Slate Theory Winery (Hill Country)

Texas Wine Lovers, we have some incredible news. The fifth annual Texas wine auction was an absolute historic success, raising a phenomenal $306,811. Every single dollar raised goes directly towards supporting our local hospitality workers through wellness initiatives and funding essential programs that help the growth of the Texas wine industry. A massive thank you to everyone who attended, Bid and Poured. To see the full impact report and stay involved, like and follow their social media for more news or head over to Texaswinoction.com. Howdy Vine Trippers, before we dive into today's episode of some really exciting news to share with the Texas Undervine community, we are officially on board as a media partner with the inaugural Hill Country Wine Camp, sponsored by the Texas Hill Country Wineries Association. If you've been looking to take your appreciation for Texas wine to the absolute next level, this is your premier event for the summer. It's happening from July 17th to the 19th at three different wineries out on the Wine Road 290 in the Texas Hill Country. And it's going to be an immersive deep dive weekend featuring master classes, exclusive tastings, and a chance to learn directly from some of the top winemakers and vineyard minds in our state. Dina and I will be on the ground capturing all the festivities to bring you an exclusive featurette later on in the summer. But you need to secure your spot now because registration will close soon. Head on over to Texas Hill Country Wineries.org and look for their events page to find the inaugural Hill Country Wine Camp. You can grab your tickets there and make sure to let them know that Wine Guide Scott sent you. Now let's get into today's show.

You have to work with my buddy here, Tyler. That's the first time he's ever said that.

Only on the camera. Oh yeah. Welcome to Texas Undervive, an exploratory podcast to scout out the best that Texas Wine Country has to offer. I'm your wine guide, Scott, and I'm here to lead you on an auditory expedition to the vineyards and wineries across the great Lone Star State. Each episode will cover a different vineyard, winery, or wine-related business operating in Texas. You'll hear interviews, descriptions, in detail, location, exciting a business, and experience of yourself. Ready to plan a wine tour? Use these episodes to choose the most interesting spots for you and your friends to check out. Most of all, enjoy hearing about the rapidly growing wine industry this day and what makes other wines and wine industry. Now, before we get to today's journey, I do have one thing on my calendar coming up that I really want to make you aware of. I'm thrilled to announce that I am an official media sponsor for the inaugural and highly anticipated Hill Country Wine Camp that's coming up next month. It's going to be on the weekend of July 17th to the 19th. This particular event is going to involve three days full of all kinds of fun tastings, classes. You can learn a bunch, hear from the winemakers, and explore grapes like you have never explored them before. So it's time to go back to summer camp, but enjoy it adult style with some great wine. You can get your tickets and find all the details at the Texas Hill Country Wineries Association website. That's Texas Hill Countrywineries.org. Make sure and grab your tickets while you can because this is going to be an absolutely incredible event that you do not want to miss. Also, stick around for the end of the episode because I will be revealing my wine wanderer bottle from my bag for this particular episode that I'm incredibly eager to share with you. It is a red blend that is smooth, it's complex, and it carries a name that might be different from other wines you've had before. But I'm going to keep that secret for just a little bit longer. Today, we are traveling down the vibrant 290 wine road to visit a place where modern winemaking meets bold imagination and a very unique and different perspective. We are stopping in at Slate Theory Winery. And today I'm getting to sit down with two of the incredibly talented winemakers. So I'm going to have their head winemaker, Tyler Wolves, as well as David Newitt, who is one of the winemakers, but also their Directory of Winery Operations there at Slate Theory. And they're going to share with us a little bit about their journey, their distinct philosophy they have there, as well as how they're trying to shake things up just a little bit in the Texas wine industry and the Texas wine scene. There are so many great things about this spot that I want to share with you today. It's located in Stonewall, Texas, between Fredericksburg and Johnson City on the busy Wine Road 290, and it is a winery for modern, high-quality winemaking, meets scientific inspiration, bold design, and artistic storytelling. They are led by a seasoned winemaking team headed up by Tyler Wolz, their head winemaker, as well as David Newitt, one of the winemakers, who also steers the operations of the winery. They source premium Texas fruit from their own very large estate, around 63 vineyard acres, as well as some vineyards outside through the high plains and things like that. And I want to share with you a little bit about their vibe. They have a very industrial, modern, and artistic architectural space that completely breaks the mold of traditional tasting rooms. And when you go below the tasting room, they have a state-of-the-art wine cellar cave that they have built, dug out of the ground, and built below the winery and the tasting room that is there to hold barrels as well as provide stimulating and really exciting tasting experiences. At Slate Theory, they are all about the mental health conversation, which you'll learn about more in the interview. And they use psychology branding and the things that they do to encourage the open conversation about mental health issues, which a lot of times people don't like to talk about. Every single wine bottle features this beautiful, custom, thought-provoking artwork that makes every single bottle of wine that you get there a work of art in and of itself. And to keep with that psychology and mental health theme, they've actually taken their wine club, they have tiered it and named the tiers after Freudian style psychology. So they have the id, the ego, and the super ego. And most of all, they value hospitality. They have a super engaged and very talented staff that is dedicated to providing a fun and engaging environment where you, the guests, are taken care of as if you are family. There is so much depth to what they are building here. So let's pour a glass and let's hear a little bit about some of the minds that are going into what's taking place here at Slate Theory. I'm here with Tyler and David, and we're excited to share with you the story about Slate Theory today, find about this really cool winery that we have, the operation here, as well as some of the great wines that they're producing here in the Texas Hill Country. So without further ado, let's go to Tyler and David and hear a little bit about some of their story. So I'll let you guys decide who wants to go first, but I want to hear a little bit about your own wine journey. What got you involved in the Texas wine industry?

Okay, well, I'll go first. Um I retired in 2015 in the corporate world. I was in marketing services and direct mail advertising. Um and I got to into wines back then during my corporate job and really enjoyed wines. And I purchased some property here in Mason County. Uh, I got 30 acres back in 2009. And my vision was to always plant my own vineyard uh and start growing grapes. And so when I retired, I started that project planting. So I planted two acres of vines, right, on my property. And I also, in the meantime, I purchased a mobile bottling line. So I started bottling in the Texas wine industry uh back in 2017, 16, 17. Um, and then a friend of mine who used to own 1851 vineyards, John Holliman, uh said, hey, he needed some help at his winery, right? And he goes, Can you help me out one or two days a week, you know, in the vineyard or in the winery? I said, sure, you know, get some experience, right? In addition to what I was doing. And so one day turned into two days, turned into three days, turned into four days, turned into full time, right? Um, and so that's that's how I got started in this journey. And in the meantime, I went to Texas Tech here in Fredericksburg and got my winemaker's certificate at the same time. So I did that program. I finished it in one year. It's a two-year program, but I was able, I had the time, I got it done in one year. I dove right in. And uh, so my journey started at 1851 uh there and just really hands-on learning in addition to the schooling at Texas Tech. Um, and then the the Jones family were investors in 1851, and then they purchased 1851 from the Holomans uh back in 2018, 19. Um and so, and then they had bought had bought this property here, which used to be Torre Day Pietra, uh, and started reconstruction on this. And as we continued to on that journey at 1851, which became Slate Mill Wine Collective, uh, which was a custom crush facility. Um, so we made wines for ourselves and for other clients. Um we started started the the build on this this place, and then we eventually sold Slate Mill to Brian Heath and the Heath Heath group, which became Invention Vineyards, and we came over here permanently. So that that's that's so I've been here since he's the oldest employee that we have. Yeah, probably the longest running employee. Um, so been here since you know 2018, roughly. Um, and it's been a lot of fun. Yeah.

