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66 WINES&VINES October 2018 W ith grapes sourced from around the world, modestly priced wines and more than 30 restaurants focused on the experience of pairing wine with food, Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant has gathered a dedicated following of wine consumers — and piqued the interest of the American wine industry. "Cooper's Hawk is truly a winery lifestyle brand that can retain members and brand loyalists for the long run. This is a DtC brand to watch," said Sandra Hess, founder of DTC Wine Workshops Consulting Agency. Privately owned by founder and CEO Tim McEnery, Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants has experienced rapid success since opening its first location in 2005 in McEnery's home- town of Orland Park, Ill. Now, 13 years later, the dual winery-restaurant boasts 32 locations spread across nine states and a wine club with 300,000 members that continues to grow at a rapid 25% every year. In 2017, Cooper's Hawk reported $220 mil- lion in revenue and, according to Wine Business Monthly's February 2018 report on the 50 larg- est wineries in the United States, Cooper's Hawk came in at 34 with a 570,000 annual case production. The winery produces 60 wines, 48 of which are separate varietals, with an average bottle price of $17 — all of which are sold di- rect-to-consumer, either in person, online or through wine club memberships. Building a brand The business concept is what McEnery calls a "fusion of familiar elements": winery, restau- rant and a "Napa-style" tasting room. "You feel like you're in a real wine country setting," he said in an interview with Wines & Vines. "We're democratizing the good life, bringing the ex- periences we've been blessed to enjoy to the people who may not be able to." It all started with an idea. "I went to Lynfred Winery in Roselle, Ill., and had a great experience. Afterward, at dinner, I thought to myself, 'Too bad the winery didn't have food,'" McEnery said. At the time, in 2003, when he researched which wineries included a restaurant experience, he couldn't find any. And so the inspiration behind the business was born. It took two years for McEnery to fully conceive the Cooper's Hawk business plan — one that included a fully functional winery, full-service restaurant and bar, and the all- important wine club. McEnery determined he needed $1.3 million to launch the restaurant, and he raised it himself through friends, fam- ily and industry networking. "I met with each individual investor while simultaneously working full-time in a restaurant and develop- ing the building site." The first Cooper's Hawk location, a 13,200-square-foot venue about 20 miles south of Chicago in Orland Park, was a newly erected building that needed to be completely outfitted to fit McEnery's vision. Worldwide winemaking During construction, McEnery also educated himself in winemaking, taking correspondence classes from the University of California, Davis, working odd-jobs at a local winery, and making wine at home. "When I had the idea (for Coo- per's Hawk), I knew it'd be critical for me to learn the winemaking process in order to get those initial investors." For the first three years, McEnery acted as head winemaker, producing 25 wines using grapes sourced from a California grower the winery still works with today, as well as vine- yards in Michigan for grapes to produce des- sert-style ice wines. Current head winemaker Rob Warren was hired in 2007 and is responsible for the win- ery's extensive production. He also selects the rotating wine menu for the tasting rooms, develops wine pairings for the restaurant and runs the Wine of the Month Club. Today, Cooper's Hawk sources from a vari- ety of vineyards, including those in California, Oregon and Washington, as well as interna- tional locations. "To have a high-volume res- taurant and winery, you need to have all the varietals," McEnery said. According to Ben Hummer, senior vice president of operations and winemaking, winemaking for Cooper's Hawk is more complicated than at many other wineries. "At Cooper's Hawk we really do believe that great wine starts in the vineyard, and a ma- jority of our fruit grows elsewhere," said Hummer, adding that because the company is headquartered in the Midwest, the wine- making team is at a geographical disadvan- tage. "We have to work that much harder to be present with our partner growers and wineries," he said. A Midwestern Wine Hawk Soars How Cooper's Hawk found success through DtC and on-premise sales By Stacy Briscoe