The Battalion
LIFESTYLES ' 4
Monday, April 16,1990
Lifestyles Editor Mary-Lynne Rice 845-3313
Messina Hof winery creates award-winning vintages
Brazos Valley vineyards offer tours
through wine-producing operations
By PATRICK HAYS
Of The Battalion Staff
In time, the Brazos Valley may be
recognized as the source of some of
the best wines in the world, if awards
and accolades from wine connois
seurs are any indication.
As recently as four weeks ago,
Messina Hof wines won four medals
at the Orange County Fair. They
also have won awards at The Ameri
can Wine Society competition in Chi
cago, as well as in San Francisco and
at other regional and international
competitions.
Messina Hof won about 40 awards
for its wines in 1989.
Located a few miles east of Bryan
on Highway 21, the Messina Hof
winery has been cultivated its vine
yards for 13 years.
Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo plan
ted the vineyards in 1977, and they
first released the wine comercially in
1983.
Paul Bonarrigo comes from a wi
nemaking family. His grandfather
planted vineyards
m Messina, Sicily
before moving to
New York in
1924, where he
also started vine
yards.
In the Bonar
rigo family, the
name Paul is
given to the first
born son of each
generation, and
that son is desig
nated the wine
maker for his
generation.
The name of
the winery comes
from the back
ground of Paul
and Merrill’s
families. Merrill’s descendents are
from Hof, Germany. They com
bined that with the Messina from
Paul’s family history to get “Messina
Hof.’’
Tours of the winery are offered
every day. About 50,000 people took
the tour in 1989, and 75,000 guests
are expected in 1990. The tour con
sists of four stops.
The first stop is just outside the
main building, which was formerly a
convent.
The Ursuline Sisters had lived in
Galveston, but moved to Bryan
around 1900 after a hurricane. Af
ter the nuns left the house, it was
converted into a finishing school.
Twenty years later, the house was
“W,
e figured our market
was B-CS and Houston and
now it’s the world.”
— Paul Bonarrigo,
Messina Hof winemaker
badly damaged by
‘ the Will
fire and was
e William Howell Jr.
bought by
family.
Bonarrigo took over the house in
1977 and began planting his vine
yards.
The next stop on the tour is at the
grape fields, which encompass more
than 40 acres. The majority of
grapes are of the Black Spanish vari
ety and are harvested during the
summer.
The grapes are hand-picked by
volunteers, only during the hours of
7-10:30 a.m. It takes about a week to
harvest all the grapes.
The grape fields are surrounded
by rose bushes. Roses are indicator
plants — they are affected by the
same diseases that can harm grapes,
but they show symptoms earlier. If
the rose bushes become unhealthy,
protective measures can be taken be
fore the grapes are damaged.
> Next on the tour is the vat room.
It contains several 3,780-gallon vats,
designed to store the wine before it
is bottled.
The wine is made in a press where
skin and seeds are discarded before
being put in the vats. Yeast is then
added and fermentation begins.
The last stop is back in the house,
where visitors can sample four of the
winery’s 11 varieties. Among the va
rieties Messina Hof bottles are Char-
donnays, Blushes, Blancs, Sauvig-
nons, Rieslings, Ports and a
Zinfandel.
Paul Bonarrigo says the winery
sold more than 17,000 cases of its
wine last year, and he anticipates
selling 22,000 cases this year. Zinfan
del is the best selling wine.
The winery advertises locally as
well as in Houston, where it has two
full-time sales personnel.
Messina HoFs market also has ex
tended beyond the boundaries of
the United States.
Last August, the
winery sold more
wine to Japan
than it sold in
Texas.
Bonarrigo
cited two factors
that have given
rise to the inter
national market:
Texas has strong
name recogni
tion, and Messina
Hofs wines are
moderately
priced, he said.
Bonarrigo said
he believes the
h wine industry
faces challenges
in the future.
“We’re in the adolescent stage of
our industry right now,” Bonarrigo
said.
The winery also needs to deter
mine the scope of its market, he said.
“We figured our market was B-CS
and Houston and now it’s the
world,” Bonarrigo said.
Messina Hof wines are available at
local grocery and liquor stores, as
well as at the winery.
To make reservations for a tour,
call the winery at 778-9463.
Battalion Hie photo
Messina Hof winemaker Paul Bonarrigo foresees wines. The Brazos Valley wines already have
the expansion of a worldwide market for his won many regional and national awards.
Kill tones blend rock, blues in distinctive style
By PATRICK HAYS
Of The Battalion Staff
Take some hard driving rock
’n’roll, throw in some blues, a dash
of Texas spice, and some laughter
for good measure, and you’ve got
The Killtones, a definite bright spot
on the College Station music scene.
Had Binion (guitar, vocals), Steve
Kuhn (bass) and Craig Knight
(drums) have played together as The
Killtones since Summer 1988.
Kuhn said he met Binion and
Knight on the same evening, and
that they jammed together a few
days later.
And the rest, as they say, is his
tory.
The band has played around Col
lege Station since then, and has en
joyed considerable success, opening
shows for bands such as Ten Hands
and Omar and the Howlers.
Kuhn attributes the group’s suc
cess to the camaraderie the band
members share.
The Killtones’ lead singer, Had Binion, also a member of the
Austin band Silent Partners, jams on guitar. Killtones members
not pictured are bassist Steve Kuhn and drummer Craig Knight.
“We’re really good friends,” he
said.
Knight agreed, saying, “I think
. the objective is ‘Have a good time.’ ”
Their musical influences include
Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn,
Grand Funk, Led Zeppelin, Paul
McCartney and Living Colour.
Their live shows include about 2/3
cover material and 1/3 original
songs, but they said they play un
usual covers.
“We’re not going to play ‘Twist
and Shout,’ ” Binion said.
