Majek Vineyard & Winery (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. 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.

[00:01:34] Howdy, Vine Trippers. I wanted to take just a moment before the show begins to tell you a little bit about the Texas Wine Lover website and app. It is a definite must have for anyone wanting to explore the Texas wine industry. Now they have a website. It's TXWineLover.com, but they also have an app that you can actually download to your phone.

[00:02:00] You can find it on the Apple App Store or on the Google Play Store for Android devices. And it's going to be kind of your one-stop shop for when you go out to visit these great places. So you get to listen to them here on the podcast or watch them on YouTube to learn about these wineries. But when you go to visit, make sure you're checking out that app. Because I'm sure you're probably going to want to visit other places in the area as well. And you can do incredible searches.

[00:02:27] It's the most comprehensive listing of winery information in Texas. And you can look for wineries in your area to go visit multiple places. You can sort those listings by finding out ones that are kid-friendly, maybe some that are pet-friendly. If you want to look for events or things that are going on, if you want to find those that can host RVs. Just about any category you can think of. You can actually sort those listings and find wineries around you to go visit.

[00:02:55] The app is free to use for you and I. So it's a perfect, again, hand-in-hand tool when you're going out to visit wineries. Listen to them on this podcast. Watch them on YouTube. And then start making your plans to go visit. And use the Texas Wine Lover app when you go. Now, it can also be a great tool. Maybe you're not even looking for a winery. You just happen to be traveling to some place in Texas. And you just might think, you know, I've got a little extra time. I wonder if there are any wineries in the area.

[00:03:24] You can actually look them up in the Texas Wine Lover app. You can search either by the name of a winery or it's got a map view. So you can actually pull up a map of the area around you and see locations of wineries near you. And go visit them and support the Texas wine industry. So you've got to use the Texas Wine Lover app. It goes perfectly with this podcast. So make sure you check it out before you go on your next trip among the vines.

[00:03:50] Again, it's www.txwinelover.com or look up the Texas Wine Lover app on your favorite phone app store. And make sure you get that downloaded and use it frequently. You will benefit from it and ask for Texas wines. Let's see the Texas wine industry prosper. And go visit some of these fun places that I'm bringing to you on the show.

[00:04:12] Welcome to Texas Undervine, an exploratory podcast to scout out the best Texas wine country has to offer. I'm your wine guide, Scott.

[00:04:39] 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. It 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.

[00:05:04] Most of all, enjoy hearing about the rapidly growing wine industry in the state and what makes our wines and wineries the best. Today's episode, episode 64, follows a somber and difficult time for our Central Texas community.

[00:05:33] The recent floods have brought immense devastation, claiming lives and destroying homes and livelihoods. While I was fortunate to be spared from the direct impact of the rising floodwaters, my heart aches for all those who were affected. Our deepest sympathies go out to every individual and family grappling right now with loss and displacement.

[00:05:57] We grieve alongside you for those young and old who were taken too soon by this tragedy. However, in the face of such adversity, the Texas spirit shines brighter and brighter. We extend our profound gratitude to the selfless first responders who continue their tireless search and rescue efforts,

[00:06:20] and to the countless volunteers who are dedicating their time, their efforts, and their money to help our neighbors rebuild. Your unwavering commitment is a testament to the strength and the resilience of our community. We are Texas Strong, and through our collective contributions and unwavering support for one another, we will recover.

[00:06:44] And if you, my listeners and watchers, are able and willing to provide any sort of resources and assistance, whether that be through your time or financial contributions, please search for Texas Hill Country Floods Relief to find reputable organizations providing relief. There are many organizations out there, too many to list in this short little segment, but I know you can find those easily on the internet.

[00:07:11] And, finally, to all those that are affected, on behalf of the Texas Undervine Podcast, our hearts and our thoughts are with you during this incredibly difficult time. Stand strong, Texas. Howdy, fellow Vine Tripper. Welcome to Episode 64 for the Texas Undervine Podcast. And for this particular episode, I ventured just a little bit southeast of my home region around Austin,

[00:07:39] down into the Gulf Coast region. And while I was there, I stopped in in the little town of Schulenburg to visit Mayek Vineyard and Winery. Okay, the winery itself has been open for about 11 years now, but the property itself has actually been in Lynn's husband's family for generations now. And like I said, it's located in Schulenburg, which is a little town just southeast of the Austin area,

[00:08:08] located near I-10, about halfway between Houston and San Antonio. And I mentioned the property actually being in Lynn's husband's family, Randy. His family actually moved here and purchased that land back in 1910, before World War I, as they immigrated from Czechoslovakia. Now, interestingly enough, wine was actually in their heritage, in that the family had been known to make wine back in their native Czechoslovakia,

[00:08:37] before they moved here. So, it's almost as if the property was destined to become a winemaking property. Now, originally, Lynn and her husband, Randy, actually purchased a portion of the family's property here, just to be kind of a weekend getaway place for them. They lived in San Antonio at the time and worked there and wanted this little spot to be able to have weekend getaways to come back to escape the big city kind of thing.

