The Lone Star State is home to a vibrant and innovative wine scene, but, just like most hospitality businesses, winemakers missed the opportunity to engage with their patrons amid the pandemic. With a new idea of how to engage its customers, Messina Hof, an award-winning Texas winery, rolled out a new tech-optimized, at-home experience.
The winery partnered with VISION, a Houston-based production group, to create an augmented reality app. Combining the efforts of Messina Hof’s in-house label design team and the animation capabilities of VISION, the app took four months to design.
“It was a labor of love for both parties to be able to experiment with this; it was uncharted territory,” says Karen Bonarrigo, owner and chief administrative officer of Messina Hof.
The three wines released — Emblaze (Sweet Red), Vitality (Dry White), and Abounding (Dry Red) — each tells a story through the AR experience.
“We wanted to try not only and push the technology as far as we can push it,…