Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Reller.
Hi Ashley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We (Dan and Ashley) were inspired in several ways that led us to start Vintage Escapes Winery. Over the years together, we developed a passion for wine and would visit wineries often. We started making wine at home which further built our interest and passion for wine. There was so much more that went into wine than we ever knew before. We really grew an appreciation for all wines and the winemaking process. For a long time, we always “joked” about starting our own winery. It was our baby boy (now almost 8 years old) that ended up giving us the official burst of inspiration to actually go for it! We wanted to do and create something that impacted others for the better. We also wanted to go after our passion in hopes of inspiring our son to go after his dream someday. Once we made the decision to start a winery, we put our house on Roberds Lake up for sale and began searching for the perfect piece of property to plant the vineyard and build the winery. We closed on the property that the winery sits on in 2015. The year 2016 was spent preparing the land for planting grapevines. The first acre of vines, Marquette vines, were planted in 2017. The winery and tasting room building was built from scratch. The land was completely bare before we began construction in the fall of 2017. Dan and his father spent 2018 finishing the interior of the winery and tasting room. All of the woodwork, ceiling and finishes were done by Dan and his father. Once construction was finished, we then spent months acquiring all of the licenses that then allowed us to finally start processing wine with the 2018 harvest of grapes. Since wine isn’t made overnight, we didn’t have wine in bottles and ready for sale until we officially opened to the public in May 2019. We’ve now been open 3 years and have expanded the property a great deal since 2019. We planted 2 more acres of grapevines (Itasca & Frontenac vines), improved/expanded the outdoor area, and are now finalizing our outdoor pavilion project!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Starting and owning a business has involved so much more work and effort than we could have ever imagined, but it also provides so many positive and rewarding results. We’ve definitely faced a great deal of challenges along the way, and continue to face challenges on a daily basis (literally). One of the biggest struggles of opening the winery was acquiring the long list of permits and licenses in order to just begin processing wine. We’re in one of the few industries where we grow the ingredients (grapes), manufacture the product (wine), wholesale the product (to liquor stores and restaurants), AND retail the product (in the tasting room). This means that just the three of us (Dan, Ashley & our son River) wear so many hats – more hats than I think many people realize: vineyard manager, tasting room manager, winemaker, cellar rat, human resources manager, staff trainer, bookkeeper, social media manager, website designer, creative designer, event organizer, vendor booking manager, server, cook, physical maintenance personnel…I could go on and on with this list.
Like so many other small businesses, the pandemic and its after-effects have created many challenges. We do continue to have challenges maintaining proper staffing levels – like so many businesses in the service industry. The most recent challenge has definitely been dealing with the dramatic reductions in profits due to having to absorb the rising costs of all the supplies we rely on.
Remembering why we started this journey and seeing our incredible customers enjoying Vintage Escapes Winery and wines, makes all the challenges we get thrown at us completely worth it!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Vintage Escapes Winery is a veteran-owned, family-operated winery located on historic Dodd Road in southern Minnesota. The winery and tasting room sit on 32 acres of land offering a view of Hunt Lake, the vineyard, and the beautiful countryside. The vintage-inspired tasting room showcases large picturesque windows that provide a gorgeous view of the surrounding scenery. The outside area contains ample space with a variety of seating areas and green space to enjoy. A brand new outdoor pavilion is officially in use and will be 100% complete by early June. All our wines are crafted onsite by the owners themselves. Ashley is the winemaker but gets a lot of help from Dan. Dan takes full care of the 3 acres of grapevines in which each individual grapevine is maintained one-by-one by hand. We make a wide variety of wines including red wines, white wines and rose wines – ranging anywhere from dry to sweet. We take great pride in having wine for everyone, including the non-wine drinker. In fact, we’ve been known to convert many non-wine drinkers. We don’t expect everyone to love all of our wines, but we’re confident we’ll find at least one that you’re sure to enjoy! Our wines are available at the tasting room by the glass, bottle or in a flight. We have wine cocktails and non-alcoholic cocktails when you just want to change it up a little. We also serve food including flatbreads, warm sandwiches, cheese & charcuterie boards, other shareable plates, and dessert. We host a lot of different events at the winery. A full listing of scheduled events can always be found on our website on the “Music & Events” page. The tasting room and/or outdoor space can also be rented out for private parties – perfect for bridal showers, birthday parties, anniversary parties, groom’s dinners, small wedding ceremonies, etc. Our wines are award-winning wines with us just recently taking home 3 (yes three!) Double Gold Medals from the International Cold Climate Wine Competition for our Marquette, Marquette Reserve and Frontenac wines, among many other medals.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Our wines can be found in the following liquor stores and restaurants, with us continuing to expand this list to others:
The Local 105 restaurant in New Prague
Hy-Vee in Faribault
Hy-Vee in Owatonna
Firehouse Liquors in Dundas
MGM in Mankato
MGM in St. Peter
Pine Island Sports Bar & Liquor Store in Pine Island
Lonsdale Liquors in Lonsdale
Le Center Municipal Liquor Store in Le Center
Bauers Southside Liquors in Faribault
MGM in Dundas
We can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vintageescapeswinery.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/vintageescapes
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/vintageescapeswinery
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/vintage-escapes-winery-kilkenny
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@vintageescapeswinery
