Page 25 - BusinessWest September 4, 2023

“We worked our butts off, our staff worked their butts off ... we had too many people coming in, and we had to turn some away.”
they were essentially rolling with the punches and making the very best of the opportuni- ties that presented themselves, an MO that has defined Black Birch since they settled into this former onion farm in 2017 after selling off their share of a similar venture in Southampton.
Those opportunities range from the stag- ing of concerts during the summer months
— a tradition born from COVID, in many respects — to hosting a wide variety of events in the tasting room, to selling wool and meat generated from the 40 or so sheep that now populate this beautiful real estate.
Things have settled down a little from those crazy days of the pandemic, but busi- ness remains steady at Black Birch, and, increasingly, it is now year-round, as we’ll see.
The main businesses are growing grapes
and making wine, and Black Birch now pro-
duces several different labels, from its Epic
White, made from Vidal Blanc grapes, to Elo-
quent Red, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Blau-
frankisch, and Marquette. They come in two
distinct labels, white for the ‘heritage’ wines
made with grapes purchased from outside
growers, and black for the estate wines made with grapes grown on site in Hatfield.
This theme of rolling with the punches continues in 2023, a dif- ficult year due to different types of extreme weather — first a killing frost that destroyed 80% of the grapes planted in May, and then incessant summer rains that will certainly impact the 20% that survived, said Modestow, noting that grapes like it dry and hot, and there simply hasn’t been a lot of that lately.
Fortunately, 2021 and 2022 were boom years for this venture, Kersberger said, adding that they have provided a cushion of sorts from the problems of this spring and summer, although the damage done by Mother Nature will certainly take a toll.
Black Birch now offers a wide array of wines featuring both its ‘heritage’ and ‘estate’ labels.
Staff Photo
Overall, the business plan calls for moving toward producing all wines with grapes produced on site, said Modestow, adding that they’re roughly halfway to that goal, while also growing each of
the various operations within this venture, from the events to the sheep’s wool.
For this issue and its focus on wineries and breweries, Business- West paid a visit to Black Birch to learn about how a hobby turned into a business ... and a passion.
Financing for business success made Simple.
$9,500,000
$4,000,000
$10,900,000
Construction Loan Multifamily Hartford County, CT
Equipment and Working Capital Lines of Credit Transportation Company Hampden County, MA
Construction Loan Multifamily Essex County, MA
$2,100,000
$3,300,000
$750,000
Land Acquisition Loan Multifamily
New Haven County, CT
Working Capital Line of Credit and Mortgage Commercial Contractor Hampden County, MA
Equipment Term Loan Packaging Design Company Hampden County, MA
Shaun Dwyer
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT COMMERCIAL BANKING
Member FDIC/Member DIF
David Ference
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT COMMERCIAL BANKING
bankatpeoples.com/businessteam
Matthew Krokov
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT COMMERCIAL BANKING
BusinessWest
<< WINERIES & BREWERIES >> SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 25