We had the good fortune of connecting with Chelsea Mouton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chelsea, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Buzz, Wanda, and Scott talked about it for many years. Then all the pieces came together! We all get to do what we love, and Scott and I get to raise our kids along side us at the winery while we work (and play). 

What should our readers know about your business?
We are a small winery in a rural area- not in wine country at all. We set out to make a wide variety of wines so everyone could find something they enjoy. We know there are hard core, traditional, dry red only customers, and those who only drink moscato. There can be fine wines in both categories so that’s what we wanted to make, quality wines to appeal to a wide range of pallets. We also wanted to make our wines ourselves rather than buy bulk wine and out our name on it. So we do everything ourselves! And every wine we’ve sent off to a competition has come back with a medal, so I think we succeeded at both goals. It hasn’t been easy. We do everything from process the grapes, make the wine, and bottling to the everyday cleaning and maintenance. We don’t have any employees right now, just our little family. We don’t operate on debt- that’s been very important to us. New business is fragile and we wanted to build a solid foundation.
We love what we do. We love raising our kids along side is in the business.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Nacogdoches has some great places to visit. Stephen F Austin has several public gardens (SFA Gardens) that are outstanding. There are some fantastic local restaurants like Brendyn’s BBQ, Auntie Pastas, and Dolli’s Diner. Nacogdoches has a long and Rick history so there are great historical sites to see, especially downtown. Be sure to stop by our winery, not just for the wine, but for outstanding wood-fired pizza made by Andy’s Cookery! The other local watering holes are great too- Red House Winery, Fredonia Brewery, and Front Porch Distillery are all worth a stop in for a drink!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The Nacogdoches community! We are so grateful for local support. Not every business recovered after being shut down for 6 long months during covid- but our customers showed up in droves as soon as we re-opened. And with lots of local orders and deliveries while we were closed, we were very encouraged.

Website: Nacavalley.com

Instagram: @naca_valley_vineyard_nac_texas

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nacavalleyvineyard?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Chelsea Mouton

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.