Messina Hof Winery (East Texas)

[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 iPhone as well as Google devices. You can actually download this app, put it on your phone or just go to the website if

[00:00:20] 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 a great information about the place before you go and you'll be able to

[00:00:31] find other wineries in the area. 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 one that are kid-friendly, family-friendly, even ones that host RVs,

[00:00:44] all kinds of different sortable listings you can find there in that app and on the website. You can find other things as well in the area like restaurants, accommodations, maybe events that are going on at the different wineries. So

[00:00:56] 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

[00:01:12] Google Play Store or the Apple Store as well. Enjoy your trips among the vines and use that app.

[00:01:56] 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

[00:02:12] interesting spots for you and your friends to check out. Most of all, enjoy hearing about the rapidly growing wine industry in the state and what makes our wines and wineries the best. Howdy, fellow Vine Tripper. So welcome to episode 42 for Texas Undervine and

[00:02:41] today I'm headed to the little town of Bryan, Texas to visit Messina Hoff Winery. Now this winery is owned by Paul and Karen Bonarigo. Wine has been in their family actually for seven generations. Paul's father, Paul Bonarigo Sr.,

[00:02:59] actually founded the winery way back in 1977 and his family actually descended from winemaking families in Messina, Sicily. Now after he stint in the military, Paul Jr. and his wife Karen began the process of transitioning to take over the winery in 2010.

[00:03:20] And in 2015 they fully transitioned as the current owners and Paul is the winemaker there for Messina Hoff. They have a very storied history and are one of the earliest wineries in our modern Texas winemaking period here.

[00:03:37] There was only, I think, two other wineries at the time when Paul Sr. actually opened the winery in 1977. Now they have over 100 acres of vineyards scattered throughout the state and they have four different locations. They work with 31 different varietals in their wines and they

[00:03:57] have over 90 different wines in their whole portfolio from place to place in these four different locations. Most of the wines can be found in all of their four different locations, but they do have a few that are very

[00:04:10] specific to just individual locations and it's the only place where you can get it. But they're also famous for another type of grape, a varietal of grape that you don't see as much, but Paul's father, Paul Sr. actually helped bring this grape to Texas and really popularize it,

[00:04:28] should I say, which is the Sagrantino variety. So they're very famous for Sagrantino, which is a very bold and tannic red, really great flavor. So they are pioneering a lot of that Sagrantino here in Texas as well at

[00:04:43] Messina Hoff. Now like I said, when Paul Sr. and his wife, Merrill, actually founded the winery back in 1907. There were only two other wineries at that time in Texas. So they've actually been fighting the war for Texas wine

[00:04:59] and really trying to prove that Texas can be a player in the world of wine and to kind of get over this stigma about Texas wines for over 50 years. Paul Jr. tells a great story about that in the interview.

[00:05:13] You'll have to hear in just a few minutes. Now, one of the things they pride themselves on here at Messina Hoff is their hospitality. And they made that a very important part of the winery going all the way

[00:05:24] back to the start, even when Paul and Merrill were doing this out of their own home and they love to make cookbooks. They have restaurants on site. They have something that they call vineyard cuisine, which are dishes that all have wine as part of the recipe itself.

[00:05:42] And they really love sharing about pairing foods with wine and really making that part of the wine at your table. Now, in addition to the original tasting room here in Brian that I visited, they like I said, they also have three other locations.

[00:05:57] So one is just outside of Fredericksburg, kind of in the Stonewall area. They also have a location up north, if you're up in the Dallas, Fort Worth area in Great Vine, Texas. And then their most recent location is actually in the Houston area,

[00:06:11] a little east of Houston in an area called Richmond. So that's their fourth location. So no matter where you are in the state, you have easy access to visiting Messina Hoff and tasting their great wines. Now, interestingly, the name Messina Hoff comes from a combination

[00:06:27] of their family heritage. And you'll hear more about that in the interview. But, you know, I mentioned a moment ago that Paul Sr.'s family settled, so you get Messina there. And Merrill's family is actually from Hoff, Germany is where they kind of go back

[00:06:42] towards. And so they combined the two, Messina and Hoff together to get Messina Hoff winery. Now, when you go to Messina Hoff, whether you're looking for cool wine education classes, great dining, fun events that they put on,

[00:06:57] or just an amazing glass of wine, they have you covered on all the basis. Now, when I went to visit, I was privileged with getting to sit down in one of their beautiful event areas with the owner, Paul Bonarigo,

[00:07:09] to visit with him about their storied past and their exciting future plans that they have for this winery. All the fun things they're doing there. And lucky you, you get to listen in on it. Let's go to that.

[00:07:29] OK, well, I'm here with Paul Bonarigo at Messina Hoff winery. And we're going to talk just a little bit about this location and his history. So first off, I'm going to turn it over to you, Paul.

[00:07:39] So tell me about yourself and this location and how you got into the wine industry, specifically. So me personally, I got in the wine industry because I was born into it. OK. So my family, though, the reason why they're in the wine industry is because

[00:07:55] the Bonarigo side of our family has been making wine for seven generations. So my dad's side comes originally from Messina, Sicily and in the village, our village in the Messina region was Colo Teres de Comino.

[00:08:10] And in that village, the Bonarigo family was considered the kind of the winemakers. Of course, it was a significant portion of the village as well. My grandfather immigrated to the US and, of course, with prohibition and everything, there really was no wine

[00:08:24] opportunities in New York when he moved here. My dad was born there, grew up there, joined the Navy as a physical therapist. And that journey eventually brought him to Brian, Texas as the director of physical therapy for St. Joseph Hospital. So that's how he got here.

[00:08:40] My mom grew up here. Her family has been in Texas for multiple generations, not doing wine, doing bricks and masonry, actually. And she went to Texas A&M, graduated, met my dad when he was a physical

[00:08:56] therapist because she was a real estate agent trying to sell his home. And the funny story about that is the reason why they spent so much time together was because they had this vicious dog that attacked everyone who tried to buy

[00:09:09] the house and so that extended their time together and then they got married. So there's a funny story in the background there, but ultimately they got married in 1977. They bought this property as kind of their future homestead. They did not have a vision for wine in particular,

[00:09:28] keeping in mind that back then there was really only two wineries that were operational. And that same year, my dad had a patient by the name of Ron Perry who was doing a grape feasibility study with Texas A&M.

