Winery one step closer to selling beer on premises

By Ginna Young

It’s been almost a year, since the Wisconsin Veteran Farm Winery on South Eighth Street in Cornell, opened its doors for business. The winery offers a variety of small batch, handcrafted wine, after previously receiving permission from the city to operate.

Owner/operator Dan Osborn now wants to expand his business, to include beer sales. To do so, Osborn needs a Conditional Use Permit to expand the current winery operation to add a Class B Beer license.

The Board of Zoning Appeals met April 7, to approve or deny the permit. Because Osborn’s property is zoned agricultural, the way Cornell’s ordinance is written, the board had no recourse but to approve the permit. However, they do set the conditions.

“Is that beer you make?” asked board member John Smith. Osborn said he only makes wine, that the beer sold would come from local companies, such as Moonridge Brewing in Cornell, Heart of the North Brewery in Ladysmith, and the Old Abe Brewery, which makes gluten-free beer.

If Osborn obtains a Class B Beer license, he could have a set-up through a distributor. Since he can’t sell or store beer in the same building as he manufactures wine in, Osborn would need a space away from the main building. He could modify the main building to house/serve the beer in a separate room, but doesn’t have the funds to do so and wants the beer garden moved to an existing outbuilding.

State statutes say beer consumption can be anywhere on the winery premises, but Osborn said he would move the winery store outside during the summer, because there is no handicap accessibility in the winery sales room. The outbuilding is situated at ground level, with a designated partitioned area and fire extinguishers.

“Are you allowed to take it (alcohol) off the premises?” asked Board of Zoning Appeals chair Floyd Hickethier.

Osborn said yes, as long as the bottle of beer or wine is sealed. Otherwise, it is deemed as open-carry, which is prohibited.

Since he’s been in business since July of last year, the winery has sparked a lot of interest for people to taste the wine, but not everyone is a wine drinker.

“There were other people who would rather have beer,” said Osborn.

With the ability to sell beer, Osborn believes his business would see a pickup, as he hasn’t raised prices, even though sugar has gone up. When he delivers bottles of wine to local businesses to sell, Osborn has to close the winery doors, because he doesn’t have a staff to man the place.

He says having the beer distributors would be good, because it would increase advertising, as people traveled to the winery on tours and trips, making Cornell a destination.

“That’s the idea, to bring people to Cornell,” he said.

Dave DeJongh, board secretary, asked how many trucks Osborn thinks will traverse the road to the winery, as that amount needs be set to ensure roads aren’t torn up from heavy trucks going back and forth. Osborn said it would only be one to two trucks a month.

“Most beer trucks aren’t the big trucks, as far as I’m aware of,” said Osborn. “I don’t know about distributors yet (for wine).”

DeJongh also wanted to make sure Osborn will not mark the beer “way down,” so there is a rush to buy severely discounted beer.

“We have to account for what he could be licensed for,” DeJongh pointed out.

Osborn said to greatly mark down the beer is not his intention and it was agreed there is a minimum mark-up law.

“That’s why I had to be a part of a co-op, so you’re not doing something like that,” said Osborn.

Lyle Adrian, board member, said he’s heard that many military people are supporting the winery from all over and that no neighbors were present at the meeting to object, which speaks volumes. Glenn Rehberg, Cornell Police Chief, says that no law enforcement calls have been made to the property since it was established.

Osborn also agreed he will not host any outdoor music or mud festivals on the five-acre property, but says he might have a little band for nighttime entertainment at times. He says if the neighbors are unhappy with that, he will turn the music down, move it inside or shut it down.

It was also agreed that the beer sales will follow the 9 p.m. closing time, that wineries fall under, through state mandate.

With no other objections, the Board of Zoning Appeals granted the Conditional Use Permit. The next step was to receive the Class B Beer license from the Cornell City Council, which met directly after the zoning meeting.

Before they gave the approval for the beer license, however, DeJongh, who is also the city administrator, said he thought it would be prudent to meet with Rehberg, mayor Mark Larson, Osborn, and a representative from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division, at the winery premises. That way, an accurate plan could be drawn for the council of exactly how the beer garden would be laid out.

“We have no other premises in town that are five acres or allows that kind of consumption of beer,” said DeJongh.

Ashley Carothers, council member, wanted to know if Osborn’s beer garden would be fenced in, and if the regulations for that are already set for taverns and bars?

“If it’s set for fenced in, it can’t go out of that fence,” she said.

Council president Steve Turany said he would like to see what restrictions actually are on the books, as he doