News > Brix & Columns Vineyards – McGaheysville, VA

Brix & Columns Vineyards – McGaheysville, VA

• Rural Energy for America Program,
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June 26, 2024

“Having the REAP grant available for farmers to help them cut costs is a great resource for communities like ours”

Stephanie & Steve – Brix & Columns Vineyards

Could you share a bit about the origins of Brix & Columns with us?

We are both from the area, and we moved back here after completing schooling, and after Steve did military training. We wanted our children to experience farm life, so we bought the farm. After owning it for a few years, we were looking at diversifying and doing something a little different. One thing led to another and we ended up becoming a vineyard and winery. We’ve been open now for about seven years. 

What kinds of goods and services does Brix & Columns provide?

Well we started as a farm, and then began doing weddings and events, and then became a vineyard. We still do weddings and events, but a big part of what we do is our vineyard and winery. We have 16 acres of grapes on the vine here. This year we’ll do probably about 90% or more of our wine production on site here. Our winery is open seven days a week, and we have different weekly events that help support the winery and keep it going. For example, last night we had a wedding and all of our weddings are required to purchase a certain amount of wine, so it’s all building into our winery. 

What does it mean to you to have a local vineyard in the community, and how do you think that helps the community?

When we first opened, we were one of the first kinds of social activities for people to do on this side of the county. As I said, agriculture is very important to us. We purchased the farm and wanted our kids to be involved in that. At the time we were doing hay and cattle. We just think it’s really important that they understand what America was founded on and what it takes to produce something. Owning a vineyard is very agriculturally oriented. I spend more time out in the vines than I ever did when we had hay and cattle. It’s everyday from March to November with our three guys that help us. It’s very hands-on. It’s really important to us to preserve agriculture and also to have a place for people in the community to come and socialize. We are very open to our community, and they really appreciate it. 

We also do a lot for the community. Community service is important to us, as is giving back locally. There are several organizations we support, and we host several charity events a year. For example, we support Young Life, and work with them to host the Capernaum Dance here for kids with emotional and health challenges at school. It’s their prom. We shut down the winery and don’t sell any wine during that time. They used to host it at their high school, which is nice, but it’s not as fancy. The kids talk about it all year. So, this is a place that the community can gather, and we feel like we can support them. It’s a real local thing, and people enjoy coming. 

Could you share your favorite things about owning Brix & Columns, as well as some challenges you face as business owners?

I love the agriculture aspect. I love messing in the vines. It’s nice too that we are a community place and that we have regulars, and we also have people who come nearby for vacation and visit us year after year. 

As far as challenges, COVID was interesting. During COVID, wineries did very well because we have lots of room, you can social distance, and we were outside and have lots of space out there. But since then, it’s been rocky. We never know when we are going to be busy or slow; there doesn’t always seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to it. Then last year we got hit with hail and we lost 80% of our grapes, so production was down. One challenge, and one reason the REAP grant was very good for us is agriculture isn’t always profitable. With wineries it takes several years before you make a profit, which can lead to many financial burdens. So having the money to install solar, and then not having electric bills was huge. 

When and why did solar become an idea for Brix & Columns?

I considered it all along because, when you can hedge your bets for the future of energy costs, that’s huge. We installed it while we were building our event building, and the REAP grant totally changed the numbers. With the grant and the 30% tax credit, and with our accelerated depreciation we get since we’re a business, the savings really add up. When we did it our accountants said it was 84% covered the first year. So, that’s not a hard decision to make. To install panels and have them work in our favor all the time, 365 days a year is pretty nice. 

What are some aspects of your business that are powered by solar energy?

A big thing for us is keeping the wine chilled. We like to keep it between 50 and 60 degrees. When we store it, when we’re aging it, or when it’s in a bottle, temperature is important at every step of the process, and that takes a lot of electricity to control. That’s a lot of the electricity we use, and if we can have that coming from the sun, it’s great. The sun develops the energy that makes the bricks, and the sugar in the grapes which then convert to wine. So if we can use the sun in another phase of that production, that’s pretty cool too. 

How has solar impacted your energy bills? 

A typical bill used to be $500 to $600 a month. Our rural eelectric cooperative charges $32 a month, so we just have that for about eight months out of the year. Then the other four we’re paying around $100 or less. So we were paying anywhere around $5,000 to $7,000 a year, and now it’s just a couple $100. So it reduced our energy bill significantly year after year, after year, after year. 

What advice would you give to other rural businesses specifically, who are interested in going solar?

You need to get a company you’re comfortable with, and one that can help you through the process. The REAP grant is something I’ve talked about bringing up to our wine industry because I don’t know that people are always aware of things that are out there. But it’s a great program, and it helps all of us by reducing our carbon footprint. I’d like to get another REAP grant for putting solar on our production facility because it makes so much sense. If the program is still available when it’s ready, I’d do it in a heartbeat. 

In your opinion, what is the importance of of supporting rural businesses through opportunities like the REAP grant?

Well, bigger urban centers have a lot of people coming through. That doesn’t mean that it makes it a piece of cake to be profitable, but in rural areas, we’re a little more sensitive to weather and people’s free time, and we’re far out. So, having energy covered, at least a good portion, makes it so we’re able to put the savings towards improving our wine, or planting more vines, or improving the experience customers have here. That helps us stabilize our ag economy here in the county. 

I think it’s really important because we could make a lot of money developing our farm and turning it into a neighborhood, but for us, it’s important to keep this area as farmland. Farming isn’t always profitable, so what can we do to preserve the farmland? I hate seeing things developed all the time. I forget how many farms our county has lost…I think a couple hundred farms in the last five years, and its all for development. Having the REAP grant available for farmers to help them cut costs is a great resource for communities like ours.