The New Texas Winery Passport Program

June 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
TX Wine Passport - stamp

We first learned about the previous Texas Winery Passport program offered by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) when I made the “mistake” of taking Gloria to Fredericksburg for the very first time in January 2010. What a great idea! Visiting wineries, collecting stamps, and getting rewards for them. How could you go wrong? That prompted our interest in visiting more Texas wineries, getting better and better rewards, and it eventually resulted with us starting this blog in March 2011. [Read More...]

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2013 TWGGA (Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association) Conference

February 17, 2013 by 2 Comments
TWGGA Conference - glassware

The 2013 TWGGA (Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association) Conference was held in San Marcos at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Spa, & Conference Center. The conference was held from February 14 to 16. I had a great time at TWGGA’s Grape Camp last year so I had to attend the conference. Gloria joined TWGGA and unfortunately since the conference was held from Thursday to Saturday and we work during the week, we could only attend on Saturday. Saturday morning’s schedule [Read More...]

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One Year Anniversary of TX Wine Lover Blog

March 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I can’t believe March 20th will be the first anniversary since the creation of this blog. I started the blog with some goals in mind and they haven’t changed since: Help consumers discover wineries they may not know about and they should visit Help wineries with marketing Help wine related events with marketing Gloria and I have at this moment visited 125 Texas wineries and have enjoyed every minute. We’re still learning to tell you what the aromas and tastes [Read More...]

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Email to Texas Winery Passport Users

October 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Here is the information for current Texas Winery Passport users about the end of the current Texas Winery Passport program and the start of the next one. Be sure to enter your Passport codes! Dear Texas Wine Enthusiast, During the recent state legislative session, changes were made to the Texas Department of Agriculture’s (TDA) marketing programs. Among these changes was the elimination of the standalone Texas Wine Marketing Program. While the Texas Winery Passport Program will end on October 31, [Read More...]

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End of Current Texas Winery Passport, New and Improved to Come

October 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As we found out earlier from Bobby Champion, Jr., former State Coordinator for Wine Marketing at the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas Winery Passport program was going to be restructured. An email was sent to Texas wineries yesterday regarding the current Passport program and a “new and improved” program will begin next year. Be sure to enter any Passport booklets you have by the end of October. As you know, during the 82nd Texas Legislative Session, budget reductions were [Read More...]

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Change of Jobs for Bobby Champion, Jr

August 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As we identified in an earlier post, Robert “Bobby” Champion Jr., State Coordinator for Wine Marketing, would be taking a new position in the Texas Department of Agriculture on September 1st. Today, Bobby sent out an email discussing his new job and the growth of the Texas wine industry. Ten  years of Texas Wine Marketing – this calls for a toast! As most of you know, this is my last day as State Coordinator for Wine Marketing at TDA. Beginning [Read More...]

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Enter Your Texas Winery Passport Codes Today

August 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As we learned before, the Texas Winery Passport program will be restructured in some way starting in September. If you have any Passport codes you have yet to enter into their website, I would recommend doing it today before the end of this month (August).

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Texas Winery Passport Rewards and Los Pinos Weekend

August 8, 2011 by 6 Comments
Zip lining in Canton

As we have mentioned before, the Texas Winery Passport program is definitely something you should be involved with if you are visiting Texas wineries. The rewards get better and better as you visit more wineries. Even though the Texas Winery Passport program will be changing in some way at the start of September, we still recommend collecting passport codes as you visit Texas wineries. We have reached a passport level where the rewards are now given out by the wineries [Read More...]

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Update on the Texas Winery Passport program – Winery Email

July 31, 2011 by 5 Comments

As I found out last week from Robert (Bobby) Champion Jr., State Coordinator for Wine Marketing at the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas Winery Passport program will continue in some capacity after August 31st. We were at a winery a few days after that. A couple was visiting the local wineries and the Texas Winery Passport program came up because they were unaware of it. The employee of the winery confirmed what Bobby had told me, but surprisingly, they [Read More...]

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For Now, the Texas Winery Passport Program will Continue

July 26, 2011 by 3 Comments

There have been reports recently that the Texas Winery Passport program will end on August 31st, 2011 because the Texas government cut the wine marketing budget. Even some Texas wineries we have visited recently have told us the same thing, and one even had a sign posted with that information. I decided to find out the correct information straight from the main source, Robert (Bobby) Champion Jr., State Coordinator for Wine Marketing at the Texas Department of Agriculture. Things of course [Read More...]

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