The number of B.C. wine brands is set to explode thanks to the emergence of a new business sector that’s essentially a U-vin operation for commercial-sized clients.
A second business in this emerging sector is set to open in as many years while rumours have a third one opening by next year. Christine Coletta and a handful of partners have thus far invested $3.7 million to launch Okanagan Crush Pad, which will make wine for anyone who can supply enough grapes for at least 500 cases of wine.
She follows Alan Dickinson, who, with four partners, launched Alto Wine Group last year.
BC Wine Institute statistics show that the number of B.C. wineries has grown more than tenfold to 190 today from 17 in 1990.
Growth in B.C. wine brands is even higher because vineyard owners and others who buy grapes from growers but usually don’t have their own winery licences are starting to sell wines under distinct brands.
Historically, they have had to leverage friendships and borrow wine-making equipment from a licensed winery. That licensed winery’s name would then appear in small print on the backs of their bottles.
But the emergence of U-vin operations for 500-case production runs means that grape owners no longer need friends to lend them wine-making equipment and allow them to produce wine under the friend’s licence.
“A lot of people who have small vineyards sell grapes to a winery, but you can make a lot more profit by turning those grapes into wine,” Wine Plus+ Education & Consulting owner Rhys Pender said. “A lot of growth in this emerging [U-vin for larger clients] sector is going to be driven by people who have grapes and see making wine as the next logical business step.”
Pender plans to hire Okanagan Crush Pad to make wine from his vineyard’s grapes this year.
He and wife, Ali Shan Driediger, spent $625,000 a few years ago to buy five acres of land in Similkameen and plant grapevines. He can’t afford to build a winery yet, but he doesn’t want that to keep him from creating his own brand.
Pender estimates that 20 other people will likely launch their own wine brands this year and that similar numbers of people will do the same thing in each of the next few years. The result will likely be a wide array of new wine brands for consumers to consider at private wine stores and restaurants.
Former Cedar Creek Estate Winery winemaker Tom DiBello told Business in Vancouver that he bought some of the best grapes in the Okanagan last year and had Alto Wine Group produce the wine. He has since sold about 80 cases of DiBello-branded wine to restaurants such as Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar, Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill and the Wedgewood Hotel’s Bacchus Restaurant.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of producing wineries in B.C. in the past few years and the vast majority are startup enterprises or very small,” said BC Wine Authority chairman Jeffrey Thomas. “The owners tend to be passionate about making great wines, but they often lack startup capital.”
Coletta estimated that her venture will charge customers about $5 per bottle for a 500-case production run.
Dickinson said his price for that size run is about $4.16 per bottle. Both companies offer discounts for larger jobs.
But he also transports his crushing and destemming machinery and sorting tables to wineries that have yet to invest in such equipment. Those clients then store the wine in their barrels and tanks.
Because Dickinson avoids the final storage step, the cost works out to around $1 per bottle. Coletta’s venture follows the launch of her Haywire brand and production of 168 cases in 2009 after friends at Road 13 allowed her to use their winery. Coletta and her partners (Mike Bartier, David Scholefield, Alison Scholefield, Jackie Shapka, Brad Tone and husband Steve Lornie) have financed a $2 million winery, which she expects will be completed by August, on 10 acres of land that she and Lornie bought for $680,000 in 2005. She estimates the minimum startup cost for a licensed winery in B.C. at $1 million. Her Crush Pad venture is therefore a more affordable short-term option for clients who want to build brand recognition before making such a large investment.