Valley Mills Vineyard (Central Texas)

[00:00:06] Howdy Vine Trippers. I wanted to take just a moment to talk to you about the Texas wine lover website and their phone app for both

[00:00:14] iPhones as well as Google devices

[00:00:16] You can actually download this app put it on your phone or just go to the website if you're not an app person and

[00:00:22] If you ever want to go visit some of these great locations that we've been talking about in the podcast

[00:00:27] This will give you a great information about the place before you go

[00:00:30] And you'll be able to find other wineries in the area

[00:00:33] So if you want to make a day of it go see several other places as well

[00:00:36] You can search by region you can sort the listings find one that are kid-friendly family friendly even ones that host RVs

[00:00:44] All kinds of different sortable listings you can find there in that app and on the website

[00:00:49] You can find other things as well in the area like restaurants

[00:00:53] Accommodations maybe events that are going on at the different wineries

[00:00:56] So it's your one-stop resource that goes hand-in-hand with this podcast to be able to find those great

[00:01:02] Places to go visit so check out the Texas wine lover website. It's TX wine lover comm or

[00:01:10] Go to their app you can find it on the Google Play Store or the Apple Store as well

[00:01:14] Enjoy your trips among the vines and use that app from the Texas undervine an exploratory

[00:01:43] Podcast to scout out the best Texas wine country has to offer

[00:01:47] I'm your wine guide Scott, and I'm here to lead you on an auditory expedition to the vineyards and wineries across

[00:01:53] the great Lone Star State

[00:01:55] Each episode will cover a different vineyard winery or wine related business operating in Texas

[00:02:01] You'll hear interviews

[00:02:02] Descriptions and details about each location that will excite you to visit and experience them for yourself

[00:02:09] Ready to plan a wine tour use these episodes to choose the most interesting spots for you and your friends to check out

[00:02:15] Most of all enjoy hearing about the rapidly growing wine industry in the state and what makes our wines and wineries the best

[00:02:26] Howdy fellow vine tripper welcome to episode 31 for Texas undervine

[00:02:40] This is our first one of season two and it's our first one where you start to incorporate some video

[00:02:45] You're watching this on the YouTube platform. You'll see the video portion

[00:02:48] We don't have video for the interviews yet. That's still to come

[00:02:52] But again, we have the video at the beginning at the end if you're listening to this on YouTube

[00:02:57] However, if you just stay in there audio podcast

[00:02:59] You won't see the video but you still get to hear everything that I normally bring to you

[00:03:02] So for this episode I was able to venture a little bit north of Austin about halfway between Austin and Dallas

[00:03:08] To a little town outside Waco called Valley Mills and I got to visit Valley Mills Vineyard last spring

[00:03:14] I had actually had the pleasure of attending a festival that they put on every year called rootstock

[00:03:20] That takes place in Waco lots of fun got to meet the owners and so forth

[00:03:24] But I hadn't been to the actual winery itself until today

[00:03:27] So I'm really excited to share that with you in this episode

[00:03:29] So it's located in a little town called Valley Mills, which is about 30 minutes or so just northwest of Waco

[00:03:37] The vineyard is actually a family business started by John and Candice Baniasco. They started small

[00:03:43] They opened the winery doors in 2009. They have about 12 acres of fruit locally

[00:03:48] They also source 100% Texas fruit from areas like the High Plains as well

[00:03:53] John and Candice's son Joey Baniasco is the current winemaker at Valley Mills Vineyards

[00:03:58] He spent a little bit of time

[00:03:59] Of course he grew up there working in the vineyard, but when he left to go out on his own

[00:04:03] He actually spent some time working at some other wineries and after about six years doing that and getting that experience

[00:04:08] He's returned back to Valley Mills as the full-time winemaker

[00:04:12] His focus as a winemaker is to try to bring out the truest

[00:04:16] Expression of every single varietal that he works with and this winery is a little bit out of the normal wine areas

[00:04:22] It's not in an AVA like I said, it's about 30 miles west of Waco

[00:04:26] So in my map and region it qualifies as what's called Central Texas

[00:04:30] The site itself is on rolling hills and you get to see the vine spread across the hills

[00:04:37] It really gives this really cool old world feel to the winery just sitting there on

[00:04:42] Amidst of the vines all on the hills and it's a really interesting three-story winery building

[00:04:48] It's actually built into the side of a hill making it three stories where you kind of start at the base and

[00:04:54] Work your way to some stairs as you go up each story

[00:04:56] But as that's carved into the side of the hill it allows them to have their barrel room

[00:05:01] Kind of engulfed in nature around rather than have to have to run big HVAC systems all through the hot

[00:05:08] Texas summers to keep their barrel room cool

[00:05:10] And it gives them a really cool gravity effect whenever they're pumping the wind or bringing the wine down

[00:05:15] Where should I say they don't have to use pumps?

[00:05:17] They can bring the wine with gravity down from that

[00:05:20] They start at the third floor and bring it down

[00:05:22] And I'll let Joey tell you more about that in the interview itself

[00:05:24] They have a lot of timper neo in their local vines in their vineyard

[00:05:28] And that's kind of become a cornerstone for a lot of their red wines and the things they do

[00:05:33] Although they do have many other varietals as well

[00:05:35] But they have won some awards for that timper neo wine and even though they do focus more on the dry side of wines

[00:05:42] They do have several other reds

[00:05:43] They have rosé and they have whites as well

[00:05:46] But they even also have a dessert style port style wine as well

[00:05:49] If you're interested in trying that out

[00:05:51] And as I said, I had actually tasted their wines at the root stock event last April

[00:05:55] So I was really excited to see the production and talk to Joey the winemaker

[00:05:59] I was able to sit down for this episode with he and his tastier manager Sarah Holder

[00:06:04] To talk a little bit about the history there of Valley Mills what they're doing

[00:06:08] And some exciting things that they have coming down the road

[00:06:12] So let's hear a little bit from them in the episode to come

[00:06:21] Okay, well I'm here with Joey Bagnasco at Valley Mills Vineyards

[00:06:25] And we're also joined by Sarah Holder who is the tastier manager here at Valley Mills

[00:06:30] So tell me a little about yourself. What got you into the wine industry?

