This new wine club is 100% Texas with five Texans running the show. Matt Schone and Clay Roup met more than ten years ago, and this friendship ultimately led to a wine club for Texas wines.
In 2019, Clay Roup became the Wine Educator at William Chris Wine Company giving him an insider’s view of the industry. Meanwhile, his friend, Matt Schone, was leaving his private equity role acquiring and operating e-commerce businesses. He was looking for a bit more fun in his work. He visited Clay in Fredericksburg and instantly saw the beauty and felt the energy of the Texas wine country.
Clay is a great wine educator, so Matt was instantly intrigued by his stories about the history of Texas wine, how Thomas V. Munson saved the grape vines of Europe, and the challenges wineries face regarding marketing and growth. The two opened a bottle of wine and started brainstorming business ideas that could help the wine industry.
Clay had already been working with Kambrah Garland to develop a rating system for Texas wines. Kambrah had previously owned the The Vineyard at Florence before she sold and moved to the Fredericksburg area to create a consulting business to help vineyards and wineries. The two were organizing blind tastings with a group of wine industry professionals. These were winemakers, Sommeliers, brand representatives, and distributors who would taste Texas wines without knowing what they were. And they gave each wine a score.
The scoring system was something they believed could be huge for the Texas industry giving consumers more confidence in purchasing wines. They took the idea of blind-tasting wines and tweaked it a bit. As the concept started to take shape, they roped in some additional talent to pull together all of the details.
Josh Alley was a friend of Matt’s and they worked together in eCommerce businesses. His expertise on the engineering and marketing side of the company would ensure they could launch with a well-thought-out and polished plan.
And finally, Josh Tye rounded things out. He and Clay became friends while working at William Chris Wine Company. Josh’s experience in operations and management would help the group stay organized and handle all of the wines they would be tasting, buying, and shipping.
The group investigated all things Texas wine including research on the market. The 2021 Texas Department of Agriculture study was a real eye-opener:
Matt says, “Improving these statistics – and feeling like we had an impact in changing them – was something that we all agreed would be a fun, exciting, and worthwhile battle.” The biggest challenge of starting the club revolved around the legalities and getting the correct permits from the state and federal governments.
Texas Wine Club launched in December of 2022, and the group is thrilled with the reception so far. The group is having fun helping market and spread awareness for Texas winemakers. This unique club is an excellent way for wine consumers to explore many different Texas wineries without traveling.
Any Texas winery can submit a wine made from 100% Texas-grown grapes. The panel of industry professionals tastes the wines blind – not knowing who the producer is or which wine they are tasting. They rate the wines and only the top bottles make it into the club.
I’ve been on a few of these blind-tasting panels, and I can assure you this group takes wine seriously. The process was designed to ensure the best wines reach wine enthusiasts who want to discover more Texas wines. Members are introduced to small producers and wineries that may be off the beaten path.
Get the best Texas wines delivered to your door once a quarter. Information about each wine is included in the shipment along with one or two free tasting tickets at each winery. This is one way the club drives visitors and awareness back to the wineries. The club also provides social media, email, and paid advertising for the participating wineries.
If you happen to be a winery owner, you can submit wines for consideration by visiting www.txwine.com and scroll to the bottom of the page to click on ”Send us your wine.” At this time, there’s no charge to submit your wines.
Whether you’re a long-time Texas wine lover or new to exploring the Lone Star State, you can’t go wrong with the Texas Wine Club. Sign up at txwine.com, and be sure to tell us which wine is your favorite!
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