Wow, what a journey to go from corporate the that dream of having that land and having the vineyard to then having a winemaking certificate and then involved here in the operations. And you're director of winery operations and winemaker here. Correct. Yeah, one of them. Yeah, yeah. Cool.

A lot of fun. You have to work with my buddy here, Tyler.

Tell me about that's the first time he's ever said that.

Only on the camera. Oh, yeah. So uh I'm actually a college dropout. So I I went to school for two years in southern Illinois, played football, and decided not to I didn't want to do that anymore. Okay. Um, and I didn't know what I wanted to do, and so I was just applying for jobs a lot in Illinois. Not really anything big that I wanted, you know, it was like uh Walmart or Target or Sam's Club or whatever. And my sister uh actually moved down to Texas and she got a job at Messinahoff originally. Um, she got a degree in marketing and she went there, and then after a year, she moved over to William Chris.

Okay.

So after I dropped out of school, she was like, Hey, if you're willing to move to Texas, I can get you a job at the winery. And I was uh knew nothing about wine. I was only 19, had no idea what was happening, and I was like, sure, why not? Wine. That doesn't say that just it just came to me. Um she she called uh the manager at the time, and they were like, Oh yeah, he works on Wednesday. So this was on my mom's 50th birthday, and it was on a Sunday. So I had from Sunday to Wednesday to pack up everything, move down here, and I started working at the job. And I originally uh was working in the tasting room, and on the second day I was working there, Chris Brundrette comes in and he goes, Who the hell are you? Right. And I'm like, I'm Tyler, uh my sit or my sister's Rachel, and I just started working here. He goes, Well, we need a second forklift outside, so you're gonna come to the cellar with us. So I went to the cellar and I was in the cellar for three days out of the week, and the vineyard two days, and the tasting room uh Saturdays and Sundays for the first couple months, and then they eventually moved me full-time cellar. So just kind of learning from experience, and this was back in 2013, uh, I believe it was. And so, you know, just kind of like started cleaning floors, cleaning barrels, doing a bunch of the ground work, and then after about two years, I became the cellar master over there, and then after two more years, uh I became the assistant winemaker. Yeah. So I was at William Chris for a total of uh about eight and a half years. Okay. And then I left there at the What a place to cut your teeth. Yeah, oh yeah. For uh for that long too. Um, so I left there at the end of 2019 and I started working for the Jones family at Slate Mill uh at it uh January of 2020.

Okay.

And just kind of came in uh as the seller master there within two weeks, kind of became the assistant winemaker, and then after about a year got promoted to head winemaker. So just kind of learning from nothing to growing, and then after about uh three years as head winemaker, I decided to take the analogy course at Texas Tech 2. Okay. Um, because it's one of those things like, yeah, with all the experience and you kind of know what everything is, but it's kind of nice to have a different point of view on it because you can go to different any other winemaker, get any different points of what they do, and it's completely opposite of the way you do. So, you know, just trying to broaden the education that I had.

Yeah. Well, you know, I I tell as a teacher, I tell my students there are two parts to education. You know, there's the there's the educational side that's the books and the knowledge and all that, and that's important, but it's only one half of the coin. Then you get to the experience side, and the experience side is where the rubber meets the road, and you start testing all that stuff you went through in books to see does it work, right? So it's helpful to have both as part of your full education. You know, you can go with just one or the other, but to really put this where everything comes together when you get that experience and the education to it, and you start understanding, oh, this is why that's that way. I've experienced it, but now I understand the concepts behind it. Who would have thought that uh at 19 in southern Illinois looking for a job at Walmart? That now here we are in 2026, and you're the head winemaker at this incredible winery.

Yeah, start started at 19, never had a sip of wine. Uh, you know, I didn't have my first sip of wine uh until I was 21. Sure. Uh, you know, just saying that. But yeah, going going from uh literally nothing to the top right now. Wow.

And then let's come back to this location here. So I know Dave, you kind of talked a little bit about it there, but what what's the history here, this location? So of what year was that that you kind of got started here and opened the doors and and what do you have here at the location?

The owners are Randy and Carol. Okay. And between the two of them, there's seven kids. Seven kids, right? Wow. No, that's between the two of them. Sure. Um and most of them actually now are kind of are involved in the winery. So so originally, if you look at our logo, it has the crown, and I don't know if it's true or not, but the way is is like there's four points on the crown, and each one was to represent uh one of the kids that was involved in the winery or in the wedding venue that we have. Oh, nice. So real family business. It's a big family business, yeah. Um and eventually everyone started to get more involved. So uh one of them lives in Houston, well, he comes down and helps on the release parties. Another one lives in Austin, and now she does um she's a realtor, but also she works with our donations, and then she also comes and helps in the release parties. And the old oldest daughter um lives in San Angelo, and she uh she makes our candles. Her son makes the coasters and a bunch of other things as well here. And then, of course, you have Justine who is our uh head of HR. She also works at the wedding venue. Um, you have Eric does that. We have a lot of merch too. Oh, yeah. Merch is a big sale um for us. Then you have uh Cody, of course, who does our labels and also all the artwork, and then you have Chase who kind of does a lot of it. He's uh the general manager and he's also like the vineyard manager, so he's kind of everywhere at once.

I love that. So to truly family operation and and involved in whatever way they can contribute in some way, so yeah.

Yeah, and you'll find Randy here. You'll you'll come out here and he'll be on a skid steer doing something, you know. He actually dug close to the hole for the kid. Oh, really? He's always always here and always doing something, you know. All this construction goes back to him, huh?

Right. Well, and two, he he just he just can't sit down. Yeah. That's one of those things. Like he'll see something, he's he's immediately on it. Yeah.