[00:09:05] However, over time, being fans of the Texas wine industry and the Texas wine scene, Lynn decided to, she kind of got the itch to try out planting some grapes of her own on the property. She ended up taking a few viticulture classes, and as one thing led to another, they ended up opening the tasting room and winery there on the property in 2014. Now, since they've opened,

[00:09:31] they've actually purchased a little more land from their family's property there. So, now they live and reside. The winery and vineyard is on 50 acres of land. As for the vineyard that's on site, they currently have about one acre that's planted to what's called Black Spanish or the Linois grape varietal. They had tried a little bit of Blanc du Bois at one time, and it was a little bit challenging for them.

[00:09:57] And so, they stuck with the one acre that they have of the Black Spanish grape. Now, for those that aren't familiar, being in the Gulf Coast region, they are a lot more susceptible to Pierce's disease, something we talked about and mentioned on this show before. And so, it's very difficult to plant the typical vitis vinifera that you're used to that we get a lot in the hill country and High Plains and other locations. So, Black Spanish is actually very resistant to Pierce's disease, so it does well in those regions.

[00:10:27] But in order to supplement their wine lineup, they do purchase grapes from other vineyards and other growers as well outside of the Schulenburg area in all over Texas. All right. The mascot for the winery is the Cardinal bird. And you'll see that in their logo. You'll see it around the property. Lynn tells me that the meaning behind the Cardinal is that whenever you see one,

[00:10:55] it actually represents your ancestors. They're watching over you. And this has some really deep and kind of special meaning to them as they are living on their family's property. And given that history and heritage of winemaking that goes back all the way to Czechoslovakia, it just means a lot to Lynn and to Randy. And so, they adopted that as their mascot. And you'll see that prominent again in not only their logo, but even in their lineup of wines, which we'll talk about.

[00:11:23] In addition to those great wines, they have a full kitchen on site. So, they love to make food as well to go pair with these great wines that they're providing. So, it's kind of a one-stop shop if you're wanting to drop in. You don't get to just drink wine. You get to eat some amazing food while you're there. And they do all kinds of really great fun events on site. I thought this was really cool that being in the heart of the area where a lot of the battles for Texas independence were fought,

[00:11:51] there are a lot of historic towns and things with representative areas from battlegrounds, and big things that occurred during Texas War for Independence. So, one of the things they do is they host a book club event at the winery that is all about the Texas War for Independence. And they've even been known to take a few field trips to go visit some of these sites as part of that book club and learn more about Texas independence. And if that's not enough, to top it off,

[00:12:18] they also have a two-bedroom and one-bath B&B on site, right there next to the location that you can actually stay at when you go to visit. So, if you need a place to stay while you're traveling, while you're going to see these great things, while you're going to taste that great wine, they have a place for you. During my visit, I was actually able to sit down in that great tasting room and visit with one of the owners and founders, Lynn Mayak. She was actually about to leave on a really long vacation trip,

[00:12:48] touring through France and other places in Europe. I was really jealous of that, but I was lucky to be able to get her and sit down and pick her brain about all the fun things about Mayak Vineyard and Winery. So, let's go to that interview and hear from her. Howdy, Vine Trippers. I'm here at Mayak Vineyard and Winery, and we're here to talk to Lynn Mayak,

[00:13:16] the CEO and founder here of this location, about their wines and about the tasting room here. Beautiful location. I'm excited to bring this to you here in Schulenburg. So, without further ado, let's turn to Lynn. So, Lynn, tell me a little bit about yourself. What got you into the wine industry? Well, it's a long story, as most people probably would say theirs is as well. We have been open now for 11 years. Okay. The property that we are on

[00:13:44] is my husband's great-grandfather's home place. He settled here as a Czech immigrant and refugee before World War I in about 1910, and they lived out here for three generations. And he was a civil engineer by training, but he was a winemaker also in Czech Republic. So, he brought that from the old world here? He did. He did. And so, I've actually heard from customers who've said, when I was a teenager,

[00:14:14] we used to come out here and drink rosé with Grandpa Saucin, basically. Oh, wow. Yes. So, skip ahead. We bought into the property in 2000. We bought 20 acres then from the family, and we just really intended it to be a weekend place. We were living in San Antonio, both working. Randy was at Wells Fargo as a wealth manager, and I was at AT&T in marketing.

[00:14:43] And so, we wanted a getaway, and so we bought 20 acres. Then in 2010, the AT&T headquarters moved from San Antonio to Dallas, and I was not mobile. So, unfortunately, I knew I was going to lose my job there. And at my age and the work I was doing, I really couldn't get another job at that level. Yes. I didn't think I could.

[00:15:11] And so, I had about three years of runway before I was going to get laid off. And so, I had already fallen in love with the Texas wine industry. So, this was about 2010, and just loved the whole country. I had some favorite wineries already that were up and coming at the time, including, of course, Becker, William Chris, and Messina Hoff, who I had seen in Brian at the time.

[00:15:40] And so, I was just really admired these people. And I loved the chance to do something new, basically, learn something new. So, I told Randy, my husband, and there was a lot of drinking going on. But I said, maybe we can just, I can learn how to grow one thing. We didn't have any agriculture background. So, I was in the second cohort of the viticulture program.

