The Rambling Gypsy

Butterflies and Bold Reds: Inside Heath Family Brands @ Grape Creek Vineyards

• The Rambling Gypsy • Season 4 • Episode 2

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Sipping wine on the patio at Grape Creek Vineyard feels like coming home. In this captivating conversation with Richard from Heath Family Brands, we uncover the remarkable transformation of a modest Texas Hill Country winery into a powerhouse producing 85,000 cases annually across 65+ different wines.

The journey begins with memories of a simple gravel parking lot and traces through Grape Creek's evolution after Brian and Jennifer Heath acquired the property. What's especially fascinating is how they've maintained quality throughout massive expansion—from establishing Heath Sparkling Wines with its food pairings to acquiring Kuhlman Estates and launching their premium JenBlossom line with distinctive butterfly labels.

Richard shares insider stories about their winemaking philosophy, including their commitment to the direct-to-consumer model rather than wide distribution. We learn about their dedicated winemaker and the team's attention to detail in everything from climate-controlled shipping to the subtle design elements on their labels. The conversation takes delightful twists through marketing strategies, Texas weather challenges, and even how wine club memberships have fostered lasting friendships between strangers meeting on their patios.

Whether you're planning your first visit to Texas wine country or seeking your next premium bottle, this episode offers a glimpse into what makes Grape Creek special—exceptional wines paired with experiences that create memories and connections far beyond what's in your glass. Next time you're near Fredericksburg, make time to visit and taste for yourself why their wines consistently sell out year after year.


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The Rambling Gypsy podcast is a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of real Texans doing real sh*t. We're pulling back the curtains on our daily lives - and you're invited to laugh and learn along with us.

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Speaker 2:

So we're going to get rolling. Hey everybody, this is Tiffany Foy with the Ramblin' Gypsy Podcast, and today we are on location and we are at Grape Creek Vineyard in Fredericksburg, texas. It's part of our Wondering series that we are doing, which is our kickoff to our SPF 90 tour that we are doing in 2025. And so this is Richard.

Speaker 3:

Hi, welcome to Grape Creek.

Speaker 2:

Grape Creek is phenomenal. It is by far has been one of my OG wineries that I have visited. There is not a time that I do not stop by here. I tell everyone about this winery.

Speaker 3:

I did actually had to check your account earlier to see if that was true, and it does. You've been a loyal wine club member for some time now For a very long time, you know. Kudos to you on that.

Speaker 2:

I was just telling Nick, because this is her first time to come here with me, and Polo that's with us today is same. And I said, man, I remember when I pulled in here one of the very first times and it was just this one row of parking.

Speaker 3:

Yes, and it was gravel. It wasn't even concrete, then it was asphalt. It was just the gravel parking lot.

Speaker 2:

Yep, and I would come in here and shop. And that's when Kim and I hit it off. And to the ridiculous part where they would have to bring a dolly to load up my shopping experience.

Speaker 3:

It was literally like going to a home goods store and that was, you know, obviously prior to COVID and the more wine you had, the more trips you made to your car with merchandise.

Speaker 2:

Yes, but it got to the point where the guys would bring y'all's big flatbed dolly that you have and load everything out and yeah. So I said, you know, before long I'm going to need my like my parking spot. So y'all can?

Speaker 3:

yeah, exactly, we're just like personal shopping.

Speaker 2:

Not have to walk so far. Yes, yeah, and now it's changed an asphalt parking lot that holds you know about 200 cars, and we still expanded our merchandise and we still have excellent wine, and so it's all growing.

Speaker 3:

And multiple tasting rooms yes, multiple locations now from Fredericksburg all the way to Georgetown, Texas.

Speaker 2:

That's just nuts.

Speaker 3:

It is, it is the growth over the years is amazing for Grape Creek and the Texas wine industry, but Grape Creek has had a big part in that and been very fortunate to be part of the Heath Family Brands legacy.

Speaker 2:

What started Grape Creek.

Speaker 3:

So originally Grape Creek was started in the early 80s by a gentleman who was in the oil and gas sector, got some land out here, wanted to grow some grapes to get into the wine industry. At the time there wasn't a lot out here in the early 80s, there was just a few guys out here doing it sort of pioneering it, and Mr Sims did it on his own as sort of like a small family operation for a period of time and after his passing the family chose to sell Grape Creek and that was in the early 2000s. And then it kind of in walks Brian Heath and Jennifer Heath and kind of swept up Grape Creek in 06 and took it from what was then about 2,500 case production operation to now 2025. We're kind of on the precipice of doing around 85,000 cases a year of production on property and now multiple locations, as we just mentioned, from Fredericksburg all the way to Georgetown, and there's always expansion opportunities happening.

Speaker 2:

So I remember when I was here on a random whatever Saturday afternoon and was talking to Kim and then we were and she was explaining the whole heat side of things and what was coming and the vintage portions, and of course you've got um for people that don't know um. You have different packages and different memberships that you can clubs, that you can join we do.

Speaker 3:

So there's around I guess five or six options right now that you can do, um, just based on what your preference is. And we see a fair bit of people actually are in multiple of those options. You know they really enjoy the kind of Tuscan style that comes with Great Creek wines, but then you know what we really enjoy sparkling wine. So we need some of that as well. So they're adding on multiple things. Some people are now getting introduced to our gin blossom line, which we'll probably talk about in depth here in a minute, which is going to be our all kind of AVA driven kind of premium line, mostly Cabernet driven wines. So they're getting different, varying levels based on people's taste preferences, and that's what we aim to provide. We want to be have something for everybody.

Speaker 2:

I love that. I love that. So, um, when the growth started, I mean they grabbed ahold of this section. Did they know that this?

Speaker 3:

I don't know. You know. So it was just a small operation. So great Creek at the time was still a hundred acre footprint on the property. There was, um, you know, about a dozen or so acres of planted grapes, and now it's still a hundred acre footprint here on the home site or kind of our main location, if you will, and we have around 28 acres of grapes now here on property. And but we've expanded outside of here.

