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A vineyard inn answers to a bank, a licensing office and a calendar. How many rooms must be full in February to survive until harvest? How many event days is a winery allowed, and what happens to the plan if the extra ones are refused? How much cash does the first winter take? A template written for a city hotel has no answers to any of these.
In this article we'll walk through a complete sample plan for a five-room inn with a small winery near Eugene, Oregon, section by section. We'll cover the executive summary, the SWOT analysis and, in particular, all of the financials, from room rates by season to the cases in the cellar.
Here's what you'll take away:
- The executive summary: see how to state the ask, the opening position and three years of results for a business with several income lines
- The seasonal rate and occupancy table: learn how to price a harvest weekend against a February night, and what it does to revenue per room
- The event-day count: check a wedding and dinner calendar against a legal cap before a lender does
- The cases made and cases sold table: see how much wine the cellar needs to hold so tastings and the club never run dry
- The start-up budget and funding: find out how much cash a vineyard inn needs before its first harvest, and how savings, an investor and a farm loan can share the load
- The first year, month by month: spot the five loss-making months before you reach them, and plan the reserve around them
- The downside cases: have an answer ready for "what if revenue is 20% short?" and "what if the extra event days are refused?"
If you're planning a vineyard inn or a small winery with rooms, read this before you write your own. The business is fictional, so take what fits your property and change the rest.
In this plan
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Executive Summary
The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast, LLC is a five-room inn with a small estate winery on a 10-acre property in the Lorane Valley, southwest of Eugene, Oregon. It opens on 1 January 2027. Missy and Tom Stewart own 70% and a private investor owns 30%. Missy runs the inn and Tom makes the wine.
The business earns from five lines: room nights with breakfast, tasting fees and bottle sales to day visitors and guests, a wine club, weddings and harvest dinners on a limited number of event days, and a small volume of wine sold to restaurants and shops.
The plan raises $609,200: $149,200 from the Stewarts ($70,000 of savings plus the 2026 vintage, taken over at cost), $160,000 from the investor and a $300,000 agricultural term loan. Of that, $266,000 converts the barn into a tasting room and event space, furnishes the rooms and buys cellar equipment. The 2026 vintage, legal work, licences and the launch campaign take $123,200. The remaining $220,000 is the cash reserve.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $435,520 | $640,443 | $819,524 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($226,902) | ($15,903) | $40,796 |
| Closing cash | $128,671 | $131,458 | $183,791 |
Occupancy is 41.5% in Year 1 and 52.0% in Year 3, at an average rate of $214 rising to $231. Revenue is seasonal. September and October bring in $151,858, 35% of Year 1, while January to May lose money every month. Year 1 is a large loss, partly because the model charges wine to profit when it is made: on a cost-of-sales view the Year 1 loss after start-up costs is about $130,000. Year 3 is the first profit.
Three limits shape the forecast. The first is land use. ORS 215.452 lets a winery on farm land hold up to 18 event days a year, and the permit for days 7 to 18 has to be granted. Nothing in that statute authorises lodging at a winery. A five-room inn needs the county's written approval, which the plan has not yet obtained and treats as a condition of the loan. The second is the wine market: Oregon's 2025 census reported 25% less wine grape production than in 2024 and a 3.4% fall in direct-to-consumer case sales, so trade wine is held to 7% of Year 1 revenue. The third is thin loan cover in Year 2, at 1.4x while the loan is still interest-only.
The downside case cuts every revenue line by 20%. With later hires, pay cuts for both owners, lower marketing and less wine made, cash stays positive in every year, but cover in Year 2 is 0.35x and the lender would have to waive its test. A further test removes lodging altogether, and the plan fails it.
The Property and the Business
Legal name: The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast, LLC, an Oregon limited liability company. Owners: Missy Stewart and Tom Stewart, 70% together; a private investor, 30%, with no operating role. Site: a 10-acre tract in the Lorane Valley with the Stewarts' renovated house, a barn and a vineyard. Opening: 1 January 2027. The first harvest under the inn's name is in September. Stage: pre-launch. The five rooms are finished, the barn conversion is quoted, the 2026 vintage is in barrel and the first three wedding dates are held with deposits.
The house and the rooms
Five guest rooms, each with a private bath, share a living room and a garden patio. Every room faces the valley. The Stewarts live on site.
The estate winery
Five acres of Pinot noir and Chardonnay are planted on the tract. At the 2.81 tons an acre that the Oregon Wine Board reported as the 2025 state average, they yield about 14 tons, roughly 840 cases at a rule of thumb of 60 cases a ton. A grape contract on 10 adjoining acres brings the supply to the 15 acres that Oregon's winery rule asks for and covers the larger vintages. The winery takes only the tonnage it needs, and the grower sells the rest. The plan counts on the planning department accepting that arrangement.
The 2026 vintage, 600 cases, was made and paid for by Missy and Tom personally in autumn 2026, before the company existed. The company takes it over at cost, $79,200 at $132 a case, and the Stewarts' equity contribution includes it. Sales are 332 cases in Year 1 and 901 in Year 5.
