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My house! My car! My boat! My vineyard?
Text: Natascha Popp
More and more people dream of owning a vineyard. Either because they‘ve nished accumulating their fortune or becau- se they want to do something that connects them with the earth. Not infrequently is the wife the driving force. Decades ago, one‘s own vineyard in Tuscany or in France was the chic and trendy thing, but now the desire for German vineyards is growing too. Often these are wine lovers who have a very ro- mantic idea of their own wine growing estate. The example for this dream is set by numerous celebrities.
„These days, someone who makes wine is no longer a farmer, but is regarded as something higher.“ These are the words of Captain Cork, from the website of the same name.
Owning one‘s own vineyard – or even running it yourself – has little to do with the romantic notions of some wine lovers. Anyone thinking about buying their own estate, or participa- ting in one, should inform themselves exactly in advance and get an accurate picture of the idiosyncrasies of the industry. Whether it is an existing winery we‘re talking about or a new direction after a sale: serious operational planning is needed – from the vineyard to the cellar, right into the glass of the consumer.
Whether it is an existing winery we‘re talking about or a new direction after a sale: serious operational planning is needed – from the vineyard to the cellar, right into the glass of the consumer.
Erhard Georg Heitlinger, from the company Wein & Rat in Geisenheim, which has specialised as a consultancy for the purchase and running of wineries, is familiar with both the desires and ideas and the decision-making processes of peo- ple who want to buy a winery. But also with those things that take precedence in the hearts and minds of winemakers if they have no successor in their family for their life‘s work, and have to sell in the absence of a successor.
Based on his experience, Georg Heitlinger has outlined the following pointers that should be considered before buying a winery.