[00:06:33] Thank you Scott. I've been in the wine industry since I helped my father plant the estate vineyard

[00:06:39] That has now turned into Valley Mills Vineyards way back in 2007

[00:06:44] So this is now our 16th year and I really entered the industry through the family business

[00:06:50] Kind of budding business as it was back then

[00:06:52] And it was just a it was really a farming job at first

[00:06:57] And yeah, I didn't really even have a taste for wine at the age of 16 when this project started

[00:07:04] I probably developed that at some point during college and

[00:07:07] And during college I'd come back every summer and and help my father out on the little farm and

[00:07:13] His his passion for growing things and

[00:07:17] And it's an Italian family. So there was always a love for wine and

[00:07:21] Paired with my father's passion for growing things

[00:07:24] That turned into a little one acre vineyard that became three and then five acres as it is now

[00:07:30] Our little estate vineyard on some really pretty land out here in Valley Mills, Texas

[00:07:35] And they they turned that into a little winery

[00:07:40] That opened its doors in 2009

[00:07:44] And so yeah, I got in the industry first just through the farming side and

[00:07:49] After college I ended up

[00:07:51] You know, I moved far away then I moved away again

[00:07:55] lived in Austin and

[00:07:57] Worked for the folks out in Dripping Springs at Solaro State Winery

[00:08:00] I worked as an assistant winemaker at Pernalla Sellers down in Fredericksburg and

[00:08:07] So I spent about three and a half years working for some other Texas wineries

[00:08:12] And I think I've really that opened my eyes to seeing the wine industry as like, okay

[00:08:17] This could actually be a career. This could this could become something sustainable

[00:08:21] To build a life around and and not just this little very difficult manual labor

[00:08:28] That I was doing with my father as a high school kid

[00:08:30] Cool, but Roy built into that career. Yeah, and then about about six years ago now

[00:08:35] I I've rejoined the family business to help grow and run the place here

[00:08:41] And yeah, it's been it's been super fun getting to build a

[00:08:44] Build a business and build a brand with you know, my folks and I

[00:08:48] So yeah, it's John and Candice Bonyasco and myself Joey and

[00:08:53] Yeah

[00:08:54] And you you're responsible your official title is winemaker

[00:08:57] So you're responsible for all these great barrels around us and all these flavors that we can taste here

[00:09:02] Yes

[00:09:03] And and that's the fun part is

[00:09:06] Is winemaking along with the vineyard. I love helping out in the vineyard

[00:09:11] And you know, there's there's tons of other stuff that's important to us

[00:09:14] And that keeps the wheels turning and keeps the business operating

[00:09:18] But some of my best days are are just when I get to focus on winemaking and

[00:09:24] spend time in the barrel seller spend time with the tanks, you know with fermentations

[00:09:30] Yeah

[00:09:31] Yeah, that's the fun part. I sort of think of winemakers as being little kind of mad scientists

[00:09:35] They like trying to this at least see what happens if I put this in here

[00:09:38] What would this do? How can we make this do a little different?

[00:09:41] experimenting applying with some of the varietals and things to get them to taste right the way you want

[00:09:45] There's there's a little bit of that

[00:09:48] I'm I try to be quite humble about the practice and

[00:09:52] um, you know, it is such an ancient

[00:09:55] um traditional practice that I don't really think of my job as

[00:10:00] um

[00:10:01] even like deciding what a wine should be it's more of like

[00:10:05] um trying to reveal the ultimate expression of those grapes and so

[00:10:11] hopefully nature as selected by

[00:10:14] 9 000 plus years of humans already should

[00:10:18] dictate the majority of like what that wine is going to become

[00:10:22] And we try to bring our decisions into alignment with

[00:10:26] Sort of like the best possible iteration of what nature can give us

[00:10:30] um

[00:10:31] Given the the genetic potential we have in the vine

[00:10:35] um, the climate micro climate soil the weather that year

[00:10:39] Um, it's sort of like a lot of what I do in winemaking is just about optimizing

[00:10:45] It's like i'm running a little optimizing function on something

[00:10:49] But in a way it's not a

[00:10:53] There's very few things that are really that innovative. It's a lot of

[00:10:58] Really fastidious quality control and then a few

[00:11:02] um

[00:11:03] Choice decisions, you know, which barrel to use which used to use

[00:11:07] That can be important and they can shift the trajectory of a wine

[00:11:11] Um, hopefully into closer alignment with the the best expression of what the grapes can give you

[00:11:18] Sarah, tell me about yourself what got you into the wine industry

[00:11:21] Yeah, I had always loved drinking wine

[00:11:25] And honestly, I have a lot of mostly retail management experience

[00:11:30] And I kind of just gotten

[00:11:32] Tired and bored of it eventually it was

[00:11:35] I don't want to say that it was easy, but it was a little too easy for me

[00:11:39] I wanted to challenge myself

[00:11:41] Still in within management and do something different a little more

[00:11:45] You know up my alley something I was really passionate about and I saw the application online

[00:11:50] And actually remember I had never been here before I interviewed

[00:11:54] And I remember opening the doors and looking at the staircase and just being like where am I

[00:12:00] Like where did this place come from?

[00:12:02] Because you really can't tell what the wider he looks like from the road literally at all. He really have to be here

[00:12:08] But yeah, I mean I interviewed and

[00:12:12] Thankfully Joey hired me and

[00:12:15] Um, yeah, I love wine. I love tasting all types of wine. I as I mentioned earlier

[00:12:20] I have a wine podcast as well

[00:12:22] So that kind of keeps me on my toes and keeps me refreshed all the time for new wine varietals

[00:12:29] Um with here, you know, we have just our wine list with a certain amount that we kind of rotate through

[00:12:33] And then maybe we're onto the next vintage like ostensia rose

[00:12:37] But with the podcast I get to try different wines all the time and really dive in and taste them and do different food pairings

[00:12:45] Um, since I've been here as well the company is really great about continuing education

[00:12:50] So since I've been here with the company, I was able to do my w set level two

[00:12:56] To be a sommelier and then this past year

[00:12:58] I got certified to be a texas wine specialist as well

[00:13:01] Which is pretty cool since I'm in the texas wine industry

[00:13:05] But yeah, and I mean I love it

[00:13:09] I don't plan on stopping anytime soon

[00:13:11] We now have two sommeliers on staff and uh, and whether it's sarah or anybody else in our tasting room

[00:13:18] We really try to strike a good balance between being educated and knowing our stuff and then always staying super friendly

[00:13:25] Um, so that wherever someone's at on their wine journey

[00:13:29] Um, we're like easy and approachable and relatable and uh, they can hopefully have the experience

[00:13:34] they're looking for so um, there's no like pop quiz here and uh, or like being snobbish about wine

[00:13:41] But we just uh, yeah, we want to know what hopefully what we're talking about

[00:13:45] Um, so that we can just lead people to a great experience

[00:13:49] Well for those of the listeners that don't know where is valley mills located?