Speaker 3:

So on this property, we expanded with the addition of the Heath Sparkling Tasting Room in 2019. It's so beautiful, ultra modern. It's like, if you love, something monochromatic and modern, floor-to-ceiling glass, top-tier wines, top-tier everything there. That's the location and it's right here, adjacent to Great Creek, which is what initially started it all and gave us the opportunity to do that. And then we've incorporated our Invention Vineyards property which is going to be out near the airport, on Highway 16 South, just out of Fredericksburg. So about 75 acres of property there, about 30 acres, 35 acres in vines, so almost doubling what our capacity was for an estate vineyard. And then, just as of, I guess, june of last year, with the introduction of Coleman Estates after the acquisition of Coleman Cellars, so that's a 12 acre footprint with around seven acres in vines, so just expanding our portfolio of wineries, different styles, different themes and, like I said, we have something for everybody.

Speaker 2:

You do, you do and when they arrive at your home and you get that special box that says Heath on it. It is like Christmas it is, and we see a lot of members.

Speaker 3:

You know social media, the power of social media, the power of podcasting. These days People get those packages in the mail and they're filming those things. They're like look, it's my monthly allocation. We love this. Here's what we're going to do, and it has really taken off the amount of kind of influencers that are part of our program, that utilize that platform of Great Creek to supplement their platform, and then just the everyday wine drinker who gets an allocation five times a year from us we hear those success stories.

Speaker 2:

That would be me, and it is phenomenal.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we eat everything from three bottles all the way to a case.

Speaker 2:

So just as much as you want to drink, we'll provide it. It's insane. And when it does show up, and when I have Nick, for instance everybody knows Nick on my show and it drops off and there'll be the two or three boxes, and I'm like oh my gosh, wait till you have Bellissimo, and then wait till you have the Rendezvous, and then you have, I mean boom boom boom, and I know the names of them more so than I do my children, and I know, yes, invention, yeah, when I started with Grape Creek and Heath Family Brands.

Speaker 3:

It was just the Grape Creek portfolio of wines in 2018 when I started and since then we've added just in my tenure we've added Sparkling Wine, heath Sparkling Wines in 2019. We added the Invention Vineyards line in 2022. We're adding the Gin Blossom line. We've added now Coleman Estates. So we used to just have to know around 18 or 19 wines and the last time I checked we're somewhere around 65 different labels that we're producing as far as wine 65.

Speaker 3:

It is, it is. It's a lot, but it covers everything from a white wine drinker to a red wine drinker to I want premium red wines, I want vintage sparklings and we do have some wines for those sweet wine drinkers. We have a small portfolio of sweet wines, but the through and through we have it all across the gamut of the 65 wines. So it's amazing 65.

Speaker 2:

That is. That goes back to the gravel drives. That was here it is, and that's how it started.

Speaker 3:

We started just as a small operation but we've dedicated everything that we do to the quality of the wine and the quality of the experience and I think that's what's propelled Great Creek and Heath Family Brands from where it was at the time of the acquisition to Heath Family Brands in 06 to what it is now. That dedication and commitment to the wine quality has not waived. One of those driving forces is obviously Jason Englert. He has been the only winemaker in the history of Grape Creek since his inception here with the program in 2004. He's been the brains of the operations.

Speaker 3:

And over the years he's built a team, yeah, and it's hard to get on that team to be a part of it. They're dedicated to their craft and it's hard to get on that team to be a part of it. They're dedicated to their craft and, like I said, they crank out some of, in my opinion, some of the best wines in history of Texas wines. But then we also produce some excellent wines that come from California fruit and they're no slouches either.

Speaker 3:

Those are excellent, top quality, top tier wines that we're producing and that's a testament to the team and dedication that they have.

Speaker 2:

I've been to. I've been to a lot of wineries. I am an absolute wine snob and in every podcast that I have, I am drinking wine and anything kind of that I do. Whether I'm riding my horse or a camel or whatever it is, there's usually a glass of wine nearby, or yes, or it's hidden, hidden or there's something. But yes, and I've done a lot of tastings. I have been to the Napa and the In-N-Out and what have you, and I remember the very first tasting that I did here and Kim was actually the one that did my taste. That's her and her and I met the very first time and we have become besties ever since. But there is not one wine in Great Creek. First of all, I know this is awkward, but I'm not, I'm not a spitter which, but it there was not one that I went, eh, I don't know, I don't know.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, and we see that. We see people come in and they come back. A lot of our members come back for tastings, you know a couple of times a year what's a new wine, what's a new vintage, and each time they're like dang, you just won't stop with the good wine, like there's not one kind of odd duck in the bunch that we don't drink. And that makes it interesting for from a consumer perspective, because see varying, we see kind of consistent levels, I guess, if you will, of our sales of wines across the portfolio. There's not one that kind of dominates each of those spaces.

Speaker 2:

I was going to ask you about that. Is there just one that you see? That just.

Speaker 3:

You know, early on in Grape Creek, I guess after the Heath ownership and the introduction of Bellissimo, bellissimo was one of those wines that was sort of a cult following. It really propelled Grape Creek onto the map for a lot of places and a lot of Texas wine drinkers. And now you look at the lineup and you're like they're all so good, like Bellissimo is a staple in a lot of people's minds. But then they get to new wines.

Speaker 3:

Serendipity, we have the bottle sitting right here, is a member only wine and it's asked for just as much as the other wines, and so it just it's interesting to see that on a daily basis. You know, you might see white wines outsell the reds or you might see the reds outsell the whites, but consistently across the board there's not. We don't make a bad wine.

Speaker 2:

No, you do not and there's not there's. I have a lot. You know, own three liquor stores, so we have a lot of of of things that will show up in in that box. There's not one that I go. No man, put that one to the back or save that one for a uh, when we have to do a gift for you know there's, there's just not.

Speaker 3:

Sometimes you get one that you're like oh, this will be a white elephant. This is perfect, yes, but the Great Creek wines don't seem to be white elephants. No, they are absolutely not.

Speaker 2:

No, they are the most stunning elephants, but yeah, it's very, very impressive.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's really a testament to what we're able to do year in and year out. When you think about producing, you know, 80,000 cases of wine, even 50,000 cases of wine, and then we're strictly direct to consumer, so there's not anybody else help peddling these wines for us. We do have a small wholesale program that we do, mostly local, just as a way for us to support the community and as a way for our customers, if they're out supporting local businesses in Fredericksburg, to still consume the Great Creek wine. So we do have that, but across the board. You know we're selling out every year, right, you know, 70, 80 000 cases of wine through our six locations when we decided that we would do this.