[00:09:43] That study was done in 13 sites throughout Texas to try to determine where grapes would grow. And he had just happened to be my dad's patient and he asked, hey, you've got this wine making history heritage. Would you like to participate? And so he said yes.

[00:09:59] And that's kind of where the one acre vineyard came in. And that was our experimental start as in partnership with A&M. And from that, and we can talk about the kind of the business side of things, how that expanded a little bit later.

[00:10:13] But from that generated interest, he started doing some hobby wine making which eventually turned into commercial wine making. And that's really where Messina Jav got its start. And then I came along shortly for kind of right in that beginning phase.

[00:10:30] So I was born into the very, very beginning phases of Messina off. I grew up doing it in the vineyard in the winery. So I got a chance to do every job that you could do marketing, viticulture, analogy. I worked as a waitstaff. I did everything.

[00:10:45] And then I joked that I was so excited about it that I went off and I joined the Marine Corps. So I left, I left for about nine years. And that's I met my wife when I was in the Northeast. And then we eventually transitioned back here in 2010

[00:10:59] to start the process of taking over. I had always had a vision that I wanted to be a part of the industry. I watched my parents who worked incredibly hard. They had a passion for the business. They were pioneers for Texas wine.

[00:11:10] They really believed this industry could become something amazing. So I had a similar belief. I just I was not 100 percent like time sometimes can be deceiving. And so when I left for the military, I thought, this is going to be a career thing.

[00:11:29] Not realizing that 20 years is a long time. And so we decided to transition back at the perfect time. The industry in 2010 was was in a great kind of an explosive period. A lot of wineries were opening. A lot of great things were happening in the media.

[00:11:48] Plantings were happening all over the state to be able to help establish our viticulture size to the way it is now. So it was good timing. Karen and I jumped in immediately and started the transition process. I finished up my certificate at UC Davis for viticulture and analogy

[00:12:02] to be able to start taking over the winemaking by 2013. We took over the I took over the winemaking and I stepped in as a CEO. And then by 2015, Karen and I had taken over the ownership of the winery.

[00:12:15] So that transition process also allowed us to be very involved with the industry. So Karen was the president of the Hill Country wineries group and I was a president of Texas Wine and Grape Grape Association. We're still very involved with both organizations, but

[00:12:31] that has kind of been our jumping back in phase. And then we've experienced a lot of growth during that time. And it's been exciting to see Texas wine continue to grow. But that's that was kind of my story along with it.

[00:12:45] So you talked a little bit about this place. Was this where the experimental vineyard was? So the estate, the total property of the estate is 100 acres. OK. Currently under Vine is 20 of that on the you can't see it from here, but on the other side of the winery.

[00:13:00] I actually probably drove by it on the way in my parents' house current their current home is on the same side as the original one acre vineyard we call block one now it's been replanted. So the original planting was a wide variety of different things.

[00:13:16] I believe we believe it was 28 different varieties in the first planting. And then there was two other phases that went into it. They have experimented with up to 50 varieties on this property. But that block now is mostly Lenoir, a little bit a block to why

[00:13:34] we have a wide variety from the original study that we still have to get DNA tested. But we we've lovingly called it Messinov white for a long time because for for many years, we only had like three vines. And so it really wasn't worth the time.

[00:13:46] But we've actually started propagating it and are growing. And now it thrives here. But Linwa being being that we're in the Gulf, you know, we are heavily limited to the types of varieties that in terms of management for Pearson disease. So Linwa grows incredibly well here. It thrives.

[00:14:04] It it it makes a really beautiful fruit for that we make our ports out of. So block one is mostly that block two is now a combination of Linwa and Segurantino. And then the blocks that you're behind us here, these are this is block three and four.

[00:14:24] So this this makes up about 60 percent of the vineyard and these two vineyards and this is all in law. So this is the original planting back in 1984. Most vines are still the original vines. This is a 40 year old vine here, isn't it? Yep.

[00:14:39] And and they they produce really, really well. And now on my parent's side of the property, they also we also have our state Segurantino block, which is two acres of Segurantino. That's part of the original experiment that my dad did with that

[00:14:57] variety to try to really pioneer that variety in Texas. So yeah, that's that was that was the the vineyard kind of came as a result of what they found. So when they first started, their original winery was their mobile home.

[00:15:15] And so like their kitchen was their lab and their tasting room, quote unquote, was their couch. So if you ever came to visit them, you'd basically just come in their living room and sit down and try the wines. But my dad had a fascination with with winemaking.

[00:15:30] But I think that the Texas spirit really drove them because what they realized was is that in general, the Texas consumer is supportive of the idea of Texas industry. They want to be supported. They want to and they're definitely big about, you know, how the Southern

[00:15:45] hospitality rolls very well into the wine world because everything you do is about hospitality. So they felt this deep connection with the community. They felt a deep connection with people's desire to help support this industry, even though at the time nobody believed in it.

[00:16:00] The whole purpose of that study was that we're trying to prove that you can grow wine grapes well and that there is a potential for this industry. The time, you know, everywhere they went for the first 15 years was like Texas wine. Yeah.

[00:16:14] They tell this funny story about the first time they ever went up to Chicago wine, the wine symposium or the conference there. They got put in the basement next to Ethiopia. That's hilarious. That's kind of the perception of Texas wine at the time.

[00:16:31] You're back in the quarter back here. Yeah. So they overcame many of those things, but that also drove why it is that we do like at the estate. So we have a restaurant. We have an event center. We have 11 room bed and breakfast.

[00:16:44] All those things came from the mentality of people wanting to, it's more than just the beverages to experience. And so by the nineties, they had started expanding into those hospitality realms. They worked on their food programs.

