Vineyard carries on

CLARA CITY — Around late summer and early autumn, the winery area of Hinterland Vineyards is relatively quiet, with only basic sales and packaging being done. But things are now picking up for the Koenen family as grape picking season has begun.

“We always have one earlier white variety that goes out typically at the end of August,” Aric Koenen said. “It’s always nice to have one variety that comes a little earlier than the rest … to make sure everything is clicking before we get into a pretty intense schedule.”

While Hinterland Vineyards has scaled back in recent years to focus more on wholesale — and to allow Aric and Aftan to be present for their family — the passion going into the grapes and wine has not decreased at all.

“We control every step from the point the plant buds out in the spring until the point that cork gets shoved in the bottle,” Aric said. “Hopefully, in the future, we’re going to keep that model. … I’ve been a firm believer that you don’t cheapen the raw product itself.”

Aric was raised on a multi-generational family farm that raised row crops. He credits his parents, Ron and Karin Koenen, for starting the vineyard in 2005.

“There wasn’t a massive business plan or anything when that happened,” Aric said. “The thing that sparked it all was when they went to Farmfest. … There was a winery by the name of Fieldstone, and they had some leaflets on the table. … My mother has a horticulture background, and we had some farmland available that was an odd size to get implements in and out. Things got lined up, and we started planting grapes.”

At the time, Aric and Aftan were dating in high school, and both helped plant the vineyard. Aric said the farm’s main goal was to grow and sell grapes, but around 2008, the family decided to try making wine, and they set up their first building for hospitality and wine tastings.

Hinterland Vineyards’ restaurant building opened in 2009, and Aric and Aftan married the following year. The hospitality end of the business started by offering wine and appetizers and eventually expanded to a food truck that offered burgers, salmon, pizzas and other pub-type foods. During this time, the Koenens added to the vineyard’s wine list and brought in hard cider as well.

“We had a house fire in 2019, so we had a winter where we had a lot of downtime,” Aftan said. “I always joked I wanted him (Aric) to make champagne, and he got bored and started looking into cider.”

The coronavirus pandemic started about a week after the cider-making equipment arrived.
The Koenens worried the pandemic would hurt the potential business angle, but in reality,
it added to the demand for the product.

In 2022, Aric and Aftan welcomed their first daughter, Adaylia, which led to a difficult but necessary decision.

“We decided to close the restaurant when the baby came,” Aftan said. “We just couldn’t do it all.”

Additionally, the Koenens are moving Hinterland Vineyards more towards selling wine wholesale and doing more sales online. They also moved the winemaking facility to Spicer.

“We had a lot of history behind us, but it was still a very big risk when we chose to switch the business model,” Aric said. “We knew there would be a nasty, slow time for a year or two when we retooled this, and it’s been fun to see … all your old customers finding you again.”

At their peak, Hinterland Vineyards offered about nine different wine varieties. Since transitioning to wholesale, they have reduced to around six and are looking to bring that number down to four.

“We’ve learned a lot,” Aric said. “The craft beverage industry went through this boom where you’d walk into a liquor store, and there were so many options. It got overwhelming, (and) we started to learn that maybe simpler is better for sales, at least in our experience; focus on the things you’re good at and let the others go.”

Today, Hinterland Vineyards grows Frontenac Gris, LaCrescent, Marquette and Brianna grape varieties; the first three were developed by a breeding program at the University of Minnesota. Although the varieties are designed to withstand Minnesota’s climate, their maintenance is almost constant. There is pruning in the winter; buds in the spring; fungus, hydration management and further pruning in the summer; and harvesting in the fall. At some points in the year, the Koenens have to put up netting to deter birds.

“You never quit,” Aric said. “There’s a month or two in the winter where it’s dormant; otherwise, you immediately start pruning in the spring. Every season has its hazards. Some of these things, you can control and mitigate, and some are truly Mother Nature, and you’re up to what happens. … It’s farming, at the end of the day. Every year poses different challenges; you just have to adapt.”

If the summer is particularly humid, all the Koenens can sometimes do is hold back the vine growth, so it does not overshade itself.

“It reminds me of cultivating sugar beets,” Aric said. “When you think you’re almost done, you look back and think, ‘I guess I’ve got to start over.’”

Thanks to Hinterland Vineyards, the Koenens have gotten to meet a lot of people they would not have otherwise. Even today, as the business goes more online, they can still meet people and talk to them as they are picking up their orders.

“Seeing people enjoy your product is where I get motivation,” Aric said.

Then, there is the enjoyment that comes from this time of year — harvest time.

“Seeing the fruit come in, (and) watching the picker pick, that’s fun,” Aftan said. “It’s been a slow couple of years, transitioning to wholesale, but we’re finally seeing the sales pick up again. Finally seeing the numbers tick up and having people be excited to stop and pick up cases at a time of wine (and) cider, that kind of stuff is fun.”