Salado Winery Co. (Central Texas)

[00:00:00] Howdy Vine Trippers. I wanted to take just a moment to talk to you about the Texas Wine

[00:00:10] Lever website and their phone app for both iPhone's as well as Google devices. You can

[00:00:17] actually download this app, put it on your phone or just go to the website if you're

[00:00:21] not an app person. And if you ever want to go visit some of these great locations that

[00:00:25] we've been talking about in the podcast, this will give you a great information about the

[00:00:29] place before you go. And you'll be able to find other wineries in the area. So if you want

[00:00:34] to make a day of it, go see several other places as well. You can search by region, you can

[00:00:39] sort the listings, find ones that are kid friendly, family friendly, even ones that host

[00:00:43] our v's, all kinds of different sortable listings you can find there in that app and on the

[00:00:48] website. You can find other things as well in the area like restaurants, accommodations,

[00:00:54] maybe events that are going on at the different wineries. So it's your one stop resource that

[00:00:59] goes hand in hand with this podcast. Do be able to find those great places to go visit.

[00:01:04] So check out the Texas Wine Lever website, it's txwinelever.com or go to their app. You can

[00:01:11] find it on the Google Play Store or the Apple Store as well. Enjoy your trips among the vines

[00:01:16] and use that app.

[00:01:29] How do you vine tripers? I wanted to take just a moment to talk to you about the Texas Wine

[00:01:39] Lever website and their phone app for both iPhone as well as Google devices. You can actually

[00:01:45] download this app, put it on your phone or just go to the website if you're not an

[00:01:49] app person. And if you ever want to go visit some of these great locations that we've been

[00:01:54] talking about in the podcast, this will give you a great information about the place before

[00:01:58] you go. And you'll be able to find other wineries in the area. So if you want to make a day

[00:02:03] of it, go see several other places as well. You can search by region, you can sort the listings,

[00:02:09] find ones that are kid friendly family friendly, even ones that host our v's all kinds of different

[00:02:14] sortable listings you can find there in that app and on the website. You can find other things

[00:02:19] as well in the area like restaurants, accommodations, maybe events that are going on at the different

[00:02:24] wineries. So it's your one stop resource that goes hand in hand with this podcast to be able

[00:02:30] to find those great places to go visit. So check out the Texas Wine Lever website, it's

[00:02:36] txwinelever.com or go to their app you can find it on the Google Play Store or the Apple

[00:02:42] Store as well. Enjoy your trips among the vines and use that app.

[00:03:04] Welcome to Texas Undervine, an exploratory podcast to scout out the best Texas Wine

[00:03:09] Country has to offer. I'm your wine guide Scott and I'm here to lead you on an auditory

[00:03:14] expedition to the vineyards and wineries across the great Loan Star State. Each episode

[00:03:19] will cover a different vineyard, winery or winery related business operating in Texas. You'll

[00:03:24] hear interviews, descriptions and details about each location that will excite you to visit

[00:03:29] and experience them for yourself. Ready to plan a wine tour? Use these episodes to choose the

[00:03:35] most interesting spots for you and your friends to check out. Most of all enjoy hearing about the

[00:03:40] rapidly growing wine industry in the state and what makes our wines and wineries the best.

[00:03:58] Howdy fellow vine trooper, welcome to episode 37 for the Texas Undervine podcast. I am excited

[00:04:04] today to be able to take you a little bit north of Austin to a little place called Soledo and it's

[00:04:11] a little tourist town and I'm going to be going to visit a winery today called Soledo winery company

[00:04:17] and wine seller. Now this winery is owned and run by June, Ritterbush and she got the idea of way

[00:04:24] back in 2003. She was actually a helicopter pilot for the army which brought her to Fort Hood

[00:04:32] and she decided to start a winery here but she got the idea because in 2003, Bell County was actually

[00:04:39] a dry county but you could sell other wine to Texas wines there in Bell County so she got the idea

[00:04:44] to open up the wine seller. She actually planted some grapes back in 2005 near Soledo

[00:04:51] but it really wasn't until about 2008 that they moved into their current location. They were

[00:04:57] using a smaller location nearby from 2005 to 2008 but in 2008 they moved into their current

[00:05:03] location selling again other people's wines but she got the idea to actually start making her own

[00:05:08] wines in 2010. They do grow their own grapes there in Bell County and they like to buy their fruit

[00:05:15] from local resources in the area sometimes she does have to stretch a little bit further maybe

[00:05:20] up to the high plains but she does like especially sourcing from the local area in the hill country

[00:05:25] in the central Texas area. Now she prides herself on dry reds some dessert wines they actually make

[00:05:33] a really interesting port style wine and even a sherry style wine using a salaris system which is

[00:05:39] kind of the main way that sherry is made if you're familiar with that. They also make a sweet vermouth

[00:05:44] which is not something you usually see in a lot of wineries so you're going to want to hear a

[00:05:48] little bit in the interview when she talks about that as well. They are also part of the stage coach

[00:05:53] wine trail which was actually mentioned in the previous episode of episode 36 when I visited with

[00:05:58] Moose and Goose winery they're part of that same wine trail which is actually based here in

[00:06:02] Salado. Salado is known for a place called the stage coach in so it just kind of fit with that

[00:06:07] wine trail there. Actually eight different wineries as part of the stage coach wine trail

[00:06:12] they will be running their wine passport style event next year in January starting for basically

[00:06:19] the month of January 2025 and for about $50 a person you can go visit the eight different wineries

[00:06:26] that are all kind of in a little stretch on the 35 corridor there in central Texas and you can do

[00:06:32] tastings at those wineries. It's really a cool deal you should check that out if you're interested.