What the company is for
Let a guest sleep in the vineyard, taste the wine made there and carry bottles home, so one visit becomes a booking, a purchase and a club membership.
Targets for the first three years
- Fill 757 room-nights in 2027, with September at 66% and October at 70% occupancy.
- Hold six event days in 2027 and receive the permit for days 7 to 18 before the 2028 season.
- Reach 70 wine club members by December 2027 and 190 by December 2029.
- Show a profit after tax in 2029, the third year.
Land use, licences and tax
The tract is zoned for farm use, so the winery follows Oregon's farm-land winery rule. ORS 215.452 allows tastings, a wine club, food served with a tasting or event, and up to 18 event days a year. Subsection (13) addresses lodging only in passing: where a bed and breakfast facility is sited as a home occupation on the same tract as such a winery, it may serve its registered guests two meals a day. The statute does not itself authorise lodging at a winery.
Whether a five-room inn qualifies is not established. ORS 215.283(2)(u) allows room and board for at most five unrelated people in existing residences, with county approval, and five rooms can hold ten guests. Home occupations are covered by ORS 215.448, which the plan did not review. An annotation to ORS 215.283 records a 2023 Court of Appeals decision, Friends of Yamhill County v. Yamhill County, that a nine-suite inn on high-value farmland was not a dwelling and could not be a home occupation. The plan therefore treats lodging approval as open. The land-use consultant and the attorney, $16,800 together, obtain Lane County's written determination before the loan closes. They confirm the five-room use, the 15-acre vineyard test with a partial-crop grape contract, and the event licence. If the county allows fewer rooms or refuses lodging, the plan does not close in this form.
An inn of this kind falls within Oregon's travelers' accommodation rules, which ORS 446.310 defines as rooms rented on a daily or weekly basis. The plan expects the county to require a food-service licence for breakfast as well and treats that as a point to confirm. The company registers for Oregon's lodging tax, which is 1.5% for stays ending on or before December 31, 2026 and 2.75% for stays ending on or after January 1, 2027, and for any county or city tax, whose rate is to be confirmed locally. The winery needs an OLCC licence and a federal winery registration.
Oregon Wine Country: The Market
A harder year for grapes, a steadier one for direct sales
The Oregon Wine Board's 2025 vineyard and winery census reported wine grape production of 96,898 tons, down 25% from 129,739 tons in 2024. Pinot noir was 59% of planted acreage and 58% of production. Direct-to-consumer case sales fell 3.4%. The plan sells most of its wine to people standing in the tasting room or staying overnight, and holds trade wine to 120 cases in Year 1, the line with the least certain price in a soft market.
Lodging in the south valley
Visitors to the Lorane Valley mostly arrive from Eugene, where hotels near the university and airport set the price a leisure guest compares against. No local occupancy or rate series is quoted here, because the plan found no primary source for the Lorane Valley. Its rates and occupancy are the plan's own working figures, and the Sources section lists the regulatory figures used.
Who else sells the same night
| Alternative | What it offers | Why a guest picks it | How the inn differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eugene hotels | Beds near campus, the airport and downtown | Lower rate, flexible check-in | A vineyard setting, breakfast and tasting included |
| Inns in the northern Willamette Valley | Rooms close to dense clusters of tasting rooms | More wineries within a short drive | A quieter estate with the winery on the same property |
| Vacation rentals | Whole houses or cabins on rental platforms | Space, a kitchen, a price per group | A host on site, breakfast and a cellar visit |
| Event barns | A venue for the day | Larger guest counts | Five rooms for the wedding party and a 60-guest limit |
| Other small tasting rooms | Wine without lodging | Established clubs | An overnight stay that brings the visitor back to the cellar |
The table describes categories, not a ranking. Rates change often and are not quoted.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| A hotel manager and an assistant winemaker as the two owners | Five rooms cap lodging revenue at 1,825 room-nights |
| Rooms, wine and weddings sold from one site | Lodging approval from the county is not yet confirmed; January to May loses money |
| Property owned by the founders, so no landlord to renegotiate with | Event income depends on a permit for days 7 to 18 |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Club members who return to book a room | A weak wine market lowering trade prices |
| Harvest and wedding weekends priced above the average rate | A county that limits lodging, or a smoke season in September |
| Midweek stays from university and business visitors | Vacation rentals competing on price |
Guests, Tasters and Wedding Couples
Couples on a wine weekend
The largest group. Two adults, usually 35 to 65, staying two nights from Friday, driving from Portland, the Eugene area or the coast. They book direct or through an online travel site, taste at the winery and buy two bottles on 30% of stays.
Wedding parties
Couples planning a ceremony for up to 60 guests who want a single site with rooms for family. They book a Saturday 9 to 14 months ahead and fill all five rooms for two nights. The first three Year 1 dates are held with deposits from tours before opening.
Midweek business and university travellers
Visitors to the university, hospital or a regional employer who want something quieter than a chain hotel. Midweek is where the inn has empty rooms to sell, so this segment is priced slightly under the weekend rate.
Day visitors and local tasters
About 2,340 people in Year 1, from Eugene and the surrounding towns, who taste by appointment Thursday to Sunday. 40% buy a bottle or more.
