The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Wineries rely on carryout
With tasting rooms closed, winemakers see steep decreases in revenue over first two weeks of COVID-19 restrictions
Wine grape growers and winemakers in the Grand River Valley region of Lake and Ashtabula counties are all too familiar with whims of Mother Nature.
The swings of Northeast Ohio’s climate, especially those involving extreme cold, can have a dramatic impact on crop yields, wine production and threaten the life of vines.
But even the most forward-thinking of those growers, winemakers and winery owners could not have gameplanned for the stay-at-home shutdown necessitated by concerns about the spread of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.
All of Ohio’s 327 wineries have closed their tasting rooms and other public areas in compliance with the orders of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton.
Without the traffic in their tasting rooms, winery owners lose their main stream of revenue.
“You don’t have retail coming in. Period. Saying you could take a 50 percent to 70 percent hit to the bottom line
is not a stretch,” said Tony Kosicek, owner and winemaker at Kosicek Vineyards in Harpersfield Township.
Kosicek opened his doors from noon to 3 p.m. on March 28 to fill carry-out orders. Earlier in the week, he’d used Facebook to get out the word all proceeds from that day’s sales would go to the business’ employees idled by the shutdown.
When the doors closed, Kosicek said, he’d sold “between 40 and 50 cases.”
He also had many a friendly, animated conversation with customers. Almost all of the transactions were completed in the parking lot, always with proper social distancing.
One of those customers left a $100 tip for the employees.
Kosicek said that while work on the vines will continue, he will cut spending wherever he can to ride out the COVID-19 storm.
“We won’t be spending money on anything. I’m Slovenian. We don’t over-spend to start with. Slovenians save for a rainy day. We just don’t expect the rain to come all in one day.”
M Cellars owner and winemaker Matt Meineke flew solo on March 28 at the Harpersfield Township winery. He, too, was filling carry-out orders.
Based on the downturn in sales over the first two weeks of shutdowns, stay-at-home restrictions and social distancing, Meineke was projecting a revenue slide of “60 to 75 percent” over one month.
There were 15 to 20 orders to be filled at M Cellars on March 28. Meineke expects that number to rise as customers get a feel for this new way of doing business.
“We’re adjusting and we’ll keep adjusting, Meineke said. “You want to still have a business when things open back up.”
Meineke said recent investments made in website upgrades and VineSpring, a software program geared to wine sales, are making it easier to stay connected to customers.
“My frame of mind is good,” Meineke said. “You don’t have a choice. This is what we do. This is our life’s investment and retirement.”
Gene Sigel is the owner and winemaker of South River Vineyard in Harpersfield Township. He tends 150 acres of grapes for his own business, as well as for Chalet Debonne and Grand River Cellars.
Sigel also is owner and spirits maker of Red Eagle Distillery in Harpersfield Township.
He was at Red Eagle on March 28, greeting Mike Liszkay from Parma and other customers picking up carry-out orders.
“I’m so glad you are still open,” Liszkay said to Sigel.
Sigel said he is determined to meet the challenges facing both businesses. For now, much of his time will be spent in the vineyards.
“We don’t have any choice on the farm,” Sigel said. “Spring is coming. It knows its own rhythm. The grapes are going to come in and be harvested. Eventually, we will have to make wine.
“As a small business, we are confronted now with something we couldn’t anticipate and can’t completely understand,” Sigel added.
St. Joseph’s Vineyard in Madison Township was open for carryout business on March 28.
“Traffic has been pretty good. We’re coping,” co-owner and winemaker Art Pietrzyk said.
Pietrzyk said the social distancing aspect of the COVID-19 crisis presents a challenge to winery owners and, perhaps, a glimpse of the near future.
“We need to figure out a better way to handle customers for inside sales,” Pietrzyk said. “Transactions will have to be from a distance. I’m not sure how to do that now. We’ll wait for guidance from the government.
“This will be a different world for a long time, until they have a vaccine that works,” he added.
Ohio Wine Producers Association executive director Donniella Winchell said her members are in wait-and-see mode.
“People are nervous,” Winchell said. “No one knows how long this will last. Sales are a fraction of what they were one month ago.
“If this goes on for a long time, we could lose some wineries that aren’t that well capitalized,” Winchell added. “Even with the established wineries, there are huge challenges.”
Winchell described herself as realistic and optimistic about the outlook for Ohio’s wineries as the COVID-19 drama unfolds.
“Our industry is struggling right now, but this is a great county,” she said. “We are smart and resilient.”