Former radio executive opens Oneida County’s first winery

VERONA — After 28 years in media, Mary Jo Beach retired as the vice president/general manager of four radio stations, at Townsquare Media, in the Mohawk Valley to follow her dream. She fulfilled that dream by opening Oneida County’s first winery on Dec. 19.

“In 2004, I took my first trip on a wine trail in the Finger Lakes, and I absolutely fell in love with winemaking,” exclaims Beach, the president of Villa Verona Vineyard. (The incorporated name is Vino Verona, LLC.) “It was fun and gave me a happy feeling. I just felt alive. I knew then and there that I wanted to be a part of this. I also knew I wanted to do something locally. This is how the dream began.”

Beach is no stranger to running a successful business. “I spent several years studying the wine industry, especially in New York,” she continues. “I also studied the demographics of the local market and even the traffic flow to determine the best site. That’s why I chose this location, which is about 1.5 miles west of the Turning Stone Resort Casino [on Route 365]. The traffic study confirms that 10,000 cars pass my door every day. In real estate, they say that the three most important things are location, location, location. That’s why I waited until 2013 before I bought this property. It’s the perfect location.”

Beach’s analysis of the wine industry in New York showed that it is not only a major industry, but also that consumption is trending up. A February 2014 report by the Stonebridge Research Group confirms her conclusions. Using 2012 data, Stonebridge identified 320 wineries statewide with 52 off-premise outlets. A total of 1,631 farms produced grapes on 37,000 acres. New York winery revenues alone totaled $553 million plus another $3.3 billion of non-New York state wines, and wine-related tourism added another $400 million from more than 5 million “wine visits.” Another beneficiary of New York’s growing wine business, which includes grape and grape-juice sales, is state and local government, pocketing $408.2 million in tax revenue.

Fast forward to December 2014, and the number of wineries approached 400, a 25 percent increase in two years. The state issued 41 new winery licenses just in 2014, and Wine Enthusiast magazine designated the Empire State as the “Wine Region of the Year (2014),” beating out the Champagne district of France, the Chianti region of Italy, the Sonoma Coast in California, and the Red Mountain area in the state of Washington. Jim Trezise, writing in his weekly column for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, also noted that in 2014 “[t]op awards went to 753 New York wines in major international competitions, along with rave reviews of wines rated 90 [points] or above in major consumer publications … $4.8 billion … is how much the New York grape and wine industry generated in 2012. [T]hat figure certainly now exceeds $5 billion … [New York is] the 30-year overnight success.”

A major investment

Beach is all in on Villa Verona. “The property, which includes a 1,500-square-foot house and a 1,600-square-foot barn set on two acres, cost me $115,000 plus another $100,000 to get the project up and running. The Mohawk Regional Economic Development Council helped out with a grant of $100,000, and I took out a loan of $400,000. For me, it’s a major capital investment. We have already made eight wines and are in the process of making four more. Of the 12 wines, seven are white, four are red, and there’s one blush made from a variety of grapes including old standards such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Riesling and even new hybrids developed by the Cornell [Cooperative] Extension program,” she says.

Beach continues, “We’re on track to produce 3,000 cases in our first year, with catchy names like ‘BFF’ (Bold, Fun, Fruity) and ‘5.0 Shades of Red.’ Villa Verona is currently buying grapes in juice form from Finger Lakes suppliers and relies on vendors to fill the bottles and print the labels; everything else is done on the premises.” Beach has converted the barn to a winery, which includes a tasting area and retail store. The next addition will be a bistro. Beach is the sole stockholder in the business.

The business plan

Beach’s business plan never relied on profit just from the winery. “I always knew that I would have to make Villa Verona a destination if it were to be profitable,” notes the winery’s president. “That means creating multiple revenue streams, including the retail store, the bistro, craft beers, and especially events. Most importantly, I want to create a wine trail here in Oneida County, because that’s what people really enjoy. I picture an oasis complete with tapas, cheese plates, wine, music, and a lovely setting. I know it’s … [counterintuitive] to encourage competition, but the wine trail is very important to the long-term business plan and will benefit both me and other local wineries.” Beach’s goal is to grow from her present three employees to 25 employees within five years.

To implement the business plan, Beach is relying on three decades of marketing and advertising experience. “I started out promoting via social media to gain area recognition,” avers Beach. “We already have 3,500 followers on Facebook, and we encourage all of our visitors to share their emails. Signage is obviously important, and so are the cards we’ve placed in [New York State] Thruway rest areas. We’re gearing up now for advertising in newspapers and on radio and TV. Another area we are beginning to develop is contacts in the bus-tour business. This region attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, and Turning Stone alone attracts 22,000 vehicles a day. Villa Verona has already been successful in featuring its wines in area restaurants, such as Teddy’s in Rome, Carmella’s [Café in New Hartford] … and I hope soon to announce a relationship with a major New York wine distributor.

The Villa Verona staff includes Beach; her daughter, Jennifer Beach Brillante, as the vice president for marketing; and Amy Fiore as the manager. The company has also retained Barry Tortalon as a wine consultant and head winemaker. Tortalon, who has 35 years of industry experience, is currently the winemaker at Rooster Hill Vineyards in Penn Yan. Lloyd Ploof, a Clarkson graduate with a degree in chemistry, who is Beach’s fiancée, also serves as a winemaking consultant. In addition to the support from her consultants and staff, Beach also relies on professional advice from local professional-services firms: Adirondack Bank assists with financing; Feldman & Company CPAs, LLP of Utica provides accounting; and legal services are provided by Dunn, Bruno & St. Leger, LLP of Oneida.

New York wine-business environment

“The best news is the quality and quantity of wine in this state has improved significantly to the point that we are recognized globally for producing world-class wines,” says Beach. “A large part of the credit goes to New York, which has become a real partner with the industry to help promote its popularity and growth. Back in 2005, New York passed a law permitting the direct shipment of wine. Under Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo’s administration, the state has really streamlined and simplified the process for selling wine, beer, and spirits and lowered the cost of doing business. To bolster smaller producers, Gov. Cuomo introduced the first statewide, surety-bond-assistance program to help women- and minority-owned businesses compete. This was followed by allowing wineries to offer complementary food and to sell additional products. The state has backed up its support of the industry by investing heavily in advertising campaigns and by sponsoring annual marketing events. This administration even set up a one-stop shop to help small producers comply with a blizzard of rules and regulations. I was pleasantly surprised when I applied for my winery and bistro licenses that the process only took six weeks.”

Beach, 60, is not only a Mohawk Valley native, but has also spent her entire vocational career here. She is a graduate of Trocaire College in Buffalo with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In addition to her dream of creating a winery as a destination and putting Oneida County on the wine map by encouraging others to join her in building an area wine trail, Beach is also determined to seeing her family continue the commitment to the region.