Growing up in a very German family in Perry County, Missouri, Brenda (Moll) Thompson was exposed to traditional old-world winemaking her entire life. Every year, her Grandfather, Simeon Moll, would make two barrels of Concord grape wine, while other family members made various other fruit wines. Brenda began making wine in 2000 after she obtained the ‘family recipe’ from her uncle, Willie Bruckerhoff. After a successful first batch of Persimmon wine made from wild fruit gathered in Prairie Point, Brenda continued to make other fruit and grape wines. She attended classes at the T. V. Munson Enology and Viticulture Center at Sherman, Texas, and added modern techniques to her winemaking process. Brenda continued to enhance her winemaking abilities, and won numerous awards for her amateur wines.

In 2003, Brenda and her husband Larry founded the North Texas Winemakers Guild, a group of non-commercial winemakers and grape growers who gather together to share their experiences and learn new techniques. Brenda served as President for three years, during which time the Guild membership grew from 14 to 73 members.

Larry and Brenda Thompson had been home winemakers for over five years before they decided to convert their hobby into a career. Since Larry’s family had been members of the Prairie Point, Texas, community for over a century, he and Brenda were planning to retire in the area and had already planted a small vineyard there. So it was only natural that they would began searching for property nearby to convert into a small commercial winery.

In August, 2005, Larry and Brenda purchased the building on Lots 5-8 in Forestburg. They found that the history of this building ranged from being a car repair shop, a service station, a diesel truck repair shop, and a restaurant. But having been vacant for over 8 years when the Thompsons purchased it, an enormous amount of rennovation was required to get it to its present condition. Their vision was to model the building and tasting room after many of the Wineries and “Weinstube” wine tasting rooms that they had seen during their visits to Germany. Named in honor of their German ancestors, after more than a year of hard labor repairing and replacing portions of the building, Weinhof Winery opened its doors to the public on February 17, 2007.

Copyright 2007 Weinhof Winery LLC