[00:06:37] Again it's called the stage coach wine trail. Now in addition to selling wine making wine and

[00:06:43] then providing wine to the Salado community in two Texas they also do some really cool wine

[00:06:49] education classes on Thursday night that they open up to the public to be able to get the public

[00:06:55] in to learn more about just all kinds of different aspects of wine. There are a taste of your manager

[00:07:00] Hannah who you'll get to hear a little bit from in the interview actually does a lot of those classes

[00:07:04] so you'll hear a little bit about more of those in the interview as well and did I mention an

[00:07:08] interview? Yes so while I was there I did get to sit down with June for a little while and then

[00:07:13] actually we were joined by Hannah who came in and joined us she's their tasting your manager

[00:07:18] so you'll get to hear a little bit about the winery itself their vision kind of where they came from

[00:07:23] and a little bit it from Hannah about the ins and outs of the taste of your room as well. So without

[00:07:28] further ado why don't I go to that interview right now.

[00:07:37] Okay so I'm here with June Ritterbush here at Salado winery and so tell me a little about yourself

[00:07:43] what got you into the wine industry. First I started out in life as an army helicopter pilot

[00:07:49] well I did army ROTC at Boston University and I spent 10 years in the army. I was stationed

[00:07:55] in Germany Italy, Korea, Virginia, Alabama and then Fort Hood was my last duty station.

[00:08:00] Okay when I left the military I went and got an MBA in France. I went to a school that is real

[00:08:05] geared towards international MBAs and I thought I was going to go out and travel the world and be

[00:08:12] one of these overpaid consultants and instead I came back to Texas my husband had his own business

[00:08:18] at the time and it didn't really make sense to leave so I wanted to find something to start my

[00:08:24] own business with and strangely enough I'm here in Salado and Salado's been a tourist town for a

[00:08:30] long time. I was really attracted to the idea of starting a wedding gown shop. I wanted to do one

[00:08:35] of those high-end wedding gown shops where people come in and they just sip their champagne and try

[00:08:40] on the gowns but I started thinking a lot about. They're ready to check for $20,000. Exactly!

[00:08:46] And I started thinking oh but I'm not a seamstress and what do I do with cranky brides?

[00:08:51] And at the time Texas was passed a rule that was late 2003 there was a constitutional amendment

[00:08:58] that allowed Texas to sell Texas wine in a dry area and it was dry here in Belk County at the time

[00:09:06] and I got thinking about that and how we had a tourist town here anyway

[00:09:10] and I thought you know I think I need to be wine to this town in Salado so I started drinking wine

[00:09:17] more. I had already drank wine when I was stationed in Germany and I had lived in France and I

[00:09:21] lived in Italy too so I've drank plenty of wine so I started researching and decided that I wanted

[00:09:28] to do a winery. So here I am many years later that was in 2003 when I first got the idea so I've

[00:09:34] always joked with people that they say how did you get in the wanting show? I said well I was just

[00:09:40] drinking my way in and the other way I tell the story is to say you know when you drink a glass of wine

[00:09:47] and you get a fabulous idea I just never let go and I just kept drinking. So here I am. There you go!

[00:09:53] So I studied wine making at the Grayson Community College with lots of other folks here in the

[00:09:58] wine industry and I worked with less constable at his winery in Alvore, Texas called Bresche Creek

[00:10:08] in the year back in 2004. In 2005 we planted some vines out on Hill Road which is South of Salado

[00:10:17] and originally our plan was to build the winery there but some things happened and my mentor

[00:10:23] Gabe Parker at Homestead Winery said to me you know Salado's got a little touristy time. I wanted

[00:10:27] to see if you can lease something and get some cell in some wine so I took him up on that idea

[00:10:33] and actually lease little blue building next door originally the person who owned this building

[00:10:42] was the landlord for that when she decided to sell this building she sold me this building. This

[00:10:48] building was not built to be a winery but it has turned out to be a fabulous building for a winery so

[00:10:53] yeah yeah what was that then you opened it up here? So we started in 2005 with leasing and I was selling

[00:10:59] other Texas wines and at the time there was only about 40 or 50 wineries in Texas so I was buying

[00:11:06] wines from people like Bresche Creek and Homestead Winery and then I was selling them and then we

[00:11:12] bought this building in 2008 and we started making wine here on the premise more like 2010 okay

[00:11:18] but I've been growing grapes since 2005 okay and you still have your vineyards somewhere do you

[00:11:24] still you talked about the out on Hill Road? Yeah I still have the vineyard on Hill Road. When we

[00:11:29] planted it it was about an acre and we called it the test vineyard after a year we stopped calling

[00:11:34] it a test vineyard and we just call it the vineyard as in yeah the test was great we don't need to plant

[00:11:40] more. And then I take it the name of the winery just came from you started I presume a salado wine

[00:11:48] seller because you were selling it now you're salado winery from your own wines. Correct.