And Carol, Carol, his wife, really does all the interior design, you know, the the color palettes, the furniture. What are we talking about?

Carol has the final say of everything.

Happy wife, happy life.

Oh, yeah. Just having the big like having it as a family company. And you know, I know some family companies, like, they can be a pain sometimes working with family, but I mean this place is crazy. It works. Yeah, it it works out well. Everyone knows every like all their divisions and everywhere they need to be. Um, and what's great for us is none of the family works in the winery with us. So so we have free range to do that. They let you do your thing. Yeah. Well, so they they bought they purchased Tori at the beginning of 2018. Okay. Um, originally, because they knew they had this idea in mind of what they wanted Slate Theory to be. Okay. But with the winery that was here, it wasn't the idea of it. So it took a long time for them to develop it, and they knew like they wanted to have the underground cellar slash cave, whatever you want to call it. And so they were like, Well, we're coming they they were coming from the oil industry originally. So they sold their company, um, and they were like, What are we gonna do? So they originally bought um a wedding venue, then they became then they bought this, and then they started investing in 1851 because coming from the oil industry, they wanted to kind of see what the wine industry was like. Yeah. So not knowing, they were like, All right, well, let's just become investors now, and then eventually they're like, All right, let's just buy this place and really go for it while theory's being built. And then three and a half years later, you know, with the cave finishing up, this finishing up, they were like, All right, we're moving to theory, and we're gonna put 1851 sleep mill on the market. And uh, because this was always gonna be the focus. Yeah.

Yeah. So the it took three plus years to get this facility up and running. It opened in end of October of 2021. Okay. Okay. So this will be our fifth year in operation in in October. Uh, so the name slate theory comes from John Locke's blank slate theory, right? Because they were coming from the oil business, knew nothing about the wine industry. They were starting with a blank slate, right? So that's where slate theory comes from. Um, they knew nothing about the wine industry, so they hired people that were in the industry to help them and get experience, you know, because when you're born, your mind is blank, right? And you learn everything through experiences, right? And so that's where the name slate theory came from.

Well, we've kind of danced around it a couple times, but I want to go in a little bit more in depth. You mentioned for those of my viewers that are not familiar with slate theory, have not been here yet. I think one of the things that I know of when I think of slate theory is this wine cave. So tell me about the wine cave and and what is that all about?

So the wine cave, I don't technically know the exact size of it. Some people say it's 9,000 square feet, some people say it's it's 6,000, 10,000. It it changes on whichever uh Jones you ask. Um it's a Texas tall tale. So, you know, it's one of those things like it's it's one of a kind here in Texas. Um, Randy and Carol, the owners, they went to California, kind of were getting ideas, and they're like, Oh, this is what we want here. So they started. Building the cave and ran into a bunch of granite, which made it you know take even longer to build. And originally the cave was going to be a working barrel room. Okay. So we had it set up to where we had the slot drains, water, perfect AC down there, and we were gonna run glycol and everything. And what originally they were gonna have two bays open as tastings, and then the first weekend they're like, okay, we need another bay. And then the second weekend, okay, we need another bay. Third weekend, we need another bay. So eventually they took all the bays in there to do tastings just because everyone loved it, everyone loved it. Yeah, it's an experience. We still store the barrels down there. Yeah, so it is a barrel cave. We still have the barrels down there. It's a lot harder to move now with all the tables and chairs. Um, but it's something like you know, not being able to go on anywhere else on 290 and seeing it. So that's where a lot of our traffic is. Even on our slow days during the week, they're always gonna have a bunch of people down in the cave. Saturdays, there's all it's always booked up on Saturdays, so it's the one thing that no one else has that kind of sets us apart. Okay.

Did they dig down into the ground into the side of a hill?

No, they they dug down into the ground, so so it's well, the wall or the ceiling is five feet thick, so they dug down what 23 feet at least. So from your feet to the top of the cave, it's 17 feet. Okay. Um, and you actually crossed it whenever you came in. Okay. So it's actually an underground cellar. It's an underground cellar. We have a uh freight elevator, so we can get the barrels down there and tables up and everything else, too.

So it's a real kind of old-world feel of those old underground wine caves and wine cellars and things like that.

Yeah, and originally, whenever it was about to be done, they were gonna go in and smooth everything out, finish it. And Randy goes, No, I like the industrial look. So uh when you go down there later today, you'll see uh like the honeycomb and part of the the concrete. You'll also see the the grain pattern from the plywood of the pour on the ceiling. So it's just kind of rough and and just kind of cool.

Yeah, and each tasting bay down there is unique. And furniture, tables, chairs. There's two living walls down there as well. So it it's a nice, a nice experience to be down there and actually do a tasting.

Each little area has its own personality to it.

All the chandeliers are different in each bay. Like that.

Just kind of to give so if someone comes in, if they come in a second time, it's kind of a different experience for them. Because nothing down there is close to being the same.

Well, you know, speaking of these different fields or personalities, I know as well in some of my research and things I've heard from you guys that a lot of the philosophy behind slate theory, there's a big emphasis on mental health and things like that. And so fill me in on some of that background. What is that all about?

Yeah, so um, the whole mental health issue is about, you know, starting the conversation about it, right? A lot of people will say, wait a bit, you're a winery and you're talking about mental health. How does that marry up? And it's really about opening up the conversation about it, uh, because it's important. Um, you'll see our wines, uh, our red blends are all named after mental disorders. Okay. And if it's a white blend, it's the doctors that treat them, right? And so the schizophrenic is an example, is a red blend. It's our Bordeaux blend. Um, the narcoleptic is our GSM blend, right? And so each blend uh is a is a style of wine, right? But it has focus around mental health. Um, and so it's really about having the conversation and discussing mental health. We actually partner with NAMI, the National Alliance of Mental Illness, and we make donations to NAMI off of our proceeds. Um, so we're really into that. Uh, you want to add anything, Tyler?

Yeah. So, I mean, with with uh partnering with NAMI and everything, we also partnered with a couple other people. We did a partnership with Big Silence that was based out of Austin, um, the Pink Berets, and we're actually uh now going to be partnering up with um what what's the company that we were just talking about on Thursday? I don't recall. It uh has to do with PTSD. Okay. So we're we're creating a whole separate uh label for one of our blends, and we're gonna be donating for every bottle. I think we talked about 30% of every bottle to that.

Well, I'm definitely a big believer in mental health and getting that conversation going and good mental health. I think it's something that we're lacking very heavily in this country right now in our health industry for sure. But how did that come about? What was the interest there?

