SPECIAL EVENTS

Messina Hof Winery & Resort presents the Messina Hof 2010 Harvest Festival, spanning 5 weekends, from the 3rd weekend of July to the 3rd weekend of August, and filled with many exciting wine-related activities.

Messina Hof, the fastest growing, award-winning winery and resort in Texas, is celebrating its 33rd anniversary and the harvest of the vines July 16 to August 15, 2010, announced Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo, co-founders of Messina Hof Winery & Resort in Bryan, Texas.
Harvest is a time when guests can experience the century-old tradition of making wine by picking and stomping of the grapes. Wine lovers, including special guests and local celebrities, will roll up their sleeves and pants and partake in the first phase of winemaking with the Messina Hof Family. After guests hand-pick the grapes straight from the vine, the fun of squashing begins. Not only will they get their feet wet, they will be rewarded for their hard work with a Harvest Cuisine Dinner prepared by the award-winning culinary team of Messina Hof’s The Vintage House Restaurant.

This year, Messina Hof will host not one, but two enchanting “Moonlit Harvests”, not to be forgotten! The romantic evening will kick off the first harvesting of the grapes as guests pick grapes from the vineyards and then stomp them under a beautiful sunset on Friday, July 16, 2010. Guests also receive a Messina Hof Harvest souvenir t-shirt to imprint with their purple feet after stomping. After the grapes have been crushed, they will enjoy a multiple-course special dinner at The Vintage House Restaurant.

“Harvest is our favorite time of year here at Messina Hof Winery,” said Paul Bonarrigo. “It gives us a chance to share our love of making award-winning wine with people who not only love wine, but love having a good time!”
Harvest is an exciting five-week celebration featuring a wide variety of food and wine events including the Moonlit Harvest, Harvest, Harvest Murder Mystery Dinners, and the Harvest Vintner’s Dinner each weekend.

Messina Hof Winery is located at 4545 Old Reliance Rd. in Bryan, TX.

Festival activities include:
- Grape picking
- Grape stomping
- Vineyard cuisine luncheons
- Touring and tasting
- Wine and food pairing parties
- Special dinners featuring unique menus

Your Fun Begins in the Vineyard at 8:00am…After a brief orientation, you and your group are sent off to our 42-acre estate vineyard to pick the grapes that will be placed into service! You may even break into a Sicilian song with the winemaker himself, Messina Hof Co-Founder, Paul Bonarrigo. These are the very grapes that will go into the making of Messina Hof’s award-winning port.

The Big Kahuna Competition – While in the field, make sure to look for the most interesting and unique cluster to enter the Big Kahuna We award the person with the best looking grape cluster and talent; this person is the Kahuna for the day!

Once your finished picking, enjoy a little grape stomping – complete with your very own souvenir t-shirt, “signed” with your purple feet! And when the Messina Hof Ports hit the shelves in your favorite store or wine shop, you get to say that you were a part of something special!

Next… Dine at our Harvest Luncheon. Our Chefs from The Vintage House Restaurant use on the freshest ingredients for our trademark “Texas Vineyard Cuisine”. Perfect after a historical day of Harvest. Enjoy hand-selected and hand-cut meats, herbs and vegetables from our vineyard garden, and, of course, our award-winning wines that are part of every recipe.

Then…Our Food & Wine Pairing Party. At this unique seminar, you’ll learn how to match the right foods with the right wines, like a pro! That’s because a pro will be guiding you through every step. These interactive seminars are conducted by Messina Hof Co-Founder and Cookbook Author, Merrill Bonarrigo.

And Don’t Forget About our Fabulous Dinners…
- Murder Mystery Dinners
- Moonlit Harvest
- Vintner Dinners featuring succulent food courses complemented by Messina Hof wines
- Grand Finale Celebration

Moonlit Harvest
The fun begins on the first Friday at our Moonlit Harvest. We’ll teach you the basics of grape harvesting, and then turn you loose in the vineyard to pick the ripest clusters of grapes while the sun goes down. After stomping the grapes, we then head over to the Vintage House Restaurant to enjoy a special menu created just for our Harvest Festival schedule. 

2010 Harvest Calendar:

JULY
Weekend #1
16th - Moonlit Harvest Dinner 6:00pm
17th - Harvest Daytime 8:00am
17th - Celebrity Celebrations Murder Mystery Dinner 6:30pm
18th - Harvest Daytime 8:00am
18th - Harvest VIP Reception 4:00pm to 6:00pm

Weekend #2
23rd - Murder of the Mateys Murder Mystery Dinner 6:30pm
24th - Harvest Daytime 8:00am
24th - Harvest Luau Dinner 6:00pm
25th - Harvest Daytime 8:00am

Weekend #3
30th - Murder on the Prairie Murder Mystery Dinner 6:30pm
31st - Harvest Daytime 8:00am
31st - Vintner Dinner 6:30pm
AUGUST
1st - Harvest Daytime 8:00am

Weekend #4
6th - Moonlit Harvest Dinner 6:00pm
7th - Harvest Daytime 8:00am
7th - Murder at the Juice Joint Murder Mystery Dinner 6:30pm
8th - Harvest Daytime 8:00am

Weekend #5
13th - Lights, Camera, Murder! Murder Mystery Dinner 6:30pm
14th - Harvest Daytime 8:00am
14th - Grande Finale Dinner featuring Palm Bay Imports 6:30pm
15th - Harvest Daytime 8:00am

Here are a few suggestions on how to prepare for picking and stomping outside.
- bring sunblock
- wear closed toed shoes
- wear comfortable clothes
- recommended to bring gloves
- drink plenty of water
- bring a hat
- We recommend wearing light-colored loose-fitting clothing.

You can email your registration form to event@messinahof.com  or by fax 979-778-4197 today! To make reservations, or to get more information about the Festival, you can also call (800) 736-9463 ext. 234.