Buying Vineyard Land

If you are thinking about purchasing either an existing vineyard or raw land on which you hope to install a vineyard, there’s a lot you need to know. Having gone through the same process myself when purchasing my vineyard property, I discovered that there are very, very few sources of good information on buying and/or developing a vineyard.

So, I’ve tried to include the very basics here. The information provided is meant only to give you an idea of the scope of issues you will face when purchasing vineyard land and is by no means complete. I strongly encourage you to fully research a variety of sources prior to your purchase.

Some questions to explore in determining your needs are:

• Do you want an established vineyard or raw land on which you can develop your own vineyard?
• Do you want a house, the potential for a house or no house at all?
• Is there a particular variety of grape you want to grow?
• Is there a particular area you want to be in?
• Are you willing deal with difficult access or other issues?
• What are your minimum and/or maximum acreages?
• What is the maximum you can spend?
• Once you have a rough idea what you want, you’ll know what properties
  are worth evaluating.

I love our vineyard—the farming and the people we have gotten to know through growing grape vines. Despite all the headaches that come with any farming activity – we wouldn’t trade our vineyard for any amount of money (OK, maybe there is a price…).

There are a wide variety of ways you can operate a vineyard. Many people who own vineyards hire managers to operate them, and have no involvement in the day-to-day operation other than writing and receiving checks and visiting occasionally. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those who manage their vineyards themselves and spend a great deal of their time every day devoted to it.