Minnesota: Growing Grapes & Making Wine
March 20, 2014 —
Minnesota: Growing Grapes & Making Wine I took a long break from blogging while getting my new website up and running, enjoying the holidays and working with some new and established clients. My visit to the Cold Climate Conference in Minnesota is a great opportunity to break back into blogging! Looking out my hotel window, →
What’s the Value of a Viticulturist?
August 14, 2013 —
What’s the Value of a Viticulturist? Who better to ask than Fritz Westover, career learner, educator and leader in viticulture education. Graduating from Penn State with a degree in horticulture and an MS in Plant Pathology, he was soon Virginia Tech’s Viticulture Research-Extension Associate. Fritz later moved on to serve as Viticulture Extension Program →
3 Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make Starting Your Winery
January 8, 2013 —
3 Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make Starting Your Winery I work with people who are interested in opening a winery and are doing their research. I also work with winery owners who have only been open a few years, as well as established wineries facing new challenges. After working and being involved in the →
Trailblazer Challenge: Manning Your Isolated Vineyard
May 18, 2012 —
A couple of weeks ago, I attended Grape Day at Newsom Vineyards, up west of Lubbock in the Texas Panhandle – pretty much in the middle of nowhere. But it was worth the trip – several great speakers (Dr. Andy Walker from UC Davis, Dr. Richard Becker of Becker Vineyards, and many others), interesting people, →
Create Positive Cash Flow Faster (Part 4): Custom Crush
April 6, 2012 —
This is final blog in this series: Three Ways to Produce Positive ROI in Half the Time or Less. We previously broke down how a traditional winery is actually three separate businesses – growing grapes, making wine and retailing. Using this traditional model, you invest in all three businesses in a series and that it →
Create Positive Cash Flow Faster (Part 3): Alternative Winery Model
March 21, 2012 —
Discussed previously in the first blog of this series, Three Ways to Produce Positive ROI in Half the Time or Less, we broke down that a traditional winery is actually three separate businesses – growing grapes, making wine and retailing. Using this traditional model, you invest in all three businesses in series and that it →
Choose One Business and Produce Positive ROI Faster (Part 2): Grape Growing
February 17, 2012 —
In Part 1 of Three Ways to Produce Positive ROI in Half the Time or Less, we discussed the traditional method for building a winery and vineyard from scratch and reviewed cash flow from year 1 through year 10. We saw that, if starting from scratch and planting a vineyard, making wine from your own →
Crop Losses: File Your Claims Now
August 24, 2011 —
I am reposting a letter sent out by Bobby Cox, President-Elect, Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association regarding crop insurance, loss and filing your claims. It’s been a hard year and many growers and farmers have had unprecedented losses. Insurance can be a funny thing, so here’s a bit of information for you. Crop Insurance →
2011 Southwest Harvest Outlook
August 11, 2011 —
It’s no news most of the United States is in the midst of an ongoing heat wave. But how has that affected harvest for the southwest? And what about that late frost that hit much of the south in early May? Let’s take a look. Back on May 3, many of the southern states were →
Arizona: A Budding Wine Frontier
June 9, 2011 —
Next stop on my Southwest Winery Tour was Arizona, the Grand Canyon State. With its mountains and deserts, Arizona’s wine industry faces interesting climate challenges. Most vineyards are located around Wilcox in the southeast corner of the state, with a few scattered around Flagstaff. With the high altitudes (Elevation: Wilcox 4168 ft & Flagstaff at →