Soto Vino: Siempre Afuera – Always Outside

Soto Vino is one of a handful of natural or low-intervention wineries in Texas. Founded in 2020 by brothers Christian and Dominic Soto, Soto Vino is currently housed at The Austin Winery in Austin, a full-production urban winery working exclusively with 100% Texas-grown fruit and an early adopter of natural winemaking in the state.

While there is no fixed legal or technical definition of natural wine, generally, such wines are made with minimal intervention in both the vineyard and the cellar. This usually means organic or at least sustainable grape farming practices, native yeast fermentations, limited or no filtering or fining, limited use of sulfites, and no additives to adjust flavor and color in the finished wines.

Origin of Soto Vino

The Soto brothers grew up in Texas, first in Castroville and later in San Antonio. Their father, a businessman, emphasized that knowledge of wine (and golf) was a useful skill in professional life. Wine entered the brothers’ lives more regularly during college, where they developed an interest that extended beyond casual consumption.

After several years working in the corporate sector, Christian shifted toward wine professionally, taking a position at Pedernales Cellars, where he worked in every area of the winery, including winemaking. It was here that he discovered he preferred drinking wines before they were subjected to fining, filtration, and other corrective practices used to ready wines for the conventional market. In other words, he loved natural wines.

That experience ignited the idea of having a natural winery under the brothers’ own name, and they began consulting with other Texas natural winemakers and leading experts such as Tony Coturri, a California pioneer who has been making natural wines for more than five decades. And in 2020, Christian and Dominic went to Mexico City, which had become an international center for natural wine culture.

Through networking with the natural wine community there, Soto Vino landed an invitation in 2022 to present their wines at the first edition of Volver Volver, a large natural wine fair bringing producers from all over the world to Mexico City. Soto Vino has been a fixture at this festival ever since. I split my time between Texas and Mexico, and was in Mexico City for the 2025 Volver Volver festival, where I met the Soto brothers and first tasted their wines.

Winemaking

Soto Vino makes 100% Texas wines and sources its grapes from sustainably farmed vineyards such as Robert Clay Vineyards in Mason and Reddy Vineyards in the Texas High Plains. Its motto, “Siempre Afuera–Always Outside,” functions as both an outside-the-norm winemaking philosophy and a practical guide to enjoying the wines. The goal is to make culturally relevant wines that align with Texas cuisine, climate, and attitude. Whites are flavorful, light, and lively; the reds are low in tannins and chillable. Soto Vino wines are fresh and intentionally lower in alcohol—perfect for outdoors and drinkable any time of the day, any day of the year.

The current annual production is around 700 cases. The wines are sold at the Austin Winery and in about 100 retail outlets in Texas and California, a distribution network developed by the owners themselves. Medium-term, Soto Vino aims to ramp up production to around 2,000 cases. Longer-term goals include purchasing land for an estate vineyard, an independent wine production facility, and export to the Mexican market.

The Wines

Soto Vino currently has a portfolio of nine wines. I was able to taste four of them recently at The Austin Winery.

Whites

• 2024 Golden Hour (50% Gewürztraminer, 50% Riesling). Inviting floral and waxy citrus aromas. Riesling’s light body, high acid, and minerality balance Gewürztraminer’s heavy floral and exotic fruitiness. Off dry, friendly, yet complex and elegant. 13% ABV.
• Los Longhorns (Gewürztraminer, Blanc du Bois, Riesling)
• Skin Contact (Blanc du Bois)

Rosés

• 2023 Desert Rose (100% Cinsault). Funky red and stone fruits + a streak of minerals. Light body. Drink year-round in Texas, but it’s made for hot weather, so don’t be afraid to pour it over ice. 12% ABV.
• Once Upon a Time in Texas (Cinsault)

Reds

• 25 Sauvage (semi-carbonic Black Spanish)
• Red Rider (Carbonic Sangiovese, Black Spanish)
• 2023 Space Cowboy (100% Texas High Plains Tempranillo). Red fruits, dusty tannins, pastoral notes of straw, rustic but velvety and fresh.
• 2023 Slow Dancing (30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 20% Mourvèdre). Opens with black cherry, mellowing to plushy back plum. Gentle but definite structure with minty cedar notes from the Cabernets and earthiness from the Mourvèdre. Fun, approachable, chillable. 12.5% ABV

Always Outside–Here to Stay

Though natural wine is still only a small slice of the overall wine market nationally, it’s one of the few segments that continues to grow. And it’s no longer the outlier it once was. Practices once considered fringe—sustainable farming, native yeast fermentation, restraint in the cellar—are increasingly standard across all segments of the industry. In turn, natural wines have increased in quality and consistency as winemaking experience accumulates. Soto Vino sits squarely in this overlap. Still outside the norm, but no longer on the fringe.

Always outside, but here to stay.