[00:13:53] We're just west of waco. Um, we're about

[00:13:57] Maybe 20 30 minutes drive depending on where you are from waco texas

[00:14:01] And so yeah, we're a little bit north of the hill country. We're not officially in the hill country ava

[00:14:07] um a little bit north of it and

[00:14:10] Yeah, it's we still everyone calls this area central texas and

[00:14:14] You know kind of smack dab between austin and dalis here

[00:14:17] But it's a great place to grow grapes having done so

[00:14:20] Um in dripping springs out in frejiksberg and and you know contracted and dealt with tons of high plains vineyards

[00:14:27] We love growing grapes here. Um, we've got awesome soils with a lot of potential

[00:14:32] And um, it's it's quite similar all told to the kind of the frejiksberg region in that sense

[00:14:39] But but unlike that region where I don't know how many uh, there's maybe 100 wineries down there now or something

[00:14:46] we've um, there's just a few up in our area and uh, so it's a it's a little bit

[00:14:53] Like we're on an island up here

[00:14:55] I don't think we will be forever, but uh, but that's how it is these days

[00:14:59] I love the how beautiful with all it's just the rolling hills here where the winery is situated

[00:15:05] Like you said kind of told me earlier should I say built into the side of the hill and the the vines on the slopes being able to

[00:15:11] Go up the slopes kind of traditional wine vineyard style or it's just I think it's a beautiful location

[00:15:18] Thank you. Yeah, I love the land out here. Um, there's a ton of wildlife and just um this county

[00:15:24] Bosque county is named for the the big trees that we have huge pucons and live oaks in this county

[00:15:30] Um, and yeah lots of hillsides which really make for the best vineyard sites around here

[00:15:36] um

[00:15:37] One of the like potential negative curveballs that texas weather could throw at you in the vineyard

[00:15:43] Is just excessive rainfall especially in the springtime

[00:15:47] um statistically may uh followed by april or um and then actually october are our

[00:15:52] Rainiest months of the year and so um, it's really nice being on a steep slope like we are so that if you get a year like

[00:16:00] 2015 where we had just torrential rains all through april may

[00:16:04] Um, a lot of that rainfall washes off runs off. You've got well-drained soils where your roots aren't getting waterlogged

[00:16:11] Um, that helps to control the vigor. Um, and so it keeps your canopies somewhat manageable

[00:16:17] Um, and it also means that you can always get into that vineyard and operate

[00:16:21] whereas uh, yeah, you don't want to be in like low ground that gets waterlogged and

[00:16:27] um

[00:16:27] The roots of your grapevines don't love that and then if you're trying to get any tractors or equipment through that becomes impossible. So

[00:16:34] um

[00:16:35] Yeah, it's a great uh great place to grow grapes if you have a nice hillside spot around here

[00:16:40] I would say is like a chalky limestone type soil

[00:16:43] Yes, yeah, we've got a couple feet of uh, of some decent organic matter depending on where you are in the vineyard

[00:16:50] Um, and then that kind of kalichi and then limestone and so yeah

[00:16:53] It's all limestone based and as you referenced our our three-story winery here is dug into this hill

[00:17:01] Um, where we wanted to get the the top of the winery adjacent to the vines and get everyone this nice view of our

[00:17:08] five acre vineyard

[00:17:10] And we also wanted to bury our barrel cellar into this hillside to allow us to climate control it a lot easier

[00:17:18] and so it's a

[00:17:19] It's it's quite an odd shaped building on three stories where we do this gravity flow winemaking from crushing up top and

[00:17:27] Bringing things down two stories. Um, but it really works um on a winemaking level

[00:17:32] It's just a lot of trudging up and down stairs

[00:17:35] It really reminds me of some of the more old world style wineries that do that

[00:17:39] They use gravity to pull things down and to to do everything is really cool

[00:17:43] So how tell me is there a story behind this actual location? How did it get picked?

[00:17:54] Howdy vine trippers. Did you know that I now have a merchandise store for texas undervine?

[00:17:59] I only have a handful of limited items

[00:18:01] But you can go check those out and wear your texas undervine swag

[00:18:04] If you'd like to tell all your friends about the great wine locations we have here in texas

[00:18:09] And maybe get them interested in the podcast as well. So there are things like t-shirts. There, uh, there's a hoodie

[00:18:15] There's a beady a ball cap things like that

[00:18:17] But one of the most exciting things I have right now is my limited time offer t-shirt

[00:18:21] That's my season one t-shirt. So this is your tasting through texas texas undervine season one t-shirt

[00:18:27] It's only going to be available for a little short amount of time on the back

[00:18:31] It has all the different locations like a band tour t-shirt

[00:18:34] So this is a limited time item and you can go out and get it now

[00:18:38] And one of the great things about that t-shirt is a portion of every sale goes to support the texas hill country winery scholarship fund

[00:18:45] So you know that by buying that t-shirt you are also investing in the growing and flourishing of an amazing wine industry here in texas

[00:18:53] And all of those people that are going to come and make it even better

[00:18:56] Check out that merchandise store. It's on my website at texasundervine.com

[00:19:00] Just go up to the top. You'll see the link for the merchandise store

[00:19:07] Yeah, so my folks actually bought this land a few years before

[00:19:12] My father kind of got the wine bug and wanted to start planting a vineyard and

[00:19:18] So he started visiting some other vineyards around the state going to the annual twig a conference and

[00:19:24] um and trying to learn from some other folks that were doing it and

[00:19:29] Yeah, he kind of came to learn that the land that the 40 acres he had bought

