Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Lange.
Hi Lisa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My husband and I dreamed for many years of leaving our “regular” jobs as an engineer and teacher and moving out to the country full time. We would spend many weekends out in our old farmhouse on my family’s land that dates back to 1847. Kevin would go out on weekends and work the cattle with my father and our boys loved riding 4-wheelers, fishing, and hunting on the land. My father passed away suddenly in 2011 and we had to spend even more time tending to the cattle ranch and property.
A few years went by, and I had either a weak moment, or an epiphany, during Spring Break 2019. We were sitting in our rocking chairs just before sunset, sipping on wine and as we gazed out at the gorgeous field of bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush I simply said “this would be a wonderful setting to host weddings”.
Kevin just replied with “Yes. And what goes perfectly with weddings? Wine. Just imagine the vineyard on the sloping hills in amongst the bluebonnets.” And, just like that, our dream had cemented into a plan. We immediately put together a timeline of five years to start our business and we converted our son’s old bedroom into the home “winery”.
When COVID hit, our house under remodeling and there was only one room where we could work on our laptops. We spent several months in that room working our jobs online and we realized how much fun we had working together like that. This only sped up a timeline a bit and I quit my job as a teacher in May of 2022. We worked together making wine for several years in preparation of our move to a commercial facility.
By the end of 2022 it was time to start advertising the venue and planning out the vineyard and building. We wanted this beautiful place to be a haven that we can share with others and we wanted our business to also be a ministry to others. We decided to focus on micro-weddings only and be a place that looked holistically at bridal budgets and worked with couples to help them have a gorgeous wedding in a beautiful setting on a very reasonable budget.
We wanted to fling open the doors of our family property the way my 5-times great uncle Marcus Amsler did here back in the 1850’s. Our price point and micro-wedding offering reaches those in the market that may be neglected by the larger “wedding business machine” in Houston. We have been so blessed by the 46 couples that have already gotten married here in just two years.
And, our wine-making continues to improve and evolve as Kevin strives to make micro batches with amazing flavors using the grapes grown here in this region, juice from other parts of Texas, and juice from California. Kevin lost his entire sense of smell and taste due to COVID in 2022 and he has been forced to learn to trust and rely on my palette, our employees and friends’ feedback, and his brother who flies in from Virginia several times a year to assist with the blend selection. HIs sister also recently retired and moved here from Napa to help us out. This is truly a family business and truly a team effort.
We follow a similar strategy with our wine as we do with our weddings. We keep things niche and specialty with batches that only make 25 cases at a time. We currently offer 18 different wines and they all have one thing in common – bold, creative flavors, using techniques that make our wines specialty in nature and unique in the market.
The amount the work involved in this business feel overwhelming at times. But when we have couples that hug us and say “we couldn’t have had a gotten married if it wasn’t for you guys”, it all seems worth it. It also feels good when we winery guests tell us our wines are spectacular and that we need to somehow find a way to share this hidden gem with more people. But this fills our tank and gives us energy to move forward and keep going with our passion.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Kevin called me one day in late 2022 while I was baby-sitting our grandson and told me that the winery business wasn’t going to work due to the need for a “public water supply”. But, after a few more days of calling and research, we found a way to get water from the existing water supply company out in the country.
Our building was also delayed by 5-6 months, and halfway through construction we were informed that they could NOT build the building that was promised in the contract. We were trying to be the first winery in Texas with a fully “rammed earth” facility, but it turns out the humidity is too high in this region for that to work. So, we ended up with a fully concrete building instead and it has actually turned out way better than our first plan anyway.
We learned significant commercial lessons, like buying bad wine from a manufacturer to help us get started our first year, or booking weddings without a building being finished.
Right now, our biggest struggles are balancing work and our personal life, and we also feel like we are the Who’s in Horton Hears A Who shouting “We Are Here!!!!” all of the time.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am able to use my skills and gifts as a teacher and youth minister to build relationships and coach our brides through the wedding planning process. Kevin is able to directly apply his experience as an engineer in the oilfield chemicals business in his wine-making processes.
What sets us apart from others is the “micro” nature of our work:
1) Micro weddings with a lower price point
2) Small batch wine making with amazing flavors
What do you like and dislike about the city?
It is the same answer for both. We LOVE being out in the country, but that means we have to do a lot of marketing to let people know what we are here.
Pricing:
- $1250 – $2100 for a wedding/reception
- $25 – $29 for 16 of our wines
- Two wines are more expensive with our Private Reserve being $49/bottle
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amslerhillswinery.com
- Instagram: @amslerhillswinery
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088815961573
Image Credits
Prudence Photography (the two of us at the bar)
