In France, Italy and Spain, a significant number of people drink wine, almost every day. However, in these countries life expectancy is one of the longest in the world. Sociologists note that in Russia there is also a tendency to abandon vodka in favor of table wine. In addition, in our country, especially in the south, more and more entrepreneurs dream of opening their own wine production.

A winery as a business is not that simple. We will tell you in this article what you need to know to become a successful winemaker.

Learning from old books

Crimean businessman Gleb Kharchenko advises reading some books before opening a private winery. “Check out the “Fundamentals of Biochemistry of Winemaking” by Rodopoulo, and also study 2 volumes of “Technological Rules of Winemaking” edited by Valuiko,” says the entrepreneur. “If there is no doubt after this, then go for it.” On the Internet you can also find an interesting work “Theory and Practice of Winemaking”, written by Jean-Riberto Gayon.

The authors of these publications write that the production of quality wine is based on deep knowledge and extensive personal experience, since we are talking about an extremely capricious drink. Wines can lose flavor and aroma for no apparent reason. The winemaking process depends on the grape variety. Jean-Riberto Guyon emphasizes that it is impossible to reproduce industrial methods at home, since it is necessary to have a specialized laboratory. By the way, he strongly advises making wine from the harvest of his vineyards, which are characterized by the stability of the berries. The fact is that wine, being an unstable colloidal system, turns into mumbo jumbo with any deviation in production. The most capricious wine is white.

“The harvested grapes are checked not only for sugar and acid-base balance, but also for nitrogen concentration, as well as for the content of coloring matter and phenol,” explains Gleb Kharchenko. - But these are still “flowers”. A private winery that wants to have stable demand must master a rather difficult operation called closed transfer. This is when oxygen is first squeezed out of a container with water, and then carbon dioxide is squeezed out of water. No self-respecting wine boutique will accept wine that has not undergone demetallization. As a result of this procedure, the product gets rid of heavy metals.”

How and where to sell original wine

The easiest way to master the so-called primary processing, which results in young wine. As soon as fermentation stops, the drink begins to be sold. Moreover, the product must be sold before the summer of next year. Businessmen and buyers do not highly value such wineries, which are characterized by low profitability but high labor costs.

“These wines differ little from the drinks that private owners sell in the gateways of resorts in Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory,” comments technologist Anna Yashina. - If a businessman wants to sell his wines in restaurants and reputable stores, in addition to the winery, he needs wine cellars for aging. An example is the winery in Massandra.”

The choice of equipment depends on the technology of wine production and the variety of grapes grown. If an entrepreneur plans to set up a winery in an area where only simple varieties or hybrids grow, then he will have to purchase continuous presses. In this case, he will work for volume, putting quality in second place. But where nature and climate favor high-quality grapes, it is logical to use periodic hydraulic or pneumatic presses - both vertical and horizontal - with chains for mixing the pulp.

Special literature provides detailed descriptions of technical processes for each type of wine produced - right down to drawings for the independent production of pressing machines, presses, vats for fermenting red wines, barrels and bottles, mechanisms for bottling. After all, this drink has a centuries-old history. True, for large volumes, as practice shows, it is cheaper to purchase ready-made turnkey lines. Entrepreneurs who want to gain first experience can make “homemade” equipment for the so-called signature wine.

“Author’s wine is also called garage wine,” explains Gleb Kharchenko. - It is clear that this means a low level of quality. However, at this stage, many - about 99% of starting winemakers - begin to realize the size of the required investment and responsibility for the result. After all, you can get poisoned by bad wine. Natural selection is essentially happening here.”

Winery as a legacy business

Entrepreneurs, having gone through the stage called “author’s wine,” begin to understand that the production of home wine is significantly different from an industrial winery. And yet, among the signature wines there are drinks worthy of the best Italian or Spanish restaurants. Success, as a rule, is achieved by people who are in love with their business and know how to grow high-quality grapes.

Today, from one hectare you can get 400 or more deciliters of excellent wine if you use highly productive varieties. Good soil and favorable climatic conditions are necessary. “Usually they get a third less,” says Anna Yashina. - We have to sacrifice volume for quality. If you squeeze out everything you can, at best you will sell it for 200 rubles per liter. If you approach the matter more tenderly and attentively, then, having lost 25% on volume, you will already receive 400 rubles per liter. Plus reputation."