So one of Randy's kids actually went to school for psychology, and that's kind of where the whole theme for slate theory uh came around. So with the the skulls and everything, and the the black and it just kind of bringing up the mental awareness, and then one of the other children um is our artist, and his name is Cody. Uh Cody Jones is the name. So he does all of our labels, he comes up with all the names, he does all the artwork that we have here. So he's he's got that dark artist mentality. So just trying to also bring out that vibe with everything, too, and figuring out like getting people to look at the label. And you know, we have Warshacks as our single varietals, which are ink blots, which you know, for those who don't know, it's it's the things where you look at it in the therapist, like, what do you see? Yeah, right. So all the smears on the paper. So is it just one of those things like trying to get the point across, and the Jones family got that really started, and we have people all the time. Dave already said it, what does wine have to do with mental health at all? Where else are you hearing it? Yeah, right. So people come in, and I actually made this thought the other day. Um you know, it's kind of like when you're feeling depressed or something, you go to the bar. Well, there's no one really to talk to but the bartender, right? So the bartender is kind of your therapist, sometimes cheaper, sometimes not. Um, so that's kind of like how we are here. We're, you know, we want you to talk, you know, to us. We're gonna treat you like family anytime you come in, you know, get you the help that you need if you need it. Um, just kind of sparking the conversation.

Well, you know, and it's interesting because wine especially really leads to community, I think, and and openness and sharing. When we think about wine, we think about sharing that with people and friends and things like that. So, what what a better place or could there be a better place to open up than you're sharing a bottle with friends, and now we can actually share about what's going on in our lives and the things that we're dealing with. I mean, what a great place to open up. I like that thought of opening the bottle, but also opening up your yourself to mental health and things like that. Um, great connection there. Well, let's talk a little bit about the the wines and the fruits and things like that. So I see as I walked around a little bit, you've got a little bit of vineyard here. How big of a vineyard do you have on site?

Well, at this property, there's 10 acres of cabsolve out back, and there's an acre and a half of black Spanish up front. Uh, but we also have another 200-acre property where the wedding venue is. Um, so we have 110 acres under vine, 21, 22 different varieties planted. Uh, we're probably the largest estate vineyard in the Texas Hill Country AVA. Um, so and that property is down off the highway 16 uh on the way to Kerrville, but it's in it's in Gillespie County. Um don't ask us to name all the varietals.

Uh well I wasn't gonna ask you to name all of them, but I was gonna ask you to name maybe a handful of them, but all you have to do.

Yeah, yeah.

Uh so we got Sauvignon Blanc, Vignier, um Trebbiano, Trebiano, Cab Sov, uh Petite Serah, Cab Franc, Merlot, Montepucciano, Primitivo, uh a lot. Yeah, a lot more.

Yeah. Wow. So do you spend a lot of your time? I know you guys are more in the winemaking side. Do you have vineyard people that kind of do that, or do y'all do some of the vineyard work?

Chase Chase manages, he's one of the sons, and he's our general manager. He actually manages all of the vineyard and he has a crew, and he also uses some outside vineyard management companies to help as well. But that that large of a vineyard, it's it takes a lot of labor to keep that going.

Well, and I know, I mean, you can't separate them too. I know you guys are out in the vineyard a lot, checking the fruit, looking at the fruit and all that, I'm sure.

Yeah.

But awesome. Well, do you source fruit elsewhere outside of your own vineyard as well?

We we do. So uh unfortunately we got hit by that late freeze this year. So this year we were going to actually be about 75-80% estate. Okay. Um, and only 25, 20 to 25 uh percent from the high plains. So we are an all-texas winery. Okay. Um, and we get fruit from uh Lehe, Nar. We've gotten fruit from uh farmhouse up there as well. Um, so we do outsource but just a little bit, but still in Texas. How bad was your hit on the St. Patrick's Day freeze? 85 acres.

85 out of the 110. Wow. That's complete loss.

A lot of them are actually coming on a little bit stronger with the secondaries. So last year we also had a late freeze, which we did we lost about 65 acres, and a lot of the secondaries uh weren't pushing at all. But this year a lot of the secondaries are coming on stronger. So see how that fruit turns out from it.

It was obviously mostly whites. Okay, yeah, and early butters. Yeah.

Yeah. For viewers that may not know, with vines, uh, there's the first growth, but then if that dies out, there's can be secondary or tertiary fruit that can come from that or growth that can come out. But sometimes the fruit may not be as strong a quality or may not get as much. You just never know what you're gonna get from something that secondary or tertiary crop. So kind of time will tell to see how that turns out for you guys. Blend it or turn it to a rose. There you go.

I love it.

Problem solved. Well, do you process all that fruit here on site?

You have a full production facility here, yep, all indoors as well, which is the best. Well, it's a blessing and a curse. Uh our vitamin D is way down. Um, because we don't really see the sunlight. He does because he has his vineyard. Yeah. Um, but we do process everything. We we do have the capacity for about 27,000 cases uh in the winery. Wow. All right. Which we're nowhere near there, but sure. It's it's nice to have the plenty of room. We have the the big winery, a bunch of oak fermenters in the tank uh in the tank room as well. And then we also have a 10,000 square foot warehouse, which is nice having that space, and then the cave for barrel storage. But it's one of those things, too. It's you can never have enough storage. Right. Uh so like as soon as we built that 10,000 square foot warehouse, we filled that up immediately, too.

You know, I've heard that as a consistent theme in many of my winery interviews with people. You can never have enough space. Just when you think you build something, you get all the space that fills up. Oh, I need more space now. So that's always at a premium for sure. Right. Well, tell me a little bit about your winemaking style. So, how would you define your winemaking style?

I would say it's it's pretty traditional, uh, low intervention. Uh, you know, obviously from an addition standpoint, we you have to use tart of a tartaric acid, obviously, because the pHs are fairly high in Texas. Um, you know, SO2 additions, but beyond that, we're you know, pretty we we try pretty simple not touch the wine as much as possible.

Okay. So it's one of those things besides harvest time, which is pretty much 80-90% of the wine making, anyways. As soon as it's fermented, it goes into barrel. We let it go through the malactic fermentation if it's a red or an oak-aged white, and then as soon as that's done, SO2, top. Yeah. And that is all we will do until it's ready to be bottled. Okay.

So pretty low intervention. Yeah. Try not to touch the wines as much as you can or open them up. How long do you typically spend barrel aging?

We do we really try to do uh two years in barrel, one year in bottle.

Okay.

So, you know, typically sometimes it'll be a little bit, you know, less than two years, like 21 months uh is what we're doing right now. But that two years, it kind of gives you the leeway to like, oh, we're we're gonna need some wines at the end of the year or you know, at the beginning of next year. So we kind of kind of gotta shorten that up a little bit. But yeah, typically two years in barrel. It's a completely different cycle from the tasting room and the winemaking world.