[00:16:09] The first one had John Reibenberg and Chris Brundritt and other people in it. I think Doug Lewis was in that one. And I was in the second one with John Fredericks at Blue Mule. I mean, not Blue Mule, that's here, Blue Ostrich. Oh, yeah. And others. And John has passed, but he was my classmate. And so, we came out of that program

[00:16:38] that ended in 2013. Okay. And so, I planted, right, us in March of 13. Then we opened the tasting room in March of 14. And in 15, I got laid off. Oh, wow. So, you were already prepping everything up to that time. Yes. And we were going to school while we weren't. Randy eventually got a two-year enology degree through that same program. And so, we wanted to take advantage

[00:17:07] of the opportunities in the system, so to speak, or in the Texas wine industry that would help us do better and not basically waste our, I never wanted to, obviously, waste money. But I also didn't want to sell bad wine. And so, you know, we are located halfway between Houston and San Antonio. It's about 100 miles from either place.

[00:17:35] And so, people drive out here, I really wanted them to have a damn good glass of wine. And so, that's actually my motto is you're going to get a damn good glass of wine when you come to Mayotte. But, so, yes. So, now we've been open 11 years. I can't believe I've been retired from AT&T for 10 years. It's gone by so fast. But we now have, of course, we have our tasting room, which we love.

[00:18:03] And we now have moved out here. We moved out here about eight years ago. We have a winery that every year was a capital investment. So, now we have a winery. Our vineyard is now 12 years old. And Randy's retired too. Okay. So, my husband is COO and he handles a lot of the paperwork issues like insurance and things. And I run joint. Okay. So, that's basically where we are.

[00:18:33] And Tim Drake, I can't fail to mention Tim Drake is our winemakers. Okay. He's been, we've been with Tim five or six years now and he's just a rock star winemaker. Yeah, he is. And it, it's my motto about damn good glass of wine. It's worth having Tim around because he ensures it is. He makes sure of that, huh? All right. Well, let's talk for a second about your location here, the land, how much, you said you've got some acres under vine. I can see some vines out here. So, what all do you have?

[00:19:03] How many acres do you have under vine here? So, we have, we now have 50 acres of property because we're on family property and as, as land has become available, we have bought from family. But, we have one acre of black Spanish. Okay. When I started, I put in one and a half acres of grapes in 2013. I did one acre of black Spanish and one half acre of Blanc du Bois. Okay, yeah. And at that time,

[00:19:33] I was working with Fritz Westover, who's a vineyard consultant who I highly recommend as well for people that are beginning or have big operations. He's a rock star as well. And he told me, Lynn, don't plant the Blanc, just do black Spanish because then you would just have one grape to care for and it would be all coming at the same time. You wouldn't have two one harvest and all that. Right. Particularly starting out. Well, I didn't take his advice

[00:20:01] and actually my soil is not very good for Blanc du Bois to be honest. And so, in the big freeze, I think that was 2021, it died and it did not come back. Okay. And so, right now, I have a blank block and we are right now propagating black Spanish to put in there. So, it's taken a while to be able to do all that several years but we're doing that now. But,

[00:20:31] in answer to your question, I have enough black Spanish for myself and that is all I need. Right. And in South Texas, you really cannot grow anything but black Spanish and Blanc du Bois. Yeah. And so, because of Pierce's disease. Right. And so, we just do a really good black Spanish rosé and then our other grapes we procure from, mostly from the high plains as most people do in Texas wine. So,

[00:21:00] we buy the juice up there, have it crushed up there and then bring it back down here. Okay. We've tried every which away over the years. Before we had a winery, we took our grapes up there to have them made into wine. Wow. And so, that's just, you know, quite a long length. Sure. So, we've tried to get a little bit more efficient and transporting the juice is much easier. And that was one of your, as you said, capital investments to build a winery here on site to be able to make that wine here. Right. We have barrels and tanks

[00:21:30] and in fact, we're bottling today. Okay. We use volunteers to bottle and we bottle as we go. So, we bottle when we need it. I love that. Well, have you considered some of the new Walker varietals for this area? I have. And if I were younger, I would do it. Okay. You're just on the moon to be experimental at the moment, huh? I like, I really like black Spanish. I know a lot of people. It, I mean, the story,

[00:22:00] the legacy of black Spanish is really very Texana. So, I do love it. It doesn't make, in my opinion, the best dry red. And so, we make a rosé, but our rosé is absolutely delicious. So, yeah, so I'm happy with that. And like I said, I have friends that are growing the Walker variety. Virginia Rodriguez in, and De Geines has a nice vineyard there. And so,

[00:22:29] I can buy her. Okay, there you go. It's much easier to source it out than it is to worry about the player. like I said, you know, there's labor issues in my area. And so, I'm blessed that I have a high school senior and a college sophomore who work here part-time. But I really don't have the head count to really add more. Okay. Gotcha. Well, let's talk about some of your wines. What are some of the wines that you sell and make here? Well,

[00:22:59] we have Blanc Dubois because I still sell it. And we make it. It's grown by Othello near here. Dr. Leon Smith, who's a retired veterinarian. We buy it. He's in about 10 or 12 miles from here. And so, we buy it. He had better luck than I did with Blanc Dubois. And we grow our black Spanish. We have a blend called Cardinal. So, the Cardinal Bird, the Red Bird, is my mascot. Okay.

