wine bar - Texas Wine Lover

New Year’s Eve at Messina Hof

January 2, 2013 by Jeff Leave a Comment

Gloria and I decided to do something for this past New Year’s Eve instead of sitting at home so the decision was made to attend Messina Hof’s Winter Wonderland New Year’s Eve Celebration. Wine friends Laurie and Shelly Ware from Cleburne decided to join us.

Laurie and Shelly had visited Messina Hof once before but never had the chance to take a tour. We decided to go early to Messina Hof to enjoy a tour before the evening’s festivities. Unfortunately it was a cold drizzly day so the tour was modified a little as we could not stand out in the vineyard and quickly walked from one building to the next. Skye was our tour guide and she still gave all the tour information while we stood in other areas. I can’t count how many Messina Hof tours I have taken but the tour guides are usually different and I learn something different every time. At the end of the tour Skye presented four wines for the group to taste ranging from dry to a Port style.

Shelly and Laurie enjoying the tour from Skye

We all then went to a nearby hotel to check in and get ready for the evening. Dinner reservations at Messina Hof’s Vintage House restaurant were at 8 pm. We were seated and it was a very nice three course meal served with a different wine for each course. The first course was a delicious butternut squash soup, followed by a cranberry salad, and then a choice of three entrees: quail, mahi mahi, or petit filet of beef. It was a wonderful meal to start the evening.

2012 New Year's Eve - wine bar

Next we headed upstairs where a wine bar was set up with at least ten wines from which to select. We each selected a wine and went to find a seat at a table. All the tables were decorated with either candles or a nice centerpiece. A DJ was present playing a nice variety of music ranging from country music to Glenn Miller to new line dances.

2012 New Year's Eve - Paul & Merrill Bonarrigo

Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo

At the beginning of the dancing Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo arrived, walked around to each table, and greeted each person. A trivia game was played in the middle of the evening and a guessing of the number of M&M’s in a jar was done.

2012 New Year's Eve - Us & Wares

The countdown to midnight started and as the clock hit midnight, a new year had begun. More dancing was continued but then it was time to call it a night. Once again it had been another great event at Messina Hof.

Thanks to Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo for their photo.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: restaurant, Texas Wine, Texas Wineries, Tour, Vineyard, wine bar

The Cellar Door

November 30, 2012 by Jeff 1 Comment

http://www.cellardoorkaty.com

The Cellar Door is located in Katy and is owned by Ron and Don Ray Holsomback.

When we first visited The Cellar Door, we were immediately impressed with the winery as it has one of the most beautifully adorned tasting rooms we have seen. The furnishings and décor make it a place where you can feel comfortable relaxing. There are many high tables in the center of the room with booths also around the room. A lounge area with televisions is available for customers in addition to a banquet room which can be rented and can hold up to 60 people.

You can sit at the bar to do a tasting or at one of the many tables. There is a tasting fee for three wines and buying a bottle of wine will waive the tasting fee. You can buy food from The Cellar Door’s menu which includes tapas, meat and cheese trays, and more. You can also order from nearby restaurants which will deliver to the winery.

The wines offered are the winery’s own wines plus wines from other wineries. Grapes used are from vineyards in Texas, California, and other countries.

Ron and Don Ray Holsomback

Tours are possibly available and the last time we visited, we were able to see the back room which is the production facility. At that time they were bottling their port and helping bottle was their brother Andy who is the winemaker. The bottling process used corks for the bottles.

Andy Holsomback

Personal labels are available if you want to label your own bottle of wine. There is a wine club with two memberships available. Events are held at The Cellar Door such as open mic nights, live bands, and wine classes.

If you are in Katy, stop by and visit Katy’s first winery.

Filed Under: Wineries Tagged With: bottling, restaurant, Texas Wine, Texas Wineries, wine bar

The Empty Glass

October 30, 2012 by Jeff Leave a Comment

I have never written about a wine bar before but I am making an exception in this case since The Empty Glass wine bar serves approximately 60% Texas wines.

http://www.theemptyglass.com

The Empty Glass is located in Tomball and opened in September 2012 with a Grand Opening on October 6. Dana Kelly is the owner and Amber Brown is the general manager.

Since we are always looking for a good local wine bar, we visited The Empty Glass when it first opened and were very pleased with the ambiance, staff, and selection of wines and food. The staff was extremely friendly and we were helped by more than one person.

The wine bar is very open inside with tables, bar, and high seats along two long tables. A room is adjacent to the main room with more tables and a television for sporting events. Tables are outside along with a porch area with more seating, televisions, and a location for bands to perform which currently are held every weekend. Also on the current calendar schedule are wineries coming in every weekend holding tastings.

The selection of Texas wines is extensive including some wines you cannot find in a local store. Menus are available on their website if you want to see the large selection. The first time we visited the wine bar the food selection consisted of the usual meat and cheese trays. The last time I was there they had increased their menu.

Dana Kelly

I made a point to visit on their Grand Opening day. Three Texas wineries were present to give tastings of their wine. For a fee you could taste the wines from Inwood Estates Vineyards, Llano Estacado Winery, and Pleasant Hill Winery. There was also a tasting of non-Texas wines. The tastings were divided up into two shifts with Inwood Estates and Llano Estacado Winery during the first shift and Pleasant Hill Winery and the non-Texas wines in the second shift. Since I knew the representatives from Inwood Estates and Llano Estacado, I arrived during the first shift.

Spencer Gatlin from Inwood Estates soon had me tasting the first of the five wines available. While enjoying the tasting, Bill Freidhof from Llano Estacado saw me and after he requested a second wine glass for me, he started me with the first of the seven wines he had available. Here I was with one wine glass in one hand and another glass in my other hand doing tastings of some great Texas wine. To top it off, I mentioned to owner Dana Kelly how I had attempted to make the 1:00pm ribbon cutting ceremony where champagne was offered, and soon had some champagne sitting in front of me too. Did I mention the staff was great? Initially there was no dump bucket present but we soon found one as I wanted to walk out of the bar.

During the tastings I looked at the expanded food menu and decided on a panini which was excellent. In fact, I ended up having two.

On the bar were wine bottles with a really nice embossed label for The Empty Glass. I had to ask about those bottles and learned they were custom labels with Pedernales Cellars Merlot.

The first shift of tastings was complete and the second shift started. I was asked if I wanted to do tastings from the second shift, but after 12 wines (with some dumping) and some champagne, I decided I had my fill for the day.

We have friends who have been to The Empty Glass to watch football games and they said it was an excellent location. I am sure we will be meeting them sometime there and definitely will be visiting The Empty Glass more often.