[00:16:59] We call it vineyard cuisine because every dish has wine in the recipe. They wrote three cookbooks along those lines. So it's been a lot more than just wine, you know, and we're all about the family and bringing people in and customers in and trying

[00:17:15] to get people to believe in Texas wine and food and all those type of things. So that's kind of that's kind of what drove us in the early days. Nice. And you have, we're here at the kind of OG location.

[00:17:25] We're in here in Brian, but you have three other locations. Tell me about those. So when Karen and I came back, we, as we looked at the industry, one of the biggest challenges that we had and still, I would say, still have

[00:17:39] is most of the wine sold in Texas and like your grocery stores and things like that, there's very little wine from Texas wineries. Most of that's come in from California or from imports. So the opportunity for a Texas wine to be introduced to the customers really

[00:17:58] tasting rooms are the best place for that to happen, or at least they are currently. And so because of the varieties, like we work with 31 different varieties of grapes and many of those varieties are ones that the general consumer may not recognize or may not feel comfortable with.

[00:18:14] And wine can be intimidating. And that's actually something that my parents early on their mentality when they opened the tasting room was they wanted it to feel like a living room, like a home. They wanted people to feel comfortable coming in.

[00:18:26] They trained the staff to approach wine, trying to make it as approachable as possible because a lot of wine consumers come here, especially being here with Texas A&M. They may be their first or second wine experience or you may have just people that, you know, back when

[00:18:43] when the Texas wine industry was growing, very few Texans called themselves wine drinkers. This was a beer and liquor store. Barrier state. Yeah, exactly. So to break down those barriers, you have to be welcoming. So the education process at Tasting Room is very important.

[00:19:00] And so we started looking at really what are the best places for us to have a location that we can connect with customers. And we've been working with Fredericks Brewery Food and Wine Festival since it started.

[00:19:12] I want to say that was like 30 years ago or something like that. And so we've had a relationship in the whole country. We've grown grapes in the whole country for many, many years. So that made sense for us to make that a spot.

[00:19:24] And this course 2010 it's hard to it's hard to imagine this because it really wasn't that long ago. But I think it was like a third of the size in terms of the number of wineries that it is today. It's exploded. Absolutely. Exploded.

[00:19:37] So we were very fortunate to find our location there on Highway 290. And that and that was in 2011 that we opened there. And that spurred on a desire to look at regions throughout the state that we can connect with people. And so then the next location was Grapevine,

[00:19:52] which we've been once again working with the City of Grapevine for decades now. I think we've been doing the Fredericks Brewery Food and Wine. I'm sorry, the Grape Vest for like 30 something years. So we opened there in 2014. And then the Houston area, we found a community partnership

[00:20:11] with Harvest Green Community there on the west side of town. It's technically in Richmond, but it's just south of Katie. And that one, Karen and I, we joke about this because when we first came back, the restaurant industry is very, very challenging.

[00:20:29] We always joke that we'd be crazy to open another restaurant. But the allure of the whole concept of food and wine together is just too hard to overcome. So as we looked at Houston, we had this great opportunity to partner with the community

[00:20:44] that also does a lot of agriculture. So they actually have a village farm and so we thought, oh man, wouldn't that be cool to do a restaurant location where we source from the village farm to be able to do the food and wine experience for people?

[00:20:59] The community there is very open to to to culinary experiences. And that's kind of fun for us because we enjoy experimenting and doing things like that. And so they're like, you know what? We're going to do a restaurant.

[00:21:13] And of course, we open right in the middle of COVID. So but but it's still a great location. We've worked the Kings out and now that we're through COVID, things are going well there. But so now we have those three satellite locations and then the estate here.

[00:21:28] And the restaurant is truly like farm to table and grape to glass then. So we have. So I would say it is semi farm to table. When we started, we really leaned heavily into the farm to table thing. We found multiple farm partners locally,

[00:21:41] but there's just some things that are very challenging to source. So I would say about maybe 50 percent of it's true farm to table type mentality, but it does definitely fit within the vineyard cuisine mentality, sourcing regional produce that fits with the wines. That's good pairings.

[00:21:57] Yeah. Wine is a part of the recipe there too. So all that stuff works together. One of our features down there is that we do we found this Mugnini brick-bired pizza oven. Oh, OK, cool. And so pizza and wine grew great together.

[00:22:13] And so that's been a fun process, learning, you know, the art of pizza making and being able to really make that showcase. And wood fired pizza. Hmm, that's a you haven't tasted pizza, do you? That wood fired pizzas. Exactly. And do you have location at those other locations?

[00:22:29] Do you have estate vines at those locations? Or is this the only place where you have your own estate vines? So in our Hill Country location, we do have a small vineyard out front. It's actually primarily for so we do a special port

[00:22:40] based out of that location that is traditionally made. So it is head-trained vines, hand-picked, foot-stomped, fortified, just like you would in Portugal. And so we make about 400 gallons there a year. It's meant to be experiential. So we do an event there.

[00:22:58] People come out pick and they get a chance to see from start to finish through one weekend. And so there's a small vineyard there in our harvest green location. We have about currently about three acres of vines. We actually just planted the second portion of that.

[00:23:12] And our goal is also to have a kind of a hands-on wine making process there as well. The big wine production is always going to be here. Harvest green, the goal was to ramp it up to about a thousand to two thousand gallons of production,

[00:23:26] maybe a little bit more than that eventually. But just with the way that everything is going currently, that's probably a long-term goal. But here we're making, you know, 180 to 200 thousand gallons a year. OK. This is the chief of operations right here. Yes. All right. Well, let me guess,

[00:23:44] but I'm thinking about the name Messina Hoff. I'm assuming that comes from, you said that your family is from Messina, Sicily. So I imagine it comes something from that. Tell me about the name Messina Hoff. So my dad's side is from Messina, Sicily.