[00:19:33] Was quite suitable. We sent a soil sample off that was kind of within some good parameters for grape growing and

[00:19:41] And so yeah, we started my father and I started

[00:19:44] along with some other folks started clearing this land and

[00:19:47] installing that vineyard

[00:19:50] 2006 actually planting in 2007

[00:19:53] and that first block of grapes was half muscat cannelli and half tempernio and

[00:19:59] One of the many things that my father really did well

[00:20:04] Was was plant tempernio back then and that's really become

[00:20:09] Kind of the staple of our red wine program the thing that we've won the most international awards for

[00:20:15] And yeah, just sort of like a bedrock varietal for us that we can work around

[00:20:21] um, yeah

[00:20:23] And muscat's nice too. But yeah, but I get particularly excited about working with tempernio

[00:20:29] Now this may be a silly question

[00:20:31] Um, but is there a story behind the name of the location besides valley mills?

[00:20:35] Is that just named because of the proximity or it really is the we're a mile from the little town of valley mills texas and uh

[00:20:43] I think it rolls off the tongue. So yeah, it's as simple as you can get

[00:20:48] Yeah, yeah

[00:20:49] So let's talk about the actual wine for a minute. So I know you said you have five acres of fruit out there on property

[00:20:56] Where else do you source your fruit?

[00:20:57] So that's five out of about 12 acres that we've got locally that we farm or we've got a couple

[00:21:04] Family friends that have a few acres here

[00:21:06] More getting planted this year and we've also got some west texas grapes

[00:21:11] From the high plains region as well. So

[00:21:13] depending on the year that split will change but

[00:21:16] it's always 100 texas fruit always for us and

[00:21:21] Yeah, it's really fun to to work with local fruit here and then

[00:21:25] We'll we'll do all our own trucking out from west texas. And so it does extend our harvest season where

[00:21:33] Our earliest white grapes here can be getting picked handpicked in mid july

[00:21:38] And our final harvest of the season this year was about two weeks ago at the end of september

[00:21:44] So it can be a two and a half or three month harvest season

[00:21:48] But uh, but yeah, it's that's kind of the breakdown this year. We just finished

[00:21:54] crushing about 70 tons, which was our biggest year yet and

[00:21:58] Yeah, so it was a great great year despite the

[00:22:02] Fairly intense heat that was just like physically tough to work through

[00:22:05] Um, I think it was one of our best years ever. Um, and I think the

[00:22:10] I think the quality of the 2023 wines

[00:22:13] It's gonna be really nice. But yeah

[00:22:15] Well, we've already talked a little bit about this but tell me a little bit about your your production facilities here

[00:22:21] So we've got the three-story winery and you were showing me a little bit earlier how you have the crush pad upstairs

[00:22:26] But tell people a little about kind of how that whole process works

[00:22:29] Yeah, we um, we crush everything up on our third floor

[00:22:33] Um, and because our building is built sort of into the side of this hill

[00:22:37] Um, it's possible to truck grapes up to the top floor there

[00:22:41] um, then just via a basically gravity and a forklift to

[00:22:47] Bring grapes into our press we can press off in the case of red wines and

[00:22:52] bring those new wines down into our stainless steel tanks on the mezzanine the middle floor

[00:22:58] And then come all the way down to the lower floor of tanks

[00:23:02] And so we've got three levels of uh, so two rackings that we can do just via gravity

[00:23:08] Which is really nice. I think you know if the whole state were to lose power somehow

[00:23:13] I think we'd have about the best setup because

[00:23:16] We can do a lot without a pump. Um, at some point you get down to the bottom floor and

[00:23:21] And you need to start moving things around but but it really is advantageous to quality

[00:23:26] In that we don't have to put anything with seeds through a pump early in the process and

[00:23:31] You know, I'm a big fan of really extracting red wines and and getting everything they have to give provided the skins are

[00:23:38] Are nice and ripe and and are giving us the right varietal character

[00:23:42] That we're looking for

[00:23:44] But we don't want to extract unnecessarily bitter seed tannin

[00:23:48] And so the the structure of the wine or he helps us avoid

[00:23:52] Grinding any seeds in a pump which which ultimately can help with uh with quality and and reducing that type of bitterness in reds

[00:24:01] And so yeah, that's the kind of the reason it's built the way it is

[00:24:04] Um, yeah, a lot of thoughtful design got into that I can tell

[00:24:08] And then you've got this great seller wine cellar kind of built into the underground underneath

[00:24:13] The winery itself into the hill so it keeps nice constant temperatures down there and keeps it cool

[00:24:19] Yeah, that's one of my favorite parts of the place. Um, I really believe in um barrel aging

[00:24:24] For all of our reds. They'll they'll spend generally one to two years

[00:24:29] barrel aging in our cellar and

[00:24:32] Um

[00:24:33] It's one of the things I love about the industry

[00:24:35] Um are that there's no shortcut to planting a vine and having the patience to

[00:24:41] Nurture it and wait three years for it to start producing fruit

[00:24:45] Um, and I don't think there's there's great shortcuts for true barrel aging

[00:24:51] We use a lot of neutral barrels if we want especially with ron varieties like we do a lot of garnacha more vedra

[00:24:59] To keep those reds kind of fruitier

[00:25:02] And and leave them be more so

[00:25:05] On something like tempur nio or cabernet. We'll use a little bit more new oak

[00:25:11] Cool actually

[00:25:12] Sarah so

[00:25:13] Sarah is our tasting room manager

[00:25:15] And I was just mentioning as I came in that she's our best and longest serving employee and

[00:25:21] Really would be able to speak to like the guest experience and the

[00:25:25] All the particulars there. Okay, so what are some of your favorite wines that you'll make here at the at the boy

[00:25:34] Sarah then what is a trick question?