Where Year 1's 757 room-nights come from
| Segment | Room-nights | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Weekend wine-country stays | 394 | 52% |
| Midweek leisure stays | 167 | 22% |
| Midweek business and university visitors | 129 | 17% |
| Wedding parties | 30 | 4% |
| Harvest dinner guests and other | 37 | 5% |
| Total | 757 | 100% |
The split is a plan target, not an observed figure.
Selling a Night, a Glass and a Date
What a room costs by season
Rates follow the vineyard's calendar. Winter is cheapest, summer is mid-range and September and October carry the highest rates because the vines are being picked.
| Season (months) | Year 1 occupancy | Year 1 average rate | Year 1 revenue per available room-night | Year 3 occupancy | Year 3 average rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter (Nov to Feb) | 24% | $182 | $43 | 30% | $196 |
| Spring (Mar to May) | 33% | $189 | $62 | 41% | $204 |
| Summer (Jun to Aug) | 56% | $222 | $125 | 71% | $240 |
| Harvest (Sep to Oct) | 68% | $245 | $167 | 84% | $265 |
| Full year | 41.5% | $214 | $89 | 52.0% | $231 |
Weekend stays and harvest weekends carry a two-night minimum. A 50% deposit is taken at booking and refunded in full up to 14 days before arrival.
How a night is booked
| Channel | Year 1 stays | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Online travel sites | 120 | 35% |
| Direct, from paid search and social ads | 100 | 29% |
| Direct, from repeat guests, referrals and the visitor association | 124 | 36% |
| Total (757 room-nights at 2.2 nights) | 344 | 100% |
The inn lists on the travel sites to fill midweek rooms and moves guests to direct booking by offering a bottle at check-in.
Selling a wedding date
- An enquiry arrives through a listing or the website, with a date and a guest count.
- A tour is booked on a weekday, with a tasting for the couple.
- A 25% deposit holds the Saturday. The balance falls due 30 days before.
- The coordinator, from month 31, runs the day. Before that, Missy does.
Wedding dates are booked 9 to 14 months ahead, so the three Year 1 dates are held from autumn 2026. Year 1 targets about 25 enquiries, 10 tours and three weddings.
Selling a glass and a membership
Tasting is by appointment, ten guests to a slot. The host offers the club at the end of every tasting and at check-out. Members get a quarterly three-bottle shipment at $126.
Spending to Be Found
Where $46,000 goes in Year 1
The first-year budget is $46,000: $22,000 of launch costs paid from start-up capital and $24,000 of running spend. Like for like, running spend is 5.5% of Year 1 revenue, 3.4% in Year 3 and 2.8% in Year 5, as repeat guests and club members take over; with the launch costs, Year 1 marketing is 10.6% of revenue. Charged to stays alone, the $46,000 would be about $134 a stay against average room revenue of $471 a stay (344 stays at $214 a night for 2.2 nights), and it also has to bring in the weddings, day visitors and club members.
| Item | Year 1 spend | What it is expected to do |
|---|---|---|
| Website, booking engine and photography (launch) | $14,000 | A direct-booking site with a calendar, a tasting-appointment page and a wedding enquiry form |
| Wedding-platform listings and a styled shoot (launch) | $8,000 | The listings and photographs that bring in about 25 enquiries from autumn 2026 |
| Search and social ads | $7,500 | About 100 direct stays, roughly $75 each |
| Wedding-listing renewals and a venue open house | $4,500 | Tours for couples who have already enquired |
| Email, guest follow-up and club offers | $3,500 | 70 club members and repeat bookings |
| Visitor association, wine-trail membership and joint events | $3,500 | Day visitors, and a place on the regional wine-trail map |
| Print, signage and local press | $3,000 | The opening announcement and the harvest dinners |
| Content and photograph refresh | $2,000 | A new season of images for each of the four seasons |
Dated milestones
- January 2027: booking site live and the first guests arrive.
- August 2027: first wedding, with 33 club members.
- September 2027: harvest begins, with occupancy at 66%.
- December 2027: 70 club members and 757 room-nights for the year.
Running the Inn and the Cellar
The property and its lease
The company leases the house, barn and vineyard from Missy and Tom at $48,000 a year, which covers their mortgage and property tax. The lease is between related parties, and the lender is told so. It rises 3% a year and runs 20 years to match the loan, with a non-disturbance clause, because the $128,000 tasting-room conversion sits on land the company does not own. The lender holds a second-position deed of trust behind the Stewarts' existing home mortgage, which the first lender must consent to, and a lien on the cellar equipment and wine.
A day in the inn
Check-in is from 3 p.m. Breakfast is served at 8:30 in the house, cooked by Missy with the part-time attendant. Housekeeping services an average 2.1 occupied rooms a day in Year 1 and 3.5 in October, rising to 4.25 at the Year 5 harvest peak. One part-time housekeeper covers the period, helped by the relief innkeeper on weekends from month 19.