Speaker 2:

Um, you know, I'm from New Braunfels, texas. We're a little, not so little anymore. And Fredericksburg is going through the growth spurts, like New Braunfels is, but Owning three liquor stores and not being able to have Great Creek in our stores is a struggle for me. So it was really cool we were talking about doing this, doing our Wondering series and sending people because it is a staycation for me here. It's just a jog right down the road, I'd say it's not far.

Speaker 2:

No, it is not far. It's very easy for me to make a jog to come down here, but to send our clients and people that are regulars and saying, hey, do you know? And I'm like, absolutely, you guys have got to go. First and foremost, wineries are popping up all over the place.

Speaker 3:

But Grape.

Speaker 2:

Creek is, to me is a staple of Fredericksburg. I think that's something that the atmosphere here is, above and beyond your outside patio seating area, your dining area inside, outside. Um, I can, every single time, even just to swing by, knowing I'm going to get my one free glass of wine, knowing that I have four cases at home it does not matter.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I'm going to still stop. Sit on the patio and the guys will come out. Travis was one that waited on me forever and ever and ever out there and um, I'd say, you know, you don't have to, I'll just have a Bellissimo or yes.

Speaker 3:

And so just knew, by, like knowing your dog's name, I already knew what and sat down and have my glass and be like oh, and then just yeah, already knew what and sit down and have my glass and be like oh and then just yeah, the atmosphere is phenomenal and you do a great and you mentioned something about you send a lot of your clients that come in and ask for those wines at your liquor stores and that is one of the reasons I think that helps drive the fact of why we don't do major distributions. We want people to visit with us you should. We know our wines the best Exactly, we can tell you seasonalities, which wines you should be drinking at certain times, to help kind of elevate the profile, and we think we do a pretty darn good job of taking through you this immersive experience.

Speaker 3:

It really is, you know it might only be 30 to 40 minutes long for your tasting, but by the time you're done you're going to know your server's first name. You're probably going to have heard about their five favorite wines across the company. They've probably told you. You know what they drink on a Tuesday regularly. You know you're going to have shared stories and that, to us, is what really drives the point home, because the wine is naturally going to sell itself if it's a good product, and I believe we have a good product. But those stories and that experience you get at the bar is actually what I think helps the most is because our servers get to connect with the members and guests that visit with us and you are building memories. So when you go home and you open that bottle of Bellissimo, you think back to that time.

Speaker 3:

you were sitting out on that patio and you met this really lovely couple next to you exactly where I was about to go you just found like next thing you know you're in business or something like, or you're taking trips together to go see other places made the christmas card list you meet exactly up here.

Speaker 2:

hey, we're heading down. What are you guys doing? Y'all want to meet up in Grape Creek? Let's go have an app. Let's go enjoy this beautiful day. A couple of glasses of wine, and then there'll be a table that'll be over here and they're going. Well, I don't know, and I'm not not really the shy one I'll jump up and go. Here's what you need.

Speaker 3:

Here's what you need to try. I've been coming here for a very long time.

Speaker 2:

but let me tell you, there's not one thing that you're going to be disappointed about here, but yes.

Speaker 3:

I always say, like if we could get you know, as guests come visit with us and do tastings, it's important to have one member in the building because they're so passionate about what we do.

Speaker 3:

They're almost equally as passionate as our staff members and if they're really vocal, like yourself, they go to them and be like look, just join the wine club. You'll thank me later and then we'll. We'll continue to see each other. You know, year after year we'll see you at one of the events. You know we'll be out here on the patio, our paths will cross and you hear those success stories and I think that's so inspirational it's, and I think you know, we do have all of these beautiful spaces We've cultivated.

Speaker 3:

Every patio offers something totally different, totally different. So even on a Saturday, when you go out to our patios, there's slightly different demographics that choose different patios. They're different groupings of people, but they all have one thing in common and they really enjoy the wine that we produce and the environment we we can provide. And I think that's an instant connection for people. I mean, I've heard of people saying I met my now boss on the patio at Grape Creek sitting there on a Saturday afternoon drinking wine. Next thing you know I'm in his office the next Monday applying for a job. Right, and that is incredible.

Speaker 3:

I mean, that's sort of how I landed at Grape Creek. I was a wine club member previously, out on the patio with my family and kind of looking for my forever home as a career, and I said I'll work a couple of days a week to see what the wine industry is like. And now I've been here seven and a half years and I'm fully employed and have been and I haven't looked back since 2018. So it's just one of those little success stories that I enjoy telling about, kind of my story with Grape Creek.

Speaker 2:

I kind of feel like I'm family with Grape Creek.

Speaker 3:

You are at this point. I think so. You are at this point.

Speaker 2:

For such a long time, but I love it and it's you know I can. Growing up, born and raised in New Braunfels in FFA 4-H. Growing up showing animals.

Speaker 3:

Well, we're about to have a lot to talk about. Here we start talking about animals.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so I spent a lot of time in Gillespie County growing up and I've won a lot of shows. I'm very, very competitive and it's just really, really fun. And now being an adult and enjoying wine and watching the growth of everything happen here and being able to tell people about Great Creek is just really it's really awesome.

Speaker 3:

It is, it's really awesome. It is, and we you mentioned. You know your upbringing in 4-H and SSA.

Speaker 3:

It's one of those. You know, getting a bigger introduction of people of what viticulture and the winery business has to offer is a big part of the growth of the industry and that's been a big part of the wine industry here in Texas for the last, I would say, five years is introducing those younger generations to what we can do, not only showing them those pathways of viticulture in college and you can go to all these universities now and learn strictly just how to make wine, how to maintain vineyards and get into the industry. And I think that's one of the things that has helped, because I would say that really that push started about five to eight years ago in the kind of collegiate sector about trying to push people into those pathways and show them what the availability was, and it's just propelled the growth of the industry. Obviously there wasn't a lot of growth from, like you know, 2000 to like 2023, you know, given the time of COVID. But outside of that we're starting to see a resurgence of growth start to happen. There's some places start popping up. You see less and less for sale signs on kind of vineyard sites, and so I think that's great.

