Sellers.

[00:03:33] Now, in addition to the winery that they have, they're on site and making wines in the vineyard where they have grapes growing on site. The farms is not just a little thing they tagged on to the end. It's very intentional, as they do have a farm on site where they are practicing permaculture to make all kinds of produce and things like that that they're selling throughout the Austin and San Antonio markets.

[00:03:57] They even have a farm school on site where they teach kids all about the processes of farming, which is actually geared to children ages 5 through 12. And it focuses on the permaculture view of agriculture, which is basically a view of agriculture that focuses on preserving water specifically. The kids there learn how to make things like berms and they plant seeds and feed the animals.

[00:04:26] And in addition to this farm school that they provide, they additionally do some summer camps and things like that to teach farming to kids as well. Now, in addition to the school, they also have all kinds of weekend events as well as overnight camping on their 50 acre site. And never fear, adults, you're not left out if you want to learn more about farming. They host classes for you as well.

[00:04:51] In addition to festivals, live music located on their site, amongst other kinds of other fun activities there at Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms. And if camping isn't really your thing, don't fret. They also have an Airbnb guest house on site at their location that you can reserve and stay at. If tent camping isn't quite your thing, you could stay at their Airbnb guest house.

[00:05:17] And they actually plan to build some more of those down the road as well. And now, what you probably came for, the wine. Yes, they actually have four different wines that they make and sell there at their vineyard location. And they hope to expand that within the next year or so to hopefully eight or so different wines. Again, they currently have four of their own.

[00:05:40] In addition to those four wines that they make and that they sell, they also have some hand-picked wines from other wineries, especially organic wineries and things from all around the world actually that you can taste while you're there as well. In addition to their four Texas-based wines. And talk about family-friendly. In addition to all of the fun farming stuff that we talked about earlier where the kids can feed the animals while you're drinking your wine and things like that,

[00:06:06] Skip has put his background and experience in managing restaurants to good use here to make sure that all people who come in your party, no matter what their age, have something to entertain them and keep them busy. They have things like a game table with games that the kids can play. He even has a craft table out if your kids want to sit down and create their own crafts while you sit back and enjoy a nice respite from the run of the world with a nice glass of wine

[00:06:34] and enjoying their patio or their tasting room itself. Even down to the cornhole games that they have outside in their courtyard, there's something for every young mind to enjoy and to keep themselves busy while you enjoy your nice glass of wine. Now, Skip himself is actually very educated in the wine world. He has a very deep knowledge of wines themselves.

[00:06:56] And he actually, during the summer months, teaches classes there on site to go into a deeper dive into some fun different wine topics. He'll talk about that a little bit in the interview. If that's something that interests you and it's something you want to take a dive into to learn a little bit more in, make sure you check out their website for their class listings. Again, he said he does those during the summer months. Now, in addition to all of the great things that they currently offer and that they have going for you as you come to visit them,

[00:07:26] since they are relatively new owners to the location, they do have grand plans for expanding and for doing even more things, like the aforementioned Airbnb guest houses that they want to put in on the property down the road. They hope to actually add in some more hiking trails around their property, as well as put in what I thought was interesting, a food forest, which is basically kind of like a garden in the permaculture world that has all kinds of edible plants,

[00:07:57] kind of planted like a true forest style. And they want to put that in on the property itself. So you'll be able to go visit their food forest when they get that installed as well. Skip and I were actually able to sit down in the tasting room and visit a little bit about his background, a little bit about some of the history of this location and kind of where they've come from, including their vision of farming and the land and the things that they want to do here at Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms.

[00:08:25] And it was really great to hear from him with his vast wine expertise, his knowledge and experience in management of restaurants and hospitality and things like that, to really get a great true picture of not only what this winery provides right now, but their future and their plans and excitement for what lies ahead for Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms. And their vision for the future for what lies ahead for Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms.

[00:08:54] So without further ado, let's go to that interview. Howdy, Vine Drippers. So I'm here with Brian or aka Skip at Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms. And we're here to learn a little about this location and find out their great wines and their events and it's a beautiful tasting room they have here. So without further ado, let me turn it over to Skip.

[00:09:23] So Skip, tell me a little bit about your background and your wine journey. What got you interested in the wine industry? Oh, it's such a big question. Basically, I started in the restaurant industry very, very young. I was 14 when I got my first legal job and I was a dishwasher at Red Lion Inn, the Oak and Spruce Resort and even Canyon Ranch all in Western Massachusetts. So I was kind of dumped in that fine dining scene very early. So wine was around me.

[00:09:52] But then I went on and I managed a restaurant called Ali's, which was an homage to the fact that it was in the same space as Alice's restaurant of Arlo Guthrie fame. Oh, okay. And so I was, that was my first managing job and I got to help pick the wine there. But at the time I was still 18 and, you know, and obsessed with travel. And I was lucky enough to spend a couple of years in Europe for college, a year in England, a year in Amsterdam.

[00:10:21] And then finally I just landed in Austin working on my master's degree. And as you do, as soon as I finished my master's, I went right back to school and joined the ISG's diploma program. Okay. And so I studied wine exclusively while managing a Magnolia Cafe, which is an Austin staple. Yeah. And yeah, for the next three years, I doggedly kind of pursued that diploma program.

[00:10:49] I had the advantage of just being young and having a second job at Twin Liquors, where I was able to buy wine at cost. So, um, I always estimate to people, and it sounds absurd, um, that I, I'd sampled and spit out 7,000 wines in three years. And so, um, was able to get my diploma, um, with the ISG. And then I went on and took tests with the WSET and the Court of Masters and the CWS. I figured, why not?