According to the technologist, only on 10 or more hectares of vineyards can a more or less profitable winery be organized, focusing on the production of red wine of traditional varieties. The annual production volume of a small winery will be approximately 10-12 thousand deciliters. Start-up expenses are about 4-6 million rubles, including the costs of obtaining permits, purchasing equipment and materials. Typically, such a winery employs a family and two hired workers during the harvest season. With a successful start, the break-even point is reached in 5-7 years.

If the vineyard area is smaller, it is unlikely that it will even be possible to achieve self-sufficiency, taking into account all kinds of taxes and fees. Gleb Kharchenko calls for very careful handling of numbers, which under different conditions can jump in one direction or the other. For some, a million rubles will be enough to organize a profitable wine production, but for others, even 100 million will not be enough. “It’s funny to see the calculations from armchair experts,” he says. - The winery is growing like a person. At first it could be 6 acres in the country - it’s logical to compare such a home winery with the first steps of a baby.”

All successful private wineries in Europe, as a rule, are family businesses with a history of several generations. They grew gradually, filling new areas where vineyards were planted. European winemakers learn technological secrets in practice - which of course does not exclude the need to receive special education.

“When opening private wine production, count on a long-term family business that will reach its peak in 4-5 generations, not earlier,” technologist Anna Yashina agrees with entrepreneur Kharchenko. - Otherwise, very large initial investments will be required - tens, or even hundreds of millions of rubles. With that kind of money, it makes more sense to buy an operating, profitable winery.”

Conclusion

Private wineries as a business are popular in our country. Own wine production will most likely be of an evolutionary nature with a gradual increase in vineyard area and production volumes. Not every winemaker will be able to “get back on his feet” - only those who are endlessly in love with their business.

Preparation of moonshine and alcohol for personal use
absolutely legal!

After the collapse of the USSR, the new government stopped the fight against moonshine. Criminal liability and fines were abolished, and the article banning the production of alcohol-containing products at home was removed from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To this day, there is not a single law that prohibits you and me from engaging in our favorite hobby - preparing alcohol at home. This is evidenced by the Federal Law of July 8, 1999 No. 143-FZ “On the administrative liability of legal entities (organizations) and individual entrepreneurs for offenses in the field of production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1999, No. 28 , art. 3476).

Extract from the Federal Law of the Russian Federation:

“The effect of this Federal Law does not apply to the activities of citizens (individuals) producing products containing ethyl alcohol for purposes other than sale.”

Moonshining in other countries:

In Kazakhstan in accordance with the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses dated January 30, 2001 N 155, the following liability is provided. Thus, according to Article 335 “Manufacture and sale of home-made alcoholic beverages”, illegal production of moonshine, chacha, mulberry vodka, mash and other alcoholic beverages for the purpose of sale, as well as the sale of these alcoholic beverages, entails a fine in the amount of thirty monthly calculation indices with confiscation of alcoholic beverages , apparatus, raw materials and equipment for their manufacture, as well as money and other valuables received from their sale. However, the law does not prohibit the preparation of alcohol for personal use.

In Ukraine and Belarus things are different. Articles No. 176 and No. 177 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provide for the imposition of fines in the amount of three to ten tax-free minimum wages for the production and storage of moonshine without the purpose of sale, for the storage of devices* for its production without the purpose of sale.

Article 12.43 repeats this information almost word for word. “Production or acquisition of strong alcoholic beverages (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), storage of apparatus for their production” in the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses. Clause No. 1 states: “The production by individuals of strong alcoholic drinks (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), as well as the storage of devices* used for their production, will entail a warning or a fine of up to five basic units with confiscation of the specified drinks, semi-finished products and devices."

*You can still purchase moonshine stills for home use, since their second purpose is to distill water and obtain components for natural cosmetics and perfumes.

Many of our fellow citizens love to drink good wine. But few people decide to open their own wine production business. This business is thriving, despite all sorts of crises. People who have the habit of drinking a glass of good wine before dinner find it difficult to give up the drink. Doctors even recommend doing this. It has been proven that wine is one of the drinks that, in moderate doses, has a beneficial effect on health. Wine should be consumed within reasonable limits.