Speaker 3:

Any growth in the industry is great From a competitor standpoint. We understand that now consumers have more options, which just means we have to get better at what we do in the tasting room, and the experience that we provide people and that's one thing that we focus on a lot of with our team is hey guys, we're not necessarily one of 25 now, we're one of 35. Now there's more options. Here's what we're going to do and that's something that we made a commitment to probably four or five years ago. We made a commitment to sort of continuing education within our staff and elevating the level of service we could provide, and I think it's paid off two, three fold in the experience that we can do just by providing that experience of continuing education for our staff while also educating some of the younger generations as well on wine, what there is to offer from a career standpoint, and that it's yeah, it's fun, but it's also hard work too. Um, and that it's yeah, it's fun, but it's also hard work too.

Speaker 2:

It is. It is hard work, but it's it is. It is fun it is. You know, I've got my resort on the Gwad and I spend a lot of time with my customers and clientele. I run the bar down below so I'm always talking and promoting things, um, but here tastings, it's really it. It is important. It is important that this person behind here, behind the tasting room, the bar area, loves what they do. They do and we currently— You've definitely got to be a people, person, you do.

Speaker 3:

And actually I was looking at some stuff earlier this week and across the Heath Hammy Brands company we have around 150 to 160 employees, really Um, and it doesn't. You know, some days it seems like we employ that many, some days it doesn't, um, but you know of those. A big portion of them are make up our retail sector and so we dedicated a lot of our time to making sure that they can provide that experience that guests love. You know, guests like yourself, what you loved about Great Creek in the early 2000s to late 2000s when it was a little bit smaller. We still have that feel and that conversation and it's a relaxed refinement environment and that's really what we aim to do. And then the rest of those 160 employees, what we aim to do.

Speaker 3:

And then the rest of those 160 employees, you know, outside of retail make up our vineyard property team. They make up the winemaking team. We have a dedicated team that is there five days a week to handle any of the concerns of our wine club members. We now have a concierge person who helps with the member guest relations. That helps them from getting to bookings to if you want to do a proposal at grape Creek, um, if you have questions about something, we have somebody there who can assist you, but we want it to be that personal touch. So when we launched our concierge program, we reached out to Kim, who a ton of our members absolutely love, and so this made sense for us is our members love her the best she's able at providing that level of service they're looking for. Let's put the two and two together, and over the last six to seven months that we've launched that program, it has had nothing but success stories, which is what we wanted.

Speaker 2:

So we couldn't be more thrilled. So when people come to visit Great Creek, let's talk about what they can do. So first of all, you've got how many tasting rooms now.

Speaker 3:

So on the Grape Creek property we have kind of one main tasting room that we use every day and then we have a backup tasting room that we use on the weekends to help expand our capacity. And then we have obviously our other locations each have tasting rooms, with Heath Sparkling Wines having a tasting dedicated tasting room on site. Invention Vineyards has the one south of Fredericksburg on Highway 16, has a dedicated space. And then we are currently in renovations on our Coleman Estate property, so we're hoping to be inside that new space.

Speaker 2:

And that Coleman.

Speaker 3:

Estate's property is where that property is going to be, about seven minutes to the east of Grape Creek, so just on the other side of Stonewall, sort of between Stonewall and High, right on the edge of Gillespie County there. So we are fully renovating that tasting room space right now from the previous version of what it was. We're still open but still doing the renovations. We're hoping to be in that space early May and then we're going to complete a bistro on that property as well. We know the need for small bites. People love the food. So we've partnered with stouts. They provide our restaurant services for our great creek property. We're going to expand and do that with our bistro at coleman estates as well. And then we have our two urban locations currently. So we have our small tasting room in georgetown and then we have our urban tasting room on main street in fredericksburg.

Speaker 3:

Yes, so those are the cases that you can taste any of the wines from any of our portfolios, just about where they'll carry the gamut. Most of them are dedicated to whatever they are on each of the sites. So if you go to Invention, they're probably going to try and get you to try the Invention wines. If you need to try a Great Creek wine. Probably going to have a Belissimo sitting back there if you wanted to try one.

Speaker 2:

Yes, what is ironic that you bring up the main street location is I would stop here just to let you know my patterns and because I am not predictable whatsoever, stop here, have my glass on the patio, go into town, do whatever. I'm usually at carol bolton's or doing some picking up some shopping yep, go by the main street location, grab my glass. There, the sweetest people, not saying that you do not have the sweet, but the main street location because there's thousands and thousands and thousands of people that will stroll through downtown fredericksburg on any given weekend, holiday, not holiday whatever, but the main street people.

Speaker 2:

I could put them in my pocket and take them everywhere. They are so, so adorable.

Speaker 3:

They're absolute gold. And you hit the nail on the head with the amount of foot traffic. It's insane. The Main Street corridor in Fredericksburg is probably if you compared Main Street traffic to winery traffic in Fredericksburg, I feel like you would come up with similar numbers and so they have a little space there at our main street.

Speaker 3:

It's a hallway and they will get you in, they will get you out. If you want to take a glass to go and continue shopping, which I'm sure you have done, you can take a glass to go, which we love about Fredericksburg is you can walk with a glass of wine and do some shopping. It not only helps us with space, but I'm pretty sure it helps the retail sector as well. A little liquid courage to make that purchase, which we love as well. It's so good. It is so good.

Speaker 3:

So we offer tastings all of our portfolios across all the board. Something that is unique to Grape Creek that we currently have here is we offer a full production tour. We really pride ourselves on having a full vineyard. We have a full production facility, so we will take you on a tour of that. We will explain you the ins and the outs of what it takes for us to make those 80,000 cases of wine here at this property.

Speaker 3:

Now we won't be giving away any of Jason's trade secrets, but we will take you through just about everything. We'll show you the barrels, we'll show you the tanks. We'll even let you sample some red wine out of a barrel that's not quite ready to be bottled yet. So that way, after you come back and visit with us, maybe the next year, six months later, that wine might be in a bottle you could try it again, relive those memories of what you had when you had the tour with us and then kind of one of the unique one-offs that we do on the tastings, which is something we incorporated really from the get-go. Anytime anyone's doing a sparkling wine tasting with us over at Heath Sparkling Wines, we do a food and wine pairing. So we offer a food and wine pairing. I love that.