[00:11:19] I've been studying for so long. It was all fresh in my brain. So I would just take all these exams. So that's what I did. Just get all those notches under your back. Yeah, it was, uh, it was fun. Well, tell us a little bit about Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farm here. So how did this location get started? How did you get involved with it and so forth? Yeah, it was actually like a friend of a friend, um, uh, who introduced me to Sam Jett.

[00:11:45] Uh, Sam Jett is, uh, one of the co-owners with me and he's, uh, a brilliant, uh, young man who studied permaculture and studied agriculture. He grew up, uh, in East Texas working on farms. Um, and he's kind of taken it to another level because, uh, the style of farming that he does is, uh, been formed by permaculture. Right. And very sustainable. And our values were aligned in as far as like how I wanted to make wine.

[00:12:13] And, but the most thing that brought us together was this beautiful property. And then we found out we had an opportunity to buy the business. So I kidding. Within a few months of meeting each other, uh, we became the, uh, co-owners with Andrew Escher of Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms. So where was that? That was October of 2023. Also with, uh, Lindsay, uh, Holderby was another one of our co-owners. Okay.

[00:12:39] So, and right there, I jumped right in, uh, started meeting with the winemakers, looked at the wines they had, looked at the ones that were sacred cows. I didn't want to mess with those, you know, and then, um, started meeting with the winemakers. Um, we mostly use, uh, Texas custom with Carrie Franklin, um, up in, uh, you know, the high plains area. So that's where we source our grapes. Uh, that's where we have our wines made, um, all under the Hamilton Pool Vineyard and Farms label.

[00:13:08] Um, yeah. And then we went from there and then I added a lot of other wines, um, that were also organic and kind of, you know, part of our vision, um, to the program. Okay. This, I see you've got vines and things here on site. You took over at 23. This was, I guess, a working vineyard and winer before that. Yeah, this place was established in 1999 by Margaret and Alan Fetty.

[00:13:32] Uh, and they, uh, they named it West Cave Cellars right after the, the water feature across the street. Um, and then they went on and they moved to West Cave Cellars in 2019 and then the Katners bought it and they named it after another famous water feature, arguably a more famous one, uh, calling it Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms. And that's when we really started the farm program. Um, so we do sell our produce, um, throughout the city of Austin, throughout San Antonio.

[00:14:01] And we also have a farm school where we teach kids how to farm so that they can eat hopefully in 20 years from now. What kind of things are you producing here? Oh, just your, your regular, you know, um, squash, you know, um, herbs, uh, eggs, you know, we have, we have cows, we've got chickens, you know, uh, and we have another farm that we contract in San Antonio, uh, where we also grow more stuff. So it's a, it's a unified vision.

[00:14:27] We're not just called Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms because it sounds good, but because we really believe that we want to grow the food and then make the wine and put them both together. So like we're the ultimate on-site destination for farm to table. Okay. So. But you're not using any of the vineyards here anymore. Well, we are, we're trying to, um, you know, we had a couple, uh, deep freezes in the past few years.

[00:14:54] And so, um, I've been working with a new team, um, to, uh, get the vines producing, uh, my long-term goal is to graft them into a different varietal mix. That's more appropriate to the weather conditions, especially considering the weather conditions are continually changing, right? With these ongoing droughts that we're having in Texas, um, we need to have a grape mix that reflects that.

[00:15:21] So in grapes that were planted in 99 and 2012, um, we're probably, you know, along a different thought process. A different climate and different things have changed. Climate changes so fast. I saw a statistic, a sad statistic the other day that said Austin is so behind right now on drought for rain that it would take a whole year of rain, yearly average that we normally get of rain just to get us caught back up to zero, the zero point.

[00:15:51] Uh, we're just, oh, it's rough right now, but. Yeah. You know, that's, that's, that sounds accurate. So. Well, so we talked a little bit about kind of the name, uh, but let's talk about the grapes then that you do get. So you, you get from the high plains, what type of varietals do you typically work with? So I mentioned earlier, I have two wines that are considered my secret cows. They're, they're very, um, uh, and considering we have cows, it's kind of funny to keep using that term. We just saw a baby cow. Oh yeah. The cows have been doing so well.

[00:16:20] We've had like five babies this year, maybe four. Yeah. Um, they're, they're thriving, you know, and the chickens are thriving. The, the cost of eggs has not affected us. No one told the chickens that there's a increase of costs. Not, not, not our chickens. So, um, so the, the two ones that I do not, uh, alter our gold buckle and, uh, our spot sparkling rosé. And a gold buckle is a barrel age Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc blend.

[00:16:51] And, uh, spots a classic Grenache based rosé, which we make a little bit darker through extended maceration. I like to say it's kind of a, the rosé that has a red wine nose, but a rosé palette. So, um, a little bit complex, get a little bit marzipan on there. Some really interesting notes, but then it's like all strawberry goodness on the palette. So, and those wines, you know, um, I mean, sometimes we ship them as far as Florida. Like they had, they have a bit of a cult following.

[00:17:19] Um, so my other two wines, you know, I do like you would, I look at what grapes have done well this year, what grapes have not done well. I worked very closely with the winemakers and then we decide on the blend that we want to use. And those two wines are free love and love magic because all our wines are made with love. And, and so those, and those blends can change year to year. They have. Yeah. So when I inherited a love magic, it was Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel blend.

[00:17:49] Um, and now it's mostly Sangiovese, which does really well in Texas. Mouvedre, which does really well in Texas. Uh, Grenache, which pretty much does really well everywhere from the Rhone to Australia to California. Hot climate grapes. Yeah. I mean, love Spain, you know, it loves everywhere. Sure. And, um, and then we're low because you got to have that fruitiness. Right. So I actually call, uh, to borrow an oft used metaphor, I call love magic, our poor man's Pinot Noir because it's a lighter blend.