Wait, these are ready to go, but we need something to sell, but we gotta get, you know, trying to get that all together can be a headache sometimes.

Yeah, you gotta plan that out.

Exactly.

And then, of course, we do have some reserve wines where uh, you know, some of our estate wines we've done 36 months in barrel, and then we actually just released um our zealot that actually was two years in barrel and three years in bottle. Wow. Because we we want it to be the factor where a customer can come in and not have to sit on the bottle to drink it.

Yeah. It's already ready to go.

Yeah. So they could come in and they're like, How long do I have to let it sit for? You don't. Yeah. You come in. We did that for you. If you drink it here, it's gonna taste the same when you take it home.

Yeah.

Takes a lot of patience. It does. It does. Yeah. Well, we've kind of already tapped on this slightly. I'll come back to the wines here in just a second. But what would you say? And I may know the answer after our previous discussion, but what would you say is the single biggest challenge to growing grapes in Texas for wine?

Well, certainly the weather, um, I think is the biggest challenge, but I also see it as an opportunity, right? I try to look at the positive side of it. It's a learning experience, right? And so with these late spring freezes, you know, one of the things Chase has talked about is, you know, timing of final pruning, right? To put that off as long as possible. So if you get a late spring freeze, you know, you're a little bit protected, right? Um, we had hail a few years, right? So immediately after he final prunes, he puts the hail nets up, right? And so while it's a challenge, it's also an opportunity to learn and do things differently to protect your expensive challenge.

We'll say that it is definitely expensive because you know it's one of those things too. Like another thing to kind of help is getting the frost fans. Well, it would be what $1.5 million for us if we needed to get the frost fans. But even if it gets too cold, the frost fans aren't gonna do anything. So it's one of those things trying it. We did try the helicopters this year. Yeah. Uh that did nothing. Really? Because it was originally only supposed to be like 33 degrees for like an hour, but at one o'clock in the morning it was 27, and you know, even that's too cold to mess with anything.

Yeah, at that point, you're kind of done anyway. That was just a take. This whole spring has been the weather. I've been I've been in Texas all my life, and I don't know if I've ever been able to see the weather the way it has been this spring.

We've gotten a lot of rain. We've gotten a lot of rain this spring, right?

Colder weather? I mean, it was just last weekend cold in May, you know.

I'm just not I'm still not used to that here, but yeah, the growth, the canopies right now are just huge because of all the rain. Okay, I bet, yeah. So Chase has already had to hedge one time.

Oh wow. So well, hopefully that rain will, as we get closer to harvest, then start dying away. So then fruit can really develop. Yeah, I hear people all the time say, Oh, in Texas, it's the weather. It's we do we just and and it is, we do have the weather challenges. But you know, I was just listening the other day to in Bordeaux. They just recently had a ton of hail going through there. I mean, people lose weather happens everywhere, I get unless you're in California, I guess. But um, you know, it kind of happens everywhere to everyone. Well, what would you say about your wine and your winemaking characteristics that really makes you kind of unique to the spirit of Texas winemaking?

Well, we're certainly 100% Texas, right? So we we focus on that. Obviously, with our state vines, we want to get to uh uh predominantly an estate grown winery, right? We will always have to purchase something from the high plains, right? Because there's some varieties we don't have uh and we don't have planted. Um, but we want to try to be we want to we want to be as much a state as as possible and very focused on Texas. Uh we've even made a sparkling uh wine that we well for with some of our Sauvignon Blanc. Um we sent it off and Lisa Christopher does it for us. Um so that's even in made. So the sparkling we have is even 100% Texas. Okay. So I love that. Yeah.

Well, what would you say? I love when I get to talk to winemakers, because what would you say is one of your favorite varietals to work with, or something you feel like is really characteristic of Slate Theory?

On on the white side, Sauvignon Blanc, um, we have roughly 12 acres of Sauvignon Blanc planted. Um, and I just love the style of Sauvignon Blanc. It's clean, it's crisp, right? Uh the the grassy characteristics and the petrol, you know, uh I love that. Uh on the red side, I would say uh right now taraldigo is an interesting grape. Uh that we we currently purchase those grapes from the Hyphanes.

Shizau is another one that we use for quite a bit of our blends, where not that many vineyards have it. Um well, we actually planted, I think, four and a half acres uh last spring of it. So we're really excited about that one. But my favorite variety is uh petite syrah.

Yeah.

And we had four acres of it, and I think Chase planted another two and a half. I'm really excited about that one because uh no matter where I go, I always get a petite syrah, no matter from what uh what winery, what years, just I'll take your petite syrah. And you know, we've done a bunch of experiments with petite serah. We've done a carbonic nouveau style of petite syrah. We did that two years in a row, we've done it in a bunch of our blends, single varietals. We we used to uh co-ferment with VA skins, which always gave it such a perfumey note, and it was beautiful.

And I'm looking forward to uh a sagrentino. I have Sagrantino planted at my place, and I should get a nice harvest this year. Um, I haven't had a chance to work with it yet. So this will be the my first opportunity with that. So I'm really looking forward to that.

Yeah, well, that was actually perfect leading to my next question. So my next question is as winemakers, is there a specific variety that you have never had a chance to work with that you've always wanted to? And you just kind of answered that a little bit for us.

Yeah, the Sagrantina on the red side, on the white side, Picpoul Blanc, you know, because that's um that's an up and coming popular, you know, white variety that I thought you were gonna say, Pinot. So that's what I I would bet would be mine. I'd yeah, I'd look forward to. Yeah.

What about you, Tyler?

I mean, we've worked with a bunch of them. We recently started to work with uh Zinfandel. Oh, okay. Um and it's always Zinfandel has always been a hit or miss with me. Yeah, but whenever we got the Zinfandel actually in 2022 was the last time we had it, uh, it came out beautiful. Yeah. Uh so much like we had a single varietal of it, and then we actually put it into a blend called the Phobic um with Petite Serah, might I add. Uh, and that was phenomenal. And after you know, trying that, we're like, oh, we're definitely gonna do that again. And and of course, you know, the last time we had Zen was in 2022, and letting it sit for two years in barrel and a year in bottle, and actually waiting to get it, like, oh, it's 2026, we're gonna have to do that again.

Well, tell me a little bit about your um vintage variation a little bit. So, how do you know when you got you've got a big vineyard, you've got a lot of fruit. How do you know when you guys is a good vintage? This is gonna be a good year for the things that we've got. What tells you that?

Well, first is the fruit set. You know, looking at the fruit set, seeing like how the fruit actually looks, make sure that there's no mold or no split berries, no, no, nothing. So once the fruit set is good, and and David can go further on that because he is a whole lot more knowledgeable on the vineyard side than I am.