[00:25:36] Yeah, dust wines that we've made sir

[00:25:37] Um, our current vintage of mauved is my favorite wine that we make. Oh, yeah, your state

[00:25:43] It's not a state. Okay from the high plains. Got you. It's such a great wine. Yeah smooth silky

[00:25:49] Nice balance tannins

[00:25:51] Yeah, that's great

[00:25:53] We also just released a new rosé which i'm kind of stuck on like literally this a week ago today

[00:25:58] Okay, what's the rosé? Yeah, since so rosé so

[00:26:02] I agree that mauvedra while tempur nio is probably our most popular and our most awarded wine

[00:26:10] Our mauvedra for me is uh, what I like best with dinner. Um, and I'm also really high on

[00:26:17] several vintages of our petna including the upcoming one

[00:26:20] Love sparkling wine and um, yeah for those willing to brave yeast in the bottle

[00:26:26] It's awesome. And uh, it's it's just really light and refreshing and low alcohol and

[00:26:33] Something that really pairs well with like

[00:26:36] The more than half the year in texas where I sometimes don't want a big bold red when it's over 100 out

[00:26:42] And uh, so yeah, uh, we're we're leaning more into sparkling wine as time goes on

[00:26:47] Oh, we are and that means I get to plan a new year's eve release event

[00:26:51] Who doesn't love oysters and bubbles for new year's eve?

[00:26:54] I expect to see a whole pyramid of the glass as a full, you know, great gaspy style in the cheers

[00:26:59] And I've seen wine going down and part like

[00:27:02] I I should interject on the podcast and just say that if sarah seems like a pro podcaster

[00:27:07] She has her own show called some of our thoughts really

[00:27:12] She's she's also a w set uh, sommelier cool

[00:27:17] So the follow-up question to that one after what are your favorite wines are?

[00:27:20] What are some of the most popular wines with your customers?

[00:27:22] What are the ones that you have a hard time at constantly going out of stock constantly you mentioned the temporino wins a lot of awards

[00:27:28] But what else? Yeah, sales wise. It's temporino

[00:27:32] garnacha and then rose so

[00:27:34] Um, definitely more red heavy most of what we do is dry reds

[00:27:38] Um, but that that's in so rose very citrusy dry rose has been popular too

[00:27:43] Um, folks if they're coming out should expect mostly dry wines here. Um, we're we're pretty old school traditional

[00:27:50] A lot of dry reds a few other options

[00:27:53] Um, yeah, since I'm mostly behind the bar

[00:27:56] We still have the sweet drinkers that come in every now and then yeah pretty often

[00:28:02] Our estate muscat cannelli is the only sweet wine that we make and that's always a really good seller for us as well

[00:28:08] Yeah

[00:28:09] When I came in before we came down to the seller I saw all we had a jazz band setting up up there and all that

[00:28:14] What types of events or things do you do here at the winery?

[00:28:17] Yeah, so we do all kinds of private events. We do weddings rehearsal dinners

[00:28:22] Christmas parties those are mostly after hours, but yeah during business hours

[00:28:27] We typically do jazz once a month or so

[00:28:30] And we do some different events throughout the year for like our wine club members

[00:28:35] Sometimes they're in the barrel seller. Sometimes we make it really nice upstairs or outside for them to host something special

[00:28:41] Um last week with joey, we had an end of harvest celebration and a big winemakers tour

[00:28:47] Which was really really cool

[00:28:49] We'll try to do that more often as well. That was great. Yeah. I think my favorite

[00:28:55] My favorite event we do all year is probably our harvest party

[00:28:59] Those are always just really fun and anything where we can get our guests involved in the process

[00:29:04] Because we are you know using 100 Texas grapes making it all right here in house

[00:29:10] Um when people actually see that or even better yet participate in it

[00:29:14] um

[00:29:15] It's like it sort of like shows us in a better light than we can even describing ourselves

[00:29:21] Um if we can like kind of you know not tell people like oh, we're authentic

[00:29:25] We're local but just like show them it's like yeah come help us big grapes and you'll you'll see the process and uh and get to be a part of it

[00:29:31] And so

[00:29:33] That's always super fun in august and then we've got our annual festival which is a big production, but uh, it's great after the fact

[00:29:39] Yeah, yeah, so you talk about rootstock. Yes. I want to hear about that

[00:29:42] So I had the pleasure of getting to go for the first time this last year and had a blast

[00:29:46] Yeah

[00:29:47] So um, I was just telling joey. I actually got seated for the dinner that evening next to his folks at the table

[00:29:54] And uh, so we had a great time meeting them and visiting with them

[00:29:57] So it was a really cool experience, but tell me a little bit about rootstock. Yeah, so that was at our VIP dinner on the Washington street bridge

[00:30:04] um

[00:30:05] uh, it's kind of a unique setting for a dinner in waco

[00:30:09] and right next to the

[00:30:12] Waco suspension bridge, but uh, but yeah, that's the um

[00:30:15] The end of that daytime festival rootstock which is a celebration of the texas grown lines and

[00:30:24] It happens typically every april downtown waco

[00:30:27] I mean indian spring park right by the river and uh, yeah, it's been really fun. We've had

[00:30:32] um, usually 15 plus wineries every year

[00:30:36] always all texas grapes

[00:30:38] And I'd say because we we're in the industry and we know um, kind of

[00:30:44] Who's doing what and who's making awesome wine and um, we've really tried to strive to make that a showcase of some of the

[00:30:51] best wineries and tried to get them to bring some of their best wine

[00:30:55] So that the customer experience is you're actually going to get some of the best stuff in texas all in one place

[00:31:01] And um, yeah, that's been that's been really fun challenging in the best years. We've had over a thousand people come out

[00:31:08] and uh

[00:31:09] And like I always said it really is for wine enthusiasts

[00:31:12] You won't find wine slushies or like sangria or anything

[00:31:17] Kind of pretending to be wine. It's actually like really authentic mostly dry wines too

[00:31:22] Yeah, so that's a good time and if you if you go I can just speak for this as being a person that's been to it

[00:31:27] You have to spring for that vip dinner because

[00:31:30] Having that chef prepared meal all the courses and they were paired with the different

[00:31:35] Valley mills wines that it was just such a great experience and to see the I'm always fascinated

[00:31:41] By wine pairing anyway just seeing what a wine and a food and how they can interact and what it can do to both things

[00:31:48] Is fascinating to me. So seeing that and having someone who's put a lot of thought into that was really a lot of fun

[00:31:52] so

[00:31:53] Cool cat to the whole night out there on the bridge and the beautiful weather

[00:31:57] I got to scale the facade of that bridge to hang up the uh string lights that wow

[00:32:01] You were like james bond closing up on the side of the bridge

[00:32:04] But sarah really put that evening together in the menu and that was my big that was my baby for root stuff

[00:32:09] That was my whole hats off. It was a lot of fun. It was very very good right when the wind died down

[00:32:13] I was like, okay, it is perfect. It's good. It's good. Everything's great

[00:32:17] I'm not one of those persons that takes pictures of my dinners

[00:32:19] But I have on my phone a picture of every one of those plates that came out. I was like, oh, this is so cool

[00:32:24] I'm sitting with my wife. Oh, you're jealous. You should be here

[00:32:28] Let's go on to then what it would look like for a tasting. So a listener

[00:32:31] Maybe is hearing this they think okay. I wonder we'll go check that out. What does a tasting look like?