The harvest calendar
| Month | Work in the vineyard and cellar | Effect on the inn |
|---|---|---|
| Jan to Feb | Pruning, racking, bottling | Lowest occupancy, 14% to 18% |
| Mar to May | Bud break, planting, bottling whites | Day visitors rise from 60 to 190 a month |
| Jun to Aug | Canopy work, wedding season | First wedding in August |
| Sep to Oct | Picking and crush with a contract crew | Occupancy 66% to 70%; two weddings and a dinner |
| Nov | Barrel-down, harvest dinner | Occupancy 34%; a winemaker dinner |
| Dec | Cellar work | Occupancy 28% |
Event days against the legal limit
Oregon caps agri-tourism and other commercial events at 18 days a year on the tract occupied by a winery. In the Willamette Valley, the first six days need a five-year licence and days 7 to 18 need a five-year permit, which is a land-use decision that can be appealed. The plan counts every wedding and every dinner as an event day.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weddings | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| Harvest dinners | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| Event days used | 5 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 18 |
| Event revenue | $45,020 | $92,741 | $138,860 | $178,455 | $183,366 |
By Year 4 the inn has no spare event days. Growth after that comes from price and from rooms and wine.
Cases made against cases sold
| Opening | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases sold | – | 332 | 543 | 712 | 826 | 901 |
| Cases made in the year's vintage | 600 | 450 | 650 | 800 | 900 | 920 |
| Cases in the cellar at year end | 600 | 718 | 825 | 913 | 987 | 1,006 |
| Cellar stock at cost (not on the balance sheet) | $79,200 | $96,558 | $114,818 | $131,216 | $146,259 | $153,559 |
Cases in the cellar include the newest vintage still in barrel. The 2026 vintage supplies Year 1 and most of Year 2. Each later vintage is sized to the sales expected over the following year. Cost is $132 a case for the 2026 vintage, rising 3% a year, with older vintages sold first. The model charges the cost of each vintage to profit in the year it is made, so the stock row is a memo item.
Licences and cover
- Oregon travelers' accommodation licence for the five rooms, and a food-service licence for breakfast if the county requires one.
- OLCC winery licence and federal winery registration, plus the event licence for the first six days and the permit for days 7 to 18.
- State lodging tax registration with the Department of Revenue (2.75% from January 1, 2027), plus any local lodging tax.
- Written Lane County confirmation of the five-room lodging use, before the loan closes.
- Property, general liability, liquor liability, host liquor, product liability and cyber insurance, budgeted at $21,000 in Year 1, and workers' compensation inside payroll.
- A written cancellation and deposit policy, and a written event contract for each wedding.
Suppliers
A linen service, a caterer for weddings, a glass and closure supplier, a local bakery for breakfast and a vineyard sprayer for the busiest weeks. Each has at least one alternative nearby.
Innkeepers and Winemaker
Missy Stewart, owner and innkeeper
Missy spent nine years in hotel operations in Eugene, the last four as front-office manager of a 70-room hotel. She handles bookings, guest service, the books and, until month 31, the weddings. With Tom she puts in $70,000 of savings and the 2026 vintage.
Tom Stewart, winemaker and vineyard manager
Tom has eleven years in Oregon cellars, the last six as assistant winemaker at a Willamette Valley winery. He planted the five acres on the tract, makes the wine, and supervises the contract crew at harvest.
Where the team is thin
Neither owner has run a wedding venue or built a wine club. The plan covers this with a relief innkeeper in month 19, an events coordinator in month 31, and a wedding planner on call for the first season. Neither has managed a staff of more than five.
If one of them is out
Missy and Tom each know the other's work well enough to cover a week, but not a season. The company carries key-person cover on both. A winemaking consultant on call covers an extended absence at harvest.
Advisers and the lender
An accountant who audits other small wineries reviews the figures every quarter. A land-use consultant and an attorney are paid at opening. The agricultural lender receives quarterly accounts and a personal guarantee from each owner.
The Numbers Behind the Rooms, the Cellar and the Barn
One five-year model sits behind every table in this section. It is monthly for 2027 and annual from 2028, so the seasonal pattern of rooms, harvest and weddings appears only for the first year. The working figures come first so each line can be traced to its reason. One treatment differs from a usual winery set of accounts: the model has no stock account, so wine is charged to profit when it is made, not when it is sold. The notes under the profit and loss, the cash flow and the ratios table say what that does to each figure.
What opening costs and who pays for it
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tasting room and barn event-space conversion | $128,000 |
| Guest-room furnishings, linens and breakfast kitchen equipment | $46,000 |
| Cellar equipment: tanks, press, bottling gear and 30 barrels | $92,000 |
| 2026 vintage bought from the owners at cost: 600 cases at $132 | $79,200 |
| Lodging, food-service, OLCC and event licences and permit fees | $5,200 |
| Land-use consultant, attorney and entity set-up | $16,800 |
| Launch: website, booking engine, photography and wedding-listing fees | $22,000 |
| Cash reserve for the first winter and the first harvest | $220,000 |
| Total uses | $609,200 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Missy and Tom Stewart: $70,000 savings plus the 2026 vintage contributed at cost | $149,200 |
| Private investor (retired winemaker), 30% of the company | $160,000 |
| Agricultural lender term loan | $300,000 |
| Total sources | $609,200 |
Missy and Tom Stewart contribute $149,200: $70,000 of savings and the 2026 vintage, which they paid for personally in autumn 2026, before the company existed, and which the company takes over at cost ($79,200, 600 cases at $132). A private investor puts in $160,000 for 30% of the company, and an agricultural lender advances $300,000 over 20 years at 7.9%, interest only for the first 24 months. The rate is an illustration for this example, not a quote. Equity is 51% of the $609,200 raised. The lender holds a second-position deed of trust behind the Stewarts' existing home mortgage, a lien on the cellar equipment and wine, personal guarantees from both owners and an assignment of the property lease, which runs 20 years to match the loan. The $128,000 tasting-room conversion is built on land the company does not own, so the lease term and a non-disturbance clause protect the lender and the company. The $220,000 reserve covers a first winter in which the inn is open but earning little: the lowest month-end balance in Year 1 is about $83,000 after it.
