The Fruit Growers News - January 2003

Harvey and Alma Hollingshead tried to remain dispassionate and take a numbers-based approach as they explored their options in agriculture.

“There are three cogs to the (wine business) wheel. One is growing good grapes. One is making good wine. The other is selling it (grapes, juice and wine),” Harvey Hollingshead says.

The couple did a lot of planning before buying land in Ontario in 1994. They wanted to become independent business owners in the agriculture sector, an area with which they were familiar.

They looked at a variety of possibilities, narrowed their sights to the horticulture sector, and finally settled on wine grapes. They felt there were several positives for the industry.

The Essex County and Pelee Island wine growing region, near Windsor and Detroit, is gradually gaining international recognition. Sal D’Angelo, of D’Angelo Estate, produced a 1996 Foch that was ranked among the top 100 reds in the world. The other established wineries - Pelee Island, Colio, LeBlanc, and Grape Tree - also provide some of the best of what the Canadian industry has to offer.

In addition, there’s a huge population base that Essex County wineries can draw upon. There’s 4.5 million people within an hour’s drive of the county and according to the Windsor/Essex Tourist and Convention Bureau. About nine million people - primarily U.S. citizens - visit the region each year spending close to $700 million.

On the financial front, the Hollingsheads were looking for what might be considered a moderate capital outlay but their investment is still substantial. Harvey Hollingshead says it costs between $16,000 and $20,000 (U.S.) to establish an acre of grapes and the couple now have about 15 acres in place.

There’s as many different financial situations in the industry as there are wineries and vineyards, Harvey notes.

“We started here in 1994. This was an empty field and there wasn’t a building on the property,” he said.

Another financial consideration was the type of loan program available. The Hollingsheads took advantage of the “plant now, pay later” program available from one lender.

“The financing we could get was cash-flow friendly... I’m now getting to the pay-later phase,” Harvey said.

The first 60 vines were plant-ed in 1997, part of a test plot that was gradually expanded to 360 vines. Alma takes the lead in the vineyard and while she grew up on a farm north of Mitchell, she knew nothing about growing grapes.
“I call my test plot my ‘mistake plot’ because that’s where I made all my mistakes,” she jokes.

She’s come a long way.

Alma has adopted the Scott Henry Trellising System that was developed in Oregon and is becoming popular in Ontario. It features excellent airflow to reduce disease pressure and provide good sun exposure to enhance sugar levels, and promote higher yields.

The vineyard has also been adapted to the specific climatic and soil conditions of the farm. The fruiting zones for the vines are set at 40 and 50 inches above ground level to reduce spring frost concerns. Alma has adopted a mixed rotation in her vineyard involving both a rye cover crop and cultivation.

Harvey concentrates on making wine and selling raw juice to home winemakers. He’s still learning the finer points of winemaking.

“As an amateur winemaker I wasn’t any better than anyone else,” he admits. “I needed to take a common sense approach; using a wine consultant is something we felt we had to do.”

Harvey has gained considerable experience in the art, however. He says good wines begin with the grapes and require patience and attention to detail for the best results.

Overall, wine production will represent just a small percentage of the grapes to be marketed from the farm. The business plan calls for the production of around 1,000 cases a year with the remainder of the grapes - about 85% - being marketed to other wineries or as juice to home winemakers.

The percentages could change over time. The Hollingsheads say their current cooperage capacity at this time would allow them to produce over 2,000 cases a year.

There should be five estate vintages available by December, two whites (Chardonnay and Vidal), two reds (Cabernet Franc and Baco Noir) and a rose.