SAN ANTONIO — Many people would find the art of making wine a daunting process. With a rich history stretching back thousands of years, the process involves picking out fruit, fermentation, bottling the finished liquid and everything in between.
For Judith Raven, wine was a hobby before it was a calling. Her growing business, Esperanza Winery, LLC., is a labor of love born out of her passion for wine.
See the full conversation with Raven in the video below (article continues underneath).
How it began
"I belong to a wine tasting group and we took it very seriously," Raven said. "We would go to each other's house to study wine once a month, kind of like a potluck dinner taking turns."
The group was very dedicated to their studies. Raven developed, not just a love of wine, but a true understanding of it.
"They'd all be so different because the wine makers were different, and we'd study what foods would go with it and what it tasted like," Raven said. "And we did really in-depth notes on all of this because we really were studying wine."
The group had always talked about members making their own wine, but that talk turned into reality when Raven bought a ranch in Spring Branch, Texas.
"And the conversation started. 'So when are you putting vines in?' And so they all thought it was a good idea. If we put vines in, we could each have our own wine and it would be great," Raven said. "Of course, there's a lot of work before that, but that's exactly what happened. And so we began with the vineyard."
Esperanza Vineyard was established on March 3, 2000, and the winery side was established in 2015. It was the first winery of Spring Branch and is the first winery of Blanco, Texas. Using the fruit produced on the estate itself, and supplementing with Texas High Plains fruit, the winery has produced six varietals with multiple vintages.
The details
Of course, every new business has its struggles. But, Raven says the delicate art of winemaking added some unique challenges.
"The struggle on making wine is, of course, when things go wrong, you know. And it's OK to pour out six gallons of something that went wrong. But it really breaks your heart to pour out 60 gallons of something wrong, or 600 gallons of something that went wrong," Raven said. "So the biggest challenge was consistency and making a wine that was palatable...that somebody would want to drink."
Just like the careful planning that goes into making wine, Raven used a careful strategy for creating her business, starting small and eventually opening a tasting room in Blanco, Texas.
"When we began, we were selling our fruit to other wineries. And so that's kind of how we got our foot in the door. But, when we still had wine, we were ready to sell. Being out on the ranch with nobody coming out that way wasn't a good idea. So, we looked for a public spot and we're right here in Main Street in Blanco," Raven said. "We have drive-by traffic all the time and it was a slow start for people to see us. But we have been steadily building and we market on social media for the wine groups."
Lessons learned
"No matter what the business, I would recommend that you don't overspend, don't go out and buy all the colors of coffee cups and T-shirts that you need to to market your best. Don't start little, you know, don't do too much too soon. Small bites, you know?" Raven said.
Raven recently retired after spending 40 years as an accountant. It is valuable and crucial experience that prepared her for the realities of growing a business.
"Business owners fail in the first year or two because they overextend themselves. They're expecting way too much income and it's not going to be there and it's going to come in drips and dribbles," Raven. "That's how you have to spend. Understand you have to do some startup costs, but keep it. Keep it normal. Keep it small. And then as the business expands, you can do more, just make it in proportion."
We asked Raven what made her bottles stand out from the pack.
"I think it's because we're a boutique winery. I'm not trying to be everything to everybody. I run out. We sell out of wine, which is a good/bad problem," Raven said "We are, I call it 'Blanco Prices'. We're not high-priced. I think it's a good quality wine for the price. We have accessibility. I'm not on the 290 wine route, which I really wanted to be. But, Blanco had no winery, so I was the first winery of Spring Branch. And now there are three and I'm the first winery of Blanco."
Devoted following
Raven's business has attracted a devoted following to her location in the Hill Country. While visiting the winery, we met news customers as well as multiple regular customers.
One regular customer, a freelance caterer, even brought Raven a savory cheesecake from a recipe he made specifically to pair with one of her red wines. That's dedication!
"I get a lot of feedback from customers, especially the ones that go up [Highway] 290, you know, participate in the other tastings at other places. And they want it to be not too expensive. They don't want to be taken advantage of. They want variety and they want to be listened to," Raven said. "It's almost like being, you know, not the shrink, almost like your hairdresser. People want to talk to you and exchange ideas and be validated and do that over wine. You know, I've had a lot of whiskey drinkers come in here, and they don't want to drink wine, 'OK? You don't have to drink wine. It's OK', you know? And then they'll end up wanting to drink wine and then they'll buy bottles before they leave. And it's amazing the transformation when you say 'it's ok.'"
Weathering the storm
Like the hearty grapes that can weather any storm, her business weathered the anxious, uncertain early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and emerged even stronger.
"One of the happy things about being a winery and not a bar or a just a tasting room, is that there are different rules. And the TABC put out different rules during the COVID pandemic," Raven said. "We did not have to shutter our doors or become a restaurant, so we were fine there. The patrons wanted their wine, and so we did it to-go. I felt kind of like Sonic, where we put our roller skates and go on outside, serve everybody at a drive up, but it worked."
The future
As for the future, Raven hopes to add a tasting room to the Spring Branch winery. She hopes providing tasting opportunities on location where the vines are grown will enhance the experience.
"It will not affect the tasting room here [in Blanco]. It just broadens what's available. And I think it's always nice. People want to sit and drink wine and look at the vines, and they really cannot do that here," Raven said. "This is such a small space, but this is more of a coffee shop feel, and it would be a completely different experience if we had a tasting room at the ranch, you know?"
If you would like to learn more about Esperanza Winery, LLC, you can visit their website, Facebook page or Instagram page!