Wine Shop
APPARELCustomer Care
1-800-716-9463
To buy alcohol, we MUST have a copy of your Driver's License on file (not just the number).
Please fax to (269) 422-5038 or scan and email it to orders@roundbarnwinery.com.
Due to image quality, faxes should also include your name and birthdate written on the paper.
Skip Spuds, Baroda Winery Makes Vodka with Grapes
By Jennifer Vincent - Michigan Farmer | October 2008
If you want to try something a little out of the ordinary, you may just have to go against the grain. In Rick Moersch's case, he went beyond grain - and potatoes, too, for that matter. In his quest to create a unique, premium vodka, he just took a look around him.
Moersch owns Round Barn Winery and Entente Spirits in Baroda, a family-owned farm and enterprise in southwest Michigan's lush fruit region. He has put almost 30 years into making wine out of grapes along with a cornucopia of other locally grown fruits. However, it has been only in recent years that he's turned to grapes to produce a premier vodka. It is the first and only "estate vodka," Moersch says, made from grapes to be distilled and bottled in the United States, and the fourth such vodka in the world.
But with limited equipment, it was time-consuming and expensive to produce, and Michigan's legal maze of regulations made it difficult to market on a level playing field with internationally branded vodkas.
In a time when change is the only thing certain in the agricultural industry, Moersch knew he needed to streamline the vodka production process to grow. In 2006, Moersch was awarded one of 40 innovation grants from the Julian-Stille Value-Added Agricultural Development Fund, established by the 21st Century Jobs Fund. He used those funds to purchase equipment and gear up production.
"Without those funds, we may not have gone down this road to grow our business in the state," explains Moersch.
His business also got a much-needed boost when a new law, sponsored by state Rep. Barb Byrum and signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in July, opened the door for small liquor distilleries to operate sampling operations similar to wineries, and to sell direct to consumers.
"Before, to sell vodka and other liquors, you had to obtain a permit and work through one of four authorized distribution agents in the state," Moersch explains. "This new legislation opens a whole new market for small distillers."
A better way
Vodka is defined as being free of any distinctive aroma, character, color or flavor. So, vodka is vodka, right?
Moersch says no. "We believe and many of our customers tell us the grapes make it a pleasant and smooth vodka. It has a better taste and is especially appealing for people who don't like the burn," he says.
Moersch sells both his vodka and wines into the restaurant markets in and around Chicago and relies heavily on word of mouth and visitors to the tasting room, which overlooks the vineyards and the round barn that the winery is named for. He's able to charge $35 for a fifth bottle for the grape vodka named DiVine - a word play on the drink's origin. But even with the niche market and premium distinction, Moersch says there is a limit to what people will pay for vodka. "We had to find a way to make it more efficiently, with less labor and less waste," he says.
The process starts with grape wine, he explains. The vodka is distilled in a copper pot still and bottled on site. "In the past we would distill it to 30% alcohol, distill it again to 60% and then again to 95%, and possibly five times or more, which took days," Moersch explains.
Moersch's $82,000 agricultural innovation grant was for a 21-plate rectifying column from Germany that significantly reduces the distilling time and labor while reducing losses. The process also required some additional small tanks, a pump and a steam boiler. The total capital investment was more than $115,000, and it created three new jobs.
"The columns enhance the alcohol content much quicker and instead of recovering 10% to 20% of the product we started with, we're getting 50% to 60%," he says.
The final product has to be 180 proof; otherwise, it's considered brandy. The distilled, pure vodka is then cut with water to reduce alcohol content to 40%.
The grapes are grown on Moersch's 30-acre farm. He also leases ground and buys fruit from neighbors. "All the fruit for the vodka and our wines is locally grown," he says.
"This area is like the Garden of Eden,and the grant has helped us showcase this growing area and its potential. And, the state's initial investment [grant] will be paid back several times over as new revenue generates tax dollars," he says.
DiVine production is ramping up, and Moersch says he's in the process of getting into Meijer stores.
Eventually, Moersch says he hopes that sons Matthew, who is a vintner, and Christian, who handles marketing, will take over the business. They've already started their own enterprise, Free Run Winery in Berrien Springs, with recipes of their own produced at Round Barn Winery.
About the Round Barn Winery
Rick Moersch, founder of the Round Barn Winery, is a former high school science teacher, who - with permission - taught students about growing fruit, and what yeast does by concocting a batch of homegrown wine in the classroom.
In the 1970s, when nearby Tabor Hill winery was having some quality control issues, he and his students went to work to find the cause. That lead Moersch to a part-time job at the winery and later he left the classroom for a full-time position there. For 10 years, 1980-90, he worked as a vintner. "I didn't have the land yet or the equipment, but I told them and they were fully aware that eventually I wanted to start my own winery," he explains.
He bought a 30-acre rolling piece of ground and visited auctions to buy equipment. The Round Barn Winery in Berrien County, which also produces several specialty brews, opened in 1992.
The winery was first named "Heart of the Vineyard," but in 1997 when Moersch went looking for a structure to expand his business into the production of spirits, he came across a round barn destined to be razed in Rochester, Ind. "I really liked this round barn and with a round building, as they say, there are no corners for the devil to hide in ... only good spirits."
In June 1997 Moersch hired an Amish crew to dismantle the bam built in: 1911. The reconstruction was complete in April 1999. It took several years to the finish the inside, including heating and air conditioning and installation of an elevator.
It has been used for overflow wine tasting from another post-and-bank-styte barn thai is built into the side of a hill, while the upper level was for wedding receptions. "We're going to be using it now entirely for wine tasting and using the other barn for the spirits," Moersch explains.
The winery produces about 12,000 12-bottle cases annually. It has joined 10 other wineries in the area to create the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail.
The Round Barn Winery is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, closing only for Christmas, Easter, New Year's Day and Thanksgiving. Visit the winery at 10983 Hills Road, Baroda. For more on the winery, calf 800-716-9463 or visit www.roundbarnwinery.com or www.divinevodka.com.
<< Back to news
If you want to try something a little out of the ordinary, you may just have to go against the grain. In Rick Moersch's case, he went beyond grain - and potatoes, too, for that matter. In his quest to create a unique, premium vodka, he just took a look around him.
Moersch owns Round Barn Winery and Entente Spirits in Baroda, a family-owned farm and enterprise in southwest Michigan's lush fruit region. He has put almost 30 years into making wine out of grapes along with a cornucopia of other locally grown fruits. However, it has been only in recent years that he's turned to grapes to produce a premier vodka. It is the first and only "estate vodka," Moersch says, made from grapes to be distilled and bottled in the United States, and the fourth such vodka in the world.
But with limited equipment, it was time-consuming and expensive to produce, and Michigan's legal maze of regulations made it difficult to market on a level playing field with internationally branded vodkas.
In a time when change is the only thing certain in the agricultural industry, Moersch knew he needed to streamline the vodka production process to grow. In 2006, Moersch was awarded one of 40 innovation grants from the Julian-Stille Value-Added Agricultural Development Fund, established by the 21st Century Jobs Fund. He used those funds to purchase equipment and gear up production.
"Without those funds, we may not have gone down this road to grow our business in the state," explains Moersch.
His business also got a much-needed boost when a new law, sponsored by state Rep. Barb Byrum and signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in July, opened the door for small liquor distilleries to operate sampling operations similar to wineries, and to sell direct to consumers.
"Before, to sell vodka and other liquors, you had to obtain a permit and work through one of four authorized distribution agents in the state," Moersch explains. "This new legislation opens a whole new market for small distillers."
A better way
Vodka is defined as being free of any distinctive aroma, character, color or flavor. So, vodka is vodka, right?