Yeah, I think from from bloom to fruit set, you know, we also have a lot of wind here in Texas, right? And wind can affect your bloom and you know, blowing the the bloom off the off the clusters, you know, so great self-pollinate. So and so you you gotta be careful with wind. Um, but as Tyler mentioned, you know, if you see a nice, when you see that nice fruit set, right? And then as you get into varasion and you start to see the ripening and the clusters coming together, and you you can you can start to sample and see what you have there, nice, nice large clusters, depending on obviously the variety. You know, you some some are loose, loose clusters, some are tighter. Um, and just seeing good good quality fruit from a vineyard management standpoint, canopy management, making sure your your spray programs are are going well and you're not getting disease pressure, uh, and just seeing a nice good good harvest in the future, you know.

And then of course, taste and then labs. Yeah, taste and then the labs. Taste and then labs.

And those clusters really are fitting that typicity of what you expect from grape and everything. Yeah. Yeah, of course, then you

Get into the well, and even like just walking through the vineyard and this is weird, but even the smell. Okay. You know, just walking through the vineyard, and you know if you smell something funky, you know, something's not right here. So just e and sometimes it's just a couple feet into the vineyard, and you're like, Oh, something's up with this. Okay. And now that's where you start exploring a little bit. You go back and see if they've been spraying. Is this fixable? Yeah. And you start taking samples a little bit earlier to make sure. Which we haven't really ran into that issue uh since we started, but you know, that's just something I've seen in the past, right? So it just all starts from well, pruning, I guess. Making sure it's pruned correctly till it's in bottle.

Well, let's talk about some of those wines in the bottle then. So we've gone through some of the winemaking process, and now you're getting ready, you've aged them, you bottle-aged them. What are some of your most popular wines with customers?

So schizophrenic, schizophrenic for sure. That's our Bordeaux blend. Yeah, that's a very popular one. It it doesn't stay around very long once it's released.

And is this a left bank or a right bank? Is it Kab Sov lead or Merlot lead? So it is a it mainly is left bank style. Okay. So Cabernet Sauvignon Domino.

So in 2021, we actually got a bunch of Merlot. Okay. And we actually released the single varietal Merlot and how we talked about before this, the 50-50 with Merlot. 50% people love it, 50% people hate it. And we were like, hey, you know what? We got a lot bun uh a bunch of Merlot. Let's try right bank this year.

Okay.

So there was only, I think, like 12% cab solve in it. Oh and so so a lot less cabin. No one batted an eye.

Really?

They didn't bat an eye. Because with our schizophrenic, you know, we try to make it, you know, medium-bodied, super fruit forward. Uh tannins kind of medium to low, super silky, super smooth. So as long as you can kind of get close to the same characteristics, the people are gonna love it. Okay. So so we did try the the right bank for one year. Um and then we went, of course, right back to the left bank. So it's truly schizophrenic in its nature, just a little bit between. And and of course, with Texas fruit, uh, you know, you could get the same block, same variety, you know, from the same vineyard, same labs. It could be different every year. So, you know, the the percentage is always gonna have to change. Um, but schizophrenic has been one. The zealot is another red that uh, you know, we try to make that as a little bit more secluded wine, so it's only 240 cases that we make of that one.

Yeah, on the white side, Sauvignon Blanc is a very popular wine from a rose standpoint. We we make a nebbiolo rose. Really? Um and a Sangiovese rose.

Um and then we also do a blend of the two called the Orderly. Um, but the Zealot, it's a Sanji Cab Franc blend. Oh, ooh, interesting.

I like those, but I've not really heard of those being blended very often.

So that's an interesting Well, we did a really weird one that we called the Amnesiac, and we blended Delcetto and Cab Franc. Oh, wow, interesting. It was one of those we were gonna uh keep them separate, but we're like, what are we gonna do with like 240 cases of this and 280? Let's see what happens when we just blend it together. So it came out phenomenal, actually.

It's interesting. Yeah, I would think that would be the fun of of winemaking is kind of that mad scientist thing of of blending and finding out what goes well together, and all of a sudden you get this one surprise. You're like, wow, I can't imagine how this came out. I didn't think it was gonna be anything, and wow, it's just so good, you know.

Well, it's also one of those things blending days are really short days, right? Yeah, because there's there's a there's a lot of blends you gotta try and changing it up, so you gotta stop after like an hour or two and then sober up and finish work.

Right. You gotta make sure to set apart plenty of water for those particular days so you can make it through. Well, let's talk for a moment then. We've talked about some of the wines and things like that. Let's talk about the location that you have here. So, do you host any kind of events or have other amenities or things like that that people want to come to check out here?

Well, certainly, uh, from a wine club standpoint, we have our release parties, you know, four times a year, and they run two consecutive Sundays, you know, each roughly each quarter. Um, those are those are nice events. Uh, we have a Rave in the Cave event that we do, which is silent disco. Um, that's a fun event. And then in the fall around Halloween, we have a masquerade party as well, and that's always a fun event. Everybody dresses up and um full regalia.

Yeah, like we we even hired some contortionists, uh, some some people on stilts came, one of those like dancing big ring things, fi-fire rings came. Um, I mean, we also partnered up with uh Texas Wine Auction last year, and we did another silent disco. I think it was in July, and then we also held um the barrel head and case auction last year as well in October. So, I mean, we do do some events like that as well.

Well, and we're here in uh this tasting room here, this little side room on the tasting room. And I think you mentioned before the interview you host some sort of like special tastings in here as well.

Yeah, so um since since we started, I've been uh keeping behind some wines for library. Okay. And so once they built our new tasting room and turned this original tasting room into the members lounge, they sectioned off a little bit of this so we can do library tasting. So I come in on Fridays. We usually work a four, 10-hour week, but I'll I'll come in on Fridays and we do a library tasting. So you get four, sometimes five wines. Uh, we also do a chocolate pairing, and uh it's about an hour and a half just drinking and BSing with me the whole time. Dedicated focus and time to try something different. Yeah, because I mean it's expensive, and it's only for members, too. So it's something like, you know, members that have been with us for a long time, hey, they're able to buy the bottle again. And one one thing that I also like about it too is when people come into the winery, you know, they'll meet with the taste room staff and everyone else. So they don't really get the full depth of what slate theory is. So I kind of have those as more of a little educational thing as well, and just talking about who we are as Slate Theory, bringing up the wines, kind of letting them know, like, hey, this is why we do this, or this is how we make this wine, to kind of also broaden the horizon on drinking wine as well, and especially pairings, too.

Sure. Yeah, wine and food are a big deal, that's where they go together.

