Page 7 - Grapevine JanFeb 2022

In The Winery

PREPARING FOR THE EXIT:

Why Winery Owners Need to Develop a Harvest Strategy

By: Edward Webb, Partner, BPM & Kemp Moyer, Partner, BPM
S uccessfully running a business means over- their own grapes, ferment them into wine, bottle

them, and sell and market the finished product.
coming numerous challenges. Owners
need to scale the business, find competent
employees, deal with regulatory issues like taxes Some winemakers do not own vineyards and,
instead, purchase grapes from various growers
and licenses, and create processes and systems — before bottling and going to market. Finally, there
all while developing a robust customer base and are virtual wineries that buy completed wine and
go-to market strategy. For agribusinesses, owners sell it under a brand name. Each models bring its
have all these challenges plus whatever Mother own unique challenges and opportunities.
Nature decides to throw at them. For California’s
wine industry, this includes increasingly unpredict- While a few large producers dominate the state’s
able variables such as drought, flooding, landslide, wine sector, most businesses are family-owned and
excessive heat, cold snaps, pests, and the growing operated. This can lead to a new and significant
risk of wildfires and damage from smoke taint. challenge: What happens when the owner wants
to retire and either hand over or sell the business?
Despite these challenges, several successful busi- When you include a force like a once-in-a-century
ness models predominate in California’s wine sec- pandemic, you can understand why many baby
tor. There are fully integrated vintners that grow boomers — about 10,000 of whom turn 65 every

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