[00:23:58] My mom's side is from Hof, Germany. So as they were opening, the show Roots was popular. And it was a little bit of an inspiration to them that it's important to remember where your families come from to give honor to that heritage

[00:24:13] that thought it would be very fitting to name it Messina Hoff. And they, you know, we've, Hof is, of course, not so much the wine capital of Germany, much more beer country, but. But there is an important cultural tieback to like where,

[00:24:30] why it was that my my my mom's family came to Texas. And the interesting, interesting thing is being a brickmaker and Mason family, they actually made one of their earliest places to live in Fredericksburg. So they were part of the German community. They came to Texas.

[00:24:50] That journey eventually brought them to Houston to open. He Vonsack, the Vonsack's brick factory, they opened there and then eventually came to Brian, Texas. So OK, so I love that celebration of the two heritage is coming together.

[00:25:04] And you can see that I can see definitely a little bit of the German influence in the structure of the buildings and everything, but you get, of course, the wine there. That's a nice combination where is the estate the only place that you source your fruit

[00:25:16] or do you get fruit from other places around Texas? So most of our fruit comes from the high plains now. OK, year to year that will change some. So we do bring in fruit from the hill country. We used to source quite a bit out of North Texas,

[00:25:30] but I would say that that has changed quite a bit in terms of the number of wineries that have come up in North Texas. They actually, the the vineyards have not capped up with a number of wineries up there.

[00:25:40] So we've invested a ton of of our of our energy into really being able to make the high plains be kind of a primary growing region for us and have had long term partnerships there. And so most of our fruit comes from there,

[00:26:00] the estate vineyard being Lenoir, it is so our ports come from the estate as well as a few other. So we have probably about probably about 20 acres in the Gulf that we source with Blanc de Bois and Lenoir. And all that stuff goes mostly into our either ports

[00:26:21] or we do have a separate Blanc de Bois product. But most of your classic Vitus benifera of riotels are grown in the high plains. OK, yeah. And then for your production, I presume all of that is done here at this site. Yeah, everything comes here.

[00:26:37] This is the central location for processing. So we we've kind of perfected a process by which to keep the fruit cool and in good condition. Actually, in some ways, there's actually benefit to being able to have a cold soak on the fruit for certain varietals.

[00:26:53] We have started on a couple of I would say special projects. We've done some pressing goes in the high plains where we'll basically take the fruit to a facility, press it immediately and then bring the juice down here before it starts fermenting

[00:27:07] to be able to reduce the skin contact time on certain varietals. There's an advantage for that. But in the broad almost 99.9% of it will transport it down here. We normally harvest in the early morning hour, so like two or three o'clock in the morning,

[00:27:27] which lands that here after the after the heat of the day sort of at night, that same day. And then my team will process it basically as soon as it gets here. And then our crush pad is set up to be able to process

[00:27:43] three or four trucks a day. So we can do, I would say on average, we're doing probably around 60 tons a day during our harvest time frame. And the last few years have been a little bit up and down, but we've processed anywhere from 1,000 to 1,250 tons.

[00:28:03] OK. So as a winemaker, what are some of your favorite wines to make? So that's a hard question because as a winemaker, you know, first of all, you love all your children. So you put a lot of energy into them.

[00:28:16] But, you know, it really does change from year to year because certain years will will bring out amazing flavors and characteristics in certain varietals. If I had to kind of be nailing me down and say, you have to answer this question.

[00:28:35] I mean, you have to answer this question. First of all, first of all, you know, I love wine in general. So like, you know, I'm WCIT 3 and so we love wines from all over the world. And Karen and I try to probably probably about 50 percent

[00:28:48] of the wine that we drink is international. 50 percent of it's from Texas. Gotcha. Not a huge win. I'm not a huge West Coast wine fan. Yeah. But the. Blending is is a lot of fun. So we do multiple blends within our portfolio

[00:29:06] that that give me a chance to really do some creative things. So like our GSM, which is one of our more popular wines is a nice medium body Granache Ramo Vedra blend. All three of those varieties I find grow very well in Texas

[00:29:21] and the flavors are just really, really unique. So that's a lot of fun to make. We make a Bonarigo family red blend, which is an Italian varietal focus. So it's a gruntino primitivo in San Givese. That's a lot of fun.

[00:29:36] And probably the biggest one is our Paolo red blend. So our Paolo series is our most premium. And in that series, we only do varietals when we feel like they're really the best or are great quality that year.

[00:29:51] So if there's a year where I feel like, OK, you know, this varietal is it's nice, but it's not really Paolo level. We'll skip the vintage. But the blend I make every year because it will change depending upon what varietals really showing well.

[00:30:06] And so the blending process from that for that wine takes me a long time because not only are we fine tuning each individual varietal before it goes into the blend, but it's it's meant to be a showcase of the best of what we've got.

[00:30:20] So there's a lot of pride that we put into that product. And and so that that one's a lot of fun. Plus it bears the Paolo name. And so there's a pressure to make sure that it does actually produce the best.

[00:30:32] It goes into brand new oak for 16 months. So you got this really powerful wine that's meant to be well aged. And and so that that was a lot of fun. Varietal wise, recently, the answer that I give most often is

[00:30:45] Segrentino has kind of become a passion project for me. My dad, of course, fell in love with the varietal. He helped be the pioneer that brought it to Texas. And then also we produce more of that than than any winery in the US. Really? Yeah.

[00:31:04] And because it really was an unknown varietal in general, but I have found a really love it and I love working with it. It's great to make wine out of. It's it's one of those ones that's kind of like the, you know, the beast tamer type thing.

[00:31:18] It's it's got wild amounts of tannin. And so to be able to kind of make that one, it's balanced. That's going to be approachable, but that still expresses the characteristics of the variety is always it's a fun challenge. I love Segrentino and it's it is harder to find.

[00:31:34] So I've had it a few places. So we're going forward to trying your side. OK, well, turning the question around then, what are some of your most popular wines with customers? What are the ones that just they're hard to keep in stock

[00:31:44] because they just continually fly off the shelves as soon as you release them? Well, the GSM would be one of those. Yeah, definitely. We we definitely have a have a huge following for that. On the red side, you know,

[00:31:58] Segrentino is one that is that is selling more and more for us. Probably more in a niche customer base because of the of it being a little bit drier, a little bit bolder. On the white side, you know, really does change from year to year for us.