Working figures behind the forecast
- The inn has five rooms, so 1,825 room-nights are available each year. Occupancy runs from 14% in January to 70% in October, which gives 757 room-nights and 41.5% occupancy in Year 1, 52.0% in Year 3 and 55.8% in Year 5, with no month above 85%. Revenue in the tables excludes Oregon lodging tax, which the inn collects and passes on: the state rate rises from 1.5% to 2.75% for stays ending on or after January 1, 2027, and the local rate is to be confirmed.
- The average daily rate (ADR) is $165 in January and February, $215 to $225 across the summer, $250 in October, and $214 for Year 1. Rates rise about 4% a year, and more harvest and event weekends lift the average to $231 in Year 3 and $248 in Year 5. Revenue per available room-night (RevPAR) is $89 in Year 1 and $138 in Year 5. Room rates include breakfast.
- About 35% of room-nights come through online travel sites at a 15% commission; each site sets its own rate. The rest are direct. Room direct costs of 19% of room revenue are 5.3% commissions, 2.9% card fees, 7.5% breakfast food (about $16 a room-night, from $9 a guest and 1.9 guests) and 3.3% laundry and amenities.
- Day visitors who are not staying come Thursday to Sunday, by appointment: 2,340 in Year 1, 4,095 in Year 5. The tasting fee is $35, and about $24 of it is collected after purchases waive part of it. 40% of visitors buy, 2.4 bottles each at an average $52. Staying guests taste free, and 30% of stays buy two bottles. October is the peak: 400 visitors in Year 1 is about 21 per open day, and 700 in Year 5 is about 37, on an October with around 19 open days.
- The wine club has 70 members at the end of Year 1 and 280 at the end of Year 5. Each receives a quarterly three-bottle shipment at $144, which is $48 a member-month. Members are counted here and not in the tasting-room line.
- Trade wine, sold direct to restaurants and shops at $24 a bottle ($288 a case), is 100 cases in Year 1 and 290 in Year 5. It is kept small because a soft 2025 market makes trade pricing the least certain line.
- Bottles sold are 3,980 in Year 1 (332 cases), then 6,515, 8,549 and 9,917 in Years 2 to 4, and 10,809 (901 cases) in Year 5. The cellar opens with 600 cases from the 2026 vintage and the company makes 450, 650, 800, 900 and 920 cases in the 2027 to 2031 vintages. Under first-in, first-out costing, sales draw down the older vintages first and the cellar holds between 718 and 1,006 cases at each year end, between 13 and 26 months of sales, longest at the start, which suits wine aged in barrel.
- The all-in cash cost of wine is set at $11 a bottle ($132 a case) for the 2026 vintage, rising 3% a year. It covers purchased fruit, glass, closures, labels, cartons, contract bottling, laboratory work, barrel use and winemaking supplies. It is a planning figure, to be checked against the owners' invoices for the 2026 vintage. Five planted acres yield roughly 14 tons at the 2.81 tons an acre that the Oregon Wine Board reported as the 2025 state average, about 840 cases at a rule of thumb of 60 cases a ton. The grape contract on 10 adjoining acres supplies the rest of the larger vintages. It is written for the grapes of those acres, with the grower free to sell what the winery does not take, and whether the planning department accepts a partial purchase as meeting the 15-acre test is one of the points the land-use consultant confirms.
- The engine has no stock account, so the profit and loss charges each vintage in the year it is made, as the line "Fruit, winemaking and dry goods for each new vintage" ($61,200 in Year 1 rising to $140,800), and the 2026 vintage as a start-up cost. Wine bottles therefore carry only card fees, shipping and comp pours in direct costs (8% of tasting sales, 12% of club sales and 8% of trade sales). Cash is correct, because it is paid when the wine is made.
- Events are capped at 18 days a year, the limit Oregon sets for a winery on farm land. Year 1 uses 5 days: three weddings at $12,300 each ($7,200 for the venue and coordination plus $85 a head for 60 guests) in August, September and October, and two harvest dinners at $4,060 (28 seats at $145). Wedding dates are booked 9 to 14 months ahead, so the three Year 1 dates are taken as deposits in autumn 2026, before opening, from tours of the barn. Years 2 to 5 use 10, 14, 18 and 18 days, and prices rise 3% a year. Direct costs of 50% cover the caterer, rentals, florals, bar staff and a day-of coordinator. Days 7 to 18 depend on a separate permit that has to be granted.
- Part-time staff are paid roughly $20 to $26 an hour, above the $15.55 standard minimum that applies in Lane County from July 1, 2026. Payroll adds 27% for payroll taxes, paid-leave contributions, workers' compensation and a small retirement match (15% for part-time roles). The harvest crew is contract labour: $9,000 over September and October each year, with no on-costs. Wages are shown at launch rates, and 3% annual pay raises are a separate line from Year 2.
- Missy and Tom own the 10-acre property and lease it to the company for $48,000 a year, enough to cover their mortgage and property tax, rising 3% a year. The lender is told the lease is with related parties. Utilities include the well pump and cellar cooling. Insurance of $21,000 covers property, liability, liquor liability, host liquor for events, product liability and cyber risk.
- Receivables average 10 days: stays and weddings are deposited in advance, and trade wine is invoiced on 30-day terms. Tax is charged at the 21% federal corporate rate and Oregon's 6.6% corporate excise rate, with the Year 1 loss carried forward. A pass-through election, which is common for an inn this size, would move tax to the owners' personal returns, so corporate rates are a cautious placeholder.
- Owner distributions of $30,000 in Year 4 and $60,000 in Year 5 come only from cash the model shows the company can spare. The loan runs to term rather than being repaid early.
Revenue by line: rooms, tasting, club, barn and trade
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Room revenue (five rooms, breakfast included) | $162,247 | $192,360 | $219,447 | $237,047 | $251,972 |
| Tasting fees and on-site bottle sales | $183,709 | $244,282 | $289,792 | $327,414 | $357,184 |
| Wine club shipments | $15,744 | $57,600 | $94,925 | $131,382 | $163,647 |
| Weddings and harvest dinners | $45,020 | $92,741 | $138,860 | $178,455 | $183,366 |
| Trade wine (restaurants and shops) | $28,800 | $53,460 | $76,500 | $88,200 | $93,960 |
| Total revenue | $435,520 | $640,443 | $819,524 | $962,498 | $1,050,129 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 47% | 28% | 17% | 9% |
Tasting and rooms carry Year 1: together they are 79% of revenue. By Year 5 the club, weddings and trade wine have lifted their combined share from 21% to 42%, and rooms fall from 37% to 24% of the total. Growth is 47% in Year 2 because the first full season, a doubling of event days and the first club cohort land together, then slows to 9% by Year 5 as the five rooms and the 18 event days both fill.
A first year that peaks at harvest
| Month | Room revenue (five rooms, breakfast included) | Tasting fees and on-site bottle sales | Wine club shipments | Weddings and harvest dinners | Trade wine (restaurants and shops) | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $3,581 | $1,786 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $5,367 | ($30,439) |
| Feb 2027 | $4,158 | $2,575 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $6,733 | ($29,299) |
| Mar 2027 | $6,510 | $4,963 | $192 | $0 | $4,320 | $15,985 | ($21,582) |
| Apr 2027 | $8,880 | $8,812 | $384 | $0 | $0 | $18,076 | ($19,838) |
| May 2027 | $13,020 | $14,968 | $624 | $0 | $0 | $28,612 | ($11,049) |
| Jun 2027 | $16,125 | $20,283 | $912 | $0 | $7,200 | $44,520 | $2,221 |
| Jul 2027 | $20,227 | $24,929 | $1,248 | $0 | $0 | $46,404 | $3,793 |
| Aug 2027 | $20,925 | $25,713 | $1,584 | $12,300 | $0 | $60,522 | $15,569 |
| Sep 2027 | $23,760 | $29,494 | $2,016 | $12,300 | $7,200 | $74,770 | $27,454 |
| Oct 2027 | $27,125 | $31,107 | $2,496 | $16,360 | $0 | $77,088 | $29,388 |
| Nov 2027 | $9,690 | $11,811 | $2,928 | $4,060 | $10,080 | $38,569 | ($2,743) |
| Dec 2027 | $8,246 | $7,268 | $3,360 | $0 | $0 | $18,874 | ($19,172) |
The year is two seasons. From January to May the inn loses money every month. June and July are close to break-even, August to October are the strong months, and September and October bring in about $152,000 of revenue between them. November and December fall back to a loss. EBITDA, profit before interest, depreciation and tax, is negative in seven months and positive in five, and the year closes at a $55,697 loss. After allowing for ten days of receivables, the lowest month-end cash is Jun, at about $83,000.
Who is on the payroll, and from when
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner and innkeeper (Missy Stewart) | $55,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Winemaker and vineyard manager (Tom Stewart) | $52,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Housekeeper and breakfast attendant (part time) | $30,000 | Month 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Tasting room host (part time, Thursday to Sunday) | $24,000 | Month 4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Harvest crew (contract, September and October) | $54,000 | Month 9 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Relief innkeeper (part time, weekends) | $27,000 | Month 19 | – | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Events and guest coordinator | $48,000 | Month 31 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $200,090 | $222,515 | $268,520 | $299,000 | $299,000 |
Missy and Tom run the inn and the cellar from day one, with a part-time housekeeper and breakfast attendant. A tasting-room host joins in April for the first full season, and a contract crew picks and sorts the harvest each September and October. A relief innkeeper joins in month 19, so the owners have weekends off once Year 2 occupancy is running at 47%. An events and guest coordinator starts in month 31, once the second year has shown the event days are filling. The owners are paid $55,000 and $52,000 from the first month, so profit here is what remains after them. Part-time roles count as half a full-time equivalent in the revenue-per-person ratio.
