A delightful bed & breakfast adds a winery
With the help of a USDA value-added grant, the Engelbrecht family started a winery to go with their bed-and-breakfast.
First a dairy, then a B&B, now a winery -- things are always changing on this small farm. Loren and Dianna Engelbrecht have lived and breathed the country life since they were kids. Both grew up on dairy farms, and Dianna once wore the crown of Iowa's dairy princess.
When Loren spotted a pretty 50-acre farmstead near Fredericksburg, Iowa, the couple decided to buy it even though the turn-of-the-century Victorian farmhouse was run down.
"Dianna and I have always liked old houses, and we thought it would be fun to restore this one," says Loren.
Their entrepreneurial spirit led them to open their home as the Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast in 1998. About 400 overnight guests visit each year to stay in one of the five guest rooms -- there are even two suites with private decks and whirlpools. Dianna prepares everyone a big breakfast featuring the farm's own eggs and locally grown meats.
nearby parks and historic sites in
Fredericksburg, Iowa. Loren and
Dianna Engelbrecht will be
producing their first wine from these
grapes this fall.
Get your boots dirty
If guests want to get their boots dirty, they can help out in Loren's dairy barn. He operates a specialized dairy, selling other farmers fresh cows that he has milked for a month or more.
The family's newest venture is a vineyard and winery located at the back of their property. In the spring of 2004, the Engelbrechts planted 1 acre in grape vines, including Marechal Foch, a hardy variety perfect for red wine. Two more acres were added in 2005, including Frontenac, La Crosse, Kay Gray, Prairie Star, St. Pepin, and Edelweiss. The plan is for 6 total acres. The first crop will be harvested in the fall of 2006.
Caring for what will be 4,500 plants is a hands-on, intense job.
"Once you start planting grapes, you are with them pretty much all the time until fall," says Dianna. She and Loren got their first education by attending viticulture seminars. After that they learned how to prune and care for the vines by visiting a nearby Iowa State University research vineyard. They also benefited from on-farm visits with other grape growers.
"We didn't even know how to tie up the vines the first year," says Dianna. "We have been so impressed with how willing other vineyards have been to help and share information."
crop of wine grapes this fall. For now,
they market other Iowa wines. "Selling
wine has allowed us to observe which
wines sell the best and which ones people
seem to like the most," says Dianna.
Wine-making on the rise
Wine-making and wine sales are growing in the Midwest. According to the Iowa Department of Commerce's Alcoholic Beverages Division, wine production in the state doubled from 2002 to 2004. Virtually all of the growth is coming from new native wineries.
When the Engelbrechts' son, Matt, 33, heard about his parents' plans for a winery, he immediately expressed an interest in coming on board. As a management engineer for a global pharmaceutical company, Matt had valuable expertise in fermentation and processing systems.
In 2005, Matt took a new engineering job and relocated to Fredericksburg so he could help with the vineyard. He says he was drawn to the opportunity to work in a family business and be directly rewarded for his efforts.
Matt and Loren are now in the process of transforming one end of a barn at the farm into a grape processing and wine fermentation plant. The Engelbrechts will use refurbished milk coolers as fermentation vats, and they recently installed a large, walk-in cooler for storage. They also have an antique shop at the farm they'll use as their wine showroom.
To help answer questions like what type of wine visitors enjoy most, how far people will travel to purchase their favorite bottle, and what type of business structure will best serve their family, the Engelbrechts applied for a special grant through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development office. Grants are available to farmers, ranchers, and others for planning new ventures and also for providing working capital for processing and marketing value-added agricultural products.
"Adding value to an agricultural product can be done by differentiating production or marketing, such as providing an organically grown or identity-preserved product, or by changing the physical state, such as from grapes to wine," says Jeff Jobe, USDA Rural Development office in Iowa.
gift shop where they host wine-tasting sessions. The newest
addition is an event room that is adjacent to the wine showroom.
It holds up to 60 people for parties and meetings.
Staying on small farms
Helping develop rural entrepreneurs like the Engelbrechts is important, according to Jobe. "By keeping families living on small farms and able to make a living, they can support schools and retail businesses in rural areas and small towns."
In October 2005, the USDA awarded the Engelbrechts $26,500 -- an amount the family must match with their own money or in-kind contributions -- to conduct a feasibility study and develop business plans for the proposed winery and also a brewery.
They will also investigate starting make-your-own wine and beer businesses, which would allow visitors to come to the farm and process and label their own bottles.
"This could tie in well with the bed-and-breakfast," says Loren.
The Engelbrechts are working with the University of Northern Iowa's Sustainable Tourism and Environment Program to help collect demographic, tourism, and marketing data and to provide information for business decision-making. Grant funding will be used to pay a stipend to the university and also for outside consultants such as a lawyer and accountant.
Time spent by the Engelbrecht family for items like interviewing other wineries and computer research is billed toward their side of the match.
One of the priorities for the study is to determine a business structure that rewards all the family members for their contributions. In addition to Matt, the Engelbrechts' older son, Michael, and his wife, Christina, have expressed an interest in joining the business.
"When you have a family business you have to have clear definitions and expectations about what each person's role will be," Dianna says.
In the end, the Engelbrechts hope to discover the best way to capitalize on the grapes and grains grown on their small farm.
"Coming out of this, we want to know exactly what we can and should do," says Dianna.
help with the daily milking, gather eggs, or feed the peacocks,
llamas, goats, and old world Jacob sheep.
How to get help with your new venture
To help start their winery, the Engelbrechts obtained a grant through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development office. Since 2001, the USDA has awarded $115 million for Value-Added Producer Grants to help farmers and ranchers, cooperatives, producer groups, and producer-controlled businesses to derive more income by adding value to their products. Grants are available for planning new ventures and also for working capital for processing and marketing value-added agricultural products. Projects funded vary widely and include wineries, wind farms, meat gift box marketing campaigns, plus working capital to start an ethanol plant. Grants are announced in the Federal Register in March each year and applications are due in May.
Contact your local USDA Rural Development office or any Rural Development field office to learn more. To access your state office, dial 202/720-4323 and press 1.
Or visit the USDA on the Web at www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/coops/vadg.htm.
grow upward to create a canopy.
She learned how to prune and
care for the vines by visiting an
Iowa State University research
vineyard. Other grape growers
have also been extremely helpful,
she says.
Learn more
Loren and Dianna Engelbrecht
2866 270th Street
Fredericksburg, IA 50630-9552
Phone: 563/237-5969
Web: www.thefarmhousebb.com
Jeff Jobe, USDA Rural Development
Des Moines, Iowa
Phone: 515/284-5192
E-mail: jeff.jobe@ia.usda.gov
Photographs: Karen Bernick
hospitality so much they never
want to leave!