Speaker 3:

Yes, and we have Chef Ivan Knopp, so we kind of jokingly call him the wine Viking. He's got a big beard, long hair, great guy though, cute and cuddly if you will, but just knocks it out of the park with these bites of food, and so they do a seasonal menu. So if you go in two or three times a year, you're probably going to get a different bite of food each time. You're still going to get to sample some of those same vintages of wines, possibly, but four new food options for you, anywhere from maybe a light appetizer all the way to a dessert and everything in between. Um, I know even at one point there was maybe an introduction of caviar somewhere on the menu, which I know is quite popular.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was fan favorite, I think um, we just had a caviar conversation with our wine rep in new brunfels and we were just talking about she said it was down in fredericksburg, blah. So we were talking about this whole thing and that happened to come up. Do people need to make reservations for tours? Can you walk in? So we offer both.

Speaker 3:

So we do tasting reservations and tour reservations. We love people that plan ahead. It allows us to be a little more prepared so we know what's coming down the pipeline. But always we do our absolute best to incorporate walk-ins the best we can, especially if it's a last minute thing. We will try our best.

Speaker 3:

But sometimes it just gets hard to get people in if we're booked out. We certainly have capacity limits that we can reach on tours, especially Saturdays. Typically those will sell out by about Wednesday or Thursday the week of going into a Saturday. So we definitely tell people, plan you know, early in that week. If you're coming with us late on the weekend, on Saturday or Sunday, plan ahead by a week, give yourself some time, reserve your spot so you know you can get in with us, especially when you talk about some of the smaller locations because their capacities aren't quite what we can handle at grape Creek as far as the space. But we do the tour seven days a week so you can visit with us seven days a week and do the tour tasting seven days a week at all of our locations as well. So we're there's really not many days that somebody is not here willing to pour you some some wine and talk with you about it?

Speaker 2:

Yes, so before we wrap up, I want to hit the gym blossom. Yes, talk to me.

Speaker 3:

Yes, what are we doing here? So gin blossom, um Blossom it was.

Speaker 1:

That's this guy, you guys, exactly. So it's on our glass here, our beautiful glasses with the butterflies.

Speaker 3:

So Gin Blossom was actually the name. Go for it.

Speaker 2:

The day the box showed up with the butterflies, I'm like who? What's happening?

Speaker 3:

right here.

Speaker 2:

What is happening?

Speaker 3:

It is. So Gin Blossom was actually a nickname that Brian had had for his wife, jennifer, and they travel frequently doing some kind of exploratory trips out in Napa and Sonoma so that they can see different experiences that we might be able to help incorporate here. And at dinner one night they kind of found themselves looking through a list of wines and it's like we're paying, you know, 200, 250 for a bottle of wine. We have a really great winemaker on our staff. Why is he not just doing this for us? Like, let's create a really special wine, a premium wine that we really want to drink, and I bet you there's a lot of people in Texas who have been searching for the same thing. So let's make it available. So we launched the Gin Blossom line.

Speaker 3:

Originally it started out as a singular Cabernet and then it kind of flourished. So the original introductory wine amazing name, scary good. It didn't just get the name, it has lived up to it every vintage, since there's three or four vintages of that wine. Now that was the one that kind of started it all. So since then we now contract around a dozen or so really special vineyard sites in Napa and focusing all on Cabernet wine. There is a Cabernet Franc in there from the Knights Valley, which is super special, just not a big vineyard site, so it is a limited production wine, but then across the board we're going to do around seven or eight AVA driven Cabernet. So if you like wines that are going to be from more of the mountain, we have a Howell Mountain-style wine for you that comes from that AVA. If you like valley-style Napa Valley, we got a Napa Valley one. We got a Rutherford, we've got just the gamut of Cabernets.

Speaker 2:

If you're a Cabernet lover and you love the quality of wine that you've had with us in any of our other portfolios, come try the Jim Blossom wines. That is the creme de la creme when it comes to Heath Family Grants, oh my goodness. So for whatever reason and I don't know how this happened, but something somewhere along the line I don't know it was through our liquor stores or whatever but there'd be like a random bottle that would show up at my house and I was like, okay, you know maybe this is one that they want us to try.

Speaker 2:

But no, this was when I won the very first time that the bottle showed up, and I think it was maybe a singular bottle, or maybe it was just two that came early on, and I'm thinking, okay, maybe this is just. I was thinking it's from this other deal that they were. You know, try this try this and then maybe put it in your stores. And then I looked at it and I read it what? No, I opened it, I didn't even pay much right out the gate.

Speaker 2:

Gotta try it okay, we got a butterfly. We got a wine, a little butterfly on it, this, let's just try this see what this is about. And then I drank it. I said what in the hell is this full-bodied nonsense? Of flavor. And then I turned it around. I was like, look at my people, look at them.

Speaker 3:

It was a really pivotal part, and now, when the butterflies show up.

Speaker 2:

I'm like.

Speaker 3:

You look forward to it, right?

Speaker 2:

Well, I move those to the back.

Speaker 3:

I those to the back. I'm like we're not going to pop those open when the people that. Yeah, exactly, the Gin Blossom line was a pivotal kind of move for us as far as a company, because we felt like our staff and ourselves as a company we wanted to look for something that was a little more, had a little more push to it, a little more oomph you know a little elegance a little more style, a little more class, something a little different than what we produce in some of our other lines.

Speaker 3:

And so when the Gin Blossom lines came out, it um, just to see the look on people's faces as they try one of those wines the first time, or, uh, you know any of those things, the stories they tell. Like you said, you tried the wine and then you realized you had it and then you tried to go get another bottle of it or something.

Speaker 3:

You know, it's those stories that we hear about, those wines, people celebrating, you know, a 25th wedding anniversary hey, this is the wine I'm going to serve at my wedding. You know, these are the types of wines that you hear about and we're now making them accessible to people here in Texas with a wine program that's got decades of history behind it.

Speaker 2:

It is so good.