They plan to move toward playing
more original songs in the future.
The band plans to stay together,
even though the members live in dif
ferent cities.
Binion graduated from Texas
A&M last May and moved to Austin
to pursue a career in music. He
joined The Kerouacs last summer,
and has played duet shows with Dru
Wilson, also of The Kerouacs.
He recently joined Austin band
Silent Partners, whose bass player
and drummer formerly played with
blues artist B.B. King.
Binion makes the trip to College
Station each time The Killtones have
a gig-
Kuhn will graduate in December
and is considering rejoining the Ma
rine Corps — he was on active duty
from 1981-85 — but he says he has
yet to make his decision.
In the meantime, the band contin
ues to be well received. Crowd re
sponse is usually enthusiastic, they
said, especially when the band plays
songs the audience has heard be
fore.
The future looks promising for
The Killtones. Their rock ’n’ roll,
highlighted with a shot of the blues,
should continue to be a treat for Col
lege Station music lovers.
Versatile Killtones give
cover classics new sound
By PATRICK HAYS
Of The Battalion Staff
The Killtones rolled into Waiv
ers Friday night, leaving a path of
pure rock ’n’ roll in their wake.
The band rocked for more
than two hours, mixing original
and cover tunes to the delight of
dozens of fans.
They opened the show with ZZ
Top’s “Pearl Necklace,” and fol
lowed up with Jimi Hendrix’s
“Spanish Castle Magic.” They
seemed right at home on stage,
and complemented one another’s
playing w ell.
Binion proved his versatility as
a guitarist. Some of his onstage
gestures are reminiscent of Eric
Johnson’s, and it is clear that he is
influenced by the Austin musi
cian.
He gets excellent sound from
his guitar, his solos are creative
and he has no trouble carrying
the band through their set.
The band played several top
cover songs, including “The
House is Rockin’ ” fay Stevie Ray
Vaughan, “Rock This 1 own” by
Stray Cats, ZZ Top’s “Arrested
for Driving While Blind” and a
tune by The Jeff Healy Band.
The best cover of the evening
was a very impressive version of
Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe."
The Killtones original songs
were also good, especially “Be
With Me” and “Surrounded By
Love”, which highlights Binion’s
bluesy vocals.
Bassist Steve Kuhn mixed well
with Binion and drummer Craig
Knight. Not a moment went by
that he didn’t have a smile on his
face as he maneuvered around
the stage.
It was clear that these guys
came to play, and that they were
determined to have a good time
while doing it. I’d have to say they
pulled it off.
A rchitects, archaeologists
cotiaborate to sa ve Colosseum
ROME (AP) — Pilgrims during
the Dark Ages believed that if the
Colosseum fell, Rome — and the
world — would fall, too.
Now seers of the scientific age
are trying to figure out how to
keep the symbol of eternity stand
ing.
By modern architectural stan
dards, the ancient amphitheater
presents an alarming situation,
says Maria Letizia Conforto, an
architect with Rome’s Superin
tendency of Archaeology.
Still, she hastens to explain that
the 1,900-year-old monument is
not about to collapse.
“The ancients must have
known what they wete doing,”
she says. “T hey used enormous
amounts of material that in them
selves provided a large measure
of security.”
But the ancients weren’t figur
ing on erosion by pollution and
vibration from relentless auto
mobile traffic and subway trains
that run nearby.
Particularly worrisome is the
155-foot high outside wall that
faces the Appian Hill.
The wall’s lower levels were
buttressed during the Colosse
um’s last major shoring-up in the
mid-1800s under the direction of
the papacy.
But the top lacks supports,
and, Conforto says, without a
careful inspection, experts can’t
say whether it might topple.
A year ago, monitoring devices
were installed at suspected weak
points, Conforto says, but it will
take a few seasons of computer-
analyzed data to know if expan
sion and contraction of brick, tra
vertine and tufa are due to
changes in weather or are cause
for alarm.
Irene lacopi, an archaeologist
from the superintendency, says
about $600,000 is spent annually
for simple maintenance, such as
removing weeds that sprout in
cracks.
The superintendent’s office
has requested $44 million for a
major overhaul — filling the
cracks, installing a permanent
monitoring system and cleaning
the stone and brick of black crust
caused largely by automobile
emissions.
Restoration, as envisioned,
would let modern tourists better
explore the ancient secrets of the
amphitheater, where crowds of
up to 50,000 people cheered
gladiators fighting each other or
wild beasts.
Tourists are not allowed to
wander the walled channels un
der the center stage.
The channels once held scen
ery that was raised to the stage
and lions and tigers that were
sent into combat.
The walls of the passageways
have lost the support of the cen
tral platform that once covered
them and have been greatly
weakened by moisture, Conforto
says.
“We have to clean up the old
drainage system,” she says.
“When it rains, the problems are
enormous.”
A tunnel once helped drain
water, but its opening to the out
side was blocked during subway
construction in the 1930s.
Restorers want to build a re
taining wall that would encircle
the stone and brick aisles in the
center and lend them support.
Rome’s superintendent of ar
chaeology, Adriano La Regina,
envisions covering the restored
passageways with a removable
platform so that tourists can
stand center-stage as the ancient
performers did and marvel at the
arched tiers.
Until the 1970s, visitors could
climb to the uppermost level fora
grand view of the excavated Fo
rum and the cypress-shaded Pala
tine Hill where emperors lived.
But the level’s steps were worn
steep, and other dangers con
vinced authorities to close the top
tier.
Under restoration the path
would be made safe for strolls at
the top.
Man began damaging the mon
ument long before pollution took
its toll.
Builders of several Rome pal
aces, St. Peter's Basilica and even
the banks of the Tiber raided the
Colosseum for its fine blocks of
travertine.
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