[00:11:54] Mixed connections here so is that your only place that you get your fruit from? Is that that vineyard

[00:12:01] there or do you source from other places as well? We've bought grapes from lots of other folks as well

[00:12:07] we've tried to over the last few years really focus on being as local as possible and I have

[00:12:13] focused on making wines from Belcone grapes. Okay. In the future though I'll probably go a little

[00:12:20] further than just Belcone. Okay. It was tough last year during the drought and Belcone didn't produce

[00:12:27] a lot of grapes. Didn't produce a lot okay and for understand 233 it was a pretty big harvest so

[00:12:32] it was just nice well in this particular county. Correct. Okay got you. And then do you process all

[00:12:38] of those wines here on site? Yes I have processed up to 25 tons of grapes a year. Okay and you have

[00:12:46] your winery building here with all your production facilities and all that stuff. Correct.

[00:12:51] Okay cool. So what are your favorite wines to make? What is it your most proud of? Overall

[00:12:57] I enjoy making the dry reds more. Yeah we're real proud of our dessert wines too. Okay our

[00:13:07] port and cherry style. And then I had to remember to tell you about our vermouth. Okay. Would you

[00:13:14] tell me about it now? Okay the vermouth so I don't know if you're familiar with vermouth. Sometimes

[00:13:19] people know vermouth from the dry white martinis. That's a dry white wine. Vermouth is a wine that

[00:13:25] has herbs and spices added to it. Okay. We do a sweet red vermouth so it's not meant for those

[00:13:30] dry white martinis but it's a sweet red vermouth and it's made with some grapes that were grown

[00:13:37] on the Lampassas River in Belton and they were harvested in 2012. Okay. And it's a very interesting

[00:13:46] wine and so I'm looking forward to pouring it for you. Now that's something that you would have like

[00:13:50] say looking at a groaning or something like that right? Oh yeah. Yeah most of the people coming in

[00:13:57] and tasting wine aren't familiar with vermouth but when we find people who are interested and curious

[00:14:01] about mixed drinks then we start talking to them about like about the vermouth and how we like

[00:14:08] to mix it. Okay. We really enjoy making seasonal punches with it so for example in October

[00:14:14] we slice up apples and soak them in it and then the cinnamon sticks and so it pulls out all that

[00:14:20] apple and cinnamon flavor but we keep it chilled. So sometimes people think of cinnamon is just a hot

[00:14:25] warm drink spice. Yeah. We like it. It's a chill because in October in Central Texas it's still 90s

[00:14:32] degrees out and I wanted to have something that had the seasonal flavors but it's still refreshing.

[00:14:37] Yeah. So the vermouth gives me a way to put together a drink that satisfies in that way. Okay.

[00:14:43] In a way that wine isn't going to so this time of year we switch and we had citrus to it

[00:14:50] and use more the citrus flavor. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I see her ingredient when I make homemade

[00:14:56] sangrias but cinnamon sticks in there. Oh that is super interesting because you guys really

[00:15:01] give a great feel to it. Yeah and at first I was sure I was going to like cold and cinnamon together

[00:15:06] but I think it fits really well in Texas when we're watching all the pumpkin latte advertisements

[00:15:13] but it's still 90 degrees out. Exactly. Yeah. It starts coming out. Okay so what are some of your

[00:15:18] most popular ones of customers? What are the ones that just I mean people come in and say I've got to

[00:15:22] get them. You go to Slate of Winder you gotta get this one. So our most popular over all the years put

[00:15:26] together is our very first wine it's called dillodally and it's a sweet red wine. Okay. Once again

[00:15:32] we keep it chilled and so what happens is in the summer when it's 103 degrees out and people go

[00:15:37] through this dry wine tasting and you know you get already see the sweat building. Yeah and then

[00:15:43] I pour them a cold red wine and they're like oh this is kind of good. Refreshing. Yeah so I think

[00:15:50] it's partly just that it's so hot here that the dry red wines don't always satisfy what you're

[00:15:55] looking for when you're thirsty. Okay cool. So do you put on any kind of like events or things like

[00:16:02] that here for people to come in and see the place or you just do the tastings. So we're here

[00:16:08] seven days a week and we always offer the tasting when we're open and we're open every day 12 to 6

[00:16:14] our big annual traditions include the stagecoach wine trail. That's the last couple weeks of

[00:16:18] January. That event at this time it involves eight different wineries in the region

[00:16:24] and we usually we like to do the event now for about a 10-day period but we place it so it's over two

[00:16:29] weekends so if we get bad weather then we still have plenty of time to do the event. Let's see some

[00:16:35] other annual events that are meaningful to us our town of Saledo is real well known for people

[00:16:41] traveling here and Saledo stroll is one of the biggest deals here the first couple weekends

[00:16:46] of December the shops all stay open late and of course everything's decorated real nice for Christmas

[00:16:51] and folks enjoy going around town and seeing the sights and being with all their friends.

[00:16:56] On the holiday shopping and all that fun stuff. Another thing that I really we've gotten into over

[00:17:03] the past year is offering a Thursday evening wine tasting class. Oh cool. We really wanted a way to

[00:17:10] present wine tasting which just is with a lot of knowledge and education but we wanted to do it

[00:17:19] in a small group setting so it just changes it a little bit sometimes people don't want to

[00:17:24] stand there at the bar and do the tasting but they want to be with some friends. Yeah and we've

[00:17:29] got a real nice blend of regulars some are people who are new to the area and then we're just looking

[00:17:33] for a way to meet new people and a few are people that love wine and just want to taste as many wines

[00:17:38] as they can so that's been real fun on Thursday evenings. Wine brings people together. Yeah.

[00:17:43] Yeah. Yeah. Meet others and share stories. Yeah. And it's a less intimidating kind of thing

[00:17:50] sometimes maybe wherever you're just sitting at a table in the box and I like that that's really

[00:17:54] cool. Well when people come in to do a tasting you mentioned your hours she said 12 to 6 every day.

[00:18:00] Yes. So what can a listener expect when they come in for a tasting so what's the cost involved

[00:18:05] in a tasting what are they going to get is it a set flight of wines do they choose their wines

[00:18:09] what does it look like for us we do we're currently charging five tastes for $10 we'll probably go

[00:18:15] up a little bit in price in the near future but we have a list of 10 wines that she's from and

[00:18:20] we let them pick what they want off the list. Okay. So they'll be able to select which of those five

[00:18:24] they want and then and pick go that way you get different pallets different things got it

[00:18:29] like that and then what about is the Winder family friendly or pet friendly? We allow pets dogs need

[00:18:35] to be unleashes we have a winery cat she's been with us for 12 years and she does not want to see any

[00:18:41] dogs off leash and I know everyone always tells me oh my dog loves cats my cat does not love the dogs

[00:18:47] as much she tends to flinch and run so you need to have a good hold of that dog we are also family

[00:18:53] friendly kids are welcome. Okay do you offer any kind of food options for people or can they bring

[00:19:00] their own food in? Folks can bring in their own food there's lots of great restaurants here in

[00:19:04] salato we we have a little bit of snacks but we don't mind people bringing in because we're not

[00:19:09] always well stopped we do try to keep some non-alcoholic beverages and bottled water of course. Okay

[00:19:16] what about group sizes maximum group sizes do people need to make reservations do you have a

[00:19:21] maximum group size or we appreciate it if people give us a call before they show up with 10 or more

[00:19:27] people. Sure. Howdy Vitriper's did you know that I now have a merchandise store for Texas

[00:19:39] undervine? I only have a handful of limited items but you can go check those out and wear your

[00:19:44] Texas undervine swag if you'd like to tell all your friends about the great wine locations we have

[00:19:49] here in Texas and maybe get them interested in the podcast as well so there are things like T-shirts

[00:19:54] there uh there's a hoodie there's a beanie a ball cap things like that but one of the most exciting

[00:19:59] things I have right now is my limited time off or t-shirt that's my season one t-shirt so this

[00:20:04] is you're tasting through Texas Texas undervine season one t-shirt it's only going to be available for

[00:20:09] a little short amount of time on the back it has all the different locations like a band tour t-shirt

[00:20:15] so this is a limited time item and you could go out and get it now and one of the great things about

[00:20:20] that t-shirt is a portion of every sale goes to support the Texas Hill Country Winery Scholarship Fund

[00:20:26] so you know that by buying that t-shirt you're also investing in the growing and flourishing

[00:20:32] of an amazing wine industry here in Texas and all those people that are going to come and make

[00:20:36] it even better check out that merchandise store it's on my website at texasundervine.com just go

[00:20:41] up to the top you'll see the link for the merchandise store and then do they need to make a

[00:20:49] reservation for the tasting or can they just walk in? They can just walk in we do have a resident

[00:20:53] some folks just love to make reservations and so we do have a reservation system if they really

[00:20:57] want to make a reservation um if you're going to show up with more than 10 people give us a call ahead

[00:21:03] of time yeah a lot of times we only have one person here so if a group shows up and they're real big

[00:21:08] and then there's a couple other people it's really hard yeah give good service to yeah

[00:21:13] but if you know ahead of time you could prepare it yeah gotcha so what are your busy and slower

[00:21:19] seasons what's the best time to come visit? Oh the best time to visit see I think winter time is

[00:21:24] the best time to visit it's so gloomy outside what else would you do you know and it's so interesting

[00:21:30] because you've visited some linaries where they have beautiful views and I can't claim we have the

[00:21:34] most amazing view because you can actually see i35 from our property here but we are so easy to

[00:21:41] reach so just come at any time it uh we meet lots of people coming off at i35 we meet people from

[00:21:48] all over the world I had some folks here the other day from Paraguay like um he think you think

[00:21:54] oh central Texas what's there but these are people that were here for forthood and

[00:21:59] they're you know doing international exchanges with the military

[00:22:05] uh bailor scott and why is a large hospital system that's headquartered here

[00:22:08] there's just there's a lot going on here in some Texas so well I would think that close proximity

[00:22:14] to 35 right there would be great oh yeah for years and years I had a billboard and during

[00:22:22] during covid we took the billboard down uh it just wasn't sending the right message during covid

[00:22:28] and then we just haven't gone back we just have never gone back to paying for because the billboards

[00:22:33] have gotten so expensive right but yeah for the longest time people knew us from our billboards

[00:22:37] coming running at all yeah and that's the cool thing about that stage coach wine trail is it kind of

[00:22:41] off follows right there that little i35 core yeah we had the hardest time coming up with a name

[00:22:46] for our wine trail because the obvious name would be the i35 but that isn't that sexy

[00:22:53] like yeah get on i35 and this is the wine we just drink a bottle of some more at 35 I'm sure some

[00:22:59] people are doing that we're like we don't want to get calls from text dot who we got thinking about

[00:23:04] transportation and I mean because I really thought it follows the whole roots that people have always

[00:23:09] followed it's all the easiest places to cross all the broad bodies of water so yeah so we came up with

[00:23:15] stagecoach and that worked out fine so and there's a history of that with because you I know

[00:23:20] there's the stage coach in here in salato so yeah and funny enough everyone knows it is the stage

[00:23:24] coach in they've actually the ownership has tried to rebrand it and they're calling themselves the