[00:18:18] It's meant to drink in the heat. You know, we have our beautiful courtyard out here and that's where a lot of our guests sit. And so I was kind of approached it from the end point rather than the beginning. So not saying, what do I want to make? I said, what do I need? Right. So Freeload is the same way. Um, it went from a Riesling Gewurztraminer mix, which are both cold climate grapes, um, to a mostly Muscat Canelli Saminon blend.

[00:18:46] A little bit of Riesling and Viognier in there to just boost up the amount. Rounded out. Yeah. Because as you've probably heard, Viognier does exceptionally well in Texas, you know. So. And it's a very aromatic grape. So. Super aromatic. Yeah. So those are the two wines that like I'm currently featuring. Uh, we're very happy that Love Magic did take a silver medal at the Fort Worth, uh, uh, rodeo, uh, competition. Um, I love that about Texas, how wines are an agricultural product.

[00:19:15] So they're, you know, they're put in the same category as, you know, the livestock, right? Because that's what we embrace here. You know, it's like, we're very much about our events. We're very much about educating the kids through the farm school. We're very much about, um, just bringing people here and then putting them outside and put, you know, we're bringing them here into the lovely case room. So we have a lot of events that we talked about earlier, uh, including weddings. So yeah. Nice.

[00:19:41] So with the grapes and then the wines you have, what, what are some of your favorite wines as a, as just personally? That I'm selling? No, that you like, that you just- Around the world? Yeah. Just to get to know you a little. Yeah. No, um, I, I love that question. Um, obviously I get a lot, you know, because of my profession. Um, and usually my first, uh, you know, witty answer is my favorite wine is the one in front of me. Okay. Yeah. Um, then my second witty answer is, oh, well, my birthday is coming up.

[00:20:09] I do love a nice, uh, you know, 1995's every Chambartan, right? Uh, I, I, I do lean closer to Burgundy over Bordeaux's for the most part. But the one thing that I found when I was studying wine, um, which is really kind of a, I think catches a lot of people off guard. Um, especially considering all the places that I've taught in the world. Um, I think white wine is much more deeply nuanced and complex than, than, uh, red wine.

[00:20:39] So in a lot of cases, um, my favorite wines, uh, are the classics. Mersot, Chazenay Montreux, you know, uh, you know, Chateau de Cam, um, Sancerre. I mean, just right around the, right, right along those edges, you know, especially a good biodynamic kind of like Nicolas Jolie, um, Sancerre, you know, and you just have magic in a glass. So, and also a lot of the wines that are coming out of Croatia right now in Armenia, I'm a

[00:21:08] big, uh, champion in general of Georgian wines, right. And Hungary, Hungary wines. The, the, hands down the best wine you can get for under 15 a bottle is Egeri Becavater, right. AKA bull's blood from the Eggers region of Hungary, right. Yeah. Which has that fantastic legend that one day the Ottoman empire come to try to take over Hungary and they had overwhelming odds. And so the Hungarian soldiers did what you do. They just set up and drink wine all night.

[00:21:38] Yeah. It sounds like a plan. Yeah. Their beards were stained with wine. Their clothes were stained with red wine. And they kind of let, uh, let fly the rumor that they had been drinking the blood of bulls all night. And in a, in a perfect blitzkrieg match, defeated the overwhelming odds of the, uh, Ottoman empire. Yeah. So the wine draws from that legend. Exactly. Cool. It's made with a rare grape called Caecfrancos. Wow. Okay. So, which kind of suggests it may have French origins.

[00:22:08] Yeah. So. I mean, of course, a lot of those varietals moved around. Yeah. I mean, especially after, you know, the, the, the flocks or a challenge hit Bordeaux, most of the Bordeaux winemakers, they either pack it up, jumped the Pyrenees, went to Spain, or they went all the way to Hungary. Right. Or even Romania, which is famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and other French grapes. So. Well, what about Texas wines? What are some of your favorite Texas style grapes? What, what do you think does well here in this climate? Well, as we mentioned, Mouvedre does really well.

[00:22:38] Bionier does really well. I like to showcase West Cave Cellars Bionier. It's on my menu. I like to support our, you know, our ancestors as it were. Um, also it's just so bright and cheery. It's just a wonderful wine. Um, I mean, there's a lot of great stuff being done. Another, uh, winemaker I love to feature is everything coming out of Austin winery. The, they, they're daring and they're fun and they like to do like their Cherisuelo. They had like a hundred case run of it last year.

[00:23:08] I swear I sold five cases of it myself because I was just so. Just happy to see someone doing stuff like Cherisuelo. And, you know, um, let's face it, Texas is a climate and it's drought issues and things like that. Uh, means that most of the wines in Texas are made in the winery and not the field. Right. The old saw is that, uh, you can't have a great wine without great grapes. I think Texas is trying to prove that wrong every year. Okay. So. Takes some, the challenges that we have here is still make great wine.

[00:23:37] But you can still get good grapes. You just have to, you know, um, you've got great grapes. Right. It just takes a lot more care and attention than it does in say a Mediterranean climate or a continental climate where you can just kind of let the grapes be. Right. As it is, I come in once a week and walk through my vines. Yeah. Bare minimum because I just, you know. Definitely take a lot of attention. Yeah. So, and you process, you said they're all processed up in the high plains. All processed in the high plains. Bottle there, the bra here.

[00:24:07] Bottle. Yeah. Okay. We designed the labels. We have some really beautiful labels. Um, yeah. And then I just ship them here, which is not that. Yeah. Do you have any say in, you know, how the blends are done and the effects of the wine? Yeah. I mean, I go up and we try to taste the wine individually and then taste them as blends and, you know, talk about it. Um, but I put a lot of faith in my wine, uh, maker, Kerry Franklin. Um, which is to say though, I'm, I'm hoping to double our output, right?

[00:24:37] Four wines is great. But, um, by the end of this year, I hope to have at least eight wines. I want to introduce a second label, right? Because another thing we do a lot of is, uh, larger events. We did the Ulin festival. You know, I have my eyes on, um, doing more festivals like that. We're at the Mueller's farmer market every week. So we go through a great volume of wine. Um, and most of that's outside sales. And so I want to create a wine specifically for that market.

[00:25:04] Again, starting from the end rather than the beginning, you know? Okay. So. So you got big plans then coming up. Oh, lots of plans. Well, you've mentioned a few times the events and things you have here. Let's talk about some of those fun events you put on in the farm school. I'd like to know more about that. So tell me in on some of those things. Yeah. So the farm school, um, is, is right on our property, right on the farm. Uh, it is exactly like it sounds like, um, uh, the kids play in the dirt.

[00:25:31] They learned how to dig things called berms and swalls, which are part of a permaculture idea of a conserving water. Um, they, you know, plant the seeds or they interact with the animals. They get to feed the chickens. And it's for any kid between, uh, I believe five and five and 12. And so we do farm school or we can also just do, uh, summer camp getaways or weekend getaways or even, uh, overnight camping. So, you know, we, we do all that. We've got a great, uh, uh, teacher to student ratio, right?

[00:26:01] Um, it's, it's always, um, really concentrated on the students. Um, and then we also put on a lot of events. Um, just two weeks ago, we had our spring Equinox event. We had 20 different vendors. Uh, we had tractor rides that farm tours to show people, not just the kids. We also teach adults how to farm and things like that. Um, we had great live music band. Uh, we did seed ball making.

[00:26:27] We did, um, yeah, just all sorts of fun stuff, you know? And, um, cause we, we consider ourselves a very kid and very dog friendly, right? We, we, we love families. We love, uh, large groups. Um, we will, you know, we do a lot of weddings out here. People get married out among the vines. It's a beautiful thing. Then we'll turn the tasting room into a dance floor, you know? Um, but we have a variety of events. We also host painting classes and pasta making classes.

[00:26:57] You know, all the traditional things you do while drinking wine, at least what my ancestors did while drinking wine. Yeah, we, uh, we, we do it all. You know, and, um, for example, the spring Aquinox event, we've, we smoked a whole lamb, a whole pig and about 20, uh, free range, organic locally sourced chickens. And everything I sell here from pasta one, two, three to pickle envy, our local products, the tree and on coffee.

[00:27:23] So, you know, um, and we also participate in a CSA called gather and deliver. So if you want to come in and pick up fresh veggies every week, you know, milk, eggs, yeah, we do that too. Oh, wow. Yeah. Whole package. Yeah. So, and you're close enough here to you're, you're kind of out in the hill country, but still close enough to Austin to be kind of a shorter drive for people who come from the Austin area. I like to say it's half the difference, uh, half the distance to get all the way out to Fredericksburg, right?

[00:27:52] We're, we're only about 45 minutes to 50 minutes from Austin. We're also really close to Spicewood and, uh, Marble Falls, you know, coming from the opposite direction. And we're really trying to cultivate the local Dripping Springs, you know, market as well. You know, um, we're part of the Dripping Springs, um, chamber of commerce and specifically Dripping Springs builds itself as the wedding capital of Texas. Really? Yeah. So we're, we're, we're on that team as well.

[00:28:19] And you got great attractions in the area like Hamilton pool, as well as West Cape preserve and all that overflow from that. Just a great place to go to spend a day or, you know, a couple of days out here. Well, we also offer camping on our grounds. So we have, we have up to 50 acres, right? And so if you want to come and drink some wine and, you know, spend the night in a tent great under the stars. Yeah. And hopefully by next fall, we're going to have, um, for at least three more Airbnbs.

[00:28:45] We currently have one Airbnb and we're going to put in some more, some, uh, real fun stuff. Nice. So you even have like full amenities for people to stay. Well, I've been your guest house. That's something that people can find online on your website or something like that. If they wanted to reserve that. You can, you find the links to all these things, including the CSA on our website. You can join our mailing list or follow us on Instagram. You'll find out about all the events, whether you want to just come for something small,

[00:29:13] like, you know, a painting class or, um, or you want to come to one of the bigger events, you know, with all the fun stuff happening. And we got plenty of space and we really try to honor this space. You know, everything, um, again, is inspired by the fact that this land is so beautiful. You know, we, we, we love our cows roaming nearby. You know, kids love to feed the cows. It's, um, it was very wholesome and there's good one. Yeah. And that, there you go. Some of the kids and the adults. Yeah, exactly.

[00:29:43] Well, let's talk about, so Lister's getting excited to come in to visit. What does a tasting look like or what does it look like when they come here? So when somebody comes and they show up and they want to do a tasting, come into the tasting room, is that like a, is it at a bar? Is it a seated tasting? Do they have a set flight of wines? Do you pick the wines or how does that, what does that look like? Good, good question. So, um, again, we're very casual. We don't do the bar, uh, tasting or anything like that. Uh, we want to spend extra time with our customers.

[00:30:11] Like all my staff is really great and they're really knowledgeable. Um, and so they can come in and you just get a glass wine, bottle of wine and get some cider. I got plenty of drink options for the kids. I've got pizzas and circuitry boards and I've got the hummus plate. Um, so a good range of, uh, nice shareable snackable food. Um, but to do an actual tasting and we give them three options. You can just do one flight. That's going to be all Hamilton pool ones. All right. Our personal wines. Or you can do one flight.