And then we also have um a paired cave tasting as well. So uh one of the bays that sectioned off. Uh I think it's every day now. They started doing it on Sundays and Mondays too. Um, you get to come in and boy, that's like what, five, six, seven tastings, and you get some pretty decent size um tastes on it as well.

Well, let's say that at this point in time, I think my viewers are now starting to get the itch to come check things out here. So let's talk a little bit about what it looks like when a first-time visitor comes on site. You have the tasting room, you have the members lounge, you have the cave, you have all these things. But if someone just wanted to come in and do a tasting, what does that look like? How much does it cost? Do they get to pick the wines? Do y'all pick the wines? What type of offerings do you have for that?

Yeah, so our tasting room is first come, first served. We only require reservations for a cave tasting, for a library tasting, and the paired cave tastings. Those are the ones that require reservations. Uh, we do a white tasting, a mixed tasting, a red tasting.

Uh, that's you know, 20 $25 to $35 just for the normal tasting. Cave tastings are fifty dollars a piece. Okay. The library tastings are $85. The paired cave tasting at $120? $125.

Don't check the website. Don't catch me lying. Don't catch me lying.

Um we don't set the prices, we just make the wine.

Uh you can pick your wine as well. Um, you know, I mean, with the white wines and roses, we try to only have like four or five on there. So that'll be the white wine tasting and then the mix tasting, whichever white or rose you want, whichever reds you want. And then same with the reds too. So you can pick. Okay, so you can kind of slip things in as you need. And then we also um we do tours as well. So you can either reserve to do a tour or you can walk in to do a tour. They're every hour during the weekday. Um this way you can go through, see the cave, see the production facility. You'll see, like, they'll come through the members' lounge. It's another good way to sign up for wine club, and then they'll head back into the tasting room. And then they can either leave or enjoy another glass. And what days do you open and what are your hours?

We're open seven days a week, uh, Sunday to Thursday, noon to five, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Friday, Saturday. Friday, Saturday, 11 to 6.

Okay. And are you family friendly? So if someone has kids or pet friendly, want to bring the dogs along?

We're family friendly except for the cave. Okay. The cave, uh, it's 21 and up. Okay. And dogs on leash and outside. So then you can still bring your dogs.

Outside is fine, yeah.

Yeah, we've got plenty of outside space.

Sure. Yeah. And then, I mean, we also have dog bowls everywhere, and you could tie your dog up wherever you want to on the leash. There's plenty of grass. Just pick up after them.

Right, right, right. Well, you talked a little bit about some of your pairings and things like that that you had earlier, but are there any other kinds of food options for people that just come in for a tasting?

Sure, we have charcuterie and other light, light bites.

And like, yeah, fig and goat cheese and we also do have chocolate cake that we've had for like the past three years that I've been wanting to get, but it's one of those things it's like, should I get it? Should I not get it? So, yeah, the chocolate cake, we have chicken salad, um, and of course, a lot of the standard stuff on the charcuterie board. Yeah.

Do you have any maximum group sizes for people coming in?

If you call ahead, not really. Okay. Yeah, we'll accommodate pretty long. I mean, we we've had uh a group of 70 people down in the cave just the other week. You can have 30 people up in the tasting room, just as long as you call, I would say a week in advance, um, just to have better preparation. We've had people call 24 hours in advance and we still made the preparation for it. Um, but if you are gonna have a group size that big during the week is best. Yeah. Um, just to prepare for it. And we're usually a little bit slower during the week, so it's perfect for it.

Well, that was kind of my next question. What what are your busier and slower times? So, what's the best time for someone to come visit?

Well, certainly, you know, Saturdays are our busiest day, right? So if you want, if you want to, if you're really into the vibe and all of the excitement and energy with a lot of people, come on a Saturday. If you want something a little bit more than a lot of people, we do have live music as well.

Oh, okay.

If you want something a little bit more subdued, come during the week, right? Um, so uh it's whichever you prefer, you know. Some people really like to be around a lot of people and yeah, and get the whole vibe.

Some people want the more quiet experience, come during the week. Right. Well, we've talked, we've we've dabbled on it a minute. We're in the members' tasting room, but wine club. So tell me about your wine club and and how do people join? What are some of the benefits of your wine club?

So you can uh even sign up for our wine club online if you want to. If you've if you've never been here before, and if you've heard about us, you can sign up online. Um, you can come in, fill out the form, you can buy into our wine club technically and not get the next release, but you can start getting your discount. So our we have a four, six, and twelve bottles. The fours and sixes, we have a red, we have a variety of uh the four and sixes, the twelves. Get a little bit of everything, so you can customize anything in the 12 bottle. The six bottle, you can also customize anything uh into it. And as David said earlier, we do the releases four times a year, usually February, late April, September, end of November, December.

Um with each each club level, there's different discounts, yeah.

You know, so people can sign up online, or if they get here and they taste the great wines, they say, I think I want to become a member, they can do that here. Yeah, yeah.

And then we have the the private wine club lounge, and and whenever this was the tasting room, and you were here, completely different furniture. We had a bunch of couches and everything, and once we opened up the other tasting room, we were like, We're gonna make this as loungy as possible. Okay. So literally, they just bought all that furniture five years ago, and then they were like, if you want it, come and take it. We're getting all new furniture just to make it more where you want to come and hang out. Special place. Yeah, so like we even got the shuffle board now, and we have Scrabble and some other games here that you can play just to come in away from the crowd on Saturdays, and we want you to just come and hang out all day. And it's a great vibe.

I mean, uh, that's one of the things that makes this facility unique, is just the vibe, you know, that we have here. Uh I think people really enjoy that. Yeah. Uh, you're not gonna find country music here, right? Um, you know, that every other place along the along the trail probably has country music. We don't have country music show. It's it's it's a different genre. Okay. Yeah.

It's one of those things, too, with David mentioning the vibe, is with a lot of the issues right now in the Texas wine industry where a lot of people aren't drinking, especially the younger crowd. Yeah. So with us having, you know, our main color being black, our logo being like the skull and the crown, and kind of an edgier vibe. Um it's something that people in my generation are younger, are kind of drawn to, and especially with the caves, like, oh, that's really cool. I want to see it. So, I mean, we haven't had too much of a hit um with issues that been that have been happening uh in the wine industry, but I think that's mainly because of our vibe and what we do here.

Yeah, hitting that younger demographic.

And I would say, you know, at our release parties, I mean, they're great parties. I mean, you come through and you taste through the new releases of wines throughout the facility. We provide food, there's a band, we do complimentary flash tats. Um, you know, uh, it's not a cult. It's it's uh it's it's quite an experience. Yeah. So becoming a member has some pretty unique benefits to it.

When you start doing brands, that's when I'm gonna be a little nervous.

