Who am I to pass up a wine tasting? Not me. I’m game anytime, anywhere. Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF for short) runs every year during October and November in Todd Mission, Texas (just north of Houston). There is something for everyone! Costuming, jousting and other shows, shopping for handcrafts, festival eating, people watching, and…wait for it…wine (and mead!) drinking. Unlike other generic festivals, TRF has a wonderful selection of wine and mead from Texas and beyond. Last weekend we attended during Oktoberfest themed weekend and hunted down the best wines offered.
Near the entrance is King’s Bar and Patio where we spotted McPherson Sparkling and a variety of wines from Messina Hof and Hye Meadow Winery. Quite the variety of outstanding Texas wines to celebrate Texas Wine Month (October). We picked up a bottle of McPherson Sparkling to share in our party of six for breakfast. Yeah you read that right…breakfast.
You’ll find one of my absolute favorites, Messina Hof, all around the fairgrounds, so you definitely don’t have to look hard. Messina Hof partners with Texas Renaissance Festival and provides some of their crowd favorites as well as limited edition exclusive blends made specifically for TRF. Depending on the weather, which you know is variable in Houston, we typically purchase white wine when it’s warm (ok, hot), or red wine when it’s cold.
If you sip throughout the day like we do, enjoy a fun pairing with festival food. Since last Saturday was rather warm, we enjoyed Messina Hof White Knight blend and paired it with Scotch eggs (hard-boiled eggs wrapped in sausage meat, coated in bread crumbs and deep-fried). I usually eat very strictly, but if there’s a Scotch egg to be found, stay out of my way for your own safety.
If you like mead (wine made with honey), get excited, because there is plenty at TRF. The Hive Mead Bar by the entrance has a variety of mead from several meaderies. We purchased Griffin Meadery Awesome Blossom to enjoy that afternoon. Cold, refreshing, and just sweet enough!
For a full blown mead tasting, we always stop by Mead Hall for Enchanted Manor. They do a short demo and allow you to taste from about three of their meads, all of which are for purchase. My favorite is always their Traditional Mead. Just get their early(ish) – this is a popular attraction and it gets crowded!
Another option if planning ahead is attending the King’s Wine Tasting, which we will be attending again later this season. Ticket prices to the wine tasting include entrance, so don’t let the price tag discourage you. It’s well worth it! We’ve enjoyed this full tasting several times in the past. The wines featured at the tastings vary, so we’ve yet to taste anything twice. And those women are a riot!
Raise your fancy wooden goblets, faire goers…HUZZAH!! So what will be in your goblet?
This looks so fun! Hope you had a great time!