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amcl

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Hello!
This is my first post ever so please excuse me if I've missed any points of courtesy or protocol.

My extended family once had a profitable vinyard, it was divided and production stopped and now that generation has passed, now we are all friends again. Some 30 years have passed and I assume that a lot has changed, as with most other things.

What I would really like some opinions on, is how much land is the general tipping point necessary for a successful wine production business. Of course this is very general but what I would like to know is; a few hectares can make a very tiny boutique localized winery which may or may not scrape by financially. Multiply by 10 or 100 you may have critical mass to allow bad years, discounting stock, natural disaster but still make a profit. Please assume that the wine is basic as we would have a lot to learn before building something special back up. We have been advised but I would like to speak to like-minded people.

Again, I cannot thank those who choose to answer enough. It would be very helpful to hear your opinions.
 
Hard to say how many vines you would need, but I have been told and I would agree that 5 acres (2500 vines) is a full time job. I have 1 acre 500 plants and it keeps me busy, with a full time job I could never do more. But with that said I sell 95 percent of the grapes, hard to even imagine if I made it all into wine
 
Hi Rob,
Thank you for your prompt response.
I'm certainly aware that it would be a full time job, perhaps a fulltime job for a handful of people or more.
My question is really one of economics and perhaps it's to broad a brush to paint a definitive picture but for instance:

To upgrade and maintain a small production plant it has it's going to have an overhead which can only be filled by a certain quantity of wine output, which of course requires the associated acreage which again will have it's own maintenance costs.

Is it possible to say: "xxx aches of arable land is around optimal for a small-mid size winery to safely produce a safe quota".

Thanks very much
 

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