Saturday, April 20, 2024
On Granbury square
With COVID-19 impacting building capacities and live entertainment, things have been pretty quiet the past year at Bull Lion Ranch Wine Shop & Tordiglione Italian Market on the square. But the wine, meat and cheese market has officially roared back to life.
Customers are once again enjoying live jazz and the crooning styles of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.
“We look for unique talent,” said owner Chuck Tordiglione. “We want jazz. We want great musicians. They have to be special and different.”
Tordiglione said that his shop, which he calls his “Cheers bar” after the beloved 1980s sitcom, was one of the last establishments in the historic district to bring back live entertainment.
“I’ve been doing my part,” he said about keeping public safety a top priority.
But with more and more people getting vaccinated against COVID-19, Tordiglione felt safe enough to bring back live entertainment, starting this month, every Friday and Saturday night.
The Bull Lion Ranch Wine Shop & Tordiglione Italian Market is located on the west side of the square at 104 N. Houston St. The establishment offers wine by the glass or bottle as well as appetizers that include family-made Italian salamis and Veldhuizen cheese and desserts that include “to die for” Italian cheesecakes made by Tordiglione’s 95-year-old mother.
The shop is managed by Tordiglione’s daughter, Alex Tordiglione Burns.
Wine-making is a family business for the Tordigliones. Chuck and his wife Cyndi own Bull Lion Ranch & Vineyards at Chalk Mountain near Hico.
Grape varieties grown there are the same as those typically grown on the mountainsides of Italy, Spain and Argentina. They include Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Pino Grigio, Malbec and Tempranillo.
Tordiglione wines have won international awards as well as top honors at GrapeFest in Grapevine. The family’s red Texianti is a GrapeFest People’s Choice Award winner.
The Tordigliones have been so well received in Grapevine that they opened Bull Lion Winery on Main Street. It’s similar to the Granbury shop, which opened in July 2019.
Tordiglione is president of the Cross Timbers Wine & Vineyard Association and as of this year is in charge of the Granbury Wine Walk, scheduled for April.
Just as customers at his shop on the square can buy bottles of wine to take home, Tordiglione said they can also buy an entire cheesecake made by his Italian mom.
Now that might be something to croon about.
kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-579-1886