Profit and loss
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $435,520 | $640,443 | $819,524 | $962,498 | $1,050,129 |
| Direct costs (online-booking commissions, card fees, breakfast food, event catering and bar; wine bottles carry card fees and shipping only, not the cost of the wine) | ($72,227) | ($106,211) | ($135,910) | ($159,621) | ($174,154) |
| Gross profit | $363,293 | $534,232 | $683,614 | $802,877 | $875,975 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($200,090) | ($222,515) | ($268,520) | ($299,000) | ($299,000) |
| Rent | ($48,000) | ($49,440) | ($50,920) | ($52,450) | ($54,020) |
| Utilities | ($15,600) | ($16,100) | ($16,600) | ($17,100) | ($17,600) |
| Marketing | ($24,000) | ($26,000) | ($27,500) | ($28,500) | ($29,500) |
| Insurance | ($21,000) | ($23,000) | ($25,500) | ($27,000) | ($28,500) |
| Professional fees | ($7,000) | ($7,500) | ($8,000) | ($8,500) | ($9,000) |
| Software subscriptions | ($9,600) | ($10,800) | ($11,800) | ($12,600) | ($13,200) |
| Vineyard upkeep: spray, trellis, irrigation, fuel and crop cover | ($16,000) | ($17,000) | ($18,000) | ($19,000) | ($20,000) |
| Fruit, winemaking and dry goods for each new vintage | ($61,200) | ($91,100) | ($115,400) | ($133,800) | ($140,800) |
| Licences, permits and OLCC filings | $0 | ($3,200) | ($3,400) | ($3,600) | ($3,800) |
| Property repairs and grounds | ($9,000) | ($10,500) | ($12,000) | ($13,500) | ($15,000) |
| Guest supplies, phones and postage | ($6,000) | ($6,800) | ($7,600) | ($8,200) | ($8,800) |
| Linen, decor and barrel replacement | $0 | ($9,000) | ($10,000) | ($16,000) | ($12,000) |
| Bad debt allowance | ($1,500) | ($2,500) | ($3,500) | ($4,000) | ($4,300) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($6,675) | ($16,353) | ($27,725) | ($37,527) |
| EBITDA | ($55,697) | $32,102 | $88,521 | $131,902 | $182,928 |
| Depreciation | ($24,305) | ($24,305) | ($24,305) | ($24,305) | ($24,305) |
| Interest | ($23,700) | ($23,700) | ($23,419) | ($22,775) | ($22,078) |
| Income tax | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($1,576) | ($35,794) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($103,702) | ($15,903) | $40,796 | $83,245 | $100,751 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (2026 vintage, legal, licences, launch marketing) | ($123,200) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($226,902) | ($15,903) | $40,796 | $83,245 | $100,751 |
Year 1 loses $103,702 before start-up costs and $226,902 after them. Year 1 is also overstated as a loss, for a reason the model cannot show. Wine is charged when it is made: the $79,200 for the 2026 vintage and $61,200 for the 2027 vintage are both expensed in Year 1, while the wine sold in Year 1 cost $43,824 at first-in, first-out. On a cost-of-sales view the Year 1 loss after start-up costs is about $130,000, not $227,000. The direct-costs row in the table below carries no cost of wine. Gross profit of 83.4% every year is therefore flattering: on a cost-of-sales basis it is 73.4% in Year 1 falling to 70.7% in Year 5, and on the three wine lines alone about 72% falling to 69%. Year 2 is a small loss after depreciation and interest, then Year 3 is the first profit. EBITDA is already positive in Year 2 ($32,102, a 5.0% margin) and reaches 17.4% by Year 5. Income tax starts in Year 4, once the Year 1 loss is used up.
Where the cash goes
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($214,529) | $2,787 | $60,195 | $103,633 | $122,655 |
| Tasting room, cellar and guest-room fit-out | ($266,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $609,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Term loan principal repaid | $0 | $0 | ($7,862) | ($8,506) | ($9,203) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($30,000) | ($60,000) |
| Net change in cash | $128,671 | $2,787 | $52,333 | $65,127 | $53,452 |
| Closing cash | $128,671 | $131,458 | $183,791 | $248,918 | $302,370 |
Closing cash is positive at every year end, and the lowest is $128,671 at the end of Year 1. Year 1 operations use $214,529, paid from the opening reserve. Wine is paid for evenly through the year in the model, although a real harvest concentrates the cost in September and October, so the monthly low point would sit a little lower than shown. The $30,000 and $60,000 distributions in Years 4 and 5 are the only cash paid to owners beyond their wages. The balance sheet below has no stock line. Cellar stock at cost is not shown: it is $96,558 for 718 cases at the end of Year 1, rising to $153,559 for 1,006 cases at the end of Year 5, and total equity in the table is understated by those amounts (Year 1 equity would be $178,856, not $82,298).