Today Russia is among the twenty countries in the world that are the most popular wine sellers on the international market. Domestic wines participate in popular competitions and even take first places. All this is due to the high quality of domestic wines.

The profitability of production is very high. With strict adherence to all recommendations for growing grapes and their processing, the profitability of this type of business exceeds 100%. By engaging in winemaking, you will receive a promising, profitable and prestigious business that can be passed on to your children and grandchildren. The main condition, of course, is to produce a truly high-quality product. Let's look at quality in more detail. In the meantime, let's talk about the essentials.

Legalization of the wine business.

To open your own winery, you will have to prepare a whole bunch of papers, as well as obtain a license. First, we register a legal entity with the administration. We make copies of all documents confirming the creation of your legal entity and have them certified by a notary. Copies of the following documents are required - the decision on tax registration and photocopies of the receipt for payment of the state fee for issuing a license.

It will also be necessary to obtain conclusions on the compliance of the production premises with sanitary-epidemiological, environmental and fire safety standards and requirements.

Papers confirming the amount of authorized capital are required, as well as an application for a license to produce wine varieties. That's not all. If you open your own mini-laboratory for chemical and technological control of manufactured products, you will need a document confirming the accreditation of the laboratory, as well as copies of certificates of conformity of working equipment. If you contact third-party laboratories, you will need documents from them. As you can see, opening your own wine production business is quite a troublesome and time-consuming undertaking. But by going through all these stages, you will insure yourself against possible problems during the operation of the winery.

Two options for business development.

Or rather, there are three options for developing further actions. They all consist of methods for obtaining primary raw materials for future wine. Not all wine producers privately own their vineyards. Also, not every winery uses only fresh grapes to make wine. Some of them produce wine from wine material - beam.

Let us explain, bulk is a wine material, bulk wine, which is supplied in huge tanks. Bulk is imported into our country from abroad, in particular from European countries, the USA, Brazil, Chile, and Africa. As a rule, bulk is a very cheap raw material. This is practically a ready-made bulk wine, but of low quality. Therefore, the cost is not high. Usually, the price of 1 liter of balka is 1-2 dollars. Depends on the country of origin. For example, a beam from France costs up to $7.

It is already clear that producing wine from balka is a cheap and simple option for obtaining a drink. You just need to buy a batch of balka, pour it into branded bottles, while giving the drink a little status, and the product is ready. This type of wine is called bulk wine.

If you plan to get more expensive and high quality wine, then it is better to purchase fresh grapes or cultivate your own vineyard. Your own vineyard is the most optimal. In this case, you will not depend on suppliers of raw materials, price surges and other factors. You can clearly see your business development options. It is worth knowing that owning your own vineyards is already a prestige.

Creation of a private vineyard.

Fertile land is needed. The larger the plot, the more grapes you can harvest. This means you will produce more wine and sell more. In this regard, first of all, you need to build on your financial capabilities. Today, one hectare of land, with all irrigation systems, seedlings, fertilizers, costs between 3-4 thousand dollars.

To make your business as profitable as possible, it is worth considering plots for vineyards with an area of ​​30-40 hectares. That is, about 60-100 thousand dollars must be invested on one plot of land. And another important point. It is worth considering that wine production is not a fast business. Aged wine varieties are most valued. That is, after bottling the wine, you need to wait another 3-5 years before sending it to stores.

Choosing premises for a future winery.

To obtain a license to open a private winery, it is necessary to bring the production premises of the winery itself, as well as adjacent storage facilities, to certain sanitary requirements and conditions for wine production. This is especially true for warehouses intended for storing future wines. Previously, they were stored for maturation in huge wine cellars. You can also follow this ancient path. But there is a more modern option.

Using modern climate control equipment, you can maintain the required temperature and humidity in any room. There should be no problems with storing products.

Necessary equipment for wine production.

To equip your vineyards and the winery itself, you need the following types of equipment and accessories.

1) Tractors, automatic grape trimmers and other agricultural equipment are needed. The possible list depends on the planned scale of the business. You don’t have to buy, but rent all the equipment. Consider it profitable.

2) You will need an automatic watering system for grape bushes; wooden boxes for harvesting grapes. For the winery, it is necessary to purchase a press for squeezing grapes, filtration and purification equipment, tanks for fermentation of raw materials and strong oak barrels. All the necessary equipment for a small winery and a plot of land of 1 hectare will cost about one million rubles. And approximately 180-240 thousand must be added for each additional hectare of land.

