We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carrie Wynkoop a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Carrie, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
About 15 years ago I was chatting with a friend and she said to me “you know you go wine tasting all the time, right?” and I said “yes, is this an intervention?” She laughed and said no but did I know about an amazing wine school right in Portland that I might like to take classes at. I looked into the Wine & Spirit Archive, took one class and was hooked. I was already helping my partner with his business but it wasn’t my passion. About halfway through my first certification course I knew that I wanted to be in the wine industry.
But it took me a while to figure out how. I knew I didn’t know enough to be a winemaker, I had a small child at home so I didn’t want to do the restaurant life, I wasn’t great at sales… and then inspiration struck. I wanted someone to search out all the unique, small, family-run wineries in the state and send wine directly to me so I didn’t have to do the research. Turns out that concept didn’t exist so I created it. About six months later my first business, Cellar 503, was born.
Our mission was to send high quality, affordable, small producer wines from throughout Oregon to our club members all over the country. And not only sell wine but also tell the stories of these amazing producers and help support small businesses in our state. Over the next 10 years I worked with over 200 small wineries from every wine growing region in Oregon and sent wine out to over 1000 members all over the country. I opened a tasting room and produced a large scale wine festival featuring 50+ wineries with over 1000 attendees.
And then the pandemic hit. I was fortunate that people really enjoyed drinking wine and having it delivered during the pandemic so our club sales grew, but it was also an incredibly taxing time to be on the front lines of customer service. By the time we made it through the worst of the pandemic, I was tired of working directly with consumers. I wanted to continue to work in the wine industry and support small producers but work directly with winemakers instead of the general public.
During the last few years at Cellar 503 I talked with many small winemakers whose biggest hurdle was a place to actually make their wine. With the quality – and price – of Oregon wine increasing so dramatically there was tremendous outside interest and investment in the wine community. And many of the mid-sized producers that had room for a few smaller wineries to make their wine in their space were bought out by larger producers and the small producers lost their spaces. Wineries who could find a space were often subjected to sexual harassment, discrimination and terrible conditions by host winemakers who didn’t care at all about their tenant wineries.
And so the idea of AVP Wine Collective was born. AVP Wine Collective is a collective winery and commercial wine storage facility in the Portland metro area.
We help emerging winemakers launch and support experienced winemakers by providing a well-organized, well-equipped winery alongside a supportive community and expert help. We created AVP with the mission of offering a safe and inclusive place for all winemakers – but particularly underrepresented winemakers – to gain a foothold in the Oregon Wine industry. Our 60,000-square-foot facility houses 15+ labels, which share winemaking equipment to produce their wines. Our community of winemakers are 40% women, 30% LGBTQI+, and 30% people of color.
I am a passionate advocate for Oregon wine – especially for small producers who are often unsupported and overlooked. My passion developed over time but my core values of support, inclusion and advocacy have never waivered.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
We are heading into our third harvest season at AVP Wine Collective. My focus is getting my business to break even and bringing on additional winery partners and storage customers.
I am the CEO of AVP Wine Collective. We are a collective winery in Portland, OR. We are a big building with a big mission – give small winery owners a well-organized, well-equipped, and safe space for all winemakers to make wine without burning all their capital on expensive equipment and infrastructure. Small wineries are the foundation of the Oregon wine community. We are supporting the next generation of winemakers with everything needed – from crush to bottle – to make their wine their way. We are a custom-crush facility that allows winemakers full control over the production of their wine with access to a supportive community and expert help.
What makes us unique is our commitment to offering a well-run, well-equipped supportive space for a variety of winemakers to work. We work hard to create an intentional community of winemakers who can be supportive and be supported by others in our community. There are only a handful of collective wineries in the United States and none with our passion for community building. We help small winemakers spread their wings.
Last year we started an incubator program. This program is designed to foster the growth of a more diverse landscape of winemaking projects and support communities that lack representation in Oregon wine. We take 2-3 new winemakers and help them produce their first wines. In addition to winemaking support, we also help them with licensing, business planning and learning how to sell wine. We offer them training, support and expertise in reaching their goals.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Perseverance is really the key for me. Getting up every day, putting one foot in front of the other, quieting the voices in your head telling you that you can’t do this and making it happen. Building a winery is not for the faint of heart – the capital investments are overwhelming. But what I hold onto is the small businesses I’m supporting, the needs I’m filling and the change I’m making in our community. And so I get up every day and work hard to continue this business and make it a success.
Another important skill is finding the people who can help you along the way. Finding your support system, your community. For me, having the right people in place is so incredibly helpful. Whether it is a business coach, an accountant, a financial advisor or just someone in the same industry, having people you can count on for advice and support is huge.
The other skill that I’ve really had to develop in the last two years is the ability to be flexible and change strategies when needed. I never thought we’d be doing the kinds of projects we are doing right now in the winery. My business plan was built entirely on two lines of income but when one of them didn’t take off as I had planned I had to pivot and come up with other options.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am looking for investors for our continued growth. I would love to find a few small investors who love wine and who are excited about the unique place we hold in this industry. Folks who are excited about supporting new and diverse winemakers. I have a clear vision and plan for where we’re going but I could use some help to get to that finish line.
I am also looking for new winery partners and new storage customers. Have grapes but don’t want to make your own wine? We do that! Want to have your own wine brand but don’t want to make your own wine? We do that too! Have a passion for wine but need help getting started? Yep, we can help!
Please visit our website www.avpwinecollective.com or send me an email carrie@avp.wine to connect.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.avpwinecollective.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avpwine/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avpwine
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-wynkoop-141571a/
Image Credits
Heather Keeling, Three Gems Creative
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
