Messina Hof breaks ground with interactive labels
Messina Hof has been a groundbreaking Texas winery since Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo actually broke ground in Bryan in the 1970s. And they have done it again with Texas’ first interactive wine labels on a new tier of wines released to help celebrate the COVID-19-delayed launch of Harvest Green Winery & Kitchen, Messina Hof ’s farmto-table spot in the Richmond area that opened for on-site dining recently.
The labels, which come to life before your eyes on a smart phone, were created in partnership with Houston-based Vision Production Group. Is it a tad gimmicky? Definitely. But, if the juice inside the bottle checks all the boxes, gimmicky is perfectly OK, and each in this trio of 100 percent Texas wines has its own compelling attributes. Vitality is a floral, minerally, slightly citrusy dry white with sauvignon blanc as its core component; Abounding is a robust, nicely structured merlot-centric red; and Emblaze is a fruity kitchensink-blend red with 4 percent residual sugar.
Messina Hof winemaker Paul M. Bonarrigo, the son of Merrill and Paul V., calls the latter “a porch-pounder.” A relatively safe one, too, should you choose to consume it that way, sans food. It’s only 12 percent alcohol.
The wines’ respective labels tap into Messina Hof ’s roots from the grape-growing to the wine-making and illuminate the “Vineyard Cuisine” culinary process that defines the Harvest Green philosophy. The restaurant/tasting-room complex, which features a 2,600-squarefoot patio — an important feature during a pandemic — is part of a master-planned residential development of the same name just off the Grand Parkway about halfway between the Westpark Tollway and the Southwest Freeway.
A community garden on the property will provide most of the produce. The wine grapes, however, are Texas High Plainsgrown. (All of the fruit for Vitality is sourced from the excellent Lahey Vineyards near Brownfield.) Unfortunately, vinifera varietals can’t grow in Fort Bend County because of Pierce’s Disease, endemic in Gulf Coast soils.
As to how one accesses the interactive label experience, it’s very simple. Find the QR code on the winery’s website (messinahof.com), aim the phone’s camera at it, and download and open the app. When the menu pops up, click “Experience AR,” then point the camera at the label. The show starts automatically. A vine grows from the earth and embraces the bottle. Grapes appear on the screen, and a Zen-filled script, equal parts mystical and poetic, plays. At the close, it’s possible to tap the screen to download Messina Hof ’s food pairings for each, complete with recipes.
The audio track for Vitality has a water theme — a gentle rain falls in the background — and the suggested entree is Messina Hof ’s chicken zitrone, breaded breasts in a garlic-artichoke-mushroom-red pepper sauce, finished with lemon juice, wine and basil. Thunder rumbles and crickets chirp for Abounding, which is matched with a garlicky bacon macaroni and cheese. A crackling campfire, replete with more crickets, frames the Emblaze narrative. Its pairing is a cocoa-rubbed filet mignon with a potato purée, and it’s also certain to go down splendidly with sauce-slathered, slow-cooked barbeque.
“As we continue into this pandemic, we are always looking to deliver innovative solutions that allow brands to connect with their customers,” said Tracey Shappro, Vision’s CEO and president. “We were thrilled to be able to create a one-of-akind experience that not only allows (the Bonarrigos) to interface with their consumers but also tells the story of their brand in a way like never before.”
The wines all sell for $25 and are available only at Harvest Green and the Messina Hof tasting rooms in Bryan and Fredericksburg, or by ordering from the website. The official grand opening for the restaurant will take place sometime in February with several soft-opening events in the interim. All the COVID-19 protocols we’ve come to know only too well will be strictly enforced and, although reservations aren’t necessarily required, the Bonarrigos highly recommend booking ahead for the foreseeable future because they really don’t want people hanging out while waiting for tables.
“COVID has added to our challenge,” Paul M. Bonarrigo said, “but it has been a lot of fun, a really neat process. We think this is a cool way to connect wine and food to the earth.”