Something’s Always in the Works at The Durst House

We’ll admit it. The Journal took a little unscheduled vacation. But while things may have been quiet here, they certainly haven’t been quiet around the estate.

August has a funny way of doing that. One minute, we’re pouring wine beneath the trees on a Sunday afternoon. The next, the Barrel Room is being transformed for a wedding, cases are being prepared for Wine Club pick-up, the kitchen is testing something new, and somewhere behind the scenes, another vintage is getting closer to the bottling line.

There is quite a bit in motion at The Durst House right now.

So, this week, instead of choosing just one story, we thought we’d bring you along for a little of everything.

The Host’s Notebook: Imagine Your Wedding Here

There is something about seeing the Barrel Room dressed for a wedding that makes us fall in love with it all over again.

The tables are set. Flowers are tucked into place. Wine barrels line the room. Glassware catches the light. And a space that has witnessed countless bottles of wine suddenly becomes the backdrop for an entirely different kind of vintage: the beginning of someone’s marriage.

We have been welcoming new couples to the estate and adding more weddings to the Durst calendar, and we’re currently booking future dates.

If a winery wedding has been sitting somewhere on your Pinterest board, camera roll, or “maybe someday” conversation, consider this your sign to come see the estate in person.

Because there is much more to a Durst wedding than a beautiful setting.

From Our Kitchen to Your Table

One of the most exciting parts of hosting a wedding at Durst is what can happen around the table.

With our culinary team right here on the property, food can become part of the experience rather than simply something that arrives before dinner.

Beautifully plated entrées. Seasonal vegetables. Thoughtful accompaniments. Durst wines poured alongside each course.

Our kitchen gives couples the opportunity to build a celebration that feels connected to the estate from the first glass to the last plate.

And yes, it tastes every bit as good as it looks.

If you’re considering Durst for your wedding, now is the time to reach out. Dates are being booked, and we would love to show you what your day could look like here.

Come walk the grounds, step inside the Barrel Room, talk food and wine with us, and start imagining your own tables filled with the people you love.

Estate Chronicles: Aloha Is Almost Here

If you’ve noticed a slightly tropical shift happening behind the scenes lately, there is a very good reason.

Our Wine Club Luau is this Saturday, August 22, and preparations are officially in full swing.

We’ve been planning this one for a while, and now all the pieces are finally coming together.

Island Sunset Band will bring the music, while the dancers of Hiva Nui Productions bring a little bit of the islands to Durst. The wine will be cold, the slushies will be frozen, and Chef Bernard and the Durst Kitchen have been busy preparing a Hawaiian-inspired menu for the occasion.

And, Wine Club members, we hope you come hungry.

Your ticket includes a plate of kalua pulled pork sliders on house-made buns with Napa cabbage slaw, traditional Hawaiian macaroni salad, and Chef April’s Kanoa Bar.

A limited vegetarian option featuring grilled portobello and pineapple will also be available.

Throughout the event, Wine Club members can also enjoy a complimentary assortment of cured meats, artisan cheeses, fresh fruit, crackers, and crostini.

And because no Durst party would be complete without pizza, we’ll have a few available for purchase, including our Island Fire, made with SPAM, fresh pineapple, shaved serrano, sweet Maui onion, and our house pineapple-peach BBQ sauce.

It is unapologetically Hawaiian pizza.

We said what we said.

From the Slushy Machine: Things Are Getting Tropical

Just in time for Luau weekend, the slushie machine is getting a tropical upgrade.

This week, we’re adding a Piña Colada Wine Slushie, made with our Amada Mia White. Creamy, pineapple-forward, frozen, and exactly what we want in our glass on a hot August afternoon.

And because one new flavor apparently wasn’t enough, Red Sangria is joining the rotation too.

Our wine slushies have become one of the most fun parts of summer at Durst. We’ve played with bright citrus, berries, tropical fruit, and different Durst wines along the way, and we’re not finished experimenting yet.

For Luau weekend especially, the Piña Colada feels right at home.

Come find your favorite before the machine changes again.

From the Cellar: Before the Label Goes On

Wine is often experienced as a finished thing.

A bottle arrives at the table. The cork comes out. The wine is poured.

But there is an entire life before that moment.

This week, we’re getting closer to one of our favorite parts of that process: bottling new Durst wines.

The bottling line is where months and years of work suddenly begin to look familiar. Empty glass moves forward. Wine fills each bottle. Corks are placed. Labels wrap around the glass. Cases begin stacking.

And eventually, something that has lived in tanks and barrels becomes the bottle you’ll carry home.

There is something wonderfully satisfying about watching it happen.

Especially knowing that soon enough, those bottles will leave the winery and begin showing up at dinner tables, celebrations, Friday nights, anniversaries, and quiet Tuesday evenings when opening the good bottle simply feels like the right decision.

We’ll be sharing more as the newest wines make their way through the line.

Around the Vines: Looking Toward What Comes Next

While bottles are being finished inside, the next chapter is already hanging outside.

The grapes are beautiful right now.

Clusters have deepened in color, berries are plump, and the vines have that unmistakable late-summer look that tells us harvest is no longer some distant idea on the calendar.

It is coming.

This is one of those fleeting moments in wine country that is easy to overlook if you only ever see wine after it reaches the bottle.

Before the cork. Before the label. Before the barrel.

There is this.

A cluster of grapes hanging beneath a canopy of leaves, slowly becoming what we’ll eventually pour into your glass.

Harvest will bring its own kind of beautiful chaos soon enough.

For now, we’re enjoying the view.

Your Weekend at Durst

And there’s plenty happening even outside of the Luau.

Friday, August 21: Durst After Dark with Group Therapy, 5–8 PM. The kitchen opens at 3 PM, so come early for wine, wood-fired pizza and small bites before the music starts.

Saturday, August 22: Chloe Alexis, 1–4 PM, followed by our Wine Club Luau festivities.

Sunday, August 23: Sip Back Sunday with Shane Q, 1–4 PM. Free entry, all ages, wine, food and an easy Sunday afternoon on the Estate.

It’s going to be one of those weekends where there’s a little bit of everything happening around here.

Wine. Food. Music. A Luau. Grapes on the vine. New bottles on the way.

See you at Durst!

The Guest Book: What Should We Pour Next?

This week, we’re turning The Guest Book over to the wine.

With new bottles coming soon and harvest approaching, we want to know:

What do you want to see more of from Durst?

A grape you wish we made? A wine you want to see return? More sparkling? Something unexpected? Or maybe there is already one Durst bottle you would happily keep stocked forever.

Tell us.

Some of the best conversations around here start with someone saying, “You know what you guys should make…”

We’re listening.

Until next week, we’ll be somewhere between the bottling line, the kitchen, the vines, the wedding calendar, and a very tropical Saturday night.

It’s a busy season.

We wouldn’t have it any other way.

With gratitude,The Durst House Team