Messin Hof Winery Founders Paul Vincent and Merrill Bonarrigo (far left and right) with Son Paul and Daughter-in-Law Karen Bonarrigo
Stomping Grapes with the First Family of Texas Wine
An invitation to a harvest grape stomp doesn’t land in our inboxes often, especially from a winery in Texas. We gladly accepted, ready to dip our toes into grapes and into Texas hospitality. After all, Louisiana, where we now live, is just over the border to Texas.Our host was Messina Hof Winery located in Bryan, a small city that is home to very big college, Texas A & M (“Aggieland). Fun fact: Former show guest and Venetian resident, Brandino Brandolini, owner of Vistorta Winery in Friuli, is an “Aggie.” Messina Hof was established in 1977 by Paul Vincent and Merrill Bonarrigo, considered “the first family of Texas wine.” Prior to starting Messina Hof, Paul Vincent served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a physical therapist; Merrill sold real estate. In the mid-1970s, the couple purchased their first acre of land with no initial plans to plant vines. Texas at the time had few commercial wineries.
Paul Vincent and Merrill Bonarrigo with their first wine press. Photo: Messina Hof archives
After reading about a feasibility study on growing grapes in the area prepared by a Texas A&M graduate student, the Bonarrigos decided to help bring the experiment to life on that one acre of land. They planted 50 varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc and Lenoir (a teinturier variety known locally as Black Spanish). For the next several years, the Bonarrigos continued planting and experimenting with blends. In 1981, their Lenoir blend won a medal at the Texas State Fair. Neighbors came knocking for the wines. They decided to expand and open a tasting room.
These days, Messina Hof runs a well-oiled hospitality program that includes an on-site restaurant called Vintage House where Messina Hof wines are used in the dishes. There’s a large tasting room and small café overlooking a pond where turtles swim up to greet visitors. Messina Hof also has a winery and tasting room in Fredericksburg in Texas Hill Country and an urban winery and tasting room in Grapevine near Dallas.
The Messina Hof tasting room in Bryan, Texas Photo: Messina Hof
Messina Hof wines are all produced from Texas grapes. Many are sourced from the higher elevation vineyards of the Texas High Plains AVA located to the northwest near Lubbock. Texas currently has eight AVAs with three more proposed, according The Texas Wine Growers organization. Texas Wine Regions (AVAs) – Texas Wine GrowersOf the dozen or so wines we tasted, the white standouts were the off-dry Riesling and Heritage Select white blend. Among the reds we tasted- all good – we were most impressed with the GSM Rhone blend, the Cabernet Franc Private Reserve, the Paulo Tempranillo and the Heritage Reserve Sagrantino-Primitivo blend.
Selections of Messina Hof wines we tasted at our lunch.
Of note is Messina Hof’s port production which began well before regulations restricted producers from using the word “Port” outside Portugal. Messina Hof produces six different styles of Port, most made using the Lenoir variety (the grape we also picked and stomped). Messina Hof produces its ports through a natural fermentation process using fractional blending – much like a solera sherry rather than the traditional method of fortifying the wine using brandy to elevate the ABV. One port, Papa Paolo Port, used the traditional fortification method using a Texas brandy.
Messina Hof ports are made without the traditional mutage.
Paul Vincent and Merrill have handed Messina Hof’s operational reins to their son, Paul Bonarrigo, and daughter-in-law, Karen. Like his father, Paul served in the U.S. Marines Corp, before returning home to study winemaking and work at the winery. He oversees winemaking and production. Karen runs Messina Hof’s hospitality and marketing.
Paul and Karen Bonarrigo
Over lunch at Messina Hof’s Vintage House Restaurant, Paul and Karen brought out a selection of wines to taste and talked about the winery’s history. Throughout the very busy Harvest Festival weekend we attended they led attendees through tours and tastings. At a cocktail party and Port presentation, Paul Vincent and Merrill welcomed guests. A delightful couple, they enjoy traveling the world and gathering items from local flea markets and antique stores. Many of their finds decorate the Vintage House Restaurant and the Villa Bed & Breakfast where each room is named after a historic romantic couple. Our room was named “Romeo & Juliet.”
Honey- Crusted Baked Ricotta with Gewürztraminer herb honey, thyme, crispy garlic and lemon peel on the menu at Messina Hof’s Vintage House Restaurant.
A Barrel of Fun Getting Our Feet Wet & Grapey
We all know wineries work hard to make tasting room visits more experiential, exciting and inviting to attract new customers, build wine club memberships and sell more wine. Messina Hof’s annual Estate Harvest Festival, held over four weekends in August, is one example. This family-friendly event includes grape picking and stomping, informal meals and a dessert and Port tasting.
We attended the third weekend of the August Harvest Festival at their winemaking facility in Bryan which was attended by more than 100 stompers of all ages. After spending about 45-minutes cutting clusters of Lenoir, we were ushered to a cavernous barrel room to stomp grapes and take photos. Stompers were given white T-shirts to make imprints of their purple footprints. After rinsing our feet and hanging up our grape stomp T- shirt to dry, we headed to the tasting room for a casual buffet brunch. It was all a barrel of fun!
A special thank you to our hosts: Messina Hof’s Bonarrigo family and Destination Bryan. During our three- day visit we checked out local restaurants, breweries, distilleries and attractions and also the story of the “Aggies” which we will share in a separate article.
www.destinationbryan.com www.messinahof.comPaul and Karen Bonarrigo joined us on The Connected Table Live to share their family’s story and discuss their Texas style of wines and hospitality. Here is the link below:
