“Texas Winegrowers” after Ten Years: Are we having fun yet!
Guest Blog by Les ConstableTexas Winegrowers List OwnerOwner/Winemaker, Brushy Creek Vineyardswww.brushycreekvineyards.com
What were you doing ten years ago? How many wineries were there in Texas?
Shortly after I made the decision to plant grapes (1991) and start a winery, I discovered a few minor problems.
It was not constitutional to have a winery in dry areas of Texas and most of Texas was and still is dry.
It was legal to have a winery but you could not sell wine from your tasting room in dry areas.
Later they passed a law allowing us to give wine away free [i.e. provide wine tastings], but it is still not clear to me how that business model might work.
I got mad and found people like Dr. Bobby Smith and Gabe Parker who had been fighting the good battle for a long time.
The Texas WineGrowers List on Yahoo Groups at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Texas_Winegrowers
was initially started to help get the word out about legislative issues so that we could get people in hearing rooms to support our cause.
I think it worked!
It is wonderful to see what has evolved. The Texas wine industry now has money for research, education, and marketing. Do not let anyone fool you about this. The Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association (TWGGA - www.txwines.org) and our working together as a wonderful team made this happen.
More comments and links to Texas wine Internet resources at:
http://vintagetexas.com/blog/?p=907
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