Messina Hof celebrates culture and community with the 34th annual Wine and Roses Festival
34th Annual Wine and Roses Festival
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For its 34th year in a row, a Texas-based winery celebrated what Savannah Gaines, communications manager at Messina Hof refers to as “the budding of the vines and the blooming of the roses with a one of a kind festivity; the Wine and Roses Festival.
Messina Hof, the third largest winery in the state of Texas, was founded by Merrill and Paul Bonarrigo in Bryan, Texas in 1977. As stated on the winery’s website, the company started as a “one-acre experimental vineyard consisting of fifty varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc and Lenoir.” After 41 years in business, it has become one of the largest wine producers in the Lone Star State.
In 1984, the Bonarrigo family decided they wanted to develop a family-friendly experience the local community could enjoy, and they created the Spring Fest, now called the Wine and Roses Festival.
“It’s about putting together a real hospitality experience where people can enjoy culture, food and, of course, great Texas wine,” said Gaines.
Festival attendees were not only able to enjoy a variety of wine and food tastings, live music performances and local vendors but also wine and chocolate pairing classes, a family-style Italian Feast and the popular grape-stomping competition where teams could compete by filling bottles with the juice they stomped.
“For our grape-stomping competition, HEB donates the grapes and then the grape stomps benefit our local arts council,” Gaines said. “We’re really passionate about art at Messina Hof and we love to support our local art.”
At the event, Messina Hof also hosted its 28th annual People’s Choice Wine Label Competition in which Texas artists compete for a chance to be featured on a wine bottle.
“Every year at the festival, attendees get a chance to vote for their favorite art, and then the winning artwork gets their picture on a wine label,” Gaines said. “We then keep the winning artwork and put it up in our gallery.”
The gloomy weather did not stop attendees from having a good time.
“It never disappoints,” said Peter McDaniel, event attendee. “My wife and I have been coming for the past three years and I can tell you every year has been different in the best possible way. We’ll be here next year.”
As Wine and Roses continues to expand, this years’ celebration was the largest to date and the best is yet to come. Wine and Roses celebrates culture, community and, of course, Texas wine.
“It’s about sharing our love of Texas wine,” Gaines said. “Texas wine has become a lot more popular lately and we just want to share how great Texas wine is. It’s about supporting your local agriculture and your local community. Really it’s about being able to share our passion which is hospitality, culinary and Texas wine with the community.”
What started as an experimental vineyard has now become one of the leading producers of the Texas wine industry producing approximately 130,000 gallons of wine per year. Messina Hof now has two other locations in Grapevine and Fredericksburg.
For more information about the winery and ongoing events, click here.
