By Dave DeWitte
SWISHER – The decision to invest $1.1 million in a new stillhouse for Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery reflects the changing reality of competition in the Midwestern microdistillery industry.
When Cedar Ridge fired up its first still in 2005 in downtown Cedar Rapids, there wasn’t much in the way of direct competition from other craft distillers in the Midwest. In the years that followed, the winery/distillery, now located at the company’s vineyard and winery near Swisher, has picked off some enviable wins in wine and spirits competitions around the United States.
Master distiller and owner Jeff Quint is pleased with the progress Cedar Ridge has made, but he isn’t resting on his laurels.
“When we got our license, we were the first craft distiller in the state and we’re trying to maintain a leadership role in the industry,” said Mr. Quint, who started the business in 2005 with his wife, Laurie Quint.
The new stillhouse will allow Cedar Ridge to triple its capacity from the current 500 cases per month to about 1,500. It will also free up space that will allow the winery side of the business to expand its production capacity from about 16,000 gallons per year to about 20,000 per year.
Initially known for its Clearheart vodka brand, Cedar Ridge has since produced an assortment of brandies, rums, grappas and bourbons under the Cedar Ridge brand. It has nearly 600 barrels of product in inventory.
Cedar Ridge plans to continue and expand its push into making specialty whiskeys, which have so far included wheat whiskey, malted rye whiskey and single-malt whiskey, Mr. Quint said. It’s a hot product category.
“The microdistillery movement is trending kind of the same way craft beer is,” said Matt Hanlin, general manager of Benz Beverage Depot, where Cedar Ridge initially operated its microdistillery at 501 7th Ave. SE. “People want more of a regional or local flavor.”
Mr. Hanlin said more microbreweries are also adding microdistilleries. One reason is that a key step early in the production process, making the wort, is very similar for beer and whiskey. Wort is produced in the mashing process, in which malted barley or other milled grains are combined with supplementary grains such as corn or wheat and water, then heated.
One of the features of the expansion will be grain bins in front of the still house, which will allow Cedar Ridge to bring in local and specialty grains direct from the farm, and do its own milling.
“The consumer’s getting more educated and asking where the grain is from,” Mr. Quint said. “In the craft world, people want interesting, and they want innovative.”
Cedar Ridge distributes into Iowa and eight other states, a distribution territory that isn’t likely to change drastically. The expansion will make Cedar Ridge a “nice mid-level craft distiller,” Mr. Quint said, and the company is unlikely to want to compete in a much larger league with high-volume distillers.
The stillhouse was designed by Solum-Lang Architects of Cedar Rapids to complement the existing Cedar Ridge facility, with its panoramic views of vineyards and countryside. The still itself is being imported from Germany, where it is being manufactured by CARL, a family-owned company founded in 1854.
The consumers who buy Cedar Ridge products willingly pay premium prices for premium products. Its bourbons are priced in the $33 to $35 range, while its single-malt scotches sell for $48-$49 per bottle.
Cedar Ridge’s whiskey sales got a lift last year from a gold medal in the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition. The winery is winning a number of other awards, including Best Iowa Grown Wine for its La Crescent and 24 other awards at the Fifth-Annual Mid-American Wine Competition.
At Benz Beverage Depot, bourbon is the strongest-selling Cedar Ridge product.
“Bourbon as a category is trending huge,” Mr. Hanlin said. “The bourbon market is just exploding. You could make an argument that it’s their best product as well.”
Opening the first craft distillery in Iowa since prohibition and introducing innovative products have brought Cedar Ridge plenty of exposure in Iowa media. Cedar Ridge gets much of its energy from its own wind turbine and claims to be the only distillery/winery combination in the state.
Mr. Quint keeps busy between the distillery, winery, vineyard, and his job as chief financial officer at Involta, a Cedar Rapids provider of data storage and managed IT services. A cousin, Nick Quint, operates a distillery in Madison, Wis.
Although the stillhouse project is projected to add only one job at Cedar Ridge, it did qualify for state programs that provide a sales tax rebate on construction materials and incentive tax credits. The Johnson County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting the application, which was approved by the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board at its May 16 meeting.
The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division approved microdistillery permits for six applicants and wine manufacturing permits for 93 establishments in 2013, according to the agency’s annual report.
Wine sales in Iowa were up 6.1 percent in 2013, according to the agency’s report, while vodka sales were up 4 percent. Straight whiskey sales were up 4 percent, straight rye whiskey sales were up 1 percent and brandy sales were up 1 percent.
Beyond distributing its products, Mr. Quint said Cedar Ridge boosts the Iowa economy by bringing dollars spent on wines and distilled spirits into the area, reversing a traditional pattern of outflow for beverages. He said it also provides a reason to visit the area and offers a venue for live music, and both private and corporate events.
The company’s last major expansion was a 200-seat event center two years ago. It has a large indoor tasting area and an outdoor seating area, complete with outdoor fireplace.
“We want to remain an attraction so that when your friends and relatives visit you from out of state, you’ll bring them here,” Mr. Quint said. “Our slogan is, ‘celebrate with us.’”
