“I was watching my wife drink a glass of chardonnay one day, and I thought, ‘Man, that can’t be too hard [to make],’” he said. “What I found was it took me three years to make a chardonnay that she’d even drink.”
He began taking classes, volunteering at different vineyards and immersing himself in the world of wine. He had experience in brewing beer and knew the turnaround time for beer brewing is around a month, but with wine, it takes years for someone to taste the final product.
“You’re dealing with what nature gave you, what God gave you in these grapes, and it’s up to you to make that grape show the best as a wine.” he said. “It’s a challenging task.”
Catalano, who also works as a software engineer, teamed with his wife, Audrey, his sister, Marilee, and business partner, Debbie Bruce, to open Bent Oak Winery in October 2015.
The Cedar Park winery currently has 10 different 2016 wines, including Texas Blanc du Bois and Russian River pinot noir labels, and Catalano said the business and has seen much growth since opening.
He said “Quality is paramount” serves as Bent Oak’s business model. Since the winery produces artisan wine, Bent Oak does not have a retail partnership but has some agreements with farm-to-table restaurants, such as Ajo in Round Rock. The winery is also holding its wine club membership to its current enrollment of 500 people.
Bent Oak has seated wine tastings and strives to preserve the quality of the experience to make it unique, Catalano said.
The winery used 4 tons of grapes to produce 300 cases of wine in 2015 and used 19 tons of grapes to produce 900 cases a year later. Catalano estimated Bent Oak will go through 42 tons of grapes to produce 2,000 cases by the end of 2017.
Bent Oak 2016 Wines
White:
• Texas Blanc du Bois
• Chalk Hill chardonnay
• High Plains viognier
• Russian River viognier
• High Plains roussanne
Red:
• Russian River pinot noir
• Texas merlot
• High Plains sangiovese
• High Plains tempranillo
• Russian River zinfandel
Bent Oak Winery
2000 Windy Terrace, Bldg. 2-B, Cedar Park
512-551-1189
www.bentoakwinery.com
Hours: Thurs. and Sat. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri. 3-8 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m., closed Mon.-Wed.
