It will come as no surprise to those who recognize my posts on this site that I've decided to take my winemaking to the next level and going commercial in 2025. This past summer I purchased a property in Montana with a very large shop for this purpose. Below are a couple pics of the shop. The seller is a car enthusiast and the place was basically a museum for all his memorabilia. He's renting from me until the end of March 2025, at which time I will take possession and quickly get things set up for winemaking beginning in September 2025. I'm meeting with my architect on January 13 to get him working up the plans for the crush pad. I need plans for my contractor and his subs (concrete specifically) to get the bids out and jobs secured before things go nuts in the construction industry this coming spring/summer.
I think we're all aware of the downward pressure recently put on grape and wine sales in America (and beyond?) and you might question my timing in this endeavor. You're asking the right questions and I appreciate the heart behind the concerns. The winery will be in the Billings, Montana area. If you know Montana, Billings is the largest metro area of Montana and there are few places to purchase wine: 1) Fine/Finer restaurants, 2) Costco and other grocery stores, 3) City Vineyard (the only store exclusively for wine sales) and 4) one unnamed winery. Within a 180 mile radius, only one other winery. In a 350 mile radius, two wineries including the afore mentioned in the 180 mile range. In short, I see it as a great opportunity. I believe that people will appreciate meticulously and locally crafted wines from exclusive vineyards in California, Oregon and Washington states.
I've been in the process of setting up multi-year contracts with the vineyards I currently purchase grapes; I'm inking those deals now. I'll likely need to purchase a BUNCH of additional equipment by this fall but I'm currently set up to easily make 1000 cases of wine annually and can store 2-3X that for aging. I am currently working with two local wineries who are going out of business and want to sell all their equipment to one entity. However, their stuff is pretty old (bottling line, specifically) but tanks, fermenters and hardware don't really grow old.
My vision is to create experiences. Each label will have a unique QR code and points people to a page on the website designed to enhance their experience. There they will find winemaking notes, food pairing ideas with recipes, movie and music pairing and party ideas. The tasting room will accentuate all senses. I have been doing a TON of study on how to engage senses. What all the senses have in common is that they collect some kind of information from the environment and convert it to a signal that can travel to the brain. This creates a memory. You'll know this: There are certain tastes and smells that take us back many years like it was yesterday. This is how powerful the brain is. It will be a big part of what I'm going to create. Here's a shell of a website: burgincellars.com
Please let me know what I'm missing. I'll be relocating winemaking operations from the Seattle Metro to Montana next year. BTW, I would never attempt this idea in either of the afore mentioned states where I purchase grapes. There are simply too many wineries in those states to substantively stick out. Montana, however, is a ripe market with a very strong economy. Billings, specifically, has very close proximity to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming). We'll have traffic from NP tourists too. I'm excited about it.
Now, as per normal, a few pics...
I think we're all aware of the downward pressure recently put on grape and wine sales in America (and beyond?) and you might question my timing in this endeavor. You're asking the right questions and I appreciate the heart behind the concerns. The winery will be in the Billings, Montana area. If you know Montana, Billings is the largest metro area of Montana and there are few places to purchase wine: 1) Fine/Finer restaurants, 2) Costco and other grocery stores, 3) City Vineyard (the only store exclusively for wine sales) and 4) one unnamed winery. Within a 180 mile radius, only one other winery. In a 350 mile radius, two wineries including the afore mentioned in the 180 mile range. In short, I see it as a great opportunity. I believe that people will appreciate meticulously and locally crafted wines from exclusive vineyards in California, Oregon and Washington states.
I've been in the process of setting up multi-year contracts with the vineyards I currently purchase grapes; I'm inking those deals now. I'll likely need to purchase a BUNCH of additional equipment by this fall but I'm currently set up to easily make 1000 cases of wine annually and can store 2-3X that for aging. I am currently working with two local wineries who are going out of business and want to sell all their equipment to one entity. However, their stuff is pretty old (bottling line, specifically) but tanks, fermenters and hardware don't really grow old.
My vision is to create experiences. Each label will have a unique QR code and points people to a page on the website designed to enhance their experience. There they will find winemaking notes, food pairing ideas with recipes, movie and music pairing and party ideas. The tasting room will accentuate all senses. I have been doing a TON of study on how to engage senses. What all the senses have in common is that they collect some kind of information from the environment and convert it to a signal that can travel to the brain. This creates a memory. You'll know this: There are certain tastes and smells that take us back many years like it was yesterday. This is how powerful the brain is. It will be a big part of what I'm going to create. Here's a shell of a website: burgincellars.com
Please let me know what I'm missing. I'll be relocating winemaking operations from the Seattle Metro to Montana next year. BTW, I would never attempt this idea in either of the afore mentioned states where I purchase grapes. There are simply too many wineries in those states to substantively stick out. Montana, however, is a ripe market with a very strong economy. Billings, specifically, has very close proximity to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming). We'll have traffic from NP tourists too. I'm excited about it.
Now, as per normal, a few pics...
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