Every year’s Harvest Festival is unique, with 2020 featuring one of Messina Hof’s largest harvests to date when it comes to their acreage of Lenoir, a black-skinned grape variety. With an increased yield comes the resources for creating better wine to share with the community. The harvest festival presents the opportunity for guests to come together in the community and experience an organic, unique approach to winemaking.
The harvest events provide the opportunity for community members to see what the vine-to-bottle transformation looks like, from the crushing and stomping to the year-long process of growing a vineyard and bearing fruit. Messina Hof’s 43rd annual Harvest Festival kicks off on July 24 with a Moonlit Harvest and concludes with the formal Grand Finale Gala on Aug. 15.
Messina Hof abides by the guidelines of the current state regulations, with plans to further adjust the operation of the family-owned business in accordance with shifting regulations, says Alex Hall, marketing coordinator at Messina Hof Winery and Resort. Drawing crowds of more than 100 guests at outdoor events in the past, this year’s Harvest Festival will be limited to about 50 guests per group.
To ensure the comfort of guests, Messina Hof will limit guest count for scheduled Daytime Harvest, Moonlit Harvest, and Specialty Dinners; provide hand-sanitizing stations; limit contact during wine sales and dining; have face coverings available; employ frequent disinfecting and cleaning services of common surfaces; complete daily grand cleaning and disinfecting of venue areas; and encourage social distancing. Harvest events featuring grape stomping and crushing will provide guests with individual bins as opposed to the previous communal stomping.
“This festival is still able to take place because of its nature in the sense that it’s very spaced out,” says Hall. “It’s more about the guests’ individual experience versus group experience when it comes to picking; you pick with someone that comes with you, you pick with partners, with your family and friends. It doesn’t require a whole lot of group contact.”
For many locals, the Harvest Festival is a way of celebrating the summer and fine wine. The Messina Hof staff is excited for guests to come back, says Hall. Guests can enjoy a safe experience at any of the Harvest Festival events this year.
“We welcome adjusting to the times; we understand that the safety and happiness of our guests and staff are of the utmost importance so we’re happy to make adjustments,” says Hall. “We’re happy to have our guests come back despite the circumstances.”
Hall says there’s always happy guests and smiling faces at the harvest events. She encourages guests to experience the Daytime Harvest and Moonlit Harvest events. These events are well-suited for families and create a different experience depending on the time of day you attend.
Murder Mystery Dinners will continue as scheduled, with slight formatting adjustments that allow guests to have a single table of interaction instead of the large-scale socializing characteristic of the event in years past. Dinner events are paired with wine and can be enjoyable for those under the age of 21 with beverage choices of sparkling grape juice, tea, and water, says Hall. All ages are welcome to the Outdoor Gourmet BBQ, featuring all-you-can-eat barbeque and fixings, yard games, and more.
Messina Hof’s 43rd Harvest Festival guests will enjoy a unique and memorable experience this summer. To purchase tickets or learn more about the individual events, visit www.messinahof.com/pages/location/harvest-festival.
“I always really enjoy experiencing the picking and just meeting guests who have never experienced something like this,” says Hall. “Watching guests experience something that’s more of an organic approach to bonding and watching them learn where wine really does come from is such a unique experience and answering questions for them is really fun.”
