A Mecca For Fine Dining?

Apr 16, 2008 - 16:53:25 CDT.

By Jeffrey Benzing

A ‘LARGER THAN LIFE’ character, the late President Lyndon B. Johnson was portrayed by Michael Stuart at the LBJ National Historical Park’s “Celebration of the 1960s” Saturday when he visited with Janet Rabb of Austin who shared memories of those days. Standard-Radio Post Photo by Cathy Collier

Construction could begin next year on a wine and culinary arts center at the Hill Country University Center if the project is proven self-sufficient by an economic study to be completed this fall.

The project is a joint effort between the Gillespie County Economic Development Commission and the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau.

The finished center would combine state-of-the-art facilities for wine industry education and research with a showcase where visitors can sample and learn about Texas food and wine.

“It’s an economic development thing,” Greg Snelgrove, executive director of the EDC said. “The core focus is to develop professional expertise so people can go throughout the state and make wine and other foodstuffs.”

Sealed proposals outlining the scope and cost of the study were due from interested firms last Thursday. Proposals will be reviewed this month and a contract should be awarded to a winning firm by May 10.

The center is designed to be self-sustaining, with revenue generated from visitor fees, student tuition and gift shop sales.

Early indications and talks with wine makers from across the state show that a center could be economically viable, but development is on hold until results of a feasibility study are presented later this year.

Funding from the EDC, along with funding from the visitor’s bureau under the direction of Ernie Loeffler, has been set aside to hire an independent consulting firm which will research the economic feasibility of a center in Fredericksburg.

According to Snelgrove, eight national firms and a business contact in Texas have been solicited to bid on the study.

In addition to determining the economic feasibility of the center, the study will research the practicality of other aspects of the project.

“By the early fall, we’ll get the study back,” Loeffler said. “At that point, it will be a green light or a red light, or it may be a yellow light.”

Talk of building a center began in 2004 when Craig Park, who at the time was wine maker at Flat Creek Estate in Marble Falls, began work on a proposal outlining the need for professional education in the Texas wine industry.

According to that document, the Texas wine industry was comprised of 23 wineries in 2002 which grew to 105 wineries by January 2005.

In order to improve product quality and maintain growth, Park’s proposal stated that Texas winemakers would need to develop agricultural and wine-making skills on a local level.

Using this idea, Snelgrove and Loeffler have been working together to make the educational center a reality in Fredericksburg.

The project is still in its early stages, but plans for the center include space for a museum, tasting rooms, studio kitchens, along with classroom and research facilities.

“It’s not pure research; it’s not pure academics, and it’s not pure tourism,” Rick Naber, president of Flat Creek Estate winery, said. “It’s something else. It’s outside the box.”

Potential academic partners include Texas Tech University, Texas A&M University, Grayson County College in Denison and Austin Community College.

Both Snelgrove and Loeffler have traveled across Texas recently to build support for the center and solicit feedback on their plans. Loeffler also toured a wine and culinary center in upstate New York which has become a model for the project.

The response from wine makers across the state, Snelgrove said, has been very positive.

Snelgrove and Loeffler have also talked with Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples who could be a vital ally in securing state funding for the center when the Texas Legislature convenes in January 2009.

Staples has not been heavily involved in the project but is enthusiastic about its potential.

“The wine industry in Texas today is over a billion dollar a year industry and is having a significant impact on our state’s economy,” Staples said. “A concept for a center makes good business sense.”

While primarily designed to boost the wine industry, the center, according to Snelgrove, would also be a marketing tool for all varieties of Texas agriculture.

“Our center would represent all wineries in the state and showcase Texas agriculture,” he said. “Any focus other than that is the wrong focus.”

Although Texas has many wine producing regions, Loeffler said Fredericksburg’s proximity to Austin and San Antonio -- both growing metropolitan areas -- makes it a logical location for the center.

Fredericksburg is already a wine and culinary destination for tourists, and Loeffler said traffic from out of town would increase with construction of the center. This would benefit the wine industry while also benefitting the city.

“We look at it as tourism product development,” Loeffler said. “Tourism destinations as a whole are sort of like theme parks -- you have to have new attractions.”

Currently, all plans for the center are provisional.

Proposals for the feasibility study will be reviewed by a panel put together by Loeffler and Snelgrove.

On first evaluation, the panel will not know the price each firm has set for the study. Once a proposal has been chosen based on merit, the panel will consider each proposal in terms of cost. Snelgrove said he hopes the winning proposal will be from the firm that offers the right price.

After a contract is awarded, several months of research will begin.

If the final study states that the center is not economically sustainable, both Snelgrove and Loeffler said the project would probably be scrapped.

But if the results are good, fundraising will begin. At that point, Loeffler said, a non-profit organization would be formed to build and fund the facility, with construction beginning as early as 2009.