When Life Gives You Grapes

Some wines improve with age, but others, such as nouveaus, are already near their peak right out of the barrel.

Perhaps the same could be said for vintners. On the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, a relatively new winery on the scene, J.R. Dill Winery, was opened by Jeffrey Dill, MBA ’10, in 2009. He was only 26 years old at the time and is the youngest sole owner to start a winery from scratch in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

He can often be found behind his bar — a piece of art itself, made from colorful Seneca Lake Glass — pouring samples for customers. “Most just assume I’m some kid behind the counter,” Dill says.

In fact, he sometimes gets funny reactions from people who learn that he used to work in the mortgage business in Philadelphia. “The economy is bad, and now you’re pouring wine …” they sympathize. “Most of the time I don’t say anything, but every once in a while I’ll say, ‘Well, I do own the place.’ Some don’t even believe me.”

He’s been known to pull out his driver’s license to prove it.

For Dill, winemaking wasn’t a family business, though his great-grandfather tended area vineyards more than 100 years ago. He grew up near Seneca Lake, and when that region began to experience an explosion of winemaking and vinitourism in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Dill became inspired to try making his own from local grapes in his parents’ basement.

He began buying enology textbooks to learn more about the art of winemaking. “It just became a really intense hobby,” he explains, that turned into a dream. “I’ve always wanted to start a winery from scratch — I knew that.”

His winemaking career was put on hold for a few years while he studied marketing and management at Philadelphia University, and soon after he found himself working for a commercial mortgage company in Fort Washington, Pa.

But the dream of owning his own winery was still on his mind. In fact, he was already considering moving back to the Finger Lakes to chase this dream in 2008 when the commercial mortgage business crashed, and the company he worked for essentially dissolved overnight. He was also enrolled in Drexel’s Online MBA program at the time, which he could continue to pursue from pretty much anywhere.

It seemed like a sign, he says, that it was time to pack up, move home, and write that business plan. He obtained funding for his new venture from a local bank — the second one he visited said yes. He purchased a serene plot of land right on Seneca Lake and constructed a rustic 2,000-square-foot post-and-beam building with vaulted ceilings and a large patio where customers can take in panoramic views of the lake and the surrounding countryside. He carved out half the building for wine production and bottling, and the other half as his tasting room.

Business has been booming. It took him less than five years to outgrow this building; while the entirety of his filtering and bottling processes still take place there, now that he has expanded his offering to 16 varieties he can no longer manage to produce all of them in-house. He is currently adding a massive 3,200-square-foot addition, which will be large enough to house his entire winemaking and bottling processes. This will also allow him to double the size of his tasting room.

Dill says his wine selection includes something for everyone. “Typically newer wine drinkers seem to favor sweeter-style wines, and we have a fairly broad selection of those. When someone comes in and it is their first time ever drinking wine, or they don’t know what they like, I will give them a white wine that is slightly off dry, like my Cayuga White.”

From there he can usually gauge whether the drinker would prefer something sweeter or drier. “My biggest recommendation is always to try wines you’ve never tasted before. The tasting room is the perfect opportunity to try new things outside your comfort zone.”

Dill also produces plenty of dry style wines, noting that his offerings include more dry reds than whites.

Two local restaurants recently began offering Dill’s wines. “It is a great way to get the word out. I look at it as a great marketing opportunity. I’ve seen many people come to the winery after having tried our wines at those restaurants.” Business has been increasing about 20 percent per year; although based on what he’s seen so far this summer, he thinks he’ll beat that for 2013.

On the viticulture side, Dill does not grow his own vines. He contracts with local vineyards within five miles for the grapes he needs and seeks experienced professionals for advice and to teach him that side of the business. “I concentrate on winemaking, although good wine starts in the vineyard,” he says.

Looking forward, he says he’d like to acquire enough land to establish his own small five-acre vineyard within the next 10 years or so. In the short term, he plans to add a sparkling wine to his list.

“My favorite aspect of owning my winery is my ability to control my own destiny. In my role, I hit every topic and facet of business from manufacturing to marketing, and I love that I’m creating a product from scratch and hand-selling it.”