We are so happy to announce that starting January 25, 2023 we are extending our tasting room hours. We will now be open Wednesday – Sunday 12-7pm. On weekdays you will be welcomed by our new wine server, Dixie! Make sure to say hello!! This is an exciting step to grow our business.
Make sure to come check out all the new wines before they’re gone!
When the grapes were on the vine we wanted this dry weather, but come on now!! We need some rain in East Texas. The grass is dead and the cows are sure sad about it! We have had an eventful start to this Fall season. It started with a surprise when we received our copy of the Eastex Connection. Then some special Avengers stopping by to celebrate our boys! Two new longhorn babies also joined the herd. Pray for rain! We all need it.
This summer has been tough for everything, except for the vines! This dry weather is ideal for growing grapes. The lack of rain reduced the disease pressure and allowed for a very controlled amount of water to reach the berries. We were able to keep the fruit on the vines longer, creating a higher concentration of sugars. That means deeper flavors, more body and higher alcohol content. We harvested about 2250 lbs. at a 26 brix. Very exciting and going to be the BEST wine!
Thank you to all the volunteers that braved the 100 degree weather, wasps and ants, and a very early morning! Without you we would probably still be picking!
We closed on the property six years ago today. We started this journey six years ago today. It’s wild!
Every year on May 26 we reflect on the progress we have made, how the path has changed and the lists of things that still need to be done. We are constantly trying to grow, build and learn on the farm, vineyard and winery. This year was marked by many achievements, milestones, life changes and happy times!
We produced almost 700 gallons of wine this year in 30 to 100 gallon batches! The vineyard yielded 1200 lbs of Blanc Du Bois grapes, in what was our most difficult growing year so far! We paved the pavilion, making it a lovely space for parties, weddings and events. Three baby calves were born: Pier Noel, Blanc du Black & Ferdinand. Our second son, Mateo Brooks Santana, was born! One cabin was completed and is being prepared to rent. We sponsored and coached a T-Ball team. The list actually goes on!! Suffice to say this was a great year!!
We look forward to serving you and our community for another year. Thank you for all your support!
The New Year has come and gone. We all welcomed in 2022 hoping for change and an end to… you know what! While Covid is still around and messing things up, we are continuing to create new fun wines and hold unique events. We have started filling up the calendar for the Spring as the weather improves and the days get longer. This month we will release THREE new wines! We are booking live music and a new pairing – Girl Scout Cookies! We also have a new baby boy just born on the farm. Little Boy Blue is Maria’s second baby boy. Such a cutie! The human babies are also growing big and strong. We are so blessed in so many ways!
We welcomed our new little winemaker, Mateo Brooks Santana, on September 17, 2021.
On October 17, 2021 Nina, the longhorn, welcomed her 4th baby, Ferdinand. On most weekends, you’ll have a good chance of meeting both of them!
We are counting down the days for our new little one! Regular hours are expected to continue.
We had a crazy weird summer! All the rain made for a wet and difficult growing season. We fought a lot of fungus this year and berry burst towards the end of the season. We harvested 300 plants and yielded approximately 1200lbs. We pressed it at H-Wines in Coldspring with the help of some great friends and family.
Every year on May 26, our closing day anniversary, we reflect on the year that has past and the plan for the future. The past year has certainly had its hardships, both for the farm and our community. But even with the hurdles we are content with where we are 5 years into this venture. The vines are thick and filled with berry clusters. While harvest will likely be at least three weeks later this year than most, we do believe it will be big. We are excited to see how the later harvest and stressful start to the season influences the flavor profile of the harvest.
Plans for this year: Get Cabins and Outdoor kitchen & lounge area completed and ready to be rented. A wedding Gazebo that will ne ready for Spring 2022 weddings in the vineyard. A new crush pad where we can more efficiently destem and press grapes and other fruits for wine.
Come check out our progress this year!
The freeze of 2021 was certainly a scary few days for all of East Texas, us included. It was yet another bruise on a wreck of a year since March 2020! We initially thought everything was fine in the vineyard since we didn’t have a large accumulation of ice and so we did not have any breakage due to ice. We also didn’t have any animal loss, like so many did, which was such a blessing. But once mid-March got here and we still had brown barren vines with no buds, we started to get very worried! Thank the good Lord that grapes are hardy, practically weed like plants. About a month behind the norm we started to see little tiny buds. We ended up only having two vines with actual damage. We feel both lucky and blessed because so many families and colleagues lost so much. As of now we have lots of flowers, so harvest should not be too badly affected, just pushed back about a month.