[00:32:35] So

[00:32:36] What if they walk in for a tasting what what type of wines can they expect?

[00:32:39] Is it a flight of wines or do they choose their wines?

[00:32:42] How much does it cost do the reservations that that kind of stuff?

[00:32:45] Sure

[00:32:46] So our tastings are 20 per person and we always have a set tasting of four wines

[00:32:52] They're typically all dry wines since we do specialized and dry

[00:32:55] And it is one of those things where if someone comes in and they really really want to do a tasting

[00:33:00] And they say oh, but I only drink sweet wines

[00:33:02] We will very politely say, you know, I think you want to try the muscat cannelli in a couple ports

[00:33:07] Like I don't know if the full tasting is for you

[00:33:10] To guide them in the best direction to be a happy customer

[00:33:14] But um, you can always walk in and do a tasting. It's highly recommended to

[00:33:18] Make a reservation on the weekends like Saturday and Sunday for a tasting to guarantee your spot

[00:33:25] Um, but yeah, and then beyond that you can get one by the glass one by the bottle

[00:33:29] If it is like a really crazy day and you had your heart set on it and you get here and we're like

[00:33:34] Wow, it's so busy. What's happening?

[00:33:36] We're more than happy to still, you know

[00:33:38] Pour you a couple things to taste and kind of narrow down your options for the day as well

[00:33:42] About a year ago, we opened up a reserve tasting experience as well

[00:33:46] So for folks who want more of a personal touch and uh, if you want to spend an hour with someone like Sarah here

[00:33:52] You can do the reserve tasting

[00:33:55] Few extra wines your own, you know reserve table

[00:34:00] Just a more relaxing experience

[00:34:02] For for folks who really want to get into more of our wines and hear more of the story. So

[00:34:07] That we've got a great reserve tasting the the standard tasting Sarah was mentioning and a tour

[00:34:12] And it's all reservable on our website valley mills vineyards.com

[00:34:18] Definitely recommend that if people can

[00:34:20] What are your operating hours noon to six daily?

[00:34:23] Yeah, 12 to 6 p.m. Every day

[00:34:26] We're only closed like

[00:34:28] Easter Thanksgiving Christmas. So pretty much open every day of the year

[00:34:32] Yeah, okay. And then if somebody wants to bring their kids their pets things like that

[00:34:37] What are your policies on some of those things? Yes, we're family friendly pet friendly

[00:34:43] Any well-behaved pets, especially we've got some good outdoor seating out on our patio

[00:34:47] Large groups any more than 12 folks. It's really best to call ahead or make that reservation

[00:34:53] And but otherwise, yeah very open to everybody coming out

[00:34:57] Another question I always like to ask too if you are kid friendly and you know gets is there anything for the kids?

[00:35:02] Like food or drink wise or things like that or should people bring their own people should bring their own

[00:35:07] Well for sure if they have like a juice box unopened for their teenage soda unopened

[00:35:12] Yeah, as long as it's unopened when they come in it's generally fine

[00:35:15] And we have a small food menu, but folks are always welcome to bring in their own food

[00:35:19] Well, that leads perfectly the next question. So food type of options that you provide

[00:35:23] Yeah, we typically always have charcuterie boards

[00:35:27] bread oil pesto

[00:35:28] fruit and brie and we have actually the olive branch in Waco is now making our artisan bread for some of those items

[00:35:35] so it's really fresh and local and

[00:35:38] Vegan if anyone cares about that

[00:35:41] I'm sure some people but yeah, and then we'll add in a few other seasonal items throughout the year and kind of

[00:35:46] Rotate through and yeah, folks can always bring in their own stuff as well

[00:35:49] So what are your busier and slower seasons? So what's the best time for somebody to come visit?

[00:35:54] Well, the best time if they want a really relaxed experience is a weekday not a weekend

[00:36:02] That being said I'd say spring and fall whenever the weather is nicest tends to be when we're the busiest and

[00:36:09] Yeah, the uh, I mean it really can be anytime during the year, but

[00:36:14] I'd say because we're a rural estate winery

[00:36:18] Our business definitely kind of flows with

[00:36:21] Weather and when people are out and about and it's nice

[00:36:24] On a on a Saturday will be pretty busy. Yeah, I always tell folks if they call or email it asks that question

[00:36:31] If you want to come and relax do some homework read a book

[00:36:34] Go on a date come during the week if you want to make friends and mingle or listen to a jazz band come on the weekend

[00:36:41] And it's funny how you get different people who have what they're looking for, you know

[00:36:45] Definitely like I would be here on the weekend where the people at I want to be around the people

[00:36:48] Now why if you'd be like, oh, let's go on a weekday when there's no one around, you know

[00:36:51] Yeah, really different personalities, right?

[00:36:54] And I got to say coming in on a beautiful day

[00:36:56] Like it's what 70 80 degrees outside today and the breeze blowing through I just felt so good in there

[00:37:01] So all right, so do you offer a wine club? We'll see you. All right. Well, tell me what the what are the details on

[00:37:06] How do you become a member of what are what are the details on that?

[00:37:09] Yeah, we do so our wine club most folks sign up to get 12 bottles a year

[00:37:15] We'll always have recommended bottles. We ship those out three times a year

[00:37:19] But but folks can can swap out the bottles and customize those packs if they choose

[00:37:26] And yeah, it's a it's a super flexible club in that way

[00:37:28] And we're really trying to get our very best wines in the packs

[00:37:32] So we're we're strict about when we make a wine that's

[00:37:37] Low quantity high quality some of those go just to our members

[00:37:42] And they all get a nice 15 discount. So

[00:37:45] Yeah, we really try to make it like the best value you can get from us is to join the club

[00:37:50] Are there different levels or is it just four time four bottles three times a year?

[00:37:54] Is that the only option or do you have different selection?

[00:37:57] We have one other selection where folks can get a full case of 12 bottles three times a year

[00:38:02] With a few added perks there

[00:38:03] Well case club kind of thing exactly. Okay, so

[00:38:07] Let's say somebody's listening to this. They think oh man, that sounds so cool

[00:38:09] I really want to go check it out and want to really taste those great wines that they've been talking about

[00:38:13] I just can't get the wake-o but yet it's going to be a while

[00:38:16] Do you do any kind of distribution of any kind? No, you won't find us in do distribution or or at your local store

[00:38:24] Luckily we're really able to sell our wine

[00:38:28] To our members and to folks who visit and so

[00:38:31] You don't have to visit you can you can call us up and or go on our website and join the club

[00:38:35] but

[00:38:36] But yeah, we ship now to 36 different states

[00:38:39] And all over texas and uh, yeah, we'd love to get folks wine

[00:38:44] but where we generally just sell directly and and

[00:38:47] Distribute only to a few local places

[00:38:50] Well, so people let's say they want to taste something they go to your website to order and see something

[00:38:55] They're in order at there. Yes got the full online shop. Absolutely

[00:38:59] You were telling me a little earlier about this new thing you're doing with the shipping company and all that

[00:39:03] And you were talking about your wine club. Tell me a little bit about that growth there foreign wine club or out of state wine clubs

[00:39:08] Yeah, we've really seen a lot of growth in the last year

[00:39:12] for uh, we expanded our shipping now

[00:39:15] It was only about 10 to now 36 states. That's been a really good thing for us and worthwhile

[00:39:21] Especially being here near wake-o. We've got some of the the fixer upper the magnolia tourists that will come out

[00:39:27] And and a lot of them are you know from all around the u.s. And international and

[00:39:33] Don't ship internationally yet, but but it's been great to have people be able to sign up from all around the country

[00:39:39] I especially get like a little thrill every time we have someone join from california

[00:39:44] It's like the highest compliment you can get

[00:39:46] Someone comes from the west coast where they've got tons of wineries in their backyard

[00:39:51] And they go, you know what? I can't get a better value for my money than this quality this wine

[00:39:57] So yeah, and they're listening from california come join our club. It'll give me a little ego boost every time

[00:40:03] Um, the club has grown so much too because when this facility opened you had around 300

[00:40:09] Yeah, it's at least tripled uh since yeah open this board up around 900 now, which is huge. It's great

[00:40:15] Uh, you've talked about all the growth that you've had and the the places that you've built here and everything

[00:40:19] Do you have plans for future growth? Do you have goals or dreams for things that you'd like to see the this winery become?

[00:40:25] Oh, yeah, we're keeping those close to the vest

[00:40:28] But yes, you'll have to kill me after this is over huge plans giant plans

[00:40:33] If any neighbors are listening and want to sell their land nearby

[00:40:38] The only thing I can tell people is we're definitely going to make more sparkling wine. That's why yeah

[00:40:43] You're leading more into that. Yeah, I like that. Okay. So what in your opinion?

[00:40:47] Is the number one thing that sets your location apart from others that would really appeal to listeners to say

[00:40:52] I've got to get there and check that place out

[00:40:55] Yeah, I would say for for folks looking to really explore some of the best wines in texas

[00:41:01] Um, I'd say it's you mentioned there's lots of wineries in texas

[00:41:05] um, I think we're up there in terms of the

[00:41:09] Kind of winemaking acumen skill attention to detail

[00:41:12] Um, frankly, we're like willing to put in all the time it takes on the growing side

[00:41:17] Um, we're willing to pay top dollar for some of the fruit that we contract out of west texas and

[00:41:23] Really look for and keep the best blocks

[00:41:26] um, some of the best blocks of grapes in the state and so uh, I think that all that commitment and all that work

[00:41:32] Um, does make its way into the the consistency and the quality of the ultimate product and um

[00:41:39] Yeah, also just the place and the land out here

[00:41:42] There's so much natural beauty that we get to benefit from

[00:41:45] And so if you're looking for just great authentic texas wines in a beautiful location

[00:41:51] I think it's hard to be so in my opinion if you want to

[00:41:55] Go into a beautiful place that feels upscale, but is still extremely welcoming with their really warm knowledgeable staff

[00:42:02] Then this is it if you want amazing wine as well

[00:42:06] This is it

[00:42:08] And yeah, the landscape doesn't hurt. It's a breathtaking view. It's gorgeous every part of the building just there's something to

[00:42:14] appreciate for sure, but

[00:42:16] Yeah, and actually joey mentioned earlier

[00:42:19] When the interview the wine making side of things too, there are no secrets here

[00:42:23] We're pretty transparent with everything that we do and that's really all across the board like for events for the winemaking

[00:42:30] For how we run everything we we want people to come out and have that great experience and

[00:42:35] Remember a story that we told or take them on a tour and let them look at a barrel or smell the barrel or

[00:42:42] Yeah, taste something out of a barrel even sometimes

[00:42:45] Yeah, it's a still a small town a small winery feel even though when you walk in you might be intimidated honestly because it's so beautiful

[00:42:53] You know, I would just say for folks visiting us for the very first time

[00:42:57] If you're really serious about wine, I'd encourage folks to book that reserve tasting experience

[00:43:03] And if you want a quicker more casual tasting

[00:43:06] The standard tasting is also great here

[00:43:09] But but yeah, I think taking

[00:43:11] For for the folks that really want to like dive into wine and

[00:43:15] Not be rushed and sit under our beautiful pergola or

[00:43:18] Or if the weather's not as nice get a solo table in our barrel seller

[00:43:23] I think that's been one of the best

[00:43:25] things we've done in the last couple years is launch that new experience and

[00:43:30] So that even if we're crowded on a busy Saturday

[00:43:33] People can book that and know they're going to have a place and time to themselves and