[00:32:17] We just launched an off dry series that has Giverts, there's three different wines, Giverts, Traminer, Riesling and Mosque Cannelli. So that one obviously is just launched. So it's not quite to the point of being, you know, not being. Sold out yet. Yeah. But I see those three

[00:32:37] varietals as being within that category, like, for example, Riesling we've been making since 1980, 83 and Riesling as a product that sells incredibly well for us. We make an Angel, which is a dessert style Riesling that sells incredibly well. We also make a fun sparkling wine.

[00:32:56] It's a sparkling almond, which is a sweeter style sparkling that sells incredibly well. So those are some big volume moves for us. You know, on the red classic varietal side, a Cabernet Sauvignon is always one that people recognize. And so we sell quite a bit of that.

[00:33:12] And Tempranillo has been one that actually has grown quite a bit for us recently, too. Let's talk about the facilities here for just a second. We're sitting in this beautiful room here, beautiful overlook of the vines. And as we were setting up here,

[00:33:24] there had been a wedding here, I guess, last night. So you host weddings and things like that. Tell me about some of the events and some of the things that you do here at the winery itself. So we have a mix of in-house and contracted events.

[00:33:38] So like we do all sorts of weddings and corporate events and group parties and, of course, being here locally. Anytime that you have a ring day or a graduation or special occasion type things, we almost always do an event in a line with that.

[00:33:57] But we also do all sorts of different types of wine education courses. We try to keep it fun so it could be like a barrel tasting type of experience where we explain what oak aging does for wine

[00:34:09] or it could be like Karen does a lot of food and wine pairing type classes to try to teach different nuances of how to do your own food and wine pairing. And she tries to mix it up, so sometimes it's serious. So you're more classic ones.

[00:34:24] And then sometimes she'll do like party snacks, like how to pair it with popcorn and whatever. What wine goes with Cheetos? Right. Well, she's actually done that. Yeah. Oh, good. I'll have to talk to her about that later. So she does fun things like that.

[00:34:38] We do major festivals here. So like we have our big wine and roses festival coming up at the end of April. During that event, we do all sorts of fun food and wine type things. We do courses during that. We do stomping.

[00:34:50] We have vendors and we have food and everything like that. So those are fun. And one of our biggest events of the year is our harvest festival. So my parents, the first year that they picked the experimental veneer,

[00:35:06] they had a group of international students from Texas A&M come out because they had been kind of made aware of the fact that this was happening out here. And they said, you know, hey, back in our home countries,

[00:35:19] we used to go out to the vineyards and harvest during the harvest time. We thought it'd be fun to be able to kind of do that again. And they kind of sparked an idea with my parents, you know,

[00:35:29] one of the fastest ways to connect someone to a product is to let them understand how it's made. And so the harvest festival was started basically immediately. And they've been doing it ever since and inviting the public to come out to pick the grapes, to do stomping.

[00:35:44] Like, you know, of course, for many years, it was because they had seen it on the Lucy show and that was fun. And every year I find less and less people know what that even is. Right. But but, you know, the concept of being able to to do

[00:35:57] old world style stomping and then we take them on a tour and explain how winemaking is done. They can watch the grapes being processed. And so there's a deep connection that occurs with the customer when they get a chance to see that and participate with it.

[00:36:12] And we find that they take away kind of a lifelong appreciation for wine from that. So we do that event the first four weekends in August, in conjunction with the actual picking and stomping activity. We also do nighttime events.

[00:36:28] So we'll do like murder mystery dinners and we'll do, you know, wine dinner releases and all sorts of things like that. So we try to we try to keep it a good mix of kind of the more manual side

[00:36:38] of hands on and also the fun, just the wine and food side of it too. And you're about to head out to the hill country for the eclipse coming up tomorrow is when this is being filmed. So exactly. We've got our big eclipse party coming up tomorrow.

[00:36:53] And, you know, at our other locations, we do events as well. We also do wine education in partnership with the Texas Wine School so, you know, we we believe in wine education in general.

[00:37:06] We feel like the more people that we can bring to have a good wine appreciation, the more people can love Texas wine. Well, let's say that a listener is listening right now. They're getting excited. They want to come check things out.

[00:37:18] Let's talk about what it looks like when somebody comes in to do a tasting. So for a typical tasting, when they come to the tasting room, do they pick a set? Is there a set flight of wines or do they pick their own wines to taste?

[00:37:30] How much does that cost? What does that look like when they do a tasting? So, you know, I would say definitely check online for hours and so forth. But the normal taste we have, I would say two primary tasting experiences. We also do a library feature, too.

[00:37:50] So if you want to try a wine that's had some age on it, we have a special feature that you can try that as well. We have tastings that are pre-selected as kind of like a recommendation.

[00:38:05] But you're welcome to try any wines that are on the portfolio in the location. So we make over 90 wines. So our locations don't sell all 90 of those wines. We normally try to cater to varieties that we feel are most appropriate for the experience of being able to explain.

[00:38:25] We're blessed to have a presence out in the market. So like AGB specs, total stores like that do carry our products. Most of the vast majority of those wines we don't sell at the winery. We feel like there's a good availability for customers

[00:38:40] that want to try that out in the marketplace. So the winery you're going to see are higher end wines or wines that like, you know, like varieties like Sacramento where there's some explanation required, a tasting opportunity really caters to that type of customer.

[00:38:57] So but within that portfolio you can customize however you want to experience it. We normally break our tastings into two tiers. So the majority of our wines fall into the standard tasting and then like our higher end premium tasting would be a different price level.

[00:39:15] We're actually right in the middle of doing some adjustments to those programs. So they can like I said, they can kind of go on the website to find out more information about it. And then so it's kind of like getting if you go to the different your different

[00:39:27] locations, you got a different sample of your tastings. You think you said you had different things in each one. So each winery does have a slightly different makeup of wines. So yes, you can definitely try some unique things.