Speaker 3:

They are. They are, if you ask the staff on my front porch.

Speaker 2:

It is like oh Lord it is. It is, and I'm not just saying because it was a surprise, but it was the way that I did the whole thing and I was like, okay, you know, let's just try this. Let's see what just showed up here today.

Speaker 3:

Let's just see how good it is and then go from there.

Speaker 2:

And then I took a drink and I was like holy pickles, it is. What is this?

Speaker 3:

It's a totally different experience and we felt that that market was lacking. And since we have done it and launched the Jim Blossom Wines, our kind of intuition was correct. People are coming in and they're trying our wines and they're committing right away to joining one of our wine clubs. But then they're like but we're also looking for something else. Like what else do you have in addition to? And that is really kind of where the exploration is coming.

Speaker 2:

Another big reason why I love Grape Creek because I've got stuff that shows up every quarter. It's all organized deliveries, but yes, but the surprise factor of how y'all did that and it was the whole. It's like Santa came in July.

Speaker 3:

It was Christmas and it was.

Speaker 2:

you know it was a lot of thought behind that.

Speaker 3:

It was a slow. We wanted to. You did it right. We wanted to do something different than what we've had. We didn't want to put a big billboard out there, build a big building and then say, hey, come, try this. Absolutely didn't. It was a slow introduction of those wines, sort of an indoctrination, if you will, of, hey, we know what you like from us, but give this a try. Like, hey, try this one. And you know, when you have a really good friend who you've been drinking wine with for a long time and you all know each other really well, and they just slide a glass to you and are like, hey, try this. And they kind of give you that look, that's what it was with the Jim Bloss Boston wines is. We would have people here and we'd be like hey, we know you love bellissimo, but like but hey, why don't you try? This.

Speaker 3:

That's exactly what it was see their faces light up and it's just you've blown their mind and they don't know what it is. And then you explain to them what it is and it's just like a craving it's so never saw it coming.

Speaker 2:

It's so never saw it coming. No, was not ready for it, which is the best surprise ever. And to one, the labeling, the everything, was a full-on twist. Yes, it was totally different, totally different. Which was like, which was why I never expected which is maybe another. I mean, they, we all have our brands. My brand is unpredictable and that was an unpredictable move and it was by far brilliant.

Speaker 3:

It was and it's uh, there was a lot of.

Speaker 3:

There was a lot of people and those conversations, um on what do.

Speaker 3:

But I think one of the one of the driver driving factors of that label, um, is going to be Jennifer herself, brian's wife, and she had a family member who actually had drawn a picture of a butterfly and sort of gifted it to her, and so when we decided, like okay, we're going to put something on the label, it was really easy for us to go.

Speaker 3:

Actually, we want to do this butterfly, but there's something to be said about subtlety and details and the fact that if you actually looked at each of the maybe seven or eight different lines in that portfolio, each of the butterflies are a slightly different color, designating a separate AVA. So we have everything from sort of kind of like a really soft, kind of like magenta, all the way up to this kind of like dark purple, almost blue color, just spanning in that range, which might drive you to believe that Jennifer's favorite color is purple, which would be correct, which is why it's on the label of the wine that's named after her, which is fitting and people love it and they have their favorites. Some of them have a favorite because of the color of the butterfly because, it reminds them of a birthstone.

Speaker 2:

Some of them I don't care what color that butterfly is, it's so good, I don't really have any.

Speaker 3:

I I don't know I can't pick a favorite. Um I you know a lot of people you know love scary good. We wrote it on the bottle for you.

Speaker 3:

We made it easy, I think but there's so many of those wines that are excellent and we're just really in the infantile stage which is scary good it really is you know, we're only on like as far as producing bottles, we've only released, um, you know, the first vintage was the 2016, then there was a couple of non-vintage years because of the fires out in california, right, and we're now up to as far as, like, releasing maybe like vintage three or four for some of these wines, and some of them it's just vintage number one because of when we were able to secure the contract. So we really are in the beginning stages of something which I think is really amazing.

Speaker 2:

Not only is the whole process of how you guys did that, but the fact that you have this very um, soft, subtle blend of a butterfly on the front and then you labeled one of the wines scary good is such a twist on totally, which I mean if that doesn't intrigue you it is and it um it's.

Speaker 3:

it's one of those things that I think a creative mind has to be behind. And. I don't know that I'm quite one of those creative minds, but somebody saw that and go and said this wine is scary good, but then let's put a butterfly. Let's put this beautiful little butterfly. And I think that's so amazing from a marketing perspective, from a conversation perspective, from an imagination perspective to have kind of those powerful of words being scary, good and you put just the most regal butterfly you could find with. It is really part of the story.

Speaker 2:

Marketing is so huge in the wine industry story. Marketing is so huge in the wine industry and there is um I am, if you could get in here, and it's you want to talk about scary. Yeah, I was gonna say yeah, yeah, I have um, yes, it's, there's not too many people that I allow to get because I am such a different, strange, but it absolutely is 100% okay. But taking the risk of doing that and realizing that you would not believe how important marketing and labels are in wine.

Speaker 2:

If you think about consumers that go into your total wine stores. You go into my little tiny three liquor stores Gypsy Liquors and Canyon Lake. You know it's this small town and from your larger grocery stores to people are not gonna go and they're not gonna read that little label that says it's got a hint of cherry and a little black pepper and a little this and a little of that, says it's got a hint of cherry and a little black pepper, and a little this and a little that, and no, they are.

Speaker 2:

It is label, label, label it's almost like location, location, location. But in the wine it is label is so crucial?

Speaker 3:

it absolutely is, and there's that process actually for label approval you have to be brave.

Speaker 2:

It's quite have to be strenuous to get a label approved.

Speaker 3:

Yes, not only get a name approved, but now youuous to get a label approved. Yes, not only get a name approved, but now you have to get a label approved. And there are certain ways you can do things, and I think we're fortunate in the fact that we don't compete on the shelf with everybody else. You know, if you think about walking into an average liquor store and there's maybe a hundred to 200 bottles and for a consumer, let's say, you say I want a bold red wine, so you're instantly think Cabernet. Okay, now you've narrowed it down to 50 wines. How do you? Know, do you want the?

