If you’re a successful entrepreneur with a taste for fine wine, then owning a vineyard and winery might be your dream retirement investment. Maybe, you see yourself sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of your farmhouse sipping a glass of your own Pinot made from your grapes while watching the sunset. Spoiler alert—you’re going to have to work. It can’t be Rosé all day!
If you want to make it more than a hobby so that it becomes profitable—or at least self-sufficient—then you’re going to have to put in some hard work. Continue reading learn how to build a winery that will be able to hold its own in Wine Country.
Find a property and construct your winery.
Even if you get your wine onto the shelves of the top wine sellers in the United States, some wine connoisseurs like to see the whole operation in-person. It’s likely that a trip to wine country was the inspiration behind you wanting to open a winery of your own.
If you want to grow your own grapes, then it’s best to buy a vineyard rather than start your own. You should still rip out the old vines and start from scratch, but at least you know you’ll have land suitable for a vineyard.
Putting your winery on a vineyard could make it an instant attraction for Wine Country tourists. If you want to attract travelers as well as make excellent wine, then you should also add a luxurious tasting room to your property.
Your winery should have a design that appeals to wine drinkers. Imagine leading tourists through a modern wood garage door that leads to the cellar where your wine ages. Finish the tour by bringing them into a lavish wine tasting room where they can experience the results of your process from grapes, to mash, to fine wine.
Incorporate technology.
Just as in most business ventures today, technology is your best friend. If you fail to implement it, then you will fail to compete with the best wineries in your area.
The internet of things (IoT) has changed farming forever. Now, you can automate the watering of your plants by digitally connecting your irrigation systems to your computer systems. You can even use IoT to track the growth and health of your plants.
Wineries are beloved because they have a touch of antiquity to them, but don’t let that cause you to underutilize technology. If you want your winery to have the best chance of success, then you have to use the advanced tech that’s at your disposal.
Brand your wine.
If you’ve already achieved success as an entrepreneur, then you know that branding and marketing are essential to the success of any company. Being the best at what you do holds no value if no one knows about the products or services you provide. The same is true for your winery.
Branding a wine is different from branding any other product you’ve dealt with before. One of the things that make people fall in love with a particular brand of wine is the story behind it. The backs of entire labels on bottles of wine have been dedicated to telling the story of that winemaker or even the flavor of that particular wine. Why? Because stories matter to consumers.
The power of sentiment is golden in the wine industry. To brand your wine, you need to come up with a name that hints at the inspiration behind your wine.
You also need to come up with the story of your winery as well as a mission statement. Even if you don’t print those things on your bottle, they should be an integral part of your branding as well as your marketing campaigns.
