Cost of owning a vineyard: what you need to know

If you’re looking to diversify your investments, you might be dreaming of a vineyard investment which would let you combine a new hobby or career, and lifestyle, with a chance to run a profitable business.

Owning a vineyard is certainly possible - but not a choice to be taken lightly, with pretty high capital and operational expenses, and some inherent risks.

Read our buying a vineyard guide which covers some key costs and considerations, and can start you thinking about the cost of owning a vineyard, and whether it’s the right investment for you.

What is the average cost of buying a vineyard?

Vineyard purchase cost varies enormously, as you might expect, depending on what exactly you’re buying and where. Obvious factors, such as the location and size of your proposed vineyard purchase matter a lot - but so do other factors like the quality of the soil and terroir, the local climate, the popularity of the area for buyers, and whether or not the property comes with a wine producing, tasting and sales facility.

In short, the cost of buying a vineyard can depend on a huge number of different factors, because you might be buying anything from as-yet undeveloped land which is in a prime vineyard location, through to an established vineyard and wine production facility, with accommodation, and even a hotel or tasting operation on site.

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to browse the vineyard properties which are available for purchase at any one time, to give inspiration and ideas. We’ve got a couple of handy sites to look at coming up, next.

Vineyard prices in the US

If you’re serious about a vineyard investment you’ll need to start searching and keeping an eye on the market to see what comes up in the areas you’re interested in.

In the US, popular areas like Napa Valley and Sonoma County are covered by specialist vineyard sales websites, which can be searched easily to get all the information you need to inform your decisions.

Naturally, the specific vineyards on the market change frequently, but at the time of research (1st November 2024), you might want to choose one of these¹:

Prices for a vineyard in the US vary a lot, with large differences even in geographically fairly small areas, due to differences in the terrain and terroir.

This means that doing your research carefully - and with the help of a reputable agent - is essential, to make sure you know what you’re buying.

Vineyard prices in Europe

There are vineyards throughout many parts of Europe, from the UK and Germany, through the enormously well known regions in France, Italy and Spain, and also in less well known wine countries like Bulgaria and Turkey.

As in the US, the costs of buying a vineyard in Europe can vary depending on the country, specific location, size and many other factors.

Once again, here the internet is your friend, as there are specialist realtors which offer commercial properties including vineyards which have very easy to navigate websites that allow you to browse your options.

At the time of research, for example, you might consider any of the following very varied options²:

What are the hidden costs of buying a vineyard?

Vineyard expenses are far more than just the initial property purchase cost. The exact costs you run into will depend a lot on the specifics of your property - whether you grow and sell grapes, or also run a wine production facility, for example.

Other costs are also likely to apply, so working through your full budget and business plan early on is the only way to assess if buying a vineyard - here in the US or anywhere else in the world - is the right choice for you.

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How much does it cost to maintain a vineyard?

Vineyard maintenance is not cheap. You’ll need to invest in capital expenditure to get the vines planted and to buy all the required machinery in the first place, but you’ll still have ongoing costs in terms of staff salaries, irrigation, fertilization, harvest and so on.

In addition to this you’ll usually find extra costs such as insurance and taxes which are unavoidable.

Before you start towards your dream of buying a vineyard, make sure you have a realistic idea of the operational capital you’ll need to have behind you to maintain your vineyard once it is set up - you may not be making a profit from it, but there are still going to be outgoings, even in the early days.

Is owning a vineyard profitable?

To work out whether or not you can turn a profit from your vineyard you’ll need to put together a comprehensive business plan.

As with any other business you’ll have capital costs such as buying the vineyard and getting it set up, as well as operational costs for the day to day running of the property.

Vineyards also come with some fairly unusual business risks. Bad weather one season may damage your crops significantly. Or a season with exceptionally good growing conditions might mean an excess of supply which pushes down the amount you can sell your produce for.

It’s something you’ll need to be very passionate about if you plan on making your vineyard your business - and having a significant contingency fund is probably a smart idea if you can, to mitigate some of the risks you’ll inevitably face.

How long does it take to start making a profit from a vineyard?

Newly planted vines won’t produce grapes for wine for 3 or 4 years. However, this doesn’t mean that your business will instantly become profitable after this point.

You’ll have sunk a lot of investment into the vineyard by this stage, and need to make sure you have fair and reliable grape buying contracts to sell on what you produce, and you’ll also be reliant on other factors out of your control - including the climate which can impact grape productivity and quality.

The cost of owning a vineyard goes well beyond the straightforward vineyard purchase cost. There are also other things to budget for, including operational expenses, taxes and fees - as well as risks which are common to many agricultural businesses.

Before you make your vineyard investment you’ll need a strong business plan - but if you’re passionate about growing wine, this could still be a perfect combination of work and pleasure, in the US or further afield.

Sources:

1. Vineyard and Winery Sales - inventory
2. Savills - vineyards for sale in Europe