The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting and Running a Winery [Mass Market Paperback]

Thomas Pellechia (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: November 4, 2008

Making the dream a reality?

For many people, owning and running a winery is a dream job. According to Wine Business Monthly, the number of wineries in the U.S. has jumped 26% in less than three years. To carry out this dream, one must understand that wine making involves both science and art. Starting a winery is just like starting any other business and requires planning and a deep understanding of the industry. In The Complete Idiot?s Guide® to Starting and Running a Winery, readers will learn:

?How to put together a business plan
?Different varieties of grapes and wines
?How to lay out a floor plan and what equipment is needed
?How to promote wines

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Alpha (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592578187
• ISBN-13: 978-1592578184
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Business & Investing > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Hospitality Businesses
  • #39 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Wine > Wine & Winemaking
  • #88 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Spirits

More About the Author

My writing life began at age 12, after a teacher read one of my compositions to the class and said it was the best in the class. He held me after class to encourage me to be a writer.

Over the years, I wrote poems and stories, and wrote for newsletters at work. After a brief interlude, when I lived for two years in Tehran, Iran, and traveled the countryside where ancient wines had been produced, the wine bug grabbed me. The idea of getting into the wine business came to me, too, after having worked on a number of projects as a script writer for a few wineries and their promotion campaigns. I had already started to consume wine regularly and to make it at home. To me, it was just a short leap to make wine commercially.

That short leap cost me some money but I got a winery up and running and when the money ran out eight years later, I had to close up shop. But I kept writing, yet I switched to wine writing and then I added food writing to that.

After closing the winery, I went to work as a wine salesman for a winery and then for a distributor. After that, I opened a wine retail shop with a partner.

My immersion in the wine world has me traveling the, well, the wine world. I continue to write and I have added a blog to that effort: vinofictions.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "Must-Have" for Anyone Considering Winery Operations, October 16, 2009

By 

Nana T. "Mountains4me" (Lake Arrowhead, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting and Running a Winery (Mass Market Paperback)

At first, i thought the book was too negative, and actually discouraging to winery-ownership aspirations("You can make a small fortune in the wine business, provided you begin with a large one." HA HA). But as I read other books, I realized the author's purpose: There were just too many people gettin' into the "wine biz" for purely romantic reasons, without an ounce of outdoor/ag/technical/marketing knowledge. It's not hard to "love" wine; many people do. Neither is it hard to love fast cars, but I wouldn't think of operating a sports car dealership. And yes, from first-hand experience, it is VERY expensive to start up a winery. For anyone considering getting into the winery business, this book is worth buying even if only for the wonderful Appendix: an excellent collection of forms, worksheets & resources that every winery operator, or anyone thinking of owning a winery, should definitely include in their personal library.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Winery 101, February 26, 2009

By 

Jeffrey S. Anderson (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting and Running a Winery (Mass Market Paperback)

Despite the title, (a common curse with this series) this is a workable reality check for the would be winemaker. There is little actual discussion of technique, but there are many other sources for that. This is more a discussion of what elements would have to be in place for a new venture to be successful.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the business side of the proposition, November 16, 2009

By 

Michael A. Duvernois (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting and Running a Winery (Mass Market Paperback)

Okay, first off, ignore the silly title. There are good "Complete Idiot's" and "Dummies" books and not so good ones. This is a good one. The best book, and certainly the most complete book, I've seen on the business side of starting a winery. I'd recommend other books on wine making (including the excellent The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home which bridges the home winemaking and small winery divide) but if you're serious about a winery, going to a couple of books is hardly a major problem.

The book is well-written, clear, and informative. Alas, my recommendation would carry more weight if I've opened a winery and made a profit, but so far this book falls into the informational category for me.