Speaker 3:

one, you know, that has a picture of this on it. Do you want the one that is very minimalist? Do you want one that's over the top? So that just kind of that sensory overload of what's on a label can be quite challenging, and so that is one of the reasons, one of the other factors that says hey, come visit us. We got a really cool, really nice, simple, easy label for you. But I'm also going to walk you through the wines, so we're going to take a lot of the guesswork out of it for you and explain why we do what we do.

Speaker 3:

And there's little nuances. So even on the bottle we have here, we're talking about this bottle from invention vineyards, which is our conflation line. You know you can't see it, but those those little lines in the eye and the V are actually kind of reminiscent of eye beams. The reason we did that, we made it textured, is because that location is what we call industrial chic, and when you go to that location, the tasting room has eye beams everywhere that are painted black. I love it. So you get a little hint of okay, what makes this label different than the other ones? Oh, you know what I remember when I was at Invention and I saw those eye beams that framed in the tasting room, framed in the red brick walls that we have at that location. I'm getting it in the label too. Like that takes some staying power to do and some creativity to make happen, and that's one of those things.

Speaker 2:

when you make 60 something different wines and they're between five different labels, four different labels, you get a lot of experience at doing and that's something that we really put a lot of effort into that is one thing that I would love to and and I can't reiterate enough, is for Grape Creek and Heath and Invention and the Gin Blossom is that it is as much as you would love to trust the label when you are out and about and you are at these wine stores and liquor stores and grocery stores and anywhere that you can purchase wine, you find yourself trusting the label.

Speaker 3:

You do and you have to put a lot of trust into it, and then you go home and you're like, okay, this is shit. Absolutely, and I think you feel let down.

Speaker 2:

You absolutely do. It's so disappointing because I'm so excited about the label and you don't know what went wrong with the wine.

Speaker 3:

Was it potentially a winemaking thing that happened over time? Was it the wine not stored properly? Huge deal so there's a couple of different factors and when you buy direct from a winery you know a couple things peace of mind, storage is utmost taken care of.

Speaker 2:

Let me tell you guys, and this is something that I want to, and I'm so glad you brought this up, and I don't mean to interrupt you, no, you're good, this is so big for me because you guys are that personable and that involved and you pay attention to texas weather. If you guys do not know texas weather, it can go from what were we at 33?

Speaker 2:

this in the middle of the night, like two days ago, is in the 80s and we had a massive fire in glasgow today from 33, 33 degrees to 80 degrees is what we are doing in less than 24 hours in fredericksburg, in new brunfels, texas, in, in in texas, so that can happen. You guys will pick up the phone or you will send an email. You, you will let every one of your members know. By the way, this is what happened in Texas, in case you guys were in. Wherever your, your uh wine's going to be delayed, or it's going to, because you're not going to ship it in the heat. You are not going to take the risk of ruining your wine. It is not going to show up on 110 degree weather in August the 5th, not if you can help it Now. You know. No, yes, but you guys are. So.

Speaker 3:

We do. We used to do a June wine club shipment for those like yourself that have been in the wine club with us for a while. We used to do an early June, mid to June shipment and over the last I guess six years we started moving that shipment more and more into.

Speaker 3:

May, and the reason was is we want to get people their wine, but we don't want it at the cost of the quality of wine. We don't want to risk the quality of the wine by waiting and believe it or not, as we've gotten hotter over the years. Um, we've realized okay, we got to get that shipment in May to get people out so they have, especially for those visitors who aren't close to us. They can't always come try the wines, they can't always do a pickup of the wines and we have a pretty big following of people that live outside of kind of that three hour driving radius, who can only maybe get here twice a year. So they rely on us to handle the wines properly.

Speaker 2:

I can get here and I rely on y'all us to handle the lines properly. I can get here and I rely on y'all. I can get here and I still rely. Yes, you don't even know if the struggle is real. Like I said, I stopped into town, I stopped main street, I stopped out of town and then I head back home and then I'm waiting for it on my porch.

Speaker 3:

We try climate control, all of our facilities do climate control shipping as best as we possibly can and that is part of our dedication to the quality of the wine making and the quality and care of the wine from basically us to your doorstep. So we we fully encompass the direct to consumer along the direct route to the consumer.

Speaker 2:

We are monitoring everything and we stand behind you absolutely do, and because I've been a member from way back when I remember when that was they? Everybody has growing pains, everybody figures out everything. And, yeah, we had I don't know if there's a couple bottles, whatever come and was like hey, I just want you guys to know this is the heat really got a hold of this one, and oh my gosh. So epic, and they're like you know what, and the heat really got ahold of this one, and oh my gosh.

Speaker 3:

So epic, and they're like you know what? And now that we do a May shipment and we don't do a June, we get people calling us in July or August and they're like um when is our wine?

Speaker 2:

When's my next shipment? When can I get more wine and um you know?

Speaker 3:

if we, if somebody needs wine, we will get it out to you the absolute best. But If we, if somebody, needs wine we will get it out to you the absolute best we can. But it's one of those things like when you're in high demand and you're a hot ticket item um, people want the wine they do, and so we can't get enough to them sometimes and I know you're one of them I am absolutely one of them, and I'm not that far, and you need more wine in July and August.

Speaker 2:

I need more May 1st and 15th and the 30th.

Speaker 3:

My next one is October, that's not going to work.

Speaker 2:

No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. So anybody that is watching following and you guys need me to do a stop and drop. I've come through, fred, all the time. Yeah, it's just a personal shop for you. Absolutely, I know exactly what you guys need. In fact, I'm not even going to ask, I'm just going to show up with a couple of butterflies and a couple of hot ticket items and you guys will thank me later.

Speaker 2:

Grape Creek, Fredericksburg, Texas. You've got Heath Sparkling Wines on this property. Here there's the Grape Creek Tasting Room on Main Street.

Speaker 3:

Georgetown is.

Speaker 3:

Grape Creek as well, and then we have the Invention location on Highway 16 South. It's two and a half miles, three miles off of Main Street. So Venture to say it's probably the closest full production facility that you can get from the grape to the bottle process that you're going to get to main street is right there at invention vineyards on highway 16. It's so good and then so good, coming online with a completion of the renovations here. This may still open now if you don't mind walking through a construction zone, but we're open. We have our coleman estates property. So, a little different, we're going to do farmhouse modern, we're going to paint the walls white, we're going to give black trim, we're going to go with neutral earth tones and we're going to do an open concept.

