If nobody has yet been successful in talking you out of it, Congratulations. You are starting a winery! Please see the rest of this page below starting a vineyard if you plan to purchase fruit and not grow it.

  How do I start a vineyard?
There are many resources available to you when looking to start a vineyard. The number of questions relevent to site selection, soil conditioning, aspect, varietal compatibility, rootstock or nursery stock selection, spacing, trellising, canopy management, disease prevention or treatment, etc. is seemingly limitless. The best thing you can do is consult acedemia prior to buying anything. Your state or regional resources for agriculture are probably more helpful than you imagine.  Here is a link to a page full of interesting articles and contacts for viticulture. Growing wine grapes is truly a partnership with Mother Nature. It is best to start off on her good side. I hope this helps.   http://winegrape.cas.psu.edu/GrapeGrowing/GrapeGrowing.aspx

How do I start a winery? 
I would start a folder under the bookmarks tab on your computer and bookmark a link to ourr home page. Click this link to see a list of local associations. Please do not go any further until you have reviewed and bookmarked this web page  http://www.ohiowines.org/winery_starter_kit.shtml Please pay particular attention to:   The Dollars and Sense of Starting a Small Winery By Chris Stamp Mr. Stamp is Winemaker at Lakewood Vineyards in the Finger Lakes and I consider him a friend. He has a regional reputation for being able to answer impossible questions. Somewhere along the way, as a startup winery owner, you must have drunk wine and thought  about how to start a winery. I am doing this, too. We have not gotten past the "Where..?" part yet. But someday we will.  Turning the light of the sun into the shimmer in the glass is a very romantic pursuit. I live this experience vicariously, thanks to our customers. It has become apparent to this supplier that this pursuit will simultaneously satisfy the core of your being and torture your mortal soul. Well, sort of.


There are three ways to start a winery:

1. Buy One (self explanatory)


2. Plant a vineyard, sell fruit starting in year three, use the money from the fruit to show revenue, then:
           A. Borrow a ton of money and build the perfect winery (with a perfect crushpad) next to the vineyard.
           -or-
           B. Use a more humble location and pay a neighbor to make wine for you out of your grapes.


3. Get a fantastic location, plant two rows of vines for scenery. Get product on the shelf by having a neighbor make some of their wine for you until you can gradually undertake more and more of the production work; thus increasing your margins. You would buy your fruit in this model. Why not put the growers' names on the labels? This is industry is synergistic by nature. And its the only one where competition helps everyone. Start by bottling at home, then fermenting at home, then doing crush at home. This is when you will need all those shiny things. 

Any path that leads to starting a winery must start at building a business plan. In the spreadsheet sense, that takes about 16 hours; if you're good. The part that will take more time than anything else (other than actually running the winery and doing the WORK), is toiling over what equipment and barrels and tanks and refrigeration and pumps and hardware to use to reduce the initial capital expense. In all seriousness, read this page on our site called "How to Buy Winery Equipment". You will find that buying it right the first time is a decision you need to make. That said, you will endure the torture of licensing as well. Please contact Patty McRitchie for help on that.

All reliable sources say that it takes up to seven years to enter profitability.

Some hints for profitability:

1. Keep salary expenses down by using interns and volunteers. People love wineries.
2. Offer a share of ownership after several years to key people as a way to make your compensation package appealing and help retain staff- avoid re-training.
   
3. Buy used big- dollar items when you can support them locally. Buy new when you cannot.
4. Cheap bottles. This will enable less change parts in bottling, normal, off- the- shelf capsules, corks, less freight charges for the lighter glass, etc.
5. Put quality in the bottle.
6. Put a nice label and a nice capsule over your natural/ natural- based closure.
   

 

There are many different stages and stations in life which lead to winery ownership. And somewhere along the way, you will notice that there are many suppliers out there who offer what you want and only a few who know what you need. I like to think that the people below are a pretty good first calls to make on a few things I mention. Other suppliers are out there, and at the risk of offending my supplier friends, I write this knowing that there are alternatives and I want to say that the names below are those of companies that most of my startup customers are using. So, at 3AM on a weeknight (after half a bottle of Virginia Merlot) here goes:  


Small- Winery Friendly Suppliers: The Incomplete and Completely Myopic List of "Who's Who" in the Winery Supplier Niche That I do Not Already Represent. By Joe Lutomske

Please proceed under the assumption that you will either make your own wine, hire a winemaker, or hire a consultant or, "D: All of the above". You can ask us about bottles, barrels, oak alternatives, barrel racks, corks, destemmers, presses, pumps, hoses, and even things we don't sell; because we know who does. We can also help you with tanks, , ozone, barrel washing, , etc. But the folks listed below will come in handy, too. We think that starting a winery is easier with help from people who will listen long enough to understand your goals.

Here are some we have met:  

The Architect: We know three architects in the business. Please ask for a referral if interested.

Borrow Some Money: Dave Lueders - Capitol Leasing and Financing Services 925-519-5938 New or used winery equipment financing.

Bottles:    American made wine bottles are for sale here, my friend.
Tip: Use average, affordable bottles to keep from buying duplicate bottling line parts and be able to use normal stuff elsewhere and save cash.      

Label Design:   High quality, unique design concepts from someone who is part of the wine industry, not just working in it.    Fred Wickham -Canasta Design 607-535-5413 bjcanasta@aol.com    

Labels:   Alot of my existing customers use Wright. They are a comprehensive printing company with an impressive portfolio. Please go and visit their site and click contact us to get in touch with the appropriate sales person. Don't tell them I said so, but ask for samples. They do great work! www.wrightlabels.com   

Labeler Machines:   It's really hard to beat a Race Labeler for a small startup winery. If you are still putting labels on by hand, this is your labeler. Please tell Mark that Joe Lutomske sent you!    

Bottling Equipment:   Examine the economics of mobile bottling before you jump this hurdle. Avoid a bottling line until you absolutely need it. Be sure to weigh your options and if you are in doubt, ask me for the names of customers who own bottling lines from different suppliers to get their feedback.    

Chiller:   Your first call should be Justin at G&D. Other options exist. Shop carefully.    

Winery Tasting Room Sales Staff Training  :   Joe Lutomske 607-426-0434. Negotiable fees. 20 years sales training, management and recruiting experience. Wine sales experience. And I sell some equipment from time to time, too!    

Grape Vines:   My Personal Friend: Mike Thomas (559) 217-9778

How To Buy Winery Equipment- click here for some training on that subject.   

At this time, this concludes my list of Small- Winery Friendly Suppliers: The Incomplete and Completely Myopic List of "Who's Who" in the Winery Supplier Niche That I do Not Already Represent. By Joe Lutomske