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Newly minted vintner Paul Mitchell Bonarrigo, Photography by Shannon O'Hara

Harvest Swoon

by Evan Wetmore | Houston magazine | August 8, 2011

With the popularity and prominence of Texas wines on the rise—and with a next-generation ex-Marine vintner helping run the place—nearby Bryan’s Messina Hof Winery is celebrating the harvest with grape-stomping, wine-tasting weekend getaways.

Paul Bonarrigo, the owner of Messina Hof Winery and Resort (4545 Old Reliance Rd., in Bryan, 979.778.9463) is a man on a mission. The self-professed “Marco Polo” travels the country with his wine to call attention to the burgeoning Texas wine industry. “I think we’ve covered 100,000 miles in the past few months,” he says. “We’ve exposed our wines to 50,000 people across the country, and 99 percent of people say ‘Oh! Texas makes wine?’”

Yes it does. In fact, Texas is now the fifth-largest wine-producing state, with 220 wineries—nearly five times more than just 10 years ago. And this summer, the Lone Star State is particularly buzzy, with Messina Hof and other vineyards harvesting grapes and hosting fun, ripe-for-the-pickin’ events.

Founded in 1977 and boasting 96 different vinos and a gold-star reputation—it’s been voted “Best Texas Winery” four times at the Houston Rodeo’s wine competition—Messina Hof welcomes oenophiles for the annual month-long Harvest Festival going on now. Each remaining weekend (Aug. 13-14 and 19-20) the daytime activities of grape picking, stomping and wine tasting give way to nightly dinners—and a Murder Mystery dinner every Friday or Saturday—in the on-site Vintage House restaurant. Bonarrigo’s wife Merrill advises guests on how to best pair food and wines like their best-selling merlot (this year, it’s a single-vineyard varietal) and riesling.

And with the couple’s 29-year-old son Paul Mitchell Bonarrigo as Messina Hof’s new operations manager, at the helm of this year’s festival, Paul Sr. is hoping the growing business continues to boom. “He’s bringing to the winery a whole new demographic of people,” says Bonarrigo of his son, a Marine who returned home to Bryan last year after tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. “He’s seeing things from his age group.”

“I’m introducing our wines to everyone,” says the younger Bonarrigo. “I’ve converted more than half of my friends from beer and liquor to wine. Once someone isn’t intimidated by wine, they love it. It just takes one friendly interaction.”

More than 2,000 people hit the vineyard for the festival each August, a number that speaks to a large and growing trend across the state. After California, “Texas is the second largest tourist attraction for the wine industry,” says the affable elder Bonarrigo, “and that’s all because of our hospitality.”