Selling wine from kits or juice

[Saxton Cellars]

Does anyone sell wine made from kits or juice from buckets? Is it any different than being a winery? Is it easy or hard to start a small business doing this?

Thanks in advance

 

[jgmann67]

The purchase and sale of alcohol is one of the most highly regulated industries in the US (maybe third or fourth place between booze, nuclear energy, tobacco and guns). Look at your state's regulations and the federal rules with in the TTB (https://www.ttb.gov/wine/wine_regs.shtml). My guess is that the answer to your question is: No, unless you're selling sufficient volume to justify the grief and expense.

 

[salcoco]

Once you become a licensed winery you can source your wine from kits and juice. there are state regulations you will need to review as there maybe stipulations as to where the juice is sourced. the US government requires that all labels with a variety name be at least 75% of that variety in the bottle. Kit manufacturers are reluctant to provide a full description of contents. so it would be difficult to label correctly.to get around this a "fanciful" name is developed for labeling.the US Government will define a fanciful name as the have final approval of label

 

[balatonwine]

The law varies by state, but look into a "wine club". That is, you have a club where members pay $XX.XX a year and receive for their "membership" a case of wine. You are not selling wine, you are simply selling membership.

But be aware that a club may only be able to operate in its own state unless you have interstate shipping permits. Shipping wine is complex. And states have all sorts of prohibitions on shipping wine cross boarder, even to friends and family.

 

[salcoco]

this procedure may be illegal in some states. the state of Kansas is against barter for wines which is what this procedure resembles. so be careful, although big brother isn't always watching.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Legalities aside, I'd think it would cost a lot more to make wine from juice or kits than it does to make from grapes (paying 1 or 2 middlemen), so you may struggle to make money.
I've seen.
Say a 6 gallon kit is $100. Thats over $4/bottle.
Fresh juice near us is around $75-100 for 6 gallons, so $3-4/bottle
Grapes are roughly $40 for enough to make 6 gallons, so $1.66/bottle.
If you grow your own grapes it's even cheaper. (I get 15 gallons or so from my grapes in back yard, costing me almost zero).

Then you need to add the common costs like bottles, corks, labels, Chemicals (kits usually include this but very small cost).

Making from grapes has a higher upfront cost as you need to buy a press, crusher, destemmer, but cheaper in long run.

 

[salcoco]

the common costs are the same regardless of source, juice grapes or kit. Sell the wine at $15-20 a bottle. what is profit now.? labor cost for all is the same also. the advantage is that the kit and juice provide sources from countries that grapes cannot supply.

 

[cmason1957]

There are at least two commercial wineries in Missouri that I know of that sell essentially kit wine exclusively. They seem to be doing well, since they have been in business for over 10 years. Average cost for their wines is $15-20. I would guess at commercial prices cost for a bottle of wine is about the same as starting with juice

 

[GaDawg]

In Georgia my local supply shop does wine making classes and takes care of customers carboys. They were required to get a winery licence.

 

[Graves]

Does anyone sell wine made from kits or juice from buckets? Is it any different than being a winery? Is it easy or hard to start a small business doing this?

Thanks in advance

There is at least one operation like that here in Delaware, Ohio. They also have a restraint. It’s a really nice place. I would like to do the same thing in Columbus as a tasting shop selling kit wines, kits I’ve modified, possibly do a make your own wine thing. That seams to be real popular.

I’m just not sure where to get the information i need to start my journey.

 

[jgmann67]

There is at least one operation like that here in Delaware, Ohio. They also have a restraint. It’s a really nice place. I would like to do the same thing in Columbus as a tasting shop selling kit wines, kits I’ve modified, possibly do a make your own wine thing. That seams to be real popular.

I’m just not sure where to get the information i need to start my journey.

Here's a start:

http://www.water2wine.com/content/franchise-info

 

[Graves]

Here's a start:

http://www.water2wine.com/content/franchise-info

Thank you...

 

[jgmann67]

Thank you...

I looked into this a few years ago. Unfortunately, PA doesn’t allow this kind of business without a winery license.

 

[winojoe]

Here in Michigan, it is illegal to offer wine samples as a promotion to sell something (in my case it was buckets of grape juice) UNLESS one has the proper licensing. It is, however, legal to offer wine samples as long as it is not promotional.

FYI: No, I did not get caught doing this deed but rather learned about while reading some legal documents while researching a winery license.