What the business owns and owes
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $128,671 | $131,458 | $183,791 | $248,918 | $302,370 |
| Accounts receivable | $11,932 | $17,546 | $22,453 | $26,370 | $28,771 |
| Tasting room, cellar and guest-room fit-out (net) | $241,695 | $217,390 | $193,086 | $168,781 | $144,476 |
| Total assets | $382,298 | $366,395 | $399,330 | $444,069 | $475,617 |
| Agricultural term loan | $300,000 | $300,000 | $292,138 | $283,632 | $274,429 |
| Paid-in capital | $309,200 | $309,200 | $309,200 | $309,200 | $309,200 |
| Retained earnings | ($226,902) | ($242,805) | ($202,008) | ($148,763) | ($108,012) |
| Total liabilities and equity | $382,298 | $366,395 | $399,330 | $444,069 | $475,617 |
Break-even and loan cover
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -12.8% | 5.0% | 10.8% | 13.7% | 17.4% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -23.8% | -2.5% | 5.0% | 8.6% | 9.6% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 46% | 36% | 35% | 34% | 32% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $145,173 | $182,984 | $182,116 | $213,888 | $233,362 |
| Average monthly revenue | $36,293 | $53,370 | $68,294 | $80,208 | $87,511 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $41,858 | $50,163 | $59,450 | $67,031 | $69,236 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -2.4x | 1.4x | 2.8x | 4.2x | 5.8x |
The gross-profit margin implied by this table is the 83.4% the model books, which ignores the cost of wine sold; the cost-of-sales margin is 70% to 73%, so the operating-cost line below is a little optimistic by the difference between wine made and wine sold in each year. Year 1 averages $36,293 of monthly revenue against $41,858 needed to cover operating costs, a miss that hides a split: June to October clears the line and the other months do not. Year 2 averages $53,370 against $50,163. Loan cover is negative in Year 1 and 1.4x in Year 2, which is still interest-only; principal starts in month 25 and Year 3 cover is 2.8x. The Year 2 figure is the one a lender is likely to ask about first.
If a fifth of the revenue never arrives
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $348,416 | $512,354 | $655,619 | $769,998 | $840,103 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($140,242) | ($39,621) | $10,840 | $7,216 | $45,612 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($263,442) | ($39,621) | $10,840 | $7,216 | $45,612 |
| Closing cash | $94,517 | $74,710 | $98,067 | $117,949 | $176,741 |
Every revenue line runs 20% below plan in every year. The owners respond in six ways. The relief innkeeper and the coordinator start six months later. Missy and Tom each take a 20% pay cut, the tasting host's hours fall 20%, marketing, property repairs, linen and decor spending and vineyard upkeep are reduced, and wine production is cut 20% from the 2028 vintage on. No distribution is paid. Cash stays at or above $74,710 at every year end, the lowest being the end of Year 2, and the company loses money in Years 1 and 2 and earns a small profit from Year 3. Year 1 closes with equity of $45,758, and the lowest month-end balance in Year 1 is about $93,000 in July before receivables timing, against $97,918 on the same basis in the base case. Debt service cover is negative in Year 1 and 0.35x in Year 2, so the lender would have to waive its cover test for that year. Three further tests are run outside the tables. If the permit for event days 7 to 18 is refused and events stay at six days with no coordinator, Year 2 loses $44,015, cover is 0.17x and lowest year-end cash is $104,270. Because every line falls 20%, the downside table doubles as an occupancy test: Year 1 occupancy of about 33% instead of 41.5%. If the county does not allow lodging, rooms and the stay-related bottle sales disappear, the housekeeper and relief roles go, and Year 1 revenue is $262,537 with EBITDA of ($162,494). Cash is negative by the end of Year 2, at ($84,207). The plan does not close on that footing, which is why written county confirmation is a condition of the loan.
Sources
- Oregon Revised Statutes 215.452 on wineries on farm land, covering tastings, food service, the 18-day event limit, the 15-acre vineyard rule and the subsection (13) meals provision, as published at oregon.public.law.
- Oregon Revised Statutes 446.310 on tourist facilities and travelers' accommodations, as published at oregon.public.law.
- Oregon Wine Board, 2025 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Census: grape production, Pinot noir share and direct-to-consumer case sales.
- Oregon Department of Revenue, lodging tax: 1.5% for stays ending on or before December 31, 2026 and 2.75% from January 1, 2027, with local rates set locally.
- Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, minimum wage rates: $15.55 standard rate from July 1, 2026, which applies in Lane County.
- Oregon Secretary of State, Blue Book: economy and revenue: corporate tax rates of 6.6% and 7.6%.
- Oregon Revised Statutes 215.283 on uses allowed in exclusive farm use zones (room and board for up to five unrelated people), with the annotation to Friends of Yamhill County v. Yamhill County, 325 Or App 282 (2023), as published at oregon.public.law. ORS 215.448 on home occupations was not reviewed.
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