Grape expectations

The tasting room just opened by Tahoe Ridge Winery & Marketplace LLC along busy Highway 395 in Minden is one manifestation of the company's 60 percent annual growth, a pace that continued even during the darkest months of the recession.

But even more important is the company's success in ramping up its 20,000-square-foot production facility near the Minden-Tahoe Airport, says Chief Executive Officer Rick Halbardier.

While sales direct to consumers historically have accounted for about half the company's sales, Halbardier says Tahoe Ridge expects much of its future growth will come from sales through wholesale channels.

"Now it's getting serious," says Halbardier, who pioneered development of grape growing in Nevada. "We're ready to go national."

Big chain retailers are knocking at the doors of Tahoe Ridge, dangling distribution deals that are simply too large for the company to handle these days. But Halbardier and his wife, Kathy, have managed to scale down some of those orders to win spots in a carefully limited number of big-box stores.

Strong growth presents a variety of challenges to the Douglas County company, which expects to post revenues of $1.2 million this year.

Wine-making capacity appears adequate for a couple of years as Tahoe Ridge gears up to produce 250,000 bottles in 2010, a 66 percent increase from this year's 150,000.

But the company's projected production of 1 million bottles a year within five years probably will require expanded capacity.

The expanded production also demands more grapes, and Tahoe Ridge is working with growers to expand production in Nevada and California.

About 15 percent of the company's grape harvest in 2008 came from Nevada vineyards, and Halbardier says the company plans to expand production from Nevada grapes to 30 percent by 2015. That will require development of new vineyards in northern and south-central areas of the state beginning in 2010.

The rest of the company's grapes are contracted from California growers.

The Nevada grapes are a key element in the story that Tahoe Ridge tells to consumers, who often marvel that wine grapes can be produced in the state.

The Halbardiers spent a decade learning how to grow grapes in the High Desert climate, produced the first commercial wine in the state's history in 2001 and performed the first commercial crush in the state's history in 2005.

The high-visibility new tasting room and marketplace it's across the street from Carson Valley Inn in Minden is expected to draw 72,000 consumers a year.

"It's an educational process for every single customer who comes in the door," Rick Halbardier says of the 4,000-square-foot location. "This is a showcase for Tahoe Ridge."

But as the company expands its distribution, he expects that the "Tahoe" part of the wine's name will prove more important to buyers who don't know much about Nevada's climate but have a strong attraction to Lake Tahoe.

Tahoe Ridge Winery & Marketplace has been financed entirely by Nevada investors so far, and they've put up more than $3 million in cash, equipment and services to get the company off the ground. Halbardier says the early investors also have been a valuable source of business wisdom for the young company.

In its latest round of financing, the company raised $625,000 in a private equity offering this summer to help finance the Minden tasting room.

"This is a Nevada industry that has been built from the ground up by Nevada investors," Halbardier says.

He says the company expects to be operating profitably by next year. It employs about 20 people in its production and retail operations.