[00:43:38] Be able to enjoy the wines in sort of the right setting

[00:43:48] Now this winery really did remind me of an old world location

[00:43:53] When the weather is nice, you can sit outside sip on some of those great wines

[00:43:57] And you get to see the beautiful views of the hills all around the vine stretching up on the slopes of the hills

[00:44:03] The construction of the winery itself is really interesting as I mentioned before we talked about a little bit in the interview

[00:44:08] When you first walk up like sarah said in the interview when you first pull up to the winery

[00:44:13] You can't even really see all of that

[00:44:15] You just see the big face of the winery kind of going up the hill and you're confronted with these really big doors and a staircase

[00:44:21] And as you walk up that staircase going up those three flights

[00:44:25] You can look to the left and you're going to see things like the barrel room

[00:44:28] They got big windows in to see the barrel room their production facility and all that as you're making your way up

[00:44:33] These flights of stairs until you come up out on the third floor where their tasting room is

[00:44:38] And it's open you can see not only the tables there but open out to the the hills there the vines out in front of you

[00:44:45] They usually have a band sometimes out there

[00:44:48] It's a really cool and neat location to sip on those tasty wines

[00:44:51] And if you are in the area, it's just a quick little trip off the i35 corridor

[00:44:56] That kind of runs north south if you're headed up to dallas or you're more north and you're headed down to

[00:45:01] Oster or santonia or something

[00:45:03] You got to stop through when you go to wake up

[00:45:04] Just a quick little side detour off to be able to check out this incredible location

[00:45:09] And as sarah and joey mentioned if you're going to wake up to see those silos and you know what i'm talking about

[00:45:16] You got to go and take some time while you're there to go check out valley mills as well

[00:45:20] And in addition to that like we mentioned in the podcast sarah their tasting room manager actually has a podcast of her own

[00:45:26] About wine that she does with a friend

[00:45:29] Called some of our thoughts s o m m of our thoughts

[00:45:32] You definitely have to check that out. I've been listening to it since I learned about it

[00:45:36] It's a lot of fun

[00:45:37] They sit and talk with each other and they usually pick a different bottle of wine on each episode

[00:45:42] They share a recipe of a food that can go well with the particular wine

[00:45:46] They're drinking and they even bring up

[00:45:48] Playlists so they incorporate music and great music to listen to while you're sipping on the wine

[00:45:52] They're talking about in that episode really fun. Listen make sure you check out some of our thoughts as well

[00:45:57] It'll be linked in the show notes now

[00:46:00] If I know you you're already looking for the keys to fire up the old buick to get in the car and head on up to

[00:46:05] Waco and then on to valley mills to check out valley mills vineyard if you do before you go make sure you check out their website

[00:46:12] It's www.valleymillsvineyard.com. You can book a tasting a tour

[00:46:18] You can see what some of their events are that they have coming up

[00:46:21] You can even purchase wine directly from their website if you want to and don't forget when you go see them

[00:46:26] Make sure you tell them you heard about them on this podcast texas under vine

[00:46:31] As I sampled many of their wines there with joey and sarah after the interview

[00:46:35] I was really taken with their garnacha

[00:46:38] So I had had a chance to sample this at rootstock previously

[00:46:41] So I kind of knew a little bit about it going into it

[00:46:43] But again, I was really impressed this varietal is sometimes called granache in france

[00:46:48] But joey particularly wanted to give a nod to the spanish inspiration. So they call theirs garnacha

[00:46:54] It was smooth full of fruit

[00:46:56] It exploded onto my palate when I began to drink it

[00:46:59] It was also the wine that I got to add to my episode library for this podcast

[00:47:03] So this is their 2021 garnacha and again, I highly recommend that if you get a chance to get out there

[00:47:09] Now my time is coming to a close

[00:47:12] But before I go I'd like to ask if you would leave me a rating and or even a review at wherever you get this

[00:47:18] Podcast if you're on youtube, you can hit the little like button

[00:47:21] Subscribe and maybe even hit the little bell if you want notifications the next time one comes out

[00:47:26] But any of those things really helped me get seen by more texas wine drinkers or people who are interested

[00:47:31] In the incredible texas wine scene that we have here and with that my time is up

[00:47:36] So don't forget subscribe to the podcast and make sure you follow my socials

[00:47:40] It's at texas under vine on almost all the social platforms to be notified anytime the next episode comes out

[00:47:46] And until next time happy trails and bottoms up y'all

[00:47:55] Thanks for listening to texas under vine

[00:47:57] We strive to provide you with the best information about wine businesses all over texas

[00:48:02] Be sure to check out our website at texasundervine.com

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[00:48:13] Also contact us if you're interested in donating sponsoring or advertising on the podcast

[00:48:18] Just to help us cover our expenses and bring even more great info to you in future episodes

[00:48:23] Above all travel safely and most especially drink responsibly

[00:48:37] Vine trippers have I got a deal for you

[00:48:40] So if you haven't checked out the texas wine club yet, you have to go check it out

[00:48:45] So you can get wine clubs at all of these different great wineries that I've talked about in the episodes

[00:48:51] But if you can't get a chance to get to those places, uh, and you want to sample some of those various wines

[00:48:56] This is the perfect fit for this podcast

[00:48:58] So I partnered with texas wine club if you go to their website

[00:49:02] They scour the whole state

[00:49:04] They choose great wines from all over the texas wineries and they put them together into packs that they ship out every quarter

[00:49:11] You could pick out a package of three six or nine bottles

[00:49:14] And every quarter you can get a taste of different wineries throughout texas without having to travel to them

[00:49:19] So if you've wanted to taste some of the great wine I've talked about on this podcast

[00:49:23] Here's your chance without having to travel. So what you're going to want to do is go to

[00:49:27] www.txy.com

[00:49:30] And pick your package that you want to try and when you put in my code texasundervine

[00:49:36] That's all one word texas you in d r v i n e as your coupon code

[00:49:41] You'll get 20 dollars off your purchase

[00:49:44] So head on over there

[00:49:45] You can also find the link in the show notes here for this podcast and go check out texas wine

[00:49:50] They're a perfect fit with this podcast. So go drink some great wine