Vineyard Costs

Many folks ask what does it cost to put in a small vineyard and make a good bottle of wine. It is a very difficult question as the biggest item in the equation in California is the land cost. You can have land come with your house as we did or you can buy raw land for about $75-100K/acre. The other big item we found is consultation and coordination of the activities. Consultants will either quote you a flat fee or around $100-150/hr. This ends up being a big portion of the small vineyard cost….I’m not going to list this as we are not done yet, but figure 15-20% of the total project.

I think the easiest way to talk about small vineyards is cost per vine. This will give you an idea if you want to pursue this dream/lifestyle.

Items Cost/vine
Dormant Vines $3.50
Amendments $1.25
Tilling $0.50
Posts/Wire $3.50
Irrigation Materials $1.65
Labor to Install $2.00
Gopher control $1.40

Sub Total $13.80
Consultant (17.5%) $ 2.42

Total $16.22

Yearly maintenance will run between $2-3/vine depending on if you are organic or conventionally farmed and the row spacing. Narrow row spacing, ie. below 6’, will cost more. If you do most of the work yourself, like the folks at Emtu, you can reduce this substantially. However, you will need to buy a tractor and a few more tools.

What you get….

For Pinot you get about 3.5 lbs/plant, or enough for a bottle of wine when the plants are mature in about 6 years. Chardonnay is about twice as much. If you sell the grapes, you can get about $2500-$4000/ton for Pinot.

Not a great financial return……will probably take about 10-12 years to make back your investment, but you are living a dream.

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