Things have been hopping recently for the folks at Duchman Family Winery. First, they started up their Movie in the Vineyard series, which sounds like a ton of fun, then they put the finishing touches on their name change (from Mandola Estate Winery), and then they pull down some major praise for their 2008 Dolcetto, which won Double Gold at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. All in all, it seems like exciting times at the Driftwood Texas winery.
I had actually heard about the impending name change from my friend Clint Bingham a while back, and then I started seeing the news on Twitter and the Duchman Family Winery blog. I have been intending to post the news, but got a little buried in the mad dash to the Wine Bloggers' Conference, and subsequent WBC posts. Thanks to Jeremy Parzen of DoBiachi fame for snapping me out of my lethargy, and reminding me about the change.
Drs. Lisa and Stan Duchman recently made the decision to part ways with their partners in Mandola Estate, and have adopted the eponymous name for their solo journey into the world of Texas wine. The wines will still be made by the same team of Dave Reilly and Mark Penna, and my co-pilot on the Taste Texas Twitter event, Bill Elsey, will continue to rock the tasting room and manage sales for the winery.
Congratulations to the Duchman folks on their transition, and on their big will in San Francisco. Great to see Texas wines performing well on an international scale.
Well I was their 500th follower on twitter so I get to do the free portfolio tasting. Feel like heading down there anytime soon? I wouldnt mind sharing.
Yeah, I would love to head out there. I’ve been looking for an excuse to hit up Austin sometime soon.
Always tough to transition a brand name. I wish them the best of luck. The Mandola stuff didn’t rock my world, but I did see some serious potential there.
Josh
drinknectar
Yeah, it is definitely not ideal to have to redo all of the tough work of building a brand. Seems like a good argument against using people’s names for the brand, at least if you are involved in any kind of partnership. I wish them luck in the journey.
Thanks for the post Ben! Make sure to let me know when you and Luke get down to the Hill Country. I’d love to show you guys around the winery and maybe visit a couple of other wineries with you.
@Ben thanks for the shout-out man! so glad to finally connect with you. And yes, let’s hang soon and taste whether down in ATX or up your way… I’ve been following your blog for some time now and it was high time we connected… thanks again!
You bet Bill. That sounds great. I’ll talk with Luke and see what we can come up with. You know I’ve been threatening to come visit for a while now, ’bout time I make good on that.
Sure Jeremy. Thanks for reaching out to me. I’ve been following yours for a while now too. So funny that we took this long to connect, living in the same state and all.