[00:39:42] But in general we try to make the especially the hospitality experience very similar in each one. So most of that tasting experience should be the same no matter which location that you go to with the exception of those few wines that might be

[00:39:54] featured at one location and not at others. Like for like one example would be our Hill Country location that Hill Country port that we make there is only sold there. So that would be the only place that you could you could find that.

[00:40:06] We also have special products that we make at each location or for each location. That doesn't be the only place that you can get it. So don't sleep on that if you've tried the scene of off at one location

[00:40:18] and you're in a city with one of the others, you got to stop in there because you might try something there. You didn't get to try the other one. Do you need reservations or anything like that for those tastings?

[00:40:28] I always recommend that, you know, if you have a group bigger than probably like five or six, it's good to call ahead. Not so much because a reservation is required. We will take reservations. So I try to help make sure that we can cater to a customer.

[00:40:43] But just to be able to gauge, you know, how busy it's going to be and to make sure that, you know, we can give you the full focus of our hospitality. But it's not required. So you're welcome to just stop by and have an experience.

[00:40:56] Obviously if you're doing a food experience, it's good to try to contact us ahead of time. At the restaurants, we use open tables so you can make a reservation using that. And for all of our events, we use seller pass.

[00:41:10] So if it's something that you're looking for an event at one of our locations, we have a full calendar events on our website. You can buy your tickets ahead of time, but for a standard tasting, you can just come in.

[00:41:19] And then food options, you've touched on that a little bit. We know about the restaurant we've talked about there in Houston. Do you have food options at all four of the locations? So ever since COVID, we have we have developed food programs at each location. It does vary.

[00:41:35] So there is differences between each one. At our hill country and our grapevine location, it's really more it's kind of more of that lighter bites like chicoudery, hummus, things that are fairly easy to make. It does change a little bit, like we'll have paninis focused.

[00:41:53] You know, we'll have a special that we'll do sometimes. But it's normally lighter bites at those two locations and at this location in Harvest Green, we had the full food menu. Yeah, I still can't get that wood fire pizza out of my mind. Got to go see that.

[00:42:08] What about if someone has kids or pets or things like that, people under 21 are they allowed to come? What about pets, things like that? What are your policies on those? So we, you know, we are a family mentality.

[00:42:23] You know, when we say join the family and be a part of it, we mean that. And so kids are kids are welcome to come. You know, I would say just being a parent myself is we would expect the parent to be responsible.

[00:42:36] And, you know, this is not a playground, but they're welcome to come. We have we actually have spark and grape juice available for the kids here at the estate. One of the fun things that the kids will do is we actually have a bunch

[00:42:45] of turtles in our in our lake in our pond. And so we have turtle food that they can go out there and feed the turtles. That's a fun experience. We have a lot of outdoor spaces at this location and our Harvest Green location.

[00:42:58] So, you know, they'll go out there and play soccer or, you know, just kind of keep themselves entertained. But on all of our experiences that are, you know, like tastings, tours, our Harvest events, kids are welcome. Obviously, like to consume alcohol, you have to be 21.

[00:43:16] So, you know, there are some specific events that are wine only. A lot of times we encourage that it's adult only for those type of things. But there's no like requirement. Like we don't, you know, bar anyone from from attending

[00:43:29] in terms of dogs, you know, being it is that we are a food establishment. You know, we ask that the dogs remain outside unless it's a service animal. But even even like our all of our locations have an outdoor element.

[00:43:44] So even like our grapevine location has an outdoor patio. So you can grab your wine and enjoy it out on the patio with your animal. We actually do. So here we do twice a year event called Waggles and Wine, where we actually work with our local adoption agencies

[00:44:01] like Aguilin Humane or one of those and we'll actually do a dog adoptions out here. And so people bring their pets and we'll make like custom dog treats for them and kind of make it a fun experience. We'll though, we'll have different dog activities

[00:44:15] and we'll have dog toy vendors and stuff. So yeah, so actually our next one is coming up right after our wine roses festival. So you walk out with bottles under one arm and a puppy under the other. What a trip to the sea to hope.

[00:44:28] What about do you have any maximum group sizes for, you know, we just can't handle this number or anything like that? As long as they let you know ahead of time. I mean, you know, we handle we handle all sizes of groups.

[00:44:39] So really it's just a matter of that communication ahead of time. I mean, we're geared towards being able to do a busload of 50 people. OK, it's a time no problem. But once again with the caveat, you know, we always try to find

[00:44:51] us a way to say yes, but we can do that the best way if you let us know ahead of time. I mean, we have in our spaces like our like our event spaces here at the estate, we can do events up to 200, 250 people.

[00:45:03] So yeah, it it just varies based upon what's happening during that time of the year. So is your website the best place to go for information about, say, the restaurant in Houston and also like your bed and breakfast here to get reservations and all that kind of stuff?

[00:45:20] Is that is your website kind of your central hub for all that? The website is definitely the best place to go. It has all the information as our menus. It has pricing. It has it has all that information.

[00:45:29] So yeah, it's definitely the best place to be able to see what events are coming up to and and then we have multiple avenues to be able to prebook and buy tickets and all that type of stuff. Awesome. Well, what are your busy and slower seasons?

[00:45:43] What's the best time for somebody to come visit? Although there are sometimes a year where I would say like it's super. I mean, like, for example, like home football game weekends, it can be pretty busy. With A&M right here.

[00:45:53] Yeah, graduation will sometimes be sold out in the restaurant. But I always say like some of the best times to visit if you're going to pick time of the year is kind of like right now when everything is really beautiful

[00:46:06] and the vines are out, the roses are blooming and it's really beautiful outside, great temperatures and everything. But, you know, our probably the best time of the year are during mid to late spring. Harvest time is a very cool time to come and experience

[00:46:23] because you get to see the processing happening live. You know, we try to be very open to, you know, showing that process so you get to really see it up close and personal. So that's a fun time of the year.

