A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ® C A L I F O R N I A Trees & Vines ®
Wine producers offer tips on starting in the business ByDennis Pollock Bob Bagdasarian’s boyhood home is still standing, amodest house in Sanger where he grew up on a farm that grew raisin grapes, peaches, plums and apricots. A fence surrounds the house now, as it resides next to themultimillion-dollar Kings River Winery he opened in 2016. operated by Bagdasarian or a larger operation, such as the E&J Gallo winery that Holt jokingly described as “the little boutique winery at Highway 168 and Clovis Avenue.” Bagdasarian talked of the financial challenges that are significant when it comes to growing and crushing the grapes. Bob Bagdasarian planted a dozen winegrape varieties on his Sanger vineyard and opened a winery in 2016. He said the career choice requires passion and a willingness to “get dirt under your fingernails.”
First, there’s the cost of land, as much as a million dollars an acre in Napa. In the San Joaquin Valley, it’s $20,000 to $40,000 an acre, he said. Vines cost $5 or $6 apiece. Trellises for vines cost $10,000 an acre, an irrigation system$2,000 an acre, and training vines on the trellises are another $3,000 to $4,000 an acre. Bagdasarian said he is “passionate” about wine, a necessary trait. “You have to have the passion and get dirt under your fingernails,” he said. In addition to farming, he graduated fromUniversity of the Pacific with a bachelor’s degree inpharmacy and is an entrepreneur who operatesmultiple pharmacy ventures. In 2012, Bagdasarian planted 12 different varieties of winegrapes on a 40-acre vineyard. His craft winery opened four years later. It is a frequent location for weddings and quinceaneras, along with fundraisers for area fire departments, schools and a local animal shelter.
It was in his high school years when Bagdasarian and a brothermade their first wine fromCarignangrapes at a timewhenwinepriceswere “terrible,” he said. “Itwas cheaper to let the grapes drop.” They made the wine in a 5-gallon glass jug. Like the prices, Bagdasarian said, their early wine was “terrible,” too, even though “we drank it anyway.” Bagdasarian recently shared the story of his wine and vineyards journey as he joined speakers in a presentation at California State University, Fresno. The “Uncorking the Wine Business” panel included entrepreneurs, faculty and students discussing winemaking. Participants included students Karley Curtis and Justine Osilla; TimHolt, director of wine and concentrate production with E&J Gallo Winery; and Demetrius Porter, a former Bulldogs basketball player and founder of Center Cork Wines. It was forthcoming in detailing the monetary investment and sweat and tears involved in making and selling wine, whether it’s a craft winery like the one
See PANEL, Page 8
April 27, 2022 Ag Alert 7
Powered by FlippingBook