[00:30:41] That's whites and rosés and one flight. That's just red ones. So those are three different options. Uh, and they range in price from like 20 to $35. Okay. So, and we do a good, healthy two and a half ounce pour. Yeah. This is not the, the Napa pour. So it's, it's, it's enough that you can actually tilt the glass and look at the color, uh, gradation. So. And then do they, that's done in here. Can they do that outside? They can do it outside. Yeah. Okay. So sit wherever you'd like and enjoy. Oh yeah.

[00:31:10] Beautiful weather. Like today's going to be a beautiful day. Bring your dog, bring your kids, put one of them on a leash or both, you know. And then that was my next question. So you did, I know we talked about kids a lot and you mentioned pets a minute ago, but people can bring pets and all that. No problem. Okay. Yeah. What about, what are your operating hours? So, uh, currently we're 11 to six Friday through Sunday. Okay. Um, as the weather gets hotter, we intend to be open later. We'll probably be open until eight o'clock, uh, during the summer months when it's just too hot to come in the daytime.

[00:31:40] So we want to accommodate. And the sun's going down later. So the sunset is so gorgeous out here. It's nice being pitched in this valley. So we're like within a valley, within a valley. Yeah. So it's always about five degrees cooler here than it is in Austin. So it's, it's a nice place to be. And, um, yeah. And so if people want to come and watch the sunset, you know, uh, we do free live music every Sunday. Yeah. So we've, we've sport mostly local, almost entirely local artists, right? Even Pauline Reese, uh, resides in Dripping Springs.

[00:32:09] So, uh, but yeah, you can catch a new band. You can, you know, hang out, uh, inside if you want the AC. I've got a craft table, as you see here to keep your kids occupied. So yeah, I've been in the restaurant industry for so long that I tend to look at everything from the customer's perspective. It's like, what, what do the customers want? You know, and I'm here to give it to them. You know, I worked at Magnolia Cafe for over 17 years. Yeah. So I'm used to high volume.

[00:32:38] So they're not just going to walk in and get a coloring thing and it's four colored crayons. They're going to get a whole craft table and all kinds of fun things that they can do. Go out and feed the cows. See the cows. And I've got cornhole and other games outside. Giant Lego bricks, you know. True family friendly place here for everyone. Something for everyone. Yeah. But if you want to get a long, boring wine, uh, description, I'm here for you. Oh yeah. So if somebody wants to dive deep, they can actually. I actually do wine classes here during the summer. Okay.

[00:33:07] So my wine classes, um, you can tell by the titles, they're not the normal. Like I do a class just on rosé, orange and natural wines. I do a class on wine in the movies. I do a class on women in wine. Talk about the important role that women, winemakers and promoters have played in the wine world. Um, I do a class on wine legends because not enough people are talking about, you know, T.W. Munson and, uh, Andre Telechef and, you know, what's normally seems like nerdy stuff.

[00:33:35] But once you hear the story about how Agostine Harvesty was, you know, uh, eaten by a crocodile in Nicaragua, you realize that there's a lot more to this wine world, you know? So I hope to do a class on wine and war as well, because, uh, war has had such a war, climate change. In fact, one of the things that attracted me to wine is it's like, it's literally an opportunity to talk about all the subjects I love.

[00:33:59] History, food, culture, linguistics, language, you know, um, travel, you know, different customs, uh, and then the esoteric talking about terroir, you know, we have a ley line that goes through this property. This property was once, uh, blessed by a shaman, right? One thing we had at our last event was a mycology class, which was also taught, um, by a Native American shaman. So yeah, we're, that's the vision. Yeah. You do typically know those classes during the summer, you said?

[00:34:29] Uh, I do the wine classes in the summer when people want to be inside. So. And all my wine classes come with wine. Whenever you want to go take one of those classes this summer, make sure you go to their website, look for those class listings, because it sounds like some really cool, something I need to come check out as well. They sound really fun. It's fun. I made a conscious decision to not just do wines of Italy or wines of, you know, which there's plenty of places in town doing that. Um, and I do do a wine tasting one-on-one and I usually use the international sommelier

[00:34:56] guild method of wine tasting, which is a, both the simultaneously deductive and inductive approach. So don't be surprised if you hear me start talking about Sherlock Holmes. Okay. Then what is, what, tell me about Sherlock Holmes with wine tasting. So, uh. To go off on too deep of a tangent. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, I, I, I did open that can. You peaked my interest. So the idea is, uh, when a regular detective goes into a crime scene, they see a hole in the wall and they see dirt in the floor. Right.

[00:35:26] Sherlock Holmes goes in and he sees a hole in the wall of a certain caliber with a certain burn streak around it. He sees dirt in the floor. That is actually a red tinge soil indicating magnesium, which he knows is only found on the Thames river bridge. Right. And then he knows that the hole in the wall is produced by a blunderbuss only carried by sailors. Right. Right. So that's what wine tasting is like. Um, this wine has high alcohol. Oh, therefore it must, it is likely that it comes from a hot climate. Yeah.

[00:35:55] Exactly. So you look at these different factors and you can deduce where a wine is from. Okay. So I believe I can train anyone to be a sommelier. Yeah. Right. I have enough time, enough patience. And if you take good notes and you use that deductive method, then you can figure it out from there. Wow. That's really interesting. Fun stuff. Okay. Well, back to the taste through here for a moment. So do you have any maximum group sizes or do people need to make reservations or anything like that? You don't need to make reservations. We love it when you just walk in the door. We also love it.