[00:46:38] And then during the during the fall in general, you know, the busiest times are just home game weekends is normally whenever we're kind of jammed here at this day. But most of our locations, you know, we don't really have time periods

[00:46:51] where we're so busy that it would not be a good time to come. Yeah. And do you offer a wine club? We do. So tell me about the deal. So our wine club is structured to be a four time a year shipment or pickup.

[00:47:07] And the way that works is when you do sign up, you'll just you'll say whether or not you want to ship to your home or whether you want to pick up at one of the locations we do pick up parties at all four locations.

[00:47:18] So no matter where you live in the state, we'll have pickup parties that occur near near your home. And those pickup parties, of course, are fun. That there's food and wine available. And we'll normally have some kind of entertainment and opportunity

[00:47:31] to engage with other wine club members and you pick up your wine at the same time. We have multiple different types of clubs. So they are pre preset allotments. So like we have a mix, which is normally two reds and a dry white. All those are dry.

[00:47:49] We'll have a reds, which is all three dry reds. We'll have a white, which is all three dry whites. And then we have a sweets club. So for those that are looking for sweet wines, so we try to we try

[00:48:00] to keep it nice and mixed so that no matter what have a wine drinker you are, we have an option for you. And then there's great discounts kind of depending upon what part of the club that you're a member of, because we also have

[00:48:14] an elevated program as our gold and our platinum program, which is a membership that you pay up front for. But it gives great benefits for events and things that we have going on at the estate. So there's actually some events that are only available

[00:48:31] for those higher level members. We also have special programs that will will do just for them wine education, food and wine experiences and things like that. But all that all that information you can find on the website.

[00:48:43] OK. And can they join the club on the website or they need to come in? No, absolutely. They can you can sign up online. There's also a way for you to contact our team. So we've got a great wine club concierge team

[00:48:56] that helps to try to make sure that we answer any questions. And, you know, if somebody needs to make adjustments to their club or or, you know, if they want to swap out a wine or something,

[00:49:05] you know, we try to do the best that we can to try to take care of people and our team does a great job of that. Well, you touched on this a little earlier, but I want to kind of come swing back around to it.

[00:49:14] So let's say somebody's really interested, but for whatever reason they can't get to one of your four locations. But they really want to try and machine off wine. You mentioned distribution a moment ago in places that you can find it outside in stores and things like that.

[00:49:25] Tell me a little bit about your distribution options that you have available. It depends on the area, but in general, like, for example, H-E-B specs total, Wern and most of those locations throughout the state, the wine selection will vary based upon location.

[00:49:43] But we're sold in over 2000 stores and restaurants in Texas. So you never know where it both is. And I would always challenge Texans particularly if a if the wine is not there, ask for it because you never know how they they can definitely have

[00:50:01] they can definitely get it. And sometimes stores will have the option where maybe it's not on the shelf, but they have the ability to pull it in for you and since it's already into your distribution, we're in distribution statewide, so they can always bring it in for you

[00:50:15] as long as it's in the distribution system. We also shipped to 42 states. OK. So if you, you know, whether you're in Texas or in most states in the US, if you want to go on our website, you can find most of our wines there

[00:50:28] and we can ship it to you too. If for whatever reason, it was not available at the store. OK. Yeah. So if you can't get here or if you just want to sneak peek before you come, make sure you look for that,

[00:50:38] the scene off on your wine bottle shelves and again, ask for it. Like you said, if you don't see it there, a lot of times though, we'll special order that for you and get more Texas wine into those stores.

[00:50:47] So so do you have any place for future growth? Most of our current goal, our current projects are working on our current locations. So a lot of what we've done in the last few years really, really COVID has changed a lot of our of our mentality

[00:51:05] as to the way that we are approaching the market. We have over the last eight years really shifted to premiumization, looking at higher end wines and balancing all elements of the business to be able to provide a good selection of wines

[00:51:24] to all type of customers, both in the marketplace and at the wine locations. The focus that we're currently in is we're doing a lot of renovations. We've bought a lot of new technology on the winemaking side to try to be able to increase the quality that we're producing.

[00:51:40] We're trying to increase our efficiencies with the, you know, the vineyard operations. For example, we just redid the entire cell system of the vineyard that's right behind us here in order to be able to be more sustainable in our winemaking and our viticulture.

[00:51:59] So a lot of our energy is focused on that. And I would say probably for the next three to five years, that's where a lot of my energy is going to be. Eventually we do want to shift back into, like for example,

[00:52:09] we have expansion plans in our hill country location and our harvest green location to be able to facilitate larger events there, larger production in our harvest green location. So we definitely have plans are just kind of they're a little bit customized based upon the location.

[00:52:29] The biggest thing that we need right now as an industry, you know, Texas wine in general did pretty decently through COVID. Right now I think that a lot of our energy has to be really focusing on getting those non-Texas wine drinkers over to Texas wine.

[00:52:49] So we're putting a lot of effort into marketing a lot of energy into revitalizing our experiences here so that when we're bringing in those customers that we can really convert them over to Texas wine. Cool. So with all the places that people can go

[00:53:03] in Texas to drink great wine, Messinohoff stands out. But what would you say is the number one thing that really sets Messinohoff apart that would make people say, I got to get there and see what they're all about? I would say that Messinohoff brings

[00:53:18] a very good combination of being the most awarded winery in Texas. We focus very much on quality. So you got great quality wine. We focus very much on delivering a great hospitality experience to make people feel welcome. And we really focus on having a portfolio

[00:53:41] that is very approachable. So you've got options no matter what type of wine consumer that you are, whether you're a person who's been drinking wine for 20 years, very serious about it, or whether you're a brand new wine consumer.

[00:53:56] We want people to be able to fall in love with wine. So when you have those three elements together, I think that that is a unique for us. We have an incredibly broad portfolio with over 90 wines and we have locations near most major areas of the state.