Well, we've done the hat brands before, but not the skin brands. But like all the flash tats, I mean they're all slate theory themes. Oh, cool. Uh pretty. This this last party, like there was a member, she got her like seventh tattoo for slate theory, and it's all on her arm, and uh, it's all cool. Yeah, it's something that you you don't really see at other wineries. Um, I mean, the tattoos in general too, but having such a following, and especially with a lot of our members that have been here since day one, love the vibe. Everyone is is like coming from Houston, Austin, San Antonio. We have a bunch of people in Louisiana too that make the trip just for it. And you know, just just seeing everyone coming in and enjoying it, yeah, is what makes it a blast.

Well, some of my viewers had not had a chance to be here yet. And so, quick question about distribution. Do you do any kind of distribution? Or, in other words, if someone can't get here, is there a way they can taste your wines? Do you sell online or we sell online?

We're only in one restaurant in here in Fred, that's at Cabernet Grill. Uh, we have a couple wines there. Um, but other than that, we're not really in distribution at all at this point. Okay. So it's all sold through the tasting room online.

And if you happen to be dining at Cab Grill, they have uh on a reserve estate cab sov in our Save Blanc there as well.

Oh, nice. So we talked a little bit about the tasting room here and some of the things that you built here. The the tasting room, you've just built a brand new tasting room here, things like that. You've got your big vineyard. Do you have plans for future growth? Where do you see site theory going down the road?

I mean, hey, we're the winemaker, so we don't really have the biggest say in that. Um I mean it also it really depends on our club growth, you know. Um, you know, if we want to keep on growing our club until infinity, um that we'll see growth there. I know they've kind of talked a little bit about sister tasting rooms. Okay. Um not right now. Um, probably, you know, within five years or something, because we're still we're still technically a young winery. Um we've won this is our fifth year anniversary, so you know, maybe one day in Dallas or Houston.

Um it's kind of like I-35 in Austin, you know.

Yeah, well, as soon as they were done with that building, then they started the tasting room, and then they got done with the tasting room, then they started the awning. Uh it was yeah, it's a lot. But I mean, case wise, I mean, like I said, it just depends on if our wine club members uh start spiking through the roof. And if we ever do decide to go wholes wholesale, um, of course, our volume will have to go up for that. Uh but not really our decision.

What we want to do is the well, you know, there are a lot of great places in Texas that people can go to get some great wine, Slate Theory being one of those. So, in your opinion, what do you think really sets Slate Theory winery apart that would make my viewers say, I gotta move that up my list and get there as soon as I can?

I think it's the experience of the entire place. Yeah. Again, like I said before, it's our vibe. Uh, you go do a cave tasting or a production tour, you get to see that experience and experience that experience, right? Along with the great wines that we have. Um, I think it's just a unique environment uh that you don't see around. And uh I think our customers really enjoy it. Okay.

I would also say our staff as well. So not only like the environment and the experience, and of course the phenomenal wines uh that are here. Um, I mean, we have a big variety of wines too, but our staff as well. Um, no matter if you're doing a tour, if you're doing the library tasting, coming in here and doing a tasting in the members' lounge or in the normal tasting room. Um, we're gonna take care of you. Okay. Um, you're gonna come in, you're gonna have fun, you're gonna be. I know a lot of people say this, but you're gonna be treated like family, but this is where kind of like that mental health thing kind of comes into play. Like we're, you know, we're gonna talk to you, we're gonna ask where you're from, we're gonna, you know, ask what you like any other wineries you've been to. And I mean, unless you're like, hey, just leave me alone, you know, and then we'll leave you alone. But our staff is definitely uh top of the line, I would say, as well, just on trying to make that experience better.

What an incredible conversation there with Tyler and with David. It's always so exciting to see how passion and artistry and top-tier Texas agriculture all swirl and come together to create an environment as unique as what they have there at Slate Theory. Now, as always, make sure you check out their website before you go. It is www.slate theory.com. And there on their website, you can actually go purchase some of those distinct estate as well as some of the regional Texas wines that they're making. You can also find the details on how to join that wine club that we talked about and get access as a wine club member to special VIP releases as well as private events. But maybe most importantly, you can use that website to go and book some of those unforgettable on-site experiences that they talked about in the interview. While their main tasting room is first come, first served, and you can come in as a walk-in. You will want to go in in advance and register to reserve your spot for that 45-minute production tour or their premier one to two hour paired cave tasting experience deep in that underground barrel cellar. And don't forget, when you go to see them, make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast, Texas Under Vine. All right, the time has come to reveal my wine wanderer bottle for this particular episode. Today, for this particular winery, I'm going to reveal the 2022 Narcoleptic from Slate Theory Winery, sourced from the Texas High Plains. This is a smooth and rich and intense red blend, Southern Rhone style, of 70% Mouved and 30% Syrah. Slate Theory describes this as a wine where lingering fruit and soft smoke guide you into a daydream. And they aren't kidding. On the nose, you're gonna find echoes of vanilla extract, maybe a little bit of Earl Gray tea, and when you take a sip, the palette opens up to maybe a little bit of under-ripe raspberry and red fruit, balanced beautifully by savory and meaty undertones, spicy complexity, and a generous touch of dark chocolate on the finish. It is medium-bodied with a wonderful depth, a medium tannic structure, and it is an absolutely must-have pairing for a hearty meat dish or just even a relaxed evening on the patio. Make sure you try that narcoleptic when you go to see them there at Slate Theory. All right, it's time to pack up the gear, pull out of the driveway, maybe look over my shoulder at that incredible modern facility that they have built there at Slate Theory as I hit the road on to my next destination. And if you're enjoying these trips through the Texas wine country, please consider supporting the show on Patreon so that I can keep sharing these great stories with you. And if you're watching this episode on YouTube, make sure that you like, follow, and subscribe. And for that YouTube crowd, I have a question that I would like for you to answer in the comments below. Slate Theory has some of the most mind-bending, creative, underground experiences in the state. What is the most unusual or unique winery experience that you've ever had? Drop that in the comments below. And again, a huge shout-out and thank you to all of my current Patreon subscribers who help keep this journey through the vines moving forward. And with that, my time is up. So don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be notified any time a new episode is released. And until then, happy trails and bottoms.yom. Thanks for listening to Texas Undervine. We strive to provide you with the best information about my businesses all over Texas. Be sure to check out our website at Techtivesundervine.com and follow us on our Total at Texas Undervine to stay up on all the upcoming episodes. Please email us with anything checked into your feedback. Also, go tech us if you're interested in donating, monitoring, or advertising on the podcast, just to help us cover our expenses and bring even more great info to you in future episodes. Above all, travel safely, and most especially, drink responsibly.