Yorgo - I have a friend who did what the you are trying to do. He’s Lebanese, an MD, and he moved back to Lebanon. Then he decided to make wine. As a doctor, he has an income that means he doesn’t need to rely on his winery.
What I can tell you from the US, is that there’s almost no market here for the wine. But that doesn’t mean you can’t create one. A couple weeks ago I tasted thru a number of Hungarian wines. I tried importing some in the early 1990s. There was interest among the wine-savvy, but John Q Public was another story. Even today, hardly anyone in the US knows them, but they’ve established a beachhead. And that wouldn’t have happened if some producers and importers wouldn’t have taken a few chances on long shots.
So someone has to do it and I wish you all the best. And don’t forget that there may be more logical markets - in Europe perhaps.
But you need to do a lot more work. Wanting to make wine and having a plan are miles apart. What grapes? Why those? Where are you going to get them? How much will they cost you? How will you finance that? Where will you make your wine? When? Where will you store it? How will you sell and ship it? What about your labels and the requirements of any country in which you plan to ship? What about your trademarks? Your capsules? How will you finance those? Have you interested any outside investors? Do you have a compelling story that might excite some interest?
There are many stories about people who like wine and decided to try making some. Most of those are not compelling in the least - they’re like those blogs where some woman visits a wine region and decides to “de-mystify” wine and write a blog. And there are plenty of defunct wineries that had a run of five or seven or ten years and just couldn’t go on. What were the problems they faced and how will you deal with those?
Finally, have you ever run a business? Of your own?
Not to be negative, but you are at the very beginning and I hope someday to see your wines in stores and even more, I hope to taste them!
That’s the point. He clearly just wants to dive in. It isn’t likely that any advice from well-meaning respondents here will steer him away or guide him to put in the real work to determine that his idea is likely not a very good one, practically speaking, so he should just go for it. Any rational person nowadays would look at his setup (is Lebanese, has no money, attended a few harvests) and say “don’t quit your day job!” He’s likely going to fail, but at least if he fails with his back against the wall he may realize all of his own shortcomings, then realize that his failure is not the Ultimate Failure and if he really wants to be a winemaker, he’ll learn from his mistakes the first time around and double down and become one.
Okay, wow lot’s of stuff. First, thank you guys, love every comment, advice, and criticism. Thank you for the support and for your advice. Keep it coming, especially the ones pointing out problems, because some of them I haven’t thought of.
It might not seem like it, but I have a plan. I will be posting the first update in two days. I leveraged a connection with an old friend who provided winemaking equipment we are working together to see what I’ll buy from tanks to pumps and everything in between. Another friend is an engineer, he’s going to help me build equipment that are a bit expensive, like for desteming and crushing and more so i can reduce costs.
Financially I am aware that I might not make money for some time, I am considering it now as side hustle I will slowly grow, right now I am working in a wine bar and I am also building 2 brands (non wine related) that will support me financially. And Yes I’ve run some businesses before.
Now from a marketing stand point I agree with you I won’t go in a build it and htey’ll come mindset, One of my best skills aside from winemaking is social media marketing I will work heavily on content building a personal brand along the way around wine building a ocmmunity and other marketing techniques.
Also for the last three month I worked in sales for a big winery in lebanon so I made good connections iwth shops and restaurants and I’ve teased the idea with them they would love to work with my wine. I have 3 to 5 retailers that would go with me,
The next posts I will write about the financials, THe marketing plan. and when it’s a bit clearer the type of wines I will make.
And one last thing, I’m not delusional I am a really realistic person, Will if fail? yes most probably. Will I wish I stayed in France and never came back to the most unstable country ever? I might. But one certainty here Is that from 2026 till I die each year I will make my wine sell my wine and repeat even if I fail every time I will continue through it until this works.
Again thank you guys for the advice.
Cheers
Hey Bryan thanks for the advice. It’s not that I want to dive in it’s that now I have the least responsabilities I’m not married no kids no debt. I can take te risk make mistakes, I have a plan and a back up plan I’m not diving in Blind
Update 1 of starting my own winery. As promised, I will share all the details of the journey, and there have been a lot of developments since.
1- I calculated my production capacity. In 202,6 I will produce between 1000 and 1500 Bottles depending on the vintage condition. I am still meeting with grape sellers to decide what types of wine I will make, but thanks to some of you I have some Ideas.
2- I tried to get a local company to manufacture the fermentation tanks, but it turns out manufacturing them is way more expensive than buying them from a seller, so I will buy them from there.
3-I was thinking of working with a small winery in Lebanon, making my wine there, and splitting the profit. I think this will allow me to cut costs, like some wineries might rent me a tank and allow me to use the equipment for a part of the profit. I am still putting the pros and cons.
4-I am in the process of designing and building my own crusher and press because those are expensive, so this will be a DIY job that will start in April.
5-Working at night in a wine bar then in the day on a winery is freaking exhausting, but gave me an idea, as a way to increase production and make some “Pre-sales” I was thinking of going to some wine bars/Restaurans and offer to make them a “House wine” i will design it with them and produce it, they will pay money up front allowing me to have cash reserves.
Finally the cost break down.
-Tanks will cost me 1500$
-Grapes around 1000$
-pump 300$
-Press 500$
-Crusher 200$
-Yeast and nutrients 400$
-Bottles and corks 800$
Totaling $4,700, 5000$ with unexpected expenses. My night job should be able to cover those costs. And if I work with a winery, I will be able to cut those costs. And with the House wine strategy, I might be able to add 1000 to 5000 more bottles without increasing the initial investment.
I am also working on a marketing strategy. I will build the brand around my personal brand with 100% transparency, showing behind the scenes and everything with high-quality content on Instagram. My connections and the friends I made in the industry helped me secure 3 resellers who would buy and push my wine in their stores. I am sure that if I push on wholesale, I can get 10 to 15 resellers in Lebanon, but I don’t think I need that much, seeing that my production capacity is way too small.
Again, thank you for your tips and advice. As we approach summer, updates will become more and more frequent. I hope in the next update to tell you about the grapes and types of wine I will make and also to finalise the production strategy.
So as always all criticism and advice are welcome be brutal.
see you soon
It’s interesting to see how different the pricing is in Lebanon vs the U.S. I bought some small tanks for my research winery that are probably a similar size to yours if you’re doing 1000-1500 bottles; they cost me $3000 a piece and that was a great deal lol. Meanwhile, I would expect yeast and nutrient costs to be under $100 for that volume, unless you’re using several different yeasts.
At only 1000-1500 bottles you could even get away without a crusher if you and a couple buddies fancy a long night of hand-destemming.
Do some research on the history of grapes grown in Lebanon over the centuries. What has been planted the longest? Which grape made the best wine 1,000 years ago. Look for plantings of these old vines and make something unique with them.
Look up the history of the MISSION grape in California - and research what the innovative wineries are doing with these ancient vines.
Look up the history of the PAIS grape in Chile - and again, research what the innovative wineries are doing with these old vines and how they are promoting them.
You need to be ahead of the pack in Lebanon. You need stories like these and the unique fruit that makeup these stories. You just know there are some old vines planted somewhere of some unique grape no one has ever heard of before, go find them.