{"id":5662,"date":"2012-01-10T07:56:45","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T12:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/winetrailtraveler.com\/blog\/?p=5662"},"modified":"2012-01-10T07:56:45","modified_gmt":"2012-01-10T12:56:45","slug":"paul-and-merrill-bonarrigo-present-at-the-iwinetc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/winetrailtraveler.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/10\/paul-and-merrill-bonarrigo-present-at-the-iwinetc\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo Present at the IWINETC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the next few weeks we\u2019ll write about some of the people we know attending and presenting at the International Wine Tourism Conference<\/a>, IWINETC later this month.<\/p>\n

Our first visit to Texas wineries was in April of 2009. On our first day we met Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo at their Messina Hof<\/a> winery. Their winery, with 42 acres of vineyards, a restaurant, wine bar and bed and breakfast is among the few in the country that could be the poster child for the agri-tourism movement. Our late afternoon visit lasted for hours while we learned about Paul and Merrill and their passions for wine. The roots of the couple\u2019s families are traced to Messina, Sicily and Hof, Germany.<\/p>\n

Southern hospitality and Texas charm combined with wine, food and conversation enveloped hours that vanished in a moment. We learned of Paul\u2019s red beret and Merrill\u2019s cookbook. We learned of the challenges of placing a large chandelier in the foyer of the villa bed and breakfast. We toured the property and spent a lovely evening at the Villa to wake to a gourmet breakfast.<\/p>\n

Our conversations with the Bonarrigo\u2019s touched on many aspects of wine. Paul mentioned that he will taste other winemakers\u2019 wines, always a good practice for a winemaker. When asked how he handles a wine that is faulted or he doesn\u2019t like, Paul\u2019s answer caused Kathy and me to look at each other and smile. Kathy and I feel strongly that since WineTrailTraveler is a virtual visitor center, it isn\u2019t our job to bash a winery or its wines. If there is a wine we dislike for whatever reason, we\u2019ll simply note that the wine is \u201cinteresting.\u201d Later when we write about the wines we omit those that we felt were interesting.\u00a0 When I asked Paul about wines he didn\u2019t like, he mentioned that he would call them \u201cinteresting.\u201d We have since met other wine writers that use the word \u201cinteresting\u201d to mean a wine they personally disliked.<\/p>\n

We look forward to spending time with Paul and Merrill on the blogger\/media FAM trip to Umbria and Campania and the International Wine Tourism Conference in Perugia, Umbria, Italy. At the conference, Paul and Merrill are presenting, \u201cConnecting with visitors and turning them into long term customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

We plan to take a couple bottles of a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon<\/a> that we made at a winery in Virginia. The wine was bottled last August after 20 months in French oak. Hopefully the Bonarrigos won\u2019t find our wine interesting.<\/p>\n

Cheers,
\nTerry<\/p>\n