Acerage need to support winery

[BelleChere]

I am looking to start a winery but don't know how many acres it takes to support one. I have about 5 acs of pasture close to a major interstate of about 135,000 cars/day. Any help would be appreciated.

[mrdutton]

Please note: This is a sarcastic reply and is not meant to be taken seriously. However there is some truth in it and that makes it "ironic"?.....??!!

Good thing that there is no more lead in the gasoline......... Any land that close to that much auto traffic has got to be contaminated. Get ye to the country!

[hotwine]

There are plenty of vineyards in operation that are 10 acres or less. But your area is not one that is well known for producing wines. So long as you merely want a hobby operation, as opposed to a true commercial one, you could probably do OK. (I make a little wine from only a dozen vines in the back of my place.) You could try looking up a website for Univ. of California at Davis, which is nationally known for its
school of viticulture. Also, there are vineyards in the Tennessee Valley and in Virgina that are growing in climates similar to yours, that you might be able to learn from.

[Thomas]

The first thing you need to do is to find the nearest agricultural station (usually an extension service of a college or university that is intended to help farmers). Those people can give you ideas about acres needed, type of soil needed, climate, and viability of the venture.

The next thing you need to do is to come up with a lot of money that you won't mind losing because a commercial vineyard is not known for its profit potential. In fact, most wineries separate the vineyard from the winery operation so that the owners can clearly benefit from the write-off produced by the farm.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 12-30-2000).]

[glenora]

Using averages---

1 acre of mature vineyard should produce between 4-5 tons of grapes (there are lots of variables that can/will impact this)

1 ton of grapes will yield 65 cases of wine--again an average.

So your 5 acre plot has the potential to produce between 1300 to 1600 cases of wine.

From my perspective a 5 acre vineyard and a 1500 case winery are not commerically viable, but a great hobby.

[Thomas]

Gene, that is exactly the size my place was--the operative word is WAS!

I knew you were out there waiting to say what you know. You need also to communicate with Chittychattykathy about her desire for NY wine.