Another Texas Wine lover

[sour_grapes]

Welcome, Heatherd. You DO seem to have been busy this last year!

 

[heatherd]

The hubby and I are both from Ohio, so while we loved the warm and sunny weather of Texas, we wanted to get back to within reasonable (not 26 hours!) driving distance of friends and family. My daughter is three now so its great for her to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc nearby. I have been to Aransas Pass before when I worked for HEB....

 

[knockabout]

Lori,
We do have a wine club in San Antonio. funny thing. Hubby and I joined around November or so but haven't got to one of the monthly meetings yet lol! We have 2 young children and I work 12 hour shifts rotating days, so we're hoping to get to a meeting soon but..You can connect to the group through Jack Keller's web site.

 

[wildvines]

Which club is in San Antonio? I saw an old website of a club but it hasn't been updated in years. I'm a newbie currently living in San Antonio. Pitched yeast yesterday so excited to get started and get more kits coming in.

 

[LoneStarLori]

The hubby and I are both from Ohio, so while we loved the warm and sunny weather of Texas, we wanted to get back to within reasonable (not 26 hours!) driving distance of friends and family. My daughter is three now so its great for her to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc nearby. I have been to Aransas Pass before when I worked for HEB....

Haha, I'm from Ohio too. Moved to Houston in 1975 and never looked back.

Lori,
We do have a wine club in San Antonio. funny thing. Hubby and I joined around November or so but haven't got to one of the monthly meetings yet lol! We have 2 young children and I work 12 hour shifts rotating days, so we're hoping to get to a meeting soon but..You can connect to the group through Jack Keller's web site.

I think I saw something on his website about that last summer. I need to check it out. Keller is just south of SA in Pleasanton. Maybe I could pick him up on the way to the meeting.

 

[knockabout]

so we have a new winery in town it's called Stray Grape, an urban winery. Hubby and I stopped by to check it out. They serve wine from wine kits. I didn't ask them straight out, but recognized enough kit names (symphony, luna Rossa, mezza Luna, Green Apple Riesling, Australian petit verdot, etc to be pretty sure. They have hundreds of 23l carboys /better bottles ageing. I thought it was pretty cool cause I was dying to try a few before buying the kit i.e choc orange port, blueberry pinot noir. I hadn't heard about this before and wanted to share. You can buy finished bottles btw for 16-25$ per btl depending on what it is. Besides tastings and a wine bar, they also allow you make and bottle 23l of your own wine. http://www.straygrape.com/

 

[sour_grapes]

so we have a new winery in town it's called Stray Grape, an urban winery. Hubby and I stopped by to check it out. They serve wine from wine kits. I didn't ask them straight out, but recognized enough kit names (symphony, luna Rossa, mezza Luna, Green Apple Riesling, Australian petit verdot, etc to be pretty sure. They have hundreds of 23l carboys /better bottles ageing. I thought it was pretty cool cause I was dying to try a few before buying the kit i.e choc orange port, blueberry pinot noir. I hadn't heard about this before and wanted to share. You can buy finished bottles btw for 16-25$ per btl depending on what it is. Besides tastings and a wine bar, they also allow you make and bottle 23l of your own wine. http://www.straygrape.com/

I just checked out their website. Yes, I am certain you are correct that they are kit wines -- not only the names, but also the descriptions, of the wines match the text from the major vendors of kit wines.

I think that is pretty neat, but can this concept work? Will people really pay $25 for a bottle of a kit wine? Will people really pay $300-$540 to make their own wine there? Well, maybe some would do it once, but, after they open up the box and do the fermentation, no one would pay to do it twice, would they?

I wish them well, and would like to go hang out there, but this does not seem to be a viable business model to me.

 

[LoneStarLori]

We have one of those "wineries" here also that is barely scraping by. Like Paul said, why would anyone pay $300.00+ more than once to make a batch of wine there. The wine he sells are kit wines from the same kits we use. Mostly CRU. Most of the bottled wines are $18 to $25. Even the Mist type is $16. Now that's some serious profit if you can actually sell it. Judging by the dust on the bottles, I'm going to say he's not.
I have gone by the shop several times to purchase bottles and a couple of carboys. In the process, I have gotten to know the owner a little. He is a nice enough old fellow, but he himself has only been winemaking for 2 years, and only with kits. I get the impression he knows nothing about retail and for sure nothing about marketing. It is definitely a struggle for him to keep the doors open and I feel sorry for the old guy. What seems like it would be a dream retirement job, in the end, there is just not a market. At least they way he's doing it. In a tourist town where everyone is just passing through.

A Wine of Mine

 

[cmason1957]

There is a "winery" like that here in Missouri, out by Columbia. I believe he makes only all juice kits. They seem to do enough business to keep the doors open. They get a few folks coming by to make a special wine for a wedding and such as that and they also sell a few winemaking supplies. I guess it works for them.

 

[knockabout]

I just checked out their website. Yes, I am certain you are correct that they are kit wines -- not only the names, but also the descriptions, of the wines match the text from the major vendors of kit wines.

I think that is pretty neat, but can this concept work? Will people really pay $25 for a bottle of a kit wine? Will people really pay $300-$540 to make their own wine there? Well, maybe some would do it once, but, after they open up the box and do the fermentation, no one would pay to do it twice, would they?

I wish them well, and would like to go hang out there, but this does not seem to be a viable business model to me.

I was wondering about that too, so asked a lot of questions. I was shocked to find out they have been in business 8 years. They were a Water to Wine franchise (I think franchise) until the last year or so I was told they've been owned by the same folks. Kudos to them for making it work. Hooray for me being able to taste a kit wine before purchasing the whole kit!

 

[wildvines]

Ya there is many of those around the us. I had a neighbor that opened one up in Dallas I think. It's a franchise this. They mark kits up by 50 %.