Messina Hof Winery

The wine club members host events in this room.

Messina Hof winery is named after the towns were the owners are from : Messina, Sicily and Hof, Bavaria (Germany). The Bonarrigos first planted grapes over 40 years ago and the business, which has now been passed down to their son, is at the forefront of the Texas wine industry with three locations: Bryan, Fredericksburg and Grapevine. 

We had to visit, because we love wine, and with a last name like Messina, how could we possibly resist? The Bryan location had the added advantage of being a Harvest Host, which meant we could camp for free. Of course, free is very, very expensive. First, we went to the tasting room and Gabby helped us select several wines to try. She was very helpful and come to find out, from Petaluma CA! A student at Texas A&M, I have no doubt she will be very successful at whatever she chooses to do. She managed to sell us a half a case of wine (Reserve merlot, Reserve Cabernet franc and Paulo Primitivo). Second, we had a fabulous dinner at their restaurant. The vegetables for Chris’ farm to table salad were all grown on the property. Jicama, greens and strawberries with a light housemade vinaigrette made an excellent combination. My pumpkin bisque soup was good, but the dominant smoked chile flavor needed a little something. Corn bread croutons? Cheese? Creme fraiche? Chris’ mahi mahi with grilled pineapple and basmati rice was perfectly cooked and my bone in pork chop with corn bread and apple stuffing was the perfect marriage of flavor and texture. Both dishes came with roasted locally grown carrots and Brussels sprouts. We couldn’t resist the Paulo Port sundae...vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and a large splash of their port....It was incredible!

If you are in Texas, and near one fo their locations, you must give them a try!