[00:23:29] shady villa hotel yeah but when you meet anyone in town they're gonna call out the stagecoach

[00:23:35] so you grew up in Austin my parents you saw always go up to stagecoach in for dinner or things

[00:23:40] like that that is so awesome salato's kind of a small town but I find people all over the state

[00:23:46] know as for the stagecoach in yeah so maybe they would associate that stagecoach wine trail

[00:23:51] and we really think of salato we were kind of hoping that people might make that job yeah good

[00:23:55] connection there do you offer a wine club we do not have a wine club so to come in people are

[00:24:01] just gonna get come in to taste the wines yeah and we just try to teach people well we don't want

[00:24:07] we don't want to bombard them with oh join our wine club you got to do this and get this discount

[00:24:11] and then no we just want to be simple we keep our prices low right we just want to agree everybody

[00:24:18] love everybody we want to have a conversation about wine we don't for example I experimented

[00:24:23] years and years ago with some live music it just didn't really fit for me because I like to talk

[00:24:27] to people about wine if there's loud music in the background then we're not having a conversation

[00:24:32] about we you know I know everybody says this we want to meet people with you're and we want

[00:24:39] to talk to them about wine but we really do want to help them understand what where wine is coming

[00:24:44] from and where it's going and what does it mean to them and you know this is just the best

[00:24:50] industry I'll sing you about the other day I've had a couple of people propose to their

[00:24:54] beloveds here really yeah and then of course I meet people who are celebrating anniversaries

[00:24:59] and all kinds of things yeah we've had a couple wedding proposals here you know well can I just say

[00:25:05] your reputation prestige you because I've had several people in the industry tell me before I came

[00:25:11] here you're going to love June because when she does wine tastings she's all about sitting down

[00:25:17] and being really educational talk about all the different wines and everything she really that's

[00:25:21] one of her passions so I can see that kind of coming up yeah yeah I mean we are passionate everybody's

[00:25:28] passionate though like um but we really we really want people to be able to relate and wine can

[00:25:34] be hard to relate to in the beginning you know we're talking about um we weren't familiar with wine

[00:25:39] because I got to live overseas and several different European places wine was just so

[00:25:45] one just in the background it was so easy going and um we want wine to to be accessible

[00:25:53] well and the experience is different when you come in as somebody just pours you some says here

[00:25:58] you go yeah versus let's talk about what do you like what are you getting in this what this is

[00:26:02] the story of this this you know when you get really involved in the because wine is a story in a

[00:26:07] bottle yeah right and so to be able to talk about all of that and share on that makes a completely

[00:26:13] different experience that somebody's just sort of our pouring stuff yeah and that's why we never

[00:26:17] gotten into the wine club thing because we want to know people and talk to them and we want

[00:26:23] to do a good job of sending them home with the right wine and then they'll come back

[00:26:26] we don't have to force you back that you had to buy a certain number of bottles to get a certain

[00:26:30] percent off like yeah you're you're family like you don't have to pay us to be part of the family

[00:26:37] well if people so if you don't have the wine club how can people experience your wines if maybe

[00:26:42] they can't come here do you do any kind of distribution or do you sell online we sell online okay

[00:26:48] I'm I'm very very limited with distribution we just are selling right now a few bottles to our friends

[00:26:53] at the Beltonian Theatre in Belton and then our friends over here there's a brewery here in

[00:26:58] town called Barrow Brewery we're great friends with them we sell them wine and cider and that's it

[00:27:04] you got to come see me at we're small where usually we're processing a few thousand gallons a year

[00:27:09] bottling and processing and so you just got to come see us and meet us okay very much the boutique

[00:27:16] style yeah yeah and come pet the cat our winery cat is 12 years old she's been greeting people for

[00:27:22] 12 years yeah growling at the dogs so for on your website they get access to so you can see all

[00:27:31] your different wines order things there but then they can also come in and buy things as needed by

[00:27:36] the case yeah bottle okay by the way we are joined by Hannah Hendruku is the Taste de

[00:27:48] Groove Manager for Soleto Winery so glad to have you here as well oh yeah TV months and yeah

[00:27:56] you know I'm not hurt of this book so oh no so that's it so then got I pulled it out yeah

[00:28:02] so you've heard the TV months oh yeah I know TV months I tell this story on my wine tour

[00:28:05] yeah yeah um this is just a very detailed academic I mean it can be I've never read it it's pretty boring

[00:28:13] sure but then it gets to pull some great stuff out of there yeah and then you know it happens like

[00:28:17] one of the rootstocks that's real common is called um dogridge and doggages right over here between

[00:28:23] here in Belton yeah and I was I was like it's the name dogggeige it just sounds so familiar yeah

[00:28:29] and you know like doghill or I mean like it doesn't but I was like oh my gosh here it is one of

[00:28:36] the most popular rootstocks since he's all around the world it's from right here in Belton yeah

[00:28:41] a lot of um this guy TV months and the places he gathered finds that that he shipped out

[00:28:46] yeah who was right here the places where forthood is now and still house laid

[00:28:50] they said that he used to ride around a horseback all over the state just collecting different

[00:28:54] rootstocks and things like that so well I do a wine class on Thursdays and I talk about him a lot

[00:29:00] yeah a lot of the people who are either from traveling or who are from technically I've never heard

[00:29:04] of that guy and I was like oh my god literally drinking stuff like that okay well do you have any

