A solid chunk of what keeps my office busy is filing applications for businesses that are making the leap into the wine world by starting their own wine business. At the beginning of these interactions, when they first reach out to my office there is a script of topics covered and questions that I ask so I can know what type of licensing their business will need so they’ll be able to do the range of winemaking and selling activities they have described to me. The details that tell me a key factor about what their licensing option will be comes from who they plan to sell their wines to, and where they are located. We also go over other topics, including what their business structure will be, where their wines will be made, will they grow or buy grapes and what thoughts they’ve given to their marketing plan.
In November of 2017 Jim Duane the host of the popular
Inside Winemaking podcast asked me if I could help out by recording a guest podcast while he was busy with the extra nightmare that was harvest 2017. I said of course! That podcast,
“Compliance For Starting a Winery” has become a very popular one and I’ve heard from many people who listened to it and later worked with my office to start their own wine world adventures.
By time here are the topics that I discuss after Jim’s introduction: (about 50 minutes total)
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- My part starts at 4:00
- Topics I covered – 7:11
- The 4 questions I ask when talking with someone who wants to start a new wine business – 9:30
- The application process – 26:20
On the podcast I talk a lot about the Alternating Proprietorship, or AP type of licensing. This is actually the most common type that I file. Related to that, here’s a link to a post I shared last year which explains why this type is such a common and popular license type for a lot of CA businesses. I also mention the other type, still often known as the “custom crush client” model. The license type for that option you’ll hear me refer to as the wine wholesaler type, since that is part of one of the CA ABC license names for businesses that go this route. It isn’t as popular, mainly because of its limitations for selling wine DTC (direct to consumer) outside of CA.
If interested to talk directly with me to discuss starting your own wine business here’s a link to schedule a call.
