Discovering the delights of rural Maine wines
by MacKenzie Rawcliffe
“Pay attention in chemistry, making a good wine is 50% chemistry, 30% judgment and 20% magic.”
Says Michael Anderson as he sits in his small and tidy office overlooking the Penobscot River. He and his wife, Joan, started the Winterport Winery five years ago, but wine making has been a hobby for Michael since his wife first bought him a home wine making kit soon after they got married. “I don’t remember what the kit was or how the wine tasted but I was hooked” The winery is housed inside a former hardware store on Main Street in Winterport. The Andersons have transformed it into an elegant and welcoming retail store with a fully functional wine making and packaging factory in the basement. Michael is casual, friendly and more than willing to talk about his favorite subject, the winery. “I feel like I haven’t worked a day yet,” he says. His wife, Joan, is graceful and stylish and it is easy to see where the boutique got its casually elegant decor from.
Getting Started
Before the winery, Joan was a nurse and Michael worked as a contractor and as an accountant, but with their children grown the time seemed right to actually try that “crazy idea” they had always dreamed of and start their own winery.
The perfect opportunity arrived for Michael when a dear friend of his was unable to find a new tenant for the building he had built in downtown Winterport. The building had stood empty for several years and was beginning to lose money. Michael decided maybe he could use the space for a winery. Still, the Andersons were nervous and doubted their ability to go from making wine for family and friends to producing a product that could be sold around the state. Then Joan visited some small wineries in Massachusetts while in Boston for a nursing conference in 2000. She was amazed at how simple and yet successful these farm wineries were, and soon returned to show her husband, and later their two grown children Kristen and Kurt. Their decision was made when they tasted a blueberry wine from Massachusetts and realized that what they had been making in their basement was far better. “We realized we didn’t have to be in France to make a good wine and have a winery.” said Joan. They had no idea when they started how much work it would take to become commercial wine producers.
Navigating the Maze
Their biggest obstacle was not a lack of capital or time, but a lack of knowledge on how to navigate the maze of state and federal bureaucracy. With a little help from his “wine guru” at the national association of wine makers Michael was able to wade through the mountain of forms required by the federal government and get his license within five months. That is not always the case, Michael says, because before the application is even reviewed both the IRS and the FBI conduct background checks; if the applicant doesn’t pass muster then the application is held up indefinitely.
Their “guru’ gave them guidance on the federal level but at the state level they were pretty much on their own trying to figure out what licenses and permits they would need in order to start making wine legally. If these permit fees are unexpected they can add up fast and derail the best-laid business plan. Michael feels that the State of Maine lacks an accessible knowledge base for new businesses to work from, and would like to see a bureaucracy that is more innovative and responsive to the needs of small businesses.. He feels that often the requirements are confusing and depend on who happens to be in charge of the organization that year. These requirements are not usually law but simple bureaucratic procedure. Michael says he suspects that is even harder to change than law because “this is the way it has always been done.” One of the most important things the Andersons did was to establish a good working relationship with one person in the in the system whom they could go to with questions and get a useful answer. Unless an entrepreneur is able to make a contact like the Andersons did, or find a mentor who is already in the business they are on their own in a constantly shifting and yet stagnant bureaucratic landscape.
Why Winterport?
It is in part because of restrictive regulations that Andersons chose to locate their business in rural Winterport. The quiet, picturesque setting was a factor, as well as the nice alliteration of the name, Winterport Winery.
But really the infrastructure and personal nature of a small town is what drew the Andersons to Winterport. In a city, like Bangor, the winery would be classified as a manufacturing plant and required to locate in an unsightly industrial park, but in Winterport they have a view of the Penobscot River. They also have the added benefit of being a little off the beaten track, making the winery a destination and more enticing to tourists. They have an excellent relationship with the Winterport selectmen who have been very supportive and pro business.
Do it once, Do it right
Michael and Joan feel that they have survived, and indeed flourished, not only because of their mentors but also because of their conservative business plan and their innovative ideas. Knowing they were on a limited budget, and with much of their capital coming from friends and family, the Andersons were careful about their money and decided to do everything once and to do it right. Another key to their business plan has been to reinvest most of the profits back into the business itself. Michael estimates that they have accumulated about half a million dollars in the business and they continue to reinvest and improve so that they can ride the natural rise and fall of business. They have also worked hard to support other Maine businesses. Their retail store is full of wine and food related products from around the state and they have private labeling deals with several area producers.
Getting the word out
Most of their business is brought in by word of mouth, but they have also tried using some of the local organizations that help businesses to market themselves. They are members of the Maine State Tourist Association, which allows them to put their pamphlet in highway rest stops. The Andersons know these pamphlets bring in some business from the highway, but it’s difficult to verify that it’s enough business to offset the cost. That is the trouble with most of advertising for small business, it is very expensive up front and other than asking every customer how they heard about the Winery, it is impossible to tell if the investment is paying off.
One exception has been the Andersons’ recent purchase of an ad in Yankee magazine. This was a very expensive ad, but the magazine keeps track of all the people who inquire further about the winery. This gives the Andersons actual numbers to use and evaluate if their message is reaching its audience. Another organization that the Andersons have had a lot of success working with is the Waldo County Marketing Association. This group has organized several tours for travel writers to come to the midcoast region and visit businesses. A favorable mention in an article can bring in business from out of state and establish the Winterport Winery, and indeed the whole town of Winterport, as a key stop for those traveling through the midcoast region.
The Andersons try to bring in tourists to the area but they rely on the local market to keep them afloat. “I always say we may just make some money off these tourists, but we need our local Maine base to sustain us through the rest of the year,” says Michael Anderson. To do this they also invest in local advertising and have worked hard to increase their distribution area. This in particular is no small matter because Joan delivers almost every bottle herself with the family Honda.
Hope for the Future
Their newest venture is part business and part cultural education center. This year they opened a cooking school called “Pairings” in the other half of their building. The idea for Pairings came from the question they were constantly getting from their customers as to what foods go best with what wines. At Pairings customers pay $60 for a cooking lesson led by gourmet cook Kathy Winberg using products from Fisher Farms in Winterport. In each class they learn how to make a full five-course meal and what wines to serve with each. Michael thinks that there is a new market emerging for this kind of education because the younger generation grew up eating cafeteria and fast food and now as they get older are looking for something more. They want to teach more people how to appreciate wine and enjoy their product more.
This enterprise is too new to judge if it will be successful or not but the Andersons are hoping it will take the Winterport Winery to the next level.
For more information see their website at www.winterportwinery.com