[00:36:24] If you do make reservations, you have a large party. You know, we get a lot of bachelorette parties. We get a lot of Cadillac car club came here recently. I believe Mitch UBC just filmed the commercial out here. We love big parties. I mean, we got plenty of space, but if you give us a little bit of a heads up, you know, it's of course a little bit better because, you know, I can staff appropriately, but we're ready for it. Well, what would you say are kind of your busier and your slower times?

[00:36:53] I know I always have customers who, you know, you've got two types of customers. They want to come out when some place is rocking and full of people and lots of things going on. But then you also have other customers who kind of say, I'd rather kind of go when it's quiet and I'm kind of the only few people there. What would you say are busier or slower times for people to come visit? That's an interesting question. Yeah. Certainly Friday is a little bit slower. You know, earlier in the day is slower. At two o'clock, we kick off the live music. We kick off the barbecue grilling outside.

[00:37:24] We love to do Argentinian slash Brazilian, you know, open fire cooking at certain events. So you can get both. But for the most part, you know, it's quiet in the off season. And when the weather's great, all Texans flock outside. So especially in those spring months and those fall months. So actually, I don't know in Texas if I can say months, plural, but you know, we do have a little period of time that it's really beautiful weather outside. Yeah. Well, do you have a wine club? We do.

[00:37:54] We have the best wine club. Cool. Tell me about it. I would say it's the best because there's no fees to join. There's no minimum to buy. Okay. You can do every two months, every one month, every six months. You can do two wines. You can do four wines. You can do six wines. We want you to be, you know, comfortable with whatever you want to do. If you join our wine club, you get 20% off all the wines. And so if you're worried about if the cost of shipping, don't worry about it because

[00:38:23] it's covered in the 20% off of our resale prices. And on top of that, if you're an active member of the wine club, you get 20% off everything you buy in the tasting room. You get 20% off tickets to all of the events. You get 20% off the tickets to my wine classes. It's just, yeah, it's just a really good deal. Yeah. 20% off everything except, of course, commission products. Like if I'm selling someone else's produce, you know, but really, really can't beat that deal.

[00:38:52] And we can ship to 38 different states. Okay. So I have one family in Florida that orders like six bottles of gold buckle, like almost every month. Yeah. So yeah, it makes me happy, you know. Well, then that kind of leads into the next question. So I was going to ask, do you do any kind of distribution or could people buy wines on your website or? Yeah. Our wines are, we're building up our retail and division. Like currently it's available at Magnolia Cafe in Austin.

[00:39:19] It's available at Austin Shaker at the 290 location. My wine's available at the Travis Heights Wine and Spirits right next to the Whippen on I-35. And it's available every Sunday at the Mueller Farmer's Market. And today, for example, we're at the East End Farmer's Market. So yeah, we fully, you know, we will bring the wine to you. Yeah.

[00:39:45] Do you list where you're going to be at for those different farmer's markets at any time on your website or anything like that? It comes out on the Instagram. Okay. And the Facebook. And so I have a brilliant social media manager, Jamie McGinnis, who does all that. Yeah. So, yeah, it's, we're pretty easy to keep up with. We also do a, if you're old school like me, you can just get an email newsletter. Okay. So that way people might can see, Hey, you're going to be near a farmer's market near me. I want to go check that out. Yeah.

[00:40:14] So I know we hinted at it earlier, but do you have any plans for future growth? Big plans. Yeah. Yeah. Anything you can share? Um, well, like I said, I already hinted that we're, we're building more Airbnbs, right? And we want to enhance the property. We are intending to put in hiking trails. We're building a food forest, uh, along with the precepts of, uh, permaculture, like we was talking about. Um, and, uh, so we're going to increase our, you know, produce availability.

[00:40:42] We're going to, um, put in the Airbnbs, uh, near the vines. Um, and, uh, yeah, then we got some, uh, further development. Um, uh, that we're looking at and, um, yeah. And then just continue to expand the retail, uh, reach. I think a lot of the things that we're doing right now are really winning, you know, as far as, um, uh, the events we're having and the things like that. So we just really trying to get the word out there, you know, we're under new ownership

[00:41:10] and we're, you know, unbridled enthusiasm is like our, our, our, our main thing. So, and, uh, we look to expand the, the farm school. We want to get more kids involved in that. Uh, there's also a weekly Monday through Thursday, uh, Montessori style school that you can also send your kids to. Again, the same brilliant student to teacher ratio, um, that a lot of people are looking for.

[00:41:32] Um, and, um, hoping to, I've been working with, uh, a fellow sommelier of mine, um, to produce a vermouth. Oh, really? Yeah. So I want to produce some vermouth. Like I said, I want to do that second line of wines. Right. Um, which may or may not be under the, the long monk here of Hamilton pool vineyards and farms. So I might, I might go with something a little more pithy. Right.

[00:41:56] So, um, and something that's, uh, yeah, just at a different price point than we're selling at, you know, cause we put a lot of money and effort into our wines and they're definitely worth it. Um, but, uh, but yeah, so lots, lots of things, lots of fun stuff coming down the line. Yeah. Yeah. So if you've been here before, definitely worth coming back to check things out and see the changes and to see the new things that are coming. Always. Yeah. And I'm always featuring new ones. Right.

[00:42:24] So on, I would say I have almost triple the amount of the four wines. Right. So like right now I'm featuring a hundred percent organic Malbec from the Uco Valley. Um, I also, uh, have a nice San Jovese. It's made from an African-American winemaker, you know, that we're featuring at the moment. Um, I sell some Italian organic wines, you know, um, when Austin winery does something wicked cool, I like to show my Massachusetts there. I like to put that on the menu.