Wine production technology.

In a few words, wine production consists of the following stages. Bunches of grapes are collected in vineyards. Next, the bunches are sent to a press to extract the juice. After pressing, the raw materials are transported to containers for fermentation of the product. These are not ordinary fermentation tanks. This is high-tech modern equipment. A strictly defined temperature is maintained inside the tanks, which prevents the future drink from oxidizing.

The second stage is aging the future wine. To do this, the wine is poured into high-quality oak barrels and left there for the required time. As a rule, from several months to 2-3 years.

The third stage is bottling the finished wine. After bottling, the bottles of wine are sent to storage for a few more months. There he is regularly monitored and monitored for all possible “defects”. During these few months, the wine may become cloudy or sediment may appear. Of course, such defective bottles are written off and do not go on sale.

The last stage is transporting the finished wine to store shelves.

Important points affecting the taste of wine.

Many people believe that the taste of wine largely depends on the grape variety. The grapes are delicious, and the wine will be excellent. And vice versa. True, but not entirely. The taste largely depends on the raw materials used. It also depends on the year of harvest. But not only these nuances affect the taste of wine.

Also, an important factor is high-quality oak barrels in which the wine will be stored before bottling. The percentage of extraction also affects the taste of wine. In order to obtain the most delicious and high-quality wine with a pronounced aroma, it is necessary to remove no more than 60-65% of the juice from the grapes during the pressing process. The taste of wine is also influenced by the conditions under which production technology is observed. The more responsible and professional staff working in your winery, the greater the likelihood of obtaining the highest quality wine product.

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Magazine “Drinks. Technologies and Innovations” has already written more than once about one of the first Ukrainian mini-wineries “Kurin”, which is located in the village. Stepanovka, Kherson region. They create inimitable wines that are loved not only by Ukrainian connoisseurs of the noble drink. People abroad know about the Kurin farm firsthand. After all, people come here from France, Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria in order to learn the invaluable experience of the pioneers of Ukrainian microwinemaking. Read about the successes of “Kurin”, what problems you have to face today, and, of course, about plans for the future in an interview with the chairman of the farm “Kurin” Nikolai Khalupenko.

"Beverages. Technologies and Innovations”: Nikolay, what was the past year like for you?

Nikolay Khalupenko: Very difficult. While most of Ukraine suffered from drought, it rained throughout the summer. This has not happened in the Kherson region, probably for 50 years. As a result, the grapes were very sick with mildew and oidium, but we managed to save them. And the muscat varieties Muscat Ottonel, Traminer, Irshai and Oliver also froze a little, but, fortunately, the buds remained. And these varieties still yielded a harvest, although 30-40% less. Cabernet, Rkatsiteli, and Chardonnay varieties also yielded less than usual. And despite the problem with weather conditions, the sugar content of the berries is quite high - up to 30%.

"N.T.I.": What has changed at your winery since our last meeting?

N.Kh.: We received excise stamps and purchased a semi-automatic wine bottling line, which is already working. And recently, a few months later, we opened our own company store in Kherson, which successfully sells our products. We also bought a refrigeration unit. It was practically a necessity for us, since all our wines are prone to precipitation of tartar.

And to solve this problem, you need to treat the wine with cold, since we do not pasteurize. All our wine is live.

“N.T.I.”: You have been on the wine market for the 5th year already. Has the culture of wine consumption in Ukraine changed during this time, in your opinion?

N.Kh.: I recently visited Kiev and noticed a positive trend: there are noticeably more wine shops and boutiques there. In addition, the latest statistics indicate that not only in the capital, but also in such large cities as Lvov, Kharkov, Odessa, and Dnepropetrovsk, wine sales have increased. This means that people prefer noble drinks over strong ones.

And this cannot but rejoice. But, unfortunately, I do not see any positive changes in the legislation that would be aimed at developing and protecting the wine industry. “Kurin” was the first in Ukraine and for a long time the only one who managed to break through the bureaucratic wall that stood as a barrier to the development of small winemaking in Ukraine. More recently, another mini-winery appeared in the Odessa region, in Bessarabia - a grape farm with 50 hectares of vineyards. That's all. It is difficult to organize such production in Ukraine. And the main reason for this is our legislation. To obtain all the necessary permits and licenses, you need to spend a lot of time and effort.