[00:54:15] So I think those are the things that really make us make us unique and help us to connect with customers. An established winery with a storied history for locations around the state and a great wine portfolio that has stood the test of time and continues to evolve.

[00:54:41] Messinohoff needs to be at the top of your list of places to visit if you haven't already. From things like that really cool harvest festival that Paul talked about that takes place every year in August, started by his parents and continuing to this day.

[00:54:55] They do it every weekend in August and that's coming up. Matter of fact, I noticed on their website, tickets are actually already on sale for that. So you got to go check that out and get that experience at one of those weekends there in August

[00:55:07] to their incredible wines like that. Sagrantino they're famous for their port. Oh man, their Tawny Port. Very, very good. I loved that wine and they're in distribution. So even if you can't get to one of their locations, as Paul said, there are over 2,000 different stores

[00:55:27] and restaurants and things like that through his father's efforts, through his efforts. And now you could go get great Messinohoff wine all over the place that places like he said, H-E-B, specs, total wine. So you've got no excuse to get out there and taste their great wines.

[00:55:44] And like he said, if you don't find them where you're looking, remember always ask for Texas wine. Matter of fact, there's a great new campaign that's been started here in Texas. Hashtag Ask For Texas Wine. And wherever you go, make sure in your local stores,

[00:56:00] in your restaurants, ask for some of these great Texas wines that are your favorite, especially places like Messinohoff. Now make sure to check out their website before you go. It's www.messinohoff.com. That's M-E-S-S-I-N-A-H-O-F.com. And there you're going to find things about those four different locations

[00:56:23] so you can find their hours and all kinds of things. If you want to go to one of those locations for a tasting, you can do that. You'll find out about all of their events. They host some really fun events,

[00:56:33] including that Harvest Festival I mentioned a while ago, but they have a lot of different events and you'll be able to find those there as well. Things about their wine club, how to join their wine club, their menus at the restaurants, their great wines.

[00:56:46] A wealth of great information awaits you there at messinohoff.com. And don't forget when you go visit them, make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast, Texas Under Vine. Now once we wrapped up the interview, Paul graciously escorted me to their tasting room

[00:57:04] and allowed me to sample a great variety of some of their amazing wines that they produced there at messinohoff. Matter of fact, I tasted so many amazing things from all of their different lines

[00:57:15] that it was so hard for me to just narrow down and pick one of them for my wine library. Matter of fact, I walked out buying several different bottles, but I did buy one bottle that was really impressive to me for my wine library.

[00:57:29] It all kept coming back to one of my favorite varieties, which we talked about throughout this episode, Sagrantino. I loved the 2020 Paolo Sagrantino. This is the Paolo line that Paul talked about in the interview itself. Only the best of their varietals go into this line of wines.

[00:57:48] And this was no exception. Very, very tasty wine, very bold, right in your face. Lots of great tannins, really grippy in your mouth. Lots of the flavor coming out there. And I'd like to quote one of my recent tour participants

[00:58:05] on one of the wine tours that I do, who when I asked at one point what your favorite wine was, one of the guys on my tour said, I love a good red wine that's going to punch you right in the face. And that's personally my favorite style.

[00:58:19] I laughed and said, yes, I get you perfectly. And something like a Sagrantino will do that. It's a very bold wine, but very, very good. And you can drink this on its own or match it with some great food. So if you need ideas for that, again,

[00:58:35] they can share that with you there at Messina Hoff. So that became my wine library bottle that I decided to purchase for this episode. And now I must move on. There's so many other great wine destinations here in the state of Texas that I need to go visit

[00:58:49] and bring that information to you. But I will always as I leave, remember the great experience and the hospitality that I was provided by Paul there at Messina Hoff. Now, if you're enjoying the show and you're getting any great information from this content,

[00:59:04] would you do me a favor? It isn't free to produce this podcast. It comes right out of my own pocket. And I know that some of you out there can't afford to donate financially to help me bring this show to you.

[00:59:16] But there is something you can do and it's completely free. Would you consider leaving me a rating and or review wherever you get this podcast? In the year and a half I've been doing this. I'm up to over 40 episodes now.

[00:59:30] I only have five reviews and five ratings out there. And I know there's more of you who are enjoying the show and it's just a simple click and an easy thing to do. And it really does help get me forward up

[00:59:42] in the algorithms to get the podcast seen by even more people, potential wine lovers, potential people that come to Texas to taste our great wines that we have here and take that back to where they're from. So I really wanna get the show seen by more people

[00:59:56] and you can really help me with that even if you can't afford to donate financially to the podcast. It's free to you and easy to do. So please, if you'd love to, please go out and give me a review and a rating for the show.

[01:00:07] And if you're watching this on YouTube, you can click the like and subscribe button. And if you've been to Messina Hoff, leave a comment down there and tell what is your favorite part of the winery? What did you enjoy most? Or if you haven't been yet,

[01:00:20] leave a comment telling what you're looking forward to when you go visit Messina Hoff. And with that, my time is up. So don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be notified anytime a new episode is released.

[01:00:34] And until then, happy trails and bottoms up, y'all. Thanks for listening to Texas Undervined. We strive to provide you with the best information about wine businesses all over Texas. Be sure to check out our website at texasundervined.com and follow us on our socials at Texas Undervined

[01:00:56] 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.

[01:01:11] Above all, travel safely and most especially drink responsibly. Howdy, Vine Trippers. Did you know that I now have a merchandise store for Texas Undervined? I only have a handful of limited items but you can go check those out and wear your Texas Undervined swag.

[01:01:35] If you'd like to tell all your friends about the great wine locations we have 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 beady, a ball cap, things like that,

[01:01:48] 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 Undervined season one t-shirt. It's only gonna be available for a little short amount of time on the back.

[01:02:02] 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. And one of the great things about that t-shirt is a portion of every sale goes to support

[01:02:14] 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 gonna come and make it even better. Check out that merchandise store.

[01:02:29] It's on my website at TexasUnderVine.com. Just go up to the top, you'll see the link for the merchandise store.