[00:23:30] And the meaning behind it is that it represents, when you see a Cardinal, it represents your ancestors watching over you. And as I mentioned, my grandpa's awesome. We know he is very, particularly Randy. He's very proud of Randy and all we've been able to accomplish. But, the Cardinals are on my label and some of our wines are named Cardinal or something. So, Cardinal's Crown is our flagship wine. Okay. It's about 25% of my business,

[00:24:00] both in retail and in wholesale. And, it's a Bordeaux blend made with Texas grapes. Okay. So, it's made from Petit Verdot, Cab Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. So, it's been a, last year, it won Best of Class. Okay. And a belt buckle and gold medal at the Houston Rodeon. Oh, wow. That's a big honor. So, we have a small but mighty portfolio. Okay. Thanks to Tim. So, Cardinal's Crown

[00:24:28] is what I'm drinking here. It's fabulous. And, then we have Tanat, we have Tempranillo, we have Muzedra, we have Barbera, we have five dry reds, and then we have a semi-sweet Riesling and a sweet red. Okay. And so, I basically, my, my plan is, is to have something for everybody. Every palette. So, whether you are a sommelier or if you are

[00:24:58] a beer drinker and this is your first glass of wine, we will have something for them when they come in the door. Something to fit that palette. Not to mention, as well, your rosé that you talked about a moment ago. Sorry, I left out my that's okay. Yeah, and so, you've got a lot of different varieties and you get those all from different High Plains areas or Hill Country or areas around here. Hill Country, mostly High Plains. Okay. So, you've won some great awards. That's really cool for some of your wines. What are some of your most popular wines you'd say with customers when they come in?

[00:25:28] Besides that cardinal that you talked about? Well, we are in Czech-German territory here. So, many of, probably most of the people that live here are the descendants of Czech or German immigrants. Okay. And so, you know, we're in that kind of immigrant neighborhood between Houston and San Antonio. And, so, we have, we sell a lot of sweet wine. Okay. Not as much

[00:25:58] as I used to. When we first opened, we sold 50% sweet and 50% dry. And, but over time, the customers have grown more into the dry wines. You've seen those pallets change over the year. Right. And we do get a lot more traffic now from Houston than we did in the beginning. In the beginning, we got, you know, we had no customers. You know, one day we'd get one, one day we'd get three. You know, it, it, it grows from nothing, right?

[00:26:27] And so, um, now we, um, we get about 60% of our customers are probably from Houston. Yeah. And of course, they, many of them have a pretty sophisticated pallet. Yeah. But, um, we still sell a lot of sweet wine. Okay. And, um, my best seller is called Cardinal's Choice and it is a blend of Grenache, Mouvedra, and Muscata. Oh, really? Yep. And so, it's really sweet but it's very flavorful. Yeah. And so,

[00:26:57] it's very popular. Right. Yeah. Do you, are there any other wines? Are those typically the ones that you've kind of done now? You kind of solidified this wine palette over the years or do you still bring in other varietals sometimes or try different things here and there? Well, I kind of have an established market for what we do and my COO, Randy Mayak, my husband, likes us to have a very tight portfolio. Right. So, we're, we do a lot of what's really called wholesale. It's retail to the TABC,

[00:27:27] selling to retailers. But we call it wholesale because it's selling to other people. but we sell, we've got about 50 wholesale customers. Okay. And we sell to bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. And they have also very established customers for my wine. Yeah. So, we keep what we have for them and for us. But we do bring in a wild card about once a year.

[00:27:56] That's what we call it. And it's something right now, Tannot was our wild card a couple of years ago. And so, we try to look and see what's happening in the industry and try to do that. I honestly think the next thing, we'll either add another white or we'll add a sparkling rosé. Something to just balance it out a little bit. But I was in retail before I was

[00:28:26] at AT&T. Okay. I was a buyer at Dillard's. And so, I look at it like a portfolio. And it's a, you know, I want to have dry sweet red white, you know, like a, you know, a mix. And then I plug in the holes of the portfolio basically. But we've got, we've got solid fan base for what we have. So, I try to keep that for people. And being situated

[00:28:55] here between Houston and San Antonio, are you starting to see a little more kind of traffic of people going back and forth between the cities? Kind of, oh, we've got to stop over. We do. It's really funny. We have, we have people that, because we are halfway between Houston and San Antonio. And so, we have people that come here for first dates. They are, maybe they met online, and they meet here. Okay. We have people that have family in both cities, and they'll meet here.

[00:29:25] Like, the parents are in San Antonio and their adult children are in Houston. They'll meet here. So, yes, we do have that quite a bit. And it's, and also, we'll have business groups that come here. They will have a little conference here or corporate retreats and things like that. You know, we don't do anything very large. 30 to 60 is our sweet spot. But, yeah, they'll meet here because if they've got locations all around,

[00:29:55] they'll meet here. We've done, GE had a meeting here. HEB has meetings here. So, we're blessed that, you know, people see us online and we can do what they like to have done. So, we serve food. And so, that's been a very game changer actually for us. Yeah. I didn't want to have a restaurant, but with COVID, we needed to sell food to reopen. And, and it's actually been very profitable and I have enjoyed it. I love, I'm originally

[00:30:25] from the South and I love hospitality and I love feeding people, which I love. It's, I feel like I'm channeling my grandmother. So, we, we have hot food and so we can cater and stuff like that. And do you serve that here in the tasting room or at a different? We have, we have our big barn for events. It seats about 60. Okay. And we have, so we can serve

[00:30:54] in there. Yeah. And we just had a birthday party. I mean, we had birthday parties, baby showers, rehearsal dinners, you know, that's kind of, we don't do weddings and we've done a few weddings, but we don't do weddings, but we do, you know, medium to small events. But we, we have an event room that has, is small. It's, it's about 12 to 15 people. And in there, we do Mahjong classes. We do,

[00:31:24] we have a book club, a Texas, we're in the middle of the Texas Independence area. Yeah. We're near Gonzalez. We're near Goliad. We're near La Grange. And so we, we do a Texas history book club, which has been well received. So that's a lot of fun too. And in fact, we went to Gonzalez and toured Gonzalez when we were reading a book about, about the runaway scrape. So that's been real successful. We try to have the authors

[00:31:54] come in and speak to the book club. And then in here, we can see it about 35 and we get in Schulenberg, the, Schulenberg chamber is the home of the painted churches tour. So in this area, there's many, maybe like 30 little frame churches, Catholic or Lutheran generally, that were built by the immigrants that settled here.

[00:32:23] And they, there's a tour of them that you can book through the Schulenberg chamber. They are spectacular churches. Very, if you can imagine people, refugees, basically building these little, not beautiful little buildings. And then they stenciled them on the inside because they didn't have gold and marble and stuff. They're stenciled. Spectacular. Yeah. I highly recommend anybody doing the painted churches tour, but we have overflow from that. Okay.

[00:32:52] So we'll have a bus that will come in from people from Houston and San Antonio that are touring the painted churches and they will eat here. Oh, nice. Or have a tasting. Have a stop over here. Yep. Have some wine. Before they go back home. Nice. So we do that and we also have a bed and breakfast. Oh, okay. Yeah. So we have people come whenever they want and paint, you know, when the wildflowers are beautiful,

[00:33:22] when they'll come to the painted churches. There's a lot of music in our area. Okay. There's a lot of music in our area, a lot of local musicians. And so people will go to a dance hall or maybe there's a family reunion. You know, there's all kinds of reasons, but we have a two bedroom, one bath, bed and breakfast that's adjacent to the property that we just pretty much filled all the time. It's mid-century, so it's a little special. Yeah. And you got the history

[00:33:51] of the place here too to go along with all of that. Yes. And we can, people can come and they can never leave the property. They can just, we can feed them and they can just get out of the city and have a breath of fresh air or they can wander around and shop antiques in Round Top or wherever they might want to. We're close to Round Top too. All the little towns around the area. We're only about 25 miles from the Shiner Brewery. Oh, well too. So we're really in a, it's, we're in the middle of nowhere

[00:34:21] it seems like, but there's a lot of great, real high quality things to do around us. Very much a small town Texas feel throughout all these little places out here to go out and explore. There are nine little towns around us because back in the day in this area, a school had to be, there had to be a school every eight miles. Okay. Because the kids would only walk four miles in one direction. Okay. And, you know, there were no buggy.

[00:34:50] Everybody walked, basically, a few buggies. So there's all these little tiny towns all around us and they all have about 1,500 to 2,500 people that live there. Each one has its own persona and each one has its own great things to do. So, yes, it's very, if you could, you couldn't even cover it all if you stayed a weekend. Right. But it's, you can definitely hop around the little towns around here and have great food,

[00:35:21] great beer, great wine, great music and, and see some painted churches. I'm sure a bunch of little festivals and things in all these little towns all over the place. We're coming up summer. So the church picnics are starting. So all of the painted churches have church picnics. So every weekend through the summer they are, there's a church picnic. Okay. And they are themselves something to see. The Praha church pic, well, the 4th of July

[00:35:50] is always the St. John picnic, which is one mile north of us. And it is on the 4th of July every year and they will serve five to seven thousand plates of fried chicken and beef stew. And so this, it's a big extravagance. It really is because you can imagine the manpower it takes to put that on, but it's a, it's a well-oiled machine. So every church picnic, they know how to cook big.

[00:36:21] And you will not have better fried chicken anywhere else than you will have at these picnics. Yeah? All day music, games, fun for kids, and, and fried chicken. Nice. And wine when you come right down the road. The Praha picnic is on August 15th every year. And if it's a Tuesday, they still will have about 12,000 people. Really? Mm-hmm. Yes. Wow. These things are important events. People coming out of the woodwork. Yeah, they do.

[00:36:51] From all over. It's like family reunions or people that heard about it and come by, but there, it's a, it's a ritual almost like a pilgrimage. Interesting. So yeah, we're in the middle of nowhere, but there's a lot to do. Yeah. Well, let's talk about what it might look like when the customer came in to visit here. I mean, they wanted to do a tasting. So a customer comes into the tasting room and they want to do a tasting of your great wines. Do you typically do a flight of wines

[00:37:20] or does the customer pick or how does that work? We do. We have, as I said, we have nine wines. Our tastings are a tasting of two ounce tasting of four wines for $18. And we have a paddle and we have small glasses that look like they're smaller for tasting glasses and and so they get that and then they can choose what they want. We don't have a prescribed tasting unless it's a big grape. Then we're,

[00:37:50] say, sweet or dry. Okay. So yes, they come in for that. Then we will suggest if there were like a charcuterie board or something to eat with their tasting. Okay. And of course, we've got hot food. Also, we've got crab cakes and garlic shrimp, meatballs. Try to have some food that goes with every wine. Okay. So they can do some little pairings. Yeah. And we have vegan and gluten-free options. Okay. And then finally, we have desserts.

[00:38:20] Of course, we've got strudel. We've got strudel and pie. Okay. So we try to have something for, again, something for everybody. Yeah. You can have a full experience here from bottle to pie. Yes. And the desserts go great with the wine. A lot of times desserts don't pair well with the wine, but mine do. Desserts and a damn good glass of wine. That's right. Damn good strudel. We'll throw that one in there. Because it's very indigenous to the area.

[00:38:50] Yeah, right. What about things like families? And if people wanted to bring kids, do you allow kids, pets, things like that? We are kid and dog friendly with the leash on the dog. We have toys for children and coloring books. And we've got plenty of room for kids to run around. You know how with Apple, how they start in kindergarten by giving kids iPads? Yeah. So they are

[00:39:19] Apple fans all the way through life. That's my theory. We love for people to bring their children so that they know how to act in public and they can experiment here. that they get comfortable in the public and that they feel like it's a safe and fun place to be. And we do have people that tell their mommies, Mommy, we need to go out to the winery. We're making Saturday trips. Tomorrow's

[00:39:49] Mother's Day and I've already gotten some calls. Yeah. We're coming to your place because you'll be okay with the kids. Great. So yes, we try to keep it safe and fun for the kids too. What are your operating hours? So we're open Thursday through Sunday 12 to 6. Okay, and it's the same each day? Same each day and we have the same menu each day. Yeah. And so

[00:40:19] we'd love for people to drop by and visit us and come see what we're talking about and what we're doing out here. Well, I know we've already talked about those buses that pull in. Do you have any maximum group sizes or should people make reservations, things like that? So if people, oh, another thing is we actually have a group on. I hate to actually tell people about that because, you know, then they're buying in a discount, but we do do a group on. But if people have

[00:40:48] more than eight, I probably need to hear from them. They can just call my number and leave a message because that way if we need more staff or more food will be able to be prepared. So that's a good question to ask me. That would be helpful. Yeah. What are your busier and slower seasons? What's the best time to come visit, would you say? Well, anytime is good because we have air conditioning. Yay! But the high season is really during the blue bonnets.

[00:41:19] So the drive out here from I-10 is beautiful and all of the winding roads out here are gorgeous. The farms are beautiful, the cattle, the sheep, you know, you can drive past these beautiful churches and it's a beautiful drives out here. In fact, we get Porsche Club and antique car groups. We get car groups that come here because it's a beautiful drive around here. Right.

[00:41:47] But March, April, May is the high season. Then in the summer it slows down a little bit because people are going to the beach, you know, with their kids or whatever. And then it picks up again in the fall and then of course the holidays. I noticed coming in from Austin that even not even on a major highway, just the back roads and driving down some of these beautiful areas and it's a gorgeous day today. It's the

[00:42:17] mid-70s and just a beautiful location out here. Such a fun place to come by. And even I would say to those customers going to the beach if you're headed down to Galveston on your way to Galveston stop in here right off I-10. I will tell you that we get people that stop on the way to the beach absolutely and when they're going to College Station to football games from south of us because we're close to Highway 77 and people will go past us to go to College Station

[00:42:47] or to Austin too so we get the football traffic on the way or on the way back. That's true. That's really cool. Do you offer a wine club? We do. We have a very robust wine club. They definitely saved me during COVID. I love my people in our wine club because they are dedicated. Yes, we have a wine club that meets quarterly. Okay. My wine club is

[00:43:16] all custom so I can't tell people no basically. I hate to kind of send wine to people that they may not be their favorite. So our wine club is custom and I do every order individually so it takes a minute. But our wine club members get a discount off between 15 and 25 percent depending on the tier of

[00:43:47] quantity they choose. So three bottles, a quarter is 15 percent, six is 20, and a case is 25 percent off. And the people that are in the six or the 12 bottle club also get free shipping. So it's an easy club to be in because the discount is off of everything. So it's off of food too. So if you, particularly if you're able to

[00:44:17] be around here and take advantage of it regularly, it really makes things very reasonably priced. That's a nice added benefit there. We talked a moment ago about distribution and things like that. So if I always like to ask if people can't come here for whatever reason, you talked a little about wholesale, retail, things like that. Where are places that people can experience Mining Wines without actually... So our distribution range is about 60 miles from here in Schulenberg.