Speaker 3:

And then a whole new line of wines to support it.

Speaker 3:

So, wines you haven't heard from us. I can give a sneak peek, I guess, and kind of tell you what's coming down the pipeline Go Great Creek. Hasn line go a great creek hasn't done a traditional style malbec as a red wine. We've always done a rose of malbec, but we will be releasing with the columbina states wine. We are going to do a rose of malbec for that, or a traditional malbec red wine for the columbina states wine. We're also going to accompany it with a sprinkling of maybe some California wines that we haven't done before. So possibly you're going to see a Sonoma County Pinot Noir on the shelf, um, to come and taste. And then I think, what is going to be a fan favorite when you release here in three weeks, we're going to do a rosé of Syrah. We're going to take big juicy, jammy Syrah and we're going to make a rosé out of it and it's going to be dry big juicy jammy, syrah, and we're going to make a rosé out of it and it's going to be dry.

Speaker 2:

I literally cannot wait because I am everybody's got their their, their tastes and their flavors. I am not a sweet person. I love. I love my dry and yeah, you had me at rosé all day and the dry dry, dry, we, we do it.

Speaker 3:

That's not to take anything away from this, no, not at all like sweet wines.

Speaker 3:

Um, a lot of our sweet wine drinkers. They buy those wines by the cases. Our bread and butter for what we do is dry style wines. A lot of our portfolio is going to be dry reds. We're going to tease you with a couple of dry rosés. We do dry rosé of malbec, we're going to do a rosé of Nouveira and now we're going to do a dry rosé of Syrah to go with it, and then we have really crisp, really clean, what I would say are elegant red wines or white wines. That's what we're going to have for you too, on the white wine profile. So each tasting room has a little bit of something different from the white wine perspective.

Speaker 2:

I, I am so excited if you come to Great Creek and you don't find anything you need to stick to you need to stick to Welch's Grape Droops we'll point you over to.

Speaker 3:

We'll point you to our friends over at at Garrison Brothers. They do an excellent job.

Speaker 2:

They do a great job of whiskey.

Speaker 3:

They do a great job the other way, we will as long as you support our industry and supporting the alcohol industry in the state of Texas, we love it. We will point you in the direction of a local operation for you to enjoy. Great Creek doesn't have the wine for you, but I would be shocked if we don't have something. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And yes, you were going to want to unfollow and unlike and the whole thing's, because I am 1 million percent, yeah, and Great Creek a hundred percent. I am so excited about the, the Coleman deal and the Rose. Oh yes, so good, so good. I cannot wait.

Speaker 3:

Relaxing farmhouse vibes with the same quality of wine.

Speaker 2:

I love it, that's such a good, solid twist. Once again, I love y'all surprises, I love what y'all are doing. I am a huge supporter. I am, yeah, one of the one of the first and foremost, and, and you guys have y'all got me forever. I love it forever, forever, yes.

Speaker 3:

I tell everyone new.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely not, please, thank you, yes, yes, if not, it's nothing for me to zip over here in a, in a, in a road trip, so yeah.

Speaker 3:

And you just got to stop on by and maybe do some shopping while you're there, yes, and everybody.

Speaker 2:

When you guys get here you come to Great Creek, tell them Gypsy Mama sent you. They will know who I am. Ask for Kim, go, shake her hand, give her a big hug. She's a hugger, just like I am where I'm huge huggers, we love. She loves big. Yeah, she is a rock star, this guy Richard, come have some tastings. Talk the talk. Your knowledge is above and beyond so appreciative.

Speaker 3:

I just I love it. I've been very fortunate. I love it, it's a great program from an employee perspective, from a consumer perspective. Everything is going in the right direction for Heath Famous Brands and if you want to be a part of it, come by, come visit with us. Come try the wine we will show you.

Speaker 2:

Yes, we will share all the links, all the locations we'll show you.

Speaker 3:

yes, we will share all the links all the locations um hours, how to get to the tours, you name it. We'll probably link everything up for instagram as well beautiful all of our social media um, and that way, I know a big portion of your following is social media uh driven, so we'll get you all used to that. We have an excellent marketing team. They're updating daily. Um, I actually just did a tv show yesterday so that's awesome. So if you want to see me in, action.

Speaker 2:

I can't even believe I'm sitting here doing a podcast in great Creek knowing yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

And we cleared out the tasting room just for you.

Speaker 2:

Hey, I have gone by here just to go walk and go to the bathroom, having my glass of Belissimo out in the patio and there'd be like, look at them. With that, they opened up the back room for there's 30, 40 people in there. So good, I feel so special. This is special. This is what we do for all of our members.

Speaker 2:

We roll out the red carpet. I'm telling you, yeah, and if you guys are looking for any type of decor and what have you for your home, Drop Kim a little note, Promise you she will find it. Literally half of my living room is grape grape decor. Oh my gosh, Wine presses things that I'm going. You're not going to really keep this here, Are you? And she's like Tiffany, like it will just look so good in my living room.

Speaker 3:

You know, you do.

Speaker 2:

You guys come visit. I appreciate you. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you for having us, thank you for having me, thank you. Such a gem it was great.

Speaker 3:

Um, I'm glad we we got you to stop by.

Speaker 2:

I just got me to stop by. It's throwing me out. It's the problem. Yeah, it is, it is.

Speaker 3:

I'm glad. I hope all of your listeners have enjoyed it. If you haven't been to Great Creek, like I said, they will trust me during the week, come on the weekend, come to enjoy it, schedule it schedule it, and if you can't hurry, don't be in here, just come and really relax. I promise you you're not going to want to leave.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, You're not going to leave. You'll sit out here in the underneath these huge trees. Exactly, we do trees Exactly. They're used to me, it's fine. They're used to throwing me out, it's fine. Yes, yeah. And if you buy too much, they've got people with dollies. They will take it and they will wheel it right to your car. They've been doing that for me for years and years. Yes, yeah, it's good time. Yep, thank you. That's our favorite part, and cut.