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48 W i n e s & V i n e s D e C e M B e R 2 0 1 4 S ince 2001, I've been making wine in other people's winer- ies. And I've been in the wine business for 25 years. My own California brand, Covenant (which my wife Jodie and I co-own with Napa vintner Leslie Rudd), has been in business since 2003. So last year, when we were in a position to build our own small winery, I thought I knew what to do. I did, more or less. But I learned some lessons along the way that should be of interest to anyone planning a similar move. From wine country to the big city After a yearlong search for a space in Napa Valley, where we had lived for 15 years, we decided that an urban winery might be the best fit for us. We source grapes from vineyards that stretch from Lodi, Calif., to Napa Valley and into Sonoma County. But we didn't need to live closer to those vineyards than the San Francisco Bay area. We also discovered that getting permits for an urban winery was easier in the city than in Napa Valley. (The building we leased was already zoned for industrial production, which includes production of wine!) Finally, our children had grown up, and we were looking for a larger, more diverse commu- nity than our tiny, rural village. It was time for a big change. Once we found a suitable winery space—7,000 square feet of freestanding warehouse in the industrial zone of north- west Berkeley, Calif.—we put together what we thought was a reasonable budget. The idea was to keep things fairly simple— sleek, industrial and urban. The building— a metal shell built back in the 1960s with some rough mezzanine office space at one end and a concrete floor—needed a lot of work. We knew there would be some financial surprises, yet some things still cost a lot more than we imagined. Construction Construction costs will always depend on how much you need to build and what materials you use. In other words, the sky's the limit. But if you don't have limit- less funds, find a reputable contractor who can scope out your project costs with you in advance. Plan on going about 25% over budget, even if everything goes according to plan. You can't possibly anticipate all of your needs. We financed the new winery with a loan from Wells Fargo Bank, which has a lot of experience working with wineries both large and small. (We are small: currently at about 6,000 cases annually, but growing.) It's important to work with bankers who So You Want to Build a Small Urban Winery? If only I knew then what I know now By Jeff Morgan Highlights • The author, winemaker Jeff Morgan, describes how he managed design and construction for a new urban winery. • Covenant Winery converted a 50-year- old freestanding warehouse in Berke- ley, Calif., into a complete winemaking facility with a tasting room. • Permits were easier to get in Berkeley than in Napa Valley, Morgan found, and almost everything cost more than expected. Covenant created an industrial chic tasting room with small kitchen, topped with offices above. G R A P E G R O W I N G W I N E M A K I N G TECHNICAL REVIEW