BACKBONE – Cellardoor Winery

photo by Leslie Bowman

Lincolnville’s “Purple Cow”

Bettina Doulton, owner of Cellardoor Winery, is a woman with an ever-evolving plan. But it always includes fines wines, relaxation for guests, and making her business stand out. When Bettina Doulton stopped analyzing companies for Fidelity and bought Lincolnville’s Cellardoor Winery in 2007, she knew little about the winery business. But she carried a few basic truths picked up over 21 years in the world of Wall Street. Beat your customers’ expectations, every day. Take care of your team. And one that Doulton admits her employees (10 year-round, 20 from May to October) are probably sick of hearing, though it’s played a huge role in the winery’s success: It’s all about being the “Purple Cow,” from the title of Seth Godin’s 2003 business bestseller. “If you drive by a field of brown cows, you’re going to drive on by,” says Doulton, who financed the business herself. “But if you see a purple cow, you’ll stop. The lesson is, differentiate your business. There are plenty of wineries, plenty of wine, plenty of other stuff people could do. We provide a complete winery experience for our guests.” Differentiating Cellardoor began with restoring the farm’s 1790s barn, home to much of that experience—a deck overlooking the vineyard and Levenseller Mountain, a gift shop, and a rustic-but-upscale tasting loft. Doulton added a second boutique location, a restored Victorian home inRockport known as The Villa, and expanded production to nearly 20 wines to please as many palates as possible. She’s also added a string of popular events, from weekly food and wine pairings and cooking classes to the annual Pop the Cork in June, which has grown into a multiple-location community happening. Each involves Maine-made artisanal foods, local chefs and businesses, including the Maine Winery Guild/Maine Wine Trail, with 15 member businesses from Lebanon to Gouldsboro. The events draw attention, but the real difference-maker for Cellardoor is much simpler, according to Doulton. “Complimentary wine tastings are our real focus,” she says. “We make sure people get a warm, gracious welcome—a break from the day and the rat race. We’re always trying to add elements of a rich winery experience, but those tastings are the key.” It’s working. The business sold 4,000 cases of wine last year, and since Doulton took over, Cellardoor’s business went from 90% tourists to 60% local. “We’re really proud to be part of the community, to see locals coming multiple times during the year,” she says. “ It’s a sign that we’re doing better, that we’re growing. It means an awful lot to me that we’re part of the Maine way of doing things up here.” Now she’s positioning the business for more growth, with a new winery on the 68-acre vineyard site. Scheduled for completion by August 1—in time to receive this year’s blueberry crop from Clary Hill Farm in Union—the 9,000-square-foot building will allow Cellardoor to move all production from the basement of the barn to the new facility, featuring a crush pad, tank, and barrel rooms (space for 250–300 oak barrels), and a warehouse. With the new production capacity, Cellardoor hopes to sell more wine at the vineyard and The Villa, and add to its relatively short list of restaurant and retail outlets. Eventually, Doulton wants to open a third tasting facility in Maine, probably between York and Freeport. There’s another long-term project, too, one that’s been a goal since Doulton and a business partner, who’s since returned to the corporate world, took over: producing wine from grapes grown on-site. In 2007, Cellardoor replanted six acres of grapes, developed by northern universities for short growing seasons. Vineyards take three to five years to produce wine-quality grapes, and Doulton’s hoping to start producing in 2011. Eventually, she wants to make 20% of Cellardoor’s wine from local grapes. “I’m hoping we’ll get comfortable with growing grapes, expand our vineyard, and help other people get into it,” Doulton says. “We’d love to see more Maine farmers produce wine grapes, to expand the agricultural economy.” But, she admits, “it’s a steep learning curve.” Of course, Doulton is familiar with learning curves—she’s been on a long, difficult one since she bought Cellardoor. Maximizing the business’s Internet marketing (at maine-wines.com) is a continual challenge. Last year, she was too conservative in projecting sales, amusing her staff, because she often boasts of her ability to analyze business. “There have been days that are so incredibly humbling. I’ve fallen in the grapes,” Doulton says. “I’ve driven a forklift. I’ve learned how to do payroll, the books, everything. And I’ve made mistakes. But you just pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and say, ‘OK, we’ll try again tomorrow.’ We just keep trying to improve our purple cow.”

Tagged as: Bettina Doulton, Cellardoor Winery, Maine made products, Mike Woelflein, Small Business