[00:29:11] plans for future growth here at the Salaydo winery I think we're doing really well currently um

[00:29:17] we're really excited to just keep meeting people keep talking to people about wine um and

[00:29:22] just improving on what we're working on right now cool we've been at this for about 18 years

[00:29:27] and I have very definite ideas about what I want to do with my business and what I don't want

[00:29:31] to do with my business and at this point in time I want to look at improving the quality of the

[00:29:36] wine I'm making I'm not interested in making more wine or getting into distribution I just want

[00:29:42] to be the queen of wine at Salaydo winery the best at what you do that's right all right well there's

[00:29:50] a lot of places that people could go visit for wine for different places out to state and my podcast

[00:29:54] goes out hopefully to people we're looking all through Texas so why should they stop in in Salaydo

[00:30:00] and check out the Salaydo winery while they're here what sets you apart? The first thing that sets us

[00:30:06] apart is how easy we are to reach we're right here in the heart of Texas and we're just a stone

[00:30:11] through from i35 so there is no reason people couldn't come see us there's no long gravely driveway

[00:30:17] with hot holes but yet we still have deer riding around on the lawn

[00:30:30] but we're always doing something we're always working on something we usually have a lot of

[00:30:34] the equipment out and it's kind of fun to see because sometimes you don't get to see that

[00:30:38] sometimes you go to a tasting room and you get to talk and hear about it but the winer he's

[00:30:42] right here and I take people literally around the corner and I think we'll come in and ask me

[00:30:46] a little time so where do you guys make it I'm like oh behind this wall you want to go see it?

[00:30:49] come on I think it's super excited like are we even allowed to be back here and I'm like yeah I'm

[00:30:54] the I'm the person who's like you like we it's really cool because June put up a lot of awesome

[00:30:59] pictures in the winery of the wine making process so even if you don't see it see it you can see

[00:31:04] it and see what we're doing here we do it every summer so we always have a little something going

[00:31:09] on there's a lot of little stuff yeah the one of the requirements to work here is that you've got to

[00:31:13] take part in the winemaking and the great picking and so everybody has gotten their hands on it

[00:31:19] and yeah everybody can talk about it your title's not just your job everything's your job yes

[00:31:25] we're small but mighty I love it so tell me a little bit more about this vermouth um I've not run

[00:31:33] into a lot of wineries that have had vermouth I know that it's great-based and I've had it in cocktails

[00:31:38] or different things but I want to know more about it so tell me a little bit about that will you know

[00:31:42] all crazy things start from something that you just can't quite get your hands around right like

[00:31:48] this was some black Spanish grapes that we picked in 2012 they're grown right here in belton

[00:31:52] Texas near the land passus river and this wine has always had a different character and so we had

[00:32:00] to find a different path for this wine and we really enjoy talking to people about how it mixes

[00:32:06] and how we use it in cocktails and uh we've done a different stuff with it and it's the same

[00:32:12] thing that you say people come in and they see the menu and we talk about the dessert wines and I

[00:32:16] always start off like I have a vermouth and a port and a cherry that people are like whoa whoa what do

[00:32:20] you mean a vermouth um a lot of people don't know that vermouth is wine-based either they just know

[00:32:24] it's a mixture in a cocktail and there's a lot of different ways to use it you can sip on it

[00:32:28] we've mixed it um especially during the Thanksgiving Christmas season I make a holiday punch that we

[00:32:33] have is like a bonus extra thing to try um it's really really good at you do the vermouth

[00:32:38] a little bit of cherry juice some apple and some cinnamon and it's just something really simple but

[00:32:42] it's so wonderful around the holiday season and so easy to make and it's kind of a cool thing to show off

[00:32:47] you know I got this vermouth and I've done something different with it and it's kind of a

[00:32:50] really cool conversation piece also just tastes good like it yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

[00:32:54] this was just an easy day everyday sip or so well that right there is something that would make

[00:32:57] people want to come here because again that's not something you're gonna get at most places and

[00:33:02] gonna try that so well and I think you'd mention a little bit of some educational classes here

[00:33:07] now that you're doing so tell me about that you mentioned I think a little bit about that on

[00:33:11] Thursdays yes yes there's at six when the regular winery closes the after hours party starts

[00:33:17] up after party um I work with a lot of international wine and I was really new to wine and so my

[00:33:25] idea for these classes were folks my around around the 21 to 28 range you could be getting into wine

[00:33:33] um who have questions like what is emmerlo why is that different than a Cabernet 7-yard what is

[00:33:38] Bordeaux all about I've been hearing about different places and I didn't even know they grew wine

[00:33:42] in Argentina so it's all of these different things that people who are new to wine who I originally

[00:33:47] assumed would be a younger demographic it's not it's moved into a lot of really cool mixes of age

[00:33:52] range and people who are just interested in wine um I have a little bit of a background in history

[00:33:57] so sometimes I'll pick five different Cabernet 7-yard from five different countries and I talk

[00:34:01] just a little bit about why does Cab grow so light here why is it so heavy here why is it so famous

[00:34:06] here on those countries and then we taste them and we talk about them I go through the winemaking

[00:34:10] uh notes that I get from the wineries like the winemaker said this is gonna have a Roma of cedar

[00:34:16] boxing graphite what does that mean like or the tasting notes are really interesting I I've run into a lot

[00:34:21] of people who um I came across a mushroom as a tasting note on peanut and a bar a lot and every

[00:34:26] time I say that people like what are you talking about I was like oh my gosh that this is calm and