Moersch says no. "We believe and many of our customers tell us the grapes make it a pleasant and smooth vodka. It has a better taste and is especially appealing for people who don't like the burn," he says.
Moersch sells both his vodka and wines into the restaurant markets in and around Chicago and relies heavily on word of mouth and visitors to the tasting room, which overlooks the vineyards and the round barn that the winery is named for. He's able to charge $35 for a fifth bottle for the grape vodka named DiVine - a word play on the drink's origin. But even with the niche market and premium distinction, Moersch says there is a limit to what people will pay for vodka. "We had to find a way to make it more efficiently, with less labor and less waste," he says.
The process starts with grape wine, he explains. The vodka is distilled in a copper pot still and bottled on site. "In the past we would distill it to 30% alcohol, distill it again to 60% and then again to 95%, and possibly five times or more, which took days," Moersch explains.
Moersch's $82,000 agricultural innovation grant was for a 21-plate rectifying column from Germany that significantly reduces the distilling time and labor while reducing losses. The process also required some additional small tanks, a pump and a steam boiler. The total capital investment was more than $115,000, and it created three new jobs.
"The columns enhance the alcohol content much quicker and instead of recovering 10% to 20% of the product we started with, we're getting 50% to 60%," he says.
The final product has to be 180 proof; otherwise, it's considered brandy. The distilled, pure vodka is then cut with water to reduce alcohol content to 40%.
The grapes are grown on Moersch's 30-acre farm. He also leases ground and buys fruit from neighbors. "All the fruit for the vodka and our wines is locally grown," he says.
"This area is like the Garden of Eden,and the grant has helped us showcase this growing area and its potential. And, the state's initial investment [grant] will be paid back several times over as new revenue generates tax dollars," he says.
DiVine production is ramping up, and Moersch says he's in the process of getting into Meijer stores.
Eventually, Moersch says he hopes that sons Matthew, who is a vintner, and Christian, who handles marketing, will take over the business. They've already started their own enterprise, Free Run Winery in Berrien Springs, with recipes of their own produced at Round Barn Winery.
About the Round Barn Winery
Rick Moersch, founder of the Round Barn Winery, is a former high school science teacher, who - with permission - taught students about growing fruit, and what yeast does by concocting a batch of homegrown wine in the classroom.
In the 1970s, when nearby Tabor Hill winery was having some quality control issues, he and his students went to work to find the cause. That lead Moersch to a part-time job at the winery and later he left the classroom for a full-time position there. For 10 years, 1980-90, he worked as a vintner. "I didn't have the land yet or the equipment, but I told them and they were fully aware that eventually I wanted to start my own winery," he explains.
He bought a 30-acre rolling piece of ground and visited auctions to buy equipment. The Round Barn Winery in Berrien County, which also produces several specialty brews, opened in 1992.
The winery was first named "Heart of the Vineyard," but in 1997 when Moersch went looking for a structure to expand his business into the production of spirits, he came across a round barn destined to be razed in Rochester, Ind. "I really liked this round barn and with a round building, as they say, there are no corners for the devil to hide in ... only good spirits."
In June 1997 Moersch hired an Amish crew to dismantle the bam built in: 1911. The reconstruction was complete in April 1999. It took several years to the finish the inside, including heating and air conditioning and installation of an elevator.
It has been used for overflow wine tasting from another post-and-bank-styte barn thai is built into the side of a hill, while the upper level was for wedding receptions. "We're going to be using it now entirely for wine tasting and using the other barn for the spirits," Moersch explains.
The winery produces about 12,000 12-bottle cases annually. It has joined 10 other wineries in the area to create the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail.
The Round Barn Winery is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, closing only for Christmas, Easter, New Year's Day and Thanksgiving. Visit the winery at 10983 Hills Road, Baroda. For more on the winery, calf 800-716-9463 or visit www.roundbarnwinery.com or www.divinevodka.com.
<< Back to news
