First off, I want to say a few thank you’s to everyone who has reached out with kind words of encouragement as we continue to turn this gigantic dream into a reality:
A special thanks to everyone who has purchased t-shirts through the online store -- the outpouring of support has been incredible, and thinking about all of you wearing your Anton Vincent t-shirts puts a big smile on my face!
Thank you to Joe, Josh, Ryan, Nick, and all of the other mentors who have been willing to kindly share their time and experience with me as I navigate all of the moving pieces of this project.
Finally, a HUGE thank you to my family for helping out with this project at every step of the way, and always encouraging me to keep pushing when the going gets tough. To Laura, Rich, Doug, Kolina, and all of the Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles who have lended their support: it means so much, since family is the main reason I’m doing this project in the first place!
Now, on to the updates...
The Land
It’s official! We’ve purchased 20 acres of land in the town of Grafton, WI which will be the future home of Anton Vincent Winery. The land is absolutely beautiful, with a scenic hilltop for the new winery building, a 1 acre pond, a prairie, and plenty of room for the vineyards.
We’re excited to have a property where we can restore native prairie and wetland, and improve the property for both our visitors as well as the wildlife in the area. We’ve been working with lots of different people to help develop a sustainable agriculture business that promotes healthy biodiversity, which is the key to growing good fruit (and making good wine).
If anyone wants to come get a walking tour of the land, feel free to reach out -- I’d be happy to take you to the site to see what we’re doing!
The Vineyards
Now that the land is secured and spring is here, we’ve started prepping the fields for the vineyards. Our grape vines will start arriving in May, so we have the next 30ish days to get the land ready for planting. This means mowing, fertilizing, planting cover crop, building the trellises, and digging 2,000 holes for the grape vines. Many of you have volunteered to help during planting, so I’ll be reaching out to each of you once I have a better idea of the dates, but it’s looking like planting will be around the 2nd or 3rd week of May.
The Financing
Financing is by far the most grueling and challenging part of starting a new business from the ground up. And the unfortunate reality is that some major components of the original project funding dried up when Covid hit last year, so I’ve spent the last 9 months working with investors and banks to figure out how to get the project launched.
Luckily, I’ve found some great investors and banks that really believe in this project and want to help finance the business. With their help, we’re on track to start construction this year with the goal of opening to the public early in 2022.
With that being said, a project of this scope is expensive and I expect that we’ll need to grow quickly, so I’m always open to talking with more investors. If you’re interested in learning more about investing in this project, you can reach out to me directly at john@antonvincent.com and I’m happy to share more info with you!
The Building
We’re in the early stages of planning construction for the tasting room and production facility. We’re currently working through the budget, the grading plan, and the plumbing/electric plans before we move on to the final design and layout of the building! The building is going to be crucial to a great customer experience, so I’ve been losing sleep over getting this right. Here are some early concept drawings for the tasting room that give you a first look at what the winery building might look like:
The Design
Since I’m a marketing nerd, one area of the project that I obsess over is design and branding. Everyone knows that label designs have a huge impact on how we buy wine, so I want to get this part right.
I’ve been working with my friend Josh for over a year now on our logo and branding, and we’re getting close to finalizing some of the work. I’ve been a fan of Josh’s art and design work for a long time, so I knew I wanted to work with him from the start.
As soon as the logo and branding is finished, I’ll be putting it up online, as well as adding some new t-shirt designs to the online shop. Stay tuned, I can’t wait for you to see it!
What’s Next
The entire project is really starting to come together — the land, the construction, and the design work are all moving forward full steam. The project has been in the planning phase for over 2 years, so it’s very exciting to see everything coming to life.
The project is on track, and we’re hoping to begin construction this summer. If the timeline holds up, then we can open the doors to the public as soon as spring of 2022!
Thanks for your continued support, and feel free to reach out if you have questions or if you want to come see the land!
- Brother John / Owner of Anton Vincent Winery