[00:42:55] So, uh, the wines are continuously changing. Yeah. And also the ciders right now. My cider is quite interesting because it's a, it's from the Basque region of Spain and it's actually aged in chestnut barrels. Okay. So it's a dry cider, but it's, you know, it's really quite delicious. So. All right. Well, there are a lot of places in Texas that people can go to drink great wine. What in your opinion sets Hamilton pool vineyards and farms apart?

[00:43:22] So the people would say, I had to put that on my list and get there as soon as I can. Yeah. Um, well, I've, I've been talking a lot about what our vision is and what we're doing here. And so in a way of kind of answer that question, but I like to more directly answer it by doing it in reverse. Okay. What the customers tell me they like is they love the wine. They love that. They love that. It's easy drinking. They love, um, that I have dry and some sweet wines. Right. Uh, but mostly they love the experience.

[00:43:49] They love sitting out in the courtyard and reading a book or watching their kids run out and play. Um, they, they really respond well to the wine classes and the other classes. I mean, people come in and they make a painting and they, they go home with something beautiful and they're like, I didn't know I could do this, you know? Um, so, I mean, I think, uh, what makes us different is the experience. Um, uh, what we find, uh, like the first time we did a whole pig roast is people loved it.

[00:44:18] They, they, they loved watching us put the pig on the fire. They will have talking to the farmer. They love the farm tours, right. Going out with, uh, farmer Sam, who's our CEO and one of my co-owners, they love how invested we are in the place. And it, you know, it radiates back because they know what we're trying to do here is community first. Okay. You know, um, almost more so than the wines, dare I say such a thing. Right.

[00:44:43] But, um, that's, I think that's one thing that makes us stand out from other wine wineries, which is why, you know, I don't have the small bar. I don't have the small pores, you know, um, it amazes me sometimes how long someone will take to do a three wine tasting here because they're just enjoying themselves so much. They're, you know, they're sitting here, the sun's coming in, you know, the wind is blowing, you know, and they're just sipping their wines.

[00:45:10] You know, the kids can go over to the library there, pick out a game, you know, and play or, um, we're also a great, uh, uh, date night destination. So there's been a lot more of that. Um, if you, uh, want to commission it in advance, I will prepare a picnic basket with a blanket for you, which includes a bottle of wine and a bottle of water and like say chicken salad and fresh fruit and one of my famous brownies.

[00:45:37] And, um, you can buy that in advance and come take it and picnic anywhere you want on the grounds. So it's very, uh, experiential, you know, it's the experience first, I think. So, but that isn't to say they don't take a bunch of wine home with them. So those are the wine must be good. There you go.

[00:46:03] And you can be guaranteed that at Hamilton pool vineyards and farms, they are definitely community focused and experience first. When you go to visit them from a wealth of local products that they sell on site to all those great family activities. They also have these great wines from Texas that you can go in and enjoy and experience from skip and his team, all the things that they have prepared for you. Okay.

[00:46:32] Make sure and check out their website before you go to visit them. It's www.hamiltonpoolvineyards.com. And on their website, you're going to find lots of great information about the farm school and the different programs and things that skip mentioned in the interview, their information about that Montessori school that they actually host a private school there as well and links to their farm, a community store, and even those great wines that they're producing.

[00:47:01] And don't forget to sign up for their email newsletter while you're there. So you can be notified about some of those upcoming classes and events and things they have hosted there at Hamilton pool vineyards and farms. In addition to seeing their event calendar right there on the website. And as always, don't forget when you go to see them, make sure you tell them that you heard about them on this podcast, Texas undervine. Okay. After skip and I had finished our interview, uh, he actually sat me down at a table and allow

[00:47:30] me to try those four different wines that they make and serve there at Hamilton pool vineyards and farms. It was such a relaxed and fun experience to be able to sit back, drink some great wine libations and pick skip's brain just a little bit about some of his fun knowledge that he has about the wine industry. But as you know, I needed to pin down one of these wines to choose for my wine episode library.

[00:47:56] And surprisingly, it wasn't the one that I thought I was going to pick when I sat down and looked at the descriptions before I even started the tasting. I ended up choosing their love magic wine. So this is the love magic wine. It is a red blend. It has several different varietals in it from St. Giovese to Grenache to Merlot and then to Mouved. So those four varietals make up the blend of this love magic wine.

[00:48:22] And one of the great things about this was it's a very light kind of bodied wine, uh, very easy to sip and drink on fruity and it's flavor. But one of the cool things was that this would go really well, not just as a sipper, but paired with foods as well. It actually has a surprisingly low ABV at 12.5 alcohol by volume percent. And so this is a great wine for entertaining friends or for drinking with different foods and different meals that you may have.

[00:48:51] And for those who need a little love magic in your life, you've got it in the bottle right here. So that's the one that I purchased for my episode library for this particular episode. And with that, it's time for me to wander on to other great wine destinations. Around our state to bring all the great info about great Texas wines and wineries here. But before you turn it off or before you skip on, listen to me for just a second. I got a quick little plea for you.

[00:49:19] So to all of my listeners and to my watchers, I have brought you this podcast for two and a half seasons so far. This is my third season. I'm about halfway through really excited about the things that I'm doing for you and bringing to you. It's such a pleasure and a treat to visit with great winemakers, taste great wines and bring this info to you so you can go out and experience these same things that I get to experience. However, I need to ask for help with just one little thing.