“N.T.I.”: What exactly are the problems that small wineries in Ukraine experience?

N.Kh.: There are many problems. In Ukraine, the problem of counterfeiting remains - and this is one of the reasons that does not allow Ukrainian winemaking to develop and spoils its reputation.

Many authorities are trying to control winemakers, instead of helping or at least not interfering with their work. The legislation stipulates that the laboratory at each winery must be accredited. But a small enterprise cannot pay 10 thousand UAH for accreditation every 2-3 years. This money still needs to be earned.

Obtaining permits for a small winery is like going through the seven circles of hell. It takes superhuman efforts to obtain a license to process grapes. We had to go to Kyiv more than once just to pick her up. They didn’t give us our documents for six months. It shouldn't be like this!

Corruption and bureaucracy in the industry are the main reasons that prevent small wineries from developing. Dozens of small wine producers have closed over the past five years. The reason for this, in my opinion, is the conspiracy of large wineries, which specially united so that we would only grow grapes, and they would buy them from us for pennies, make wine and receive excess profits. But we also have the right to life. They are afraid of competition because we make “honest wine.”

We do not collect 20 tons of grapes per hectare, but 5 tons; We grow quality grapes and make quality wine from them. And we are not chasing excess profits. Our main goal is quality.

Now I’m talking not only about the Kurin winery, but about all small wineries, including Beykush Winery. Why do they want to close this winery now? The reasons are the same: for some, small-scale winemaking is not profitable in our country. I know the owner of Beykush Winery, Evgeniy Shneideris. This is a man of European thinking. He planted a vineyard, he makes amazing wines. He asked the officials to give him the opportunity to work, because we are striving for Europe! And in return he is punished. But I believe that Evgeniy Shneideris will be able to defeat the bureaucracy. And common sense will prevail.

“N.T.I.”: Does your restaurant of the same name “Kurin” help promote wines?

N.Kh.: Over the past 2 years we have been experiencing some problems. We are in the front-line zone. Our restaurant is located near the highway that leads to Donetsk. The flow of tourists is practically non-existent. At the same time, columns with tanks pass frequently.

Few people have been traveling to Crimea from Ukraine lately. This summer, only a small part of tourists headed to local resorts, for example, to Skadovsk. But, in spite of everything, people from all over Ukraine often come to us and buy our wines because they are loved and appreciated. For example, our clients - metropolitan connoisseurs of noble drinks, Cabernet, Rkatsiteli - buy several cases at once.

They know that the wine from “Kurin” is lively and of high quality, and also inexpensive.

"N.T.I.": Do you plan to increase the scale of production?

N.Kh.: We do not pursue large production volumes; we focus on the quality and uniqueness of the created product. We started with 20 tons of wine per year, and every year the production volume increased by 10 tons. This year we plan to make up to 50 tons of wine. This is approximately 70 thousand bottles. Our basements are designed for this volume. We don't have enough containers right now because we still have 2012 wines left. Since many containers are full, we bought 10 new ones for 1000 liters from the Enogroup company.

Of course, there is a desire to develop. We have even prepared a project. But while tanks are driving on our roads, we are not planning construction. We need to wait out the hard times.

“N.T.I.”: What plans for the future does the Kurin winery have, what new products await connoisseurs of its wines?

N.Kh.: This year we are going to release liqueur wine. Last season we made a trial batch of this drink - and our customers really liked it. Of course, such wines are not made in large quantities. This is a wine for enjoyment, so we will release it in small batches. In addition, there are practically no liqueur wines in Ukraine. This year we also plan to make about a ton of dessert wine from the Irshai Oliver variety. This is our brand, which we have already approved. By the way, this wine was recognized as the best product of the year last year in the Kherson region. From the Chardonnay and Rkatsiteli varieties, which have already begun to bear fruit, we will make wine in our main direction - dry table wine. Volumes will increase due to the planting of young vineyards. Now we have only 30 hectares of vineyards. Every year we will increase the area planted with grapes. But even here we have to rely on our own strength, since the state also does not help us with planting grapes.

For now, we only hope for support and continue to work.