Nov / Dec 2008
Magazine

 

Scott Harvey Wines
Innovation in wine making
by Connie McMullen

What has become a national trend, wine makers Scott and Jana Harvey have made Virtual Winemaking a smart business venture in tough economic times, right in the heart of California's wine growing country.

Producing about 16,000 cases a year, Scott says “We create an inventory without the expense of the bricks and mortar so we can develodevelop a wine company with as little capital outlay as possible.”

Virtual wineries have grown in the past few years across the state. Their popularity has helped the wine industry especially family winemakers flourish; some to the point of being able to bond their own operations.

So how does it work? Custom Crushing, Harvey explains. “We build and sell wines, and create brands like Scott Harvey. We secure grapes, purchase and deliver them to a winery. Then we secure and pay for space in a someone else's winery. I make the wine, develop and bottle it, warehouse and sell it.”

Harvey says the whole process takes place without a lot of capital outlay up front. It is a good business plan for investors and for the award winning Scott Harvey Wines and Jana Winery, that produce 19 wines that include Zinfandel, Syrah, Barbera, Riesling, Port, Bordeaux, and Rose. The company has a group of 30 shareholders who are eager to help the business grow.

“I've built a lot of wineries for other people,” Harvey said. “I've always done the most expensive part first. I would make sure they had their vineyards, built their facility, and grew the farm…and then I would do the sales end after their was inventory. With this company, rather than go through that tremendous capital outlay, we build the sales end first.”

According to Wine Business Monthly, there were 1,758 virtual wineries in the U.S. in 2006. Virtual wineries do not hold their own bond. They have a physical location (which may be at another winery), produce at least one brand, and have their own management and winemaker although the winemaker may be a consultant or work for multiple wineries. “Virtual wineries in many cases, act in much the same way a bonded winery would act, differing only in that the virtual winery has to use an outside bonded facility to physically make and bottle the wine. It is not uncommon for a bonded winery to have begun operations as a virtual winery and then eventually grow large enough to invest in their own bonded facilities,” writes WBM. Of 2,098 wineries in the Golden State, 1,658 were bonded and 853 were non-bonded wineries in 2007.

A passion, Scott has been working in the wine business 36 years. “I started when I was 19-years-old, while growing up in the Placerville area of Eldorado County. I was sent in high school as an Foreign Exchange student to a wine making region in Europe on the boarder of France and Germany. And I got bit by the wine bug,” he said.

Scott Harvey learned the wine making business while living with a family in the Rhineland Pfalz region of Germany, and in 1975 he apprenticed at K. Fitz-Ritter Winery while attending the Weinbau Schule in Neustadt. Of the experience, he says “I'm still close to the family. In November, I'll be going back to visit again. Their children and I visit back and forth; their grandchildren actually work for me in the vineyards in California. The relationship that developed is very strong, and very positive,” he explained.

Returning to California, Scott learned all aspects of winemaking and running a winery at the Montevina Winery in Amador County. From farming the grapes to effectively marketing the wine, he honed in on his knowledge and experience. Then in 1978, at the age of twentythree, he took over as Head Winemaker for Story Winery, in Amador County.

In 1996, Scott was recruited as Partner, Winemaker & President for newly purchased, Folie a Deux Winery in Napa Valley. Combining forces with Lead Partner, renowned Winemaker, Richard Peterson, Ph.D., a formidable winemaking team was launched. Scott pursued his commitment to award-winning Cabernets made from the Estate Vineyards in Napa Valley while continuing his passion for Amador County Zinfandel. Access to Scott's original Grandpère vineyard in Amador County and close relationships with premier Amador County growers, resulted in award-winning wines all around for Folie a Deux. In addition, Scott's creation, the "Menage a Trois" line of wines, was an instant commercial success. In 2004, Folie a Deux, now a respected brand, was sold to Sutter Home/Trinchero Winery. Scott was finally positioned and ready to start his own venture, and he had the ideal partner - his wife, Jana, a wine industry veteran.

“I took equity out and created Creative Wine Concepts, and brought in the shareholders, a group of people having fun in the wine business.”

Scott Harvey Wines, the initial line of wines in the "Creative Wine Concepts" portfolio, was created out of market demand for Scott's wines - "niche wines that over deliver."

“In the Jana line we produce three different Rieslings,” he said. “We also make a Napa Valley Cabernet. In the Scott Harvey Wine, we produce Barbara Zinfandel, and Sarah. And we have a California wine called Super Hero Wine Company that produces InZinerator and One Last Kiss, both white and red.”

In Northern Nevada, Scott Harvey and Jana Wines are carried by Ben's Liquors, the Peppermill Hotel Casino, the Grand Sierra, Scolari's, Whispering Vine, and Harrah's restaurants, “This is a nice market to be in,” he said, “Reno is such a nice town.”

The price points for the Scott Harvey and Jana Wines are all different but the white label under Scott Harvey are reserve wines that retail for an average of $30. The red labels average about $20 a bottle. Rieslings are in the mid $20s, and the top end Napa Valley wine called Cathedral runs $55 a bottle. The Super Hero Wine Company - the InZinerator - and One Last Kiss are in the Mid teens.

Scott Harvey Wines and Jana Winery produce at two facilities. One at Silenus in Napa, and the other with the Cosentino Winery, half way between Amandor County and Napa Valley.

Sutter Creek Tasting Room
21 Eureka St. (one block off Main Street)
Sutter Creek, California
Phone: 209-267-0122
Thursday through Sunday:
Open 12 - 5 p.m
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Silenus Vintners Tasting Room
5225 Solano Ave. Napa, CA 94558
Monday through Sunday: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Phone: 707-968-9575
or Silenus at: 707-299-3930