[00:49:46] So the computer that I use to put together these podcasts is kind of on its last legs. It's a five-year-old computer and it's taking me a lot longer, sadly, to edit these episodes than it should because I'm just driving this processor on this computer like crazy. And I really feel like it's time for me to upgrade to a computer that can really handle the editing load and the things I need to do now that I've got video and all these fun things here in the podcast.

[00:50:17] However, as a teacher, it's a little expensive for me to think about going from a computer that I currently have to a new computer that can handle this load. So I'm going to do a quick little fundraiser throughout the summer to see if you, the listener and the watcher, might be able to help me raise the money I need to get a new computer to do editing and such for this podcast. So I'm announcing a quick little fundraiser for the summer months.

[00:50:41] I'm hoping to try to raise about $3,000 for a new computer setup for this summer. So over the next three months of June, July and August, I would like to try to raise this money. So I'm asking you for any help you might be able to give. Now, I know some of you are already podcast sponsors through my Patreon. If you would like to become a Patreon subscriber, I would encourage it. It's a great little thing. You get some behind the scenes benefit. You really help me support things with the costs that go into this podcast.

[00:51:11] And so for those of my Patreon subscribers, I'm not asking anything more of you. You already give so much to this podcast. Thank you so much. You do help me cover my monthly costs. If you're not a Patreon subscriber but are interested, you can get things like behind the scenes photos, extra videos, like a video walkthrough. You can find out where I'm going next. All kinds of fun little benefits. If you go to my website, www.texasundervine, go to the very top and click the become a patron,

[00:51:37] you'll be able to find the link to my Patreon page and become a subscriber there. Thank you if you're willing to do that. And if you're not a Patreon subscriber now, that could help with this if you want to join in on that. But if you're the kind of person that you'd rather just give maybe a one-time donation just to help me along a little bit, my heart would go out to you. There's also a place where you can make a donation there through PayPal or even through Patreon, you can do some one-time sponsorships and donations as well. And so I'm asking and pleading to all of my listeners, if you would even just give $5,

[00:52:07] $10, every little bit counts towards getting to this amount to be able to get a new computer for my editing, I would really appreciate it. I hate to ask things of my listeners. I'm a giver by heart and would love to just continue to provide you these great episodes without having to ask anything in return. But it is kind of a difficult thing for me. So I'm asking for that help. If you're willing to support the podcast, support the Texas wine industry, go visit these great locations. Go give them some of your money as well.

[00:52:34] That's the whole goal of everything we're doing here to make even greater Texas wine and grow our Texas wine industry more so than it even is right now. So that is my summer donation plea. I would ask if you would at least, if you don't want to become a Patreon subscriber, maybe a one-time donation would be great. Thank you so much for everything you do for this wine podcast. Also, on another note, if you've probably heard me talk about on the podcast a few times,

[00:52:59] things like wine education through a group called WSET, Wine and Spiritual Education Trust. And I've actually gone through three levels of the WSET program. Very, very great wine education. Level one is amazing for anyone who's just dabbling in wine or you like wine and you want to know more about it. And I've actually been certified to teach level one of WSET now.

[00:53:25] So I'm actually going to start trying to teach classes for level one WSET in the Hill Country area. If you are someone that's interested in taking WSET level one, reach out to me. Send me an email at scott at texasundervine.com or send me a message on my socials. We're trying to build a class right now in the Hill Country area. And so we need to make sure we've got enough people to take it before we set anything up through the Texas Wine School. So if that's something you're interested in, make sure to contact me as well.

[00:53:54] I'll get back to you and maybe we can set something up and you can expand your incredible wine knowledge and take it right from the Texas Undervine Podcaster, your wine guide, Scott. All right. For those watching on my YouTube channel, make sure to like, follow and subscribe. And if you would go down below and leave me a comment. Tell me what is your favorite thing about Hamilton Pool Vineyards and Farms? If you've been there and you've been able to visit them, but if you haven't quite been there yet, but you want to, especially now listening to this episode, then leave me a

[00:54:24] comment below telling me what is the thing you're most looking forward to when you do go to visit them. And with that, my time is up. So don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be notified anytime a new episode is released and please donate to my summer fundraiser. Yay. All right. Thank you so much. And with that, happy trails and bottoms up y'all. Thanks for listening to Texas Undervine.

[00:54:54] We strive to provide you with the best information about wine businesses all over Texas. Be sure to check out our website at texasundervine.com and follow us on our socials at Texas Undervine to stay up on all the upcoming episodes. Please email us with any suggestions or feedback. Also contact us if you're interested in donating, sponsoring, or advertising on the podcast just to help us cover our expenses and bring even more great info to you in future episodes.

[00:55:20] Above all, travel safely and most especially drink responsibly. Howdy, Vine Trippers. Did you know that I now have a merchandise store for Texas Undervine? I only have a handful of limited items, but you can go check those out and wear your Texas Undervine swag if you'd like to tell all your friends about the great wine locations we have

[00:55:48] here in Texas and maybe get them interested in the podcast as well. So there are things like t-shirts, there's a hoodie, there's a beanie, a ball cap, things like that. But one of the most exciting things I have right now is my limited time offer t-shirt. That's my season one t-shirt. So this is your Tasting Through Texas, Texas Undervine season one t-shirt. It's only going to be available for a little short amount of time. On the back, it has all the different locations like a band tour t-shirt. So this is a limited time item and you can go out and get it now.

[00:56:18] And one of the great things about that t-shirt is a portion of every sale goes to support the Texas Hill Country Winery Scholarship Fund. So you know that by buying that t-shirt, you're also investing in the growing and flourishing of an amazing wine industry here in Texas and all of those people that are going to come and make it even better. Check out that merchandise store. It's on my website at texasundervine.com. Just go up to the top. You'll see the link for the merchandise store.