[00:44:46] And the reason is because we self-distribute and it's just economies of scale kind of thing. We actually do... We only have one outlet in Houston. It's in Tomball. We're at Pecos Grill in Tomball. We are in... But between LaGrange and Round Top and Victoria and say Sealy and Seguin, that's kind of our territory.

[00:45:17] And we have quite a bit of distribution in the Victoria area and then we have some distribution actually in Corpus Christi. Okay. Yeah. So we're at Liquid Town which is a big liquor store chain in Corpus and we're at the Omni at the Republic of Texas restaurant which we're honored to be in there. They're a Michelin kind of place. Yeah. That says a lot. Yes. Etta Butts is there

[00:45:47] Somalia and she does a great job. Okay. So we talked a little bit about the history, where you've come from. We've talked about all the things you've got going on here. Do you have any plans for future growth or future things that you want to do or add in? What I would say is I as a former retailer of a business person, I think everybody wants to grow. It's like manifest destiny. What we have decided to do is to remain small and

[00:46:16] do a very good job at it. So rather than creating another location or adding on 10 more wines, we have decided to up our game from a one-on-one customer experience. And so we already have a damn good glass of wine. But we have a damn good B&B. Okay. And we have damn good food. And so that's what we have

[00:46:46] decided to focus on is to continue to do what we do well and really just serve our customers. We kind of have a servant heart. So we are about an hour away from major markets around here, Austin, San Antonio, Houston. So within an hour, people can get to a breath of fresh air. and a very reliable customer experience

[00:47:15] where they can, it's not loud here. They don't have to fight a crowd. They can sit outside or inside. They can sit by themselves inside or outside. So our goal, we just know, we were working people. We were professionals in a city and had to get out of town. You need that. And people really need it now. And so that's what we do is we serve people. We try

[00:47:45] to be a place where you can go and kind of make it your own. And we have our regulars who come with their families. They've made it their own and they have us as a destination. And then we meet new people every weekend that are couples or people with children passing by who hopefully will return because we gave them a good experience. So people talk about a lot about not being able to find Texas wine. And in our area, you know,

[00:48:15] in this circle where we are, there's high love for Texas wine among customers, among the public. So you can go into a restaurant around here and you can find Texas wine. And you can go to Splashway, which is now the number one water park in the United States of America. It's one, it's about 30 minutes from here in Sheridan, south of here. They have my wine and whistling duck.

[00:48:44] They only carry two Texas wines, no other wine, because they're so supportive of local. So there's, the people around, that's, I guess, a better way of saying it, is that people around here are very supportive of local and particularly Texas wine. So I want to thank my customers and my guests for that, and Splashway and other business around here that help us

[00:49:14] be successful. So that's, I guess that's it, is that people would, other areas need to pick up their game. You know, because people always talk about they can't find Texas wine here or there. You can find it out here because people shop local. Other areas need to step up

[00:49:43] their game. Do you hear that, Texas? Lens talking to you. Buy local. Hashtag ask for Texas wines. Buy those Texas wines and begin asking your favorite restaurants, your favorite stores, the places that you go that carry wine to carry some of the amazing Texas wine that we have in this state. There are many wineries, many places that would love to bend over backwards to provide some wine and to distribute to these locations. There's no reason why we can't

[00:50:13] flood this state with the great local, amazing Texas wine that we have here. And according to Lynn, be assured, if you visit that Schulenburg area, you'll have no trouble finding Texas wine all around the area there. All right, make sure to check out their website before you go. It's www.mayekvineyard.com The spelling is located right down there. And on their website, you're going to find an online store where you could

[00:50:43] actually buy those wines and have them shipped directly to your door. You'll also find what to expect when you go to visit, including things like their restaurant menus, their wine menus. They'll have a listing of their events and the things that they have going on at the winery. But another cool thing they have there is a place to go to find other local area places to go visit while you're in the area. Lots of great recommendations. And it even shows which of those places carry their wine and some other wineries that

[00:51:12] are in the area too. You'll also find a way to reserve that B&B that's right there next to the site that Lynn talked about in the interview. And you'll also see details of how to join their wine club. Now don't forget, when you go to see them, make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast, Texas Undervine. All right, after the interview concluded, it was time to get on with the tasting of these fun wines. And one of the things I really enjoyed about their tasting process was the choice that I was able to make.

[00:51:42] So I was able as a customer to choose the wines that I wanted to try from this great lineup of wines that they had available. And I made sure to try all three of the Cardinal based wines that Lynn talked about in the interview. So they have three main wines that make up their Cardinal line. One is called Cardinal's Crown. Cardinal's Crown is a Bordeaux style blend for it's a dry red wine and it kind of imitates some of the blends that you might find in Bordeaux. You'll

[00:52:12] also find Cardinal's Kiss which is their light rosé that they offer and the cool thing about Cardinal's Choice is that comes from those black Spanish grapes that they're actually growing right there in their own vineyard with their final Cardinal wine being Cardinal's Choice. This is one that Lynn talked about being very popular in the interview and that's a sweet red wine made from three different varietals a little bit of Muscat Canelli a little bit of Primitivo and a hint of orange Muscat

[00:52:42] in there and when it came time to settle down and choose what's the bottle that I want to bring home with me for this wine library episode I made a choice that I probably never would have guessed I picked the sweet wine Cardinal's Choice Choice I'm not much of a sweet wine drinker personally except for great things like port and some other fortified Madeira things like that but I don't typically go for sweet wines but I really like this

[00:53:11] because it was really light and fruity it wasn't overpoweringly sweet it wasn't syrupy you know kind of overtaking my taste buds it was really nice and sweet it would really go well with a lot of great foods or even just sipping on the porch on a hot Texas afternoon very refreshing so this became my bottle for this episode Cardinal's Choice and I took a bottle home with me for this episode you should try it as well when you go to visit really really tasty great wine all of the

[00:53:41] Cardinal wine was amazing but I chose the one that I typically wouldn't the sweet wine Cardinal's Choice as my episode bottle for this episode okay and like a cardinal I must now take flight to get to other great wine destinations that we have here in Texas to bring all that great info to you before I go however I have a

[00:54:24] it and many people have lost lives livelihoods things like that it has affected the wine industry there are some vineyards that have been completely destroyed during this time here in the Central Texas and Hill Country area many wineries are stepping up to help offering donations things like that it is an amazing thing to see in light of that event and what has occurred over this last week it a little

[00:54:54] for a new computer for a little podcast like this so I have decided to make a different choice I am going to suffer along with my current computer for the next however long it takes I'm going to take that money that I would have purchased a computer with and I'm going to donate that $3,000 directly to support for the flood relief victims so instead of selfishly raising money for this podcast I'm going to turn around and give

[00:55:24] that to those who need it it just seems in the light of things a new computer is such a small thing compared to the tragedy that has unfolded over the last week so you won't see any more from me about the computer donation drive instead I'm going to take my money and put it towards those relief efforts but on a lighter note I would like to solicit if there's anything you could give to the podcast that's free it would be a rating and review so if you are enjoying the material that I'm providing to you in these podcasts would you go

[00:55:53] out to wherever you get this podcast and leave me a rating a review it just takes a few minutes to do it's free to you I'll let you choose how many stars you want to give and then you can actually leave a little comment or two about what you enjoy about the podcast that really does help other people who might be looking for Texas wine helps elevate the whole industry and really get this information out to more people who want to know about the awesome wine we're producing here in Texas

[00:56:29] Mayak Vineyard and Winery what's your favorite thing about that particular location and if you haven't been yet you know the drill leave a comment and tell me what are you most looking forward to about the winery when you go to visit based on what you've learned in this podcast and with that my time is up so don't forget subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be

[00:57:03] to Texas Undervine we strive to provide you with the best information about wine businesses all over Texas be sure to check out our website at Texas Undervine dot com and follow us on our socials at Texas Undervine to stay up on all the upcoming episodes please email us with any suggestions or feedback also contact us if you're interested in donating sponsoring or advertising on the podcast just to help us cover our expenses and bring even more great info to you in future episodes above all travel safely

[00:57:32] and most especially drink responsibly howdy vine trippers before we go I wanted to direct you to my website www. Texas Undervine because there you're going to find a whole host of things besides access to the audio versions and the video versions of the podcast you can

[00:58:27] also so they can go visit even more of these great wine destinations but in addition to the store I also have a patreon for my subscribers people that support this show I do this all out of a work of love from my heart I do not make any money on

[00:58:58] more of these great episodes hear more from these amazing winemakers learn more about some fun destinations for you to go and visit on your own I would appreciate if you would be willing to subscribe to my patreon so at the top of my website page again you'll find a become a patron link and there you can get all the information about becoming a subscriber to the podcast here as a

[00:59:28] behind the scenes benefits that you don't get and I do have some new things in the pipeline coming down soon so you want to get on that sooner than later but right now you can get things like behind the scenes photos at different wineries you can get things like a one level you'll get a video walkthrough of the winery so for every episode I will post a video walkthrough week

[00:59:58] on the show as it comes out so you'll know before everyone else you get a sneak peek so there's just different levels of benefits and they all cost a different amount and as you subscribe you become the heart of this podcast you really are what helps me succeed you are my community and my people and thank you so much for those that do subscribe so if you're interested in joining Patreon check the become a patron link at the top of the website so again the website is www.texasundervine.com you can also go to all of my socials I'm at Texas

[01:00:28] Undervine on almost all the social accounts and check it out and consider sponsoring the podcast and maybe even buying some of that really cool swag on the merchandise store happy trails and bottoms up vine trippers howdy vine trippers did you know that I now have a merchandise store for Texas Undervine I only have a handful

[01:00:58] 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

[01:01:50] this 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