[00:34:29] but it's not it's totally not so these classes are meant for people who are getting into wine

[00:34:33] who are new to wine and who just like wine and like talking about it so it's kind of something fun

[00:34:37] to do kind of something just out at the house on a Thursday evening to try some good wines and learn

[00:34:42] a little bit about something that maybe you didn't know the full story of do you keep like a any kind

[00:34:47] of a calendar online or anything kind of shows you what subject you're gonna be doing yeah definitely

[00:34:51] I try to post it a month out in advance on our Facebook page under a events tab I should have the

[00:34:57] ones for the current month plus the next month and then especially our event bright page as well

[00:35:02] sometimes the event bright page has newer things that haven't been published to paste Facebook yet

[00:35:07] so I would say that that one's like a better resource to see so we can look ahead of time and plan

[00:35:12] oh I want to be at that one yeah we're trying to throw one funny one in a month you know instead of

[00:35:18] just saying oh pin on war Cabernet Sauvignon and Charney some of our fun themes have been like

[00:35:24] pie and wine pairing okay yeah I've done a lot of dessert nights dessert and wine pairing food and

[00:35:29] wine pairing theory I think the funnest one was Halloween candy and wine pairing nobody says they

[00:35:35] like candy corn but everyone agreed it was the best for Charney like even the candy corn haters

[00:35:41] loved it so yeah I've always you know I've seen it's funny how some foods are so enhanced by a

[00:35:51] wine or vice versa pairing and so I like to try the I'm not a candy corn fan myself so

[00:35:57] you might be sweating that's Halloween I get it right that day we've done too when I did pies

[00:36:06] everyone loved the blueberry pie by itself and I paired it with a more vegra and then we all

[00:36:10] agreed that was a horrible pairing it made the fun and it made the blueberries bitter and so it's

[00:36:14] kind of fun to try yeah every now and again I'll throw a curve ball in there like oh you might think

[00:36:18] this is delicious and it's just because it's kind of fun food and wine science is always really

[00:36:22] interesting to me because everyone's taste and smell so different so it's really kind of fun

[00:36:28] you don't know what you like until you try it exactly

[00:36:38] all right that is so true palettes are very subjective and I love what Hannah said about

[00:36:44] you don't know what you like until you try it so have an open mind and try different things at

[00:36:49] different places that you go check out you might just find something that you never knew you liked

[00:36:54] like for instance this is a great place to be able to try a port style wine if you haven't done that

[00:36:58] or a sherry style this is a sherry style it's a sweet dessert style sherry there's different

[00:37:04] types of sherrys out there this is more of the sweet dessert style sherry it's really cool you

[00:37:09] ought to try that one they also had that vermouth again something that you don't get to try just

[00:37:14] any winery and you get to try those things here at salato winery company they have those great

[00:37:19] Thursday educational classes so if you're anywhere in the area on a Thursday make sure to check

[00:37:23] out their Facebook page and their vip right for more information on those classes that are coming

[00:37:28] up and find out more about going and sitting in on one of those and as you heard in the interview

[00:37:33] June actually started the winery selling other people's wines while she continues that fine

[00:37:38] tradition so it's not just salato winery company it's salato winery company and wine seller so

[00:37:44] one of the things you'll have to do while you're there is request to see the back room it's one

[00:37:49] of those little fun secrets she's got a little back room in the back where she actually gets wine

[00:37:55] from wine shipments now this is stuff that you're not just going to find everywhere and it's not just

[00:37:59] Texas wine it's fancy wines from all over the world she has shelves in the back full of all kinds

[00:38:05] of different ones and they're all kind of limited edition so when she sells out of them she may

[00:38:09] never get that one again so it's a great opportunity when you're at the store to ask for the back room

[00:38:14] and go see she's got some great specials on bottles back there you're going to find a lot of

[00:38:19] cool different wines that maybe you haven't tried or tasted before and they are kind of limited

[00:38:23] edition you never know what's going to be in stock back there each time you go now this winery as

[00:38:28] June said is very easy to get to if you're driving anywhere in Texas up that i35 corridor and you

[00:38:34] get into central Texas it's literally right off i35 as she said if you were standing at the front

[00:38:40] of the building you're looking at you see the 35 highway right there the front of droid so

[00:38:45] it's a real easy dip right off i35 to stop in and check it out and I encourage you to do so but

[00:38:51] before you do make sure you go check out their website before you go it's www.salato winery.com

[00:38:59] and on their website you can find out more about that incredible story of the winery see their wines

[00:39:05] that they have available there and info on their events like those classes and the stage coach

[00:39:11] wine trail which by the way the stage coach wine trail is celebrating its sixth year coming up

[00:39:16] this coming year in January in 2025 the one for this year's already happened so you have to wait

[00:39:21] until once a year thing but it will come back again in January of 2025 the dates are already there

[00:39:28] you can actually go ahead and go online and see information about tickets I think they're going to

[00:39:31] begin selling tickets in november so keep your eyes on that again that one is stage coach wine trail

[00:39:37] dot com and with that passport you're able to get eight different wineries along the central

[00:39:42] Texas i35 corridor so great opportunity to check that out I've actually done podcasts now it's

[00:39:48] several of the wineries and that stage coach wine trail so you can hear about those before you go as

[00:39:52] well also make sure you don't skip out on their Facebook page and that a vip right page if you're

[00:39:57] interested in any of those Thursday night classes Hannah said in the interview that she likes to put

[00:40:02] those calendar events up about two months or so ahead of time so you should be able to kind of see

[00:40:07] down the road the different things that are coming up so you can make plans to go visit and don't

[00:40:11] forget when you go to see them make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast Texas

[00:40:17] undervine all right now after we were able to conclude the interview I got to go in and enjoy

[00:40:22] and taste some different wines that they make there and I had to pick one for my library bottle so

[00:40:27] for this particular episode I really liked their big bully wine this is a move edra and it's from

[00:40:33] McClennan County and it was really nice and smooth kind of velvety on the tongue I really like the

[00:40:39] kind of earthy blackberry notes that I got in that big bully wine so this is my wine library

[00:40:45] bottle for this particular episode and then while I was there I also got to taste that sherry and

[00:40:50] I don't want you to neglect that if you've never tried sherry before even if you have you really

[00:40:55] need to try her sherry it was so caramely and nutty and flavor great dessert wine I've already finished

[00:41:03] off the bottle that I bought and planning a trip to go back up there to get a little bit more from

[00:41:07] June in the near future so check that out if you haven't tried that as well I can't speak highly

[00:41:13] enough of it well that brings me to a close for today I think it's about time to head on out to the

[00:41:19] stage coach and mosey on down the road to find another great wine destination to bring to you but

[00:41:25] before I go I would ask a quick favor from you if you are enjoying the information that you're

[00:41:30] receiving from this podcast if you feel like you've gotten any information that's helped you

[00:41:34] to learn more about the Texas wine industry to learn more about different destinations you can

[00:41:39] go visit maybe if you've even used the podcast too as a spur to go visit some of these great places

[00:41:44] would you consider leaving me a rating and review wherever you get this podcast

[00:41:48] and if you're watching it on YouTube you can click the like and subscribe button and maybe leave

[00:41:53] me a comment if you've come and visited salado wine or before leave your comments below in YouTube

[00:41:58] to be able to tell me what you thought about the winery itself and your experience with it

[00:42:02] and just leave that quick rating and review it does help me get seen before a lot of other

[00:42:07] subscribers and other people who might be interested in this information so I would appreciate

[00:42:12] that from the bottom of my heart it really helps me go further in this and I do relish any feedback

[00:42:17] that you would like to provide either through those ratings the reviews or if you want to see me

[00:42:22] an email at Scott at TexasUndervine.com and tell me what you think of show or any suggestions or ideas

[00:42:28] that you might have as well well it's time for me to go so don't forget to subscribe to my

[00:42:33] socials to be notified anytime a new podcast is released it's at Texas undervine and until then

[00:42:40] happy trails and bottoms up y'all

[00:42:47] thanks for listening to Texas Undervine we strive to provide you with the best information about

[00:42:52] wine businesses all over Texas be sure to check out our website at texasundervine.com

[00:42:58] and follow us on our socials at Texas Undervine to stay up on all the upcoming episodes

[00:43:03] please email us with any suggestions or feedback also contact us if you're interested in donating

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[00:43:14] great info to you in future episodes above all travel safely and most especially drink responsibly

[00:43:27] vine trippers have I got a deal for you so if you haven't checked out the Texas wine club yet

[00:43:34] you have to go check it out so you can get wine clubs at all of these different great wineries

[00:43:39] that I've talked about in the episodes but if you can't get a chance to get to those places

[00:43:44] uh and you want to sample some of those various wines this is the perfect fit for this podcast so

[00:43:49] I partnered with Texas wine club if you go to their website they scour the whole state they choose

[00:43:55] great wines from all over the Texas wineries and they put them together into packs that they ship

[00:44:00] out every quarter you could pick out a package of three six or nine bottles and every quarter you

[00:44:05] can get a taste of different wineries throughout Texas without having to travel to them so if you've

[00:44:10] wanted to taste some of the great wine I've talked about on this podcast here's your chance without

[00:44:14] having to travel so what you're going to want to do is go to www.tx wine.com and pick your package that

[00:44:22] you want to try and when you put in my code Texas undervine that's all one word TXAS you

[00:44:29] NDR VIN as your coupon code you'll get $20 off your purchase so head on over there you can also

[00:44:36] find a link in the show notes here for this podcast and go check out Texas wine they're a perfect fit

[00:44:42] with this podcast so go drink some great wine

[00:44:55] vine trippers have I got a deal for you so if you haven't checked out the Texas wine club yet

[00:45:02] you have to go check it out so you can get wine clubs at all of these different great wineries

[00:45:07] that I've talked about in the episode but if you can't get a chance to get to those places

[00:45:11] and you want to sample some of those various wines this is the perfect fit for this podcast so

[00:45:16] I partnered with Texas wine club if you go to their website they scour the whole state they choose

[00:45:22] great wines from all over the Texas wineries and they put them together into packs that they ship

[00:45:27] out every quarter you could pick out a package of three six or nine bottles in every quarter you

[00:45:33] can get a taste of different wineries throughout Texas without having to travel to them so if you've

[00:45:37] wanted to taste some of the great wine I've talked about on this podcast here's your chance without

[00:45:42] having to travel so what you're going to want to do is go to www.tx wine.com and pick your package

[00:45:50] that you want to try and when you put in my code Texas undervine that's all one word txas you

[00:45:56] in drv i n e as your coupon code you'll get $20 off your purchase so head on over there you can

[00:46:03] also find the link in the show notes here for this podcast and go check out Texas wine they're a

[00:46:09] perfect fit with this podcast so go drink some great wine