Portrait of Mike McHenry
i. Biography
Managing Partner Mike McHenry has helped define Wedding Oak Winery around a narrow brief: Texas-grown grapes, and Rhône-style Texas wines that stay rooted in place. Since 2011, that approach has been built bottle by bottle in San Saba, with the 2024 results showing what consistency can do—Grenache Rosé 2023 earned Double Gold and 98 points at the Experience Rosé Wine Competition, while Castanet 2023 picked up major rosé medals across two competitions.
Coming Up
Before wine, the training was elsewhere. Louisiana Tech University and Memorial High School, Houston Texas, sit at the start of Mike McHenry’s record, followed by a long stretch in sales and Sales Management at Ecolab from 1968–2000. That kind of work rewards discipline, repetition, and reading a market cleanly—skills that later carried into a business built on harvest, blending, and pacing decisions over time. Since 2011, the role at Wedding Oak Winery has given that experience a different use. As Founding Partner and Managing Partner, Mike McHenry has worked within a production model where the fruit comes from Texas and the style draws on Rhône references. The shift is less a change of field than a change of materials: commercial experience applied to a winery whose identity is tied to grape source and regional voice.
Where They Are Now
The Founding Partner role, added in 2012, sits in the same project and reinforces the winery’s Texas focus. The current craft emphasis is straightforward: Texas-grown wines with Rhône-style Texas wines as a defining line.
Career - Founding Partner — Wedding Oak Winery (2012–present) - Managing Partner — Wedding Oak Winery (2011–present) - Various Sales and Sales Management — Ecolab (1968–2000) Education: Louisiana Tech University; Memorial High School, Houston Texas
Signature
Grenache Rosé 2023 and Castanet 2023 are the named bottles that best represent the house style. Both point to the same working vocabulary: Texas-grown fruit, rosé precision, and a Rhône-style direction that is present in the finished wines rather than just in the description.
In Their Words “Texans love our home-grown success, and that is particularly true when we win accolades from international competitions.”
Honors
Grenache Rosé 2023 was the clearest recent marker, earning Double Gold and 98 points at the 2024 Experience Rosé Wine Competition. For a rosé program, that kind of result gives the bottle a specific place in the lineup and confirms the standard being set. Castanet 2023 followed with major rosé medals across two competitions, which strengthens the case for the winery’s current direction without broadening the claim beyond the named wines. Taken together, the two bottles show where the work is landing now: Texas-grown fruit, Rhône-style intent, and competition recognition attached to the wines themselves.
FAQ What is Mike McHenry's current role? As of 2026, Mike McHenry is Managing Partner. Where did Mike McHenry train or study? Mike McHenry trained at Louisiana Tech University and Memorial High School, Houston Texas. What is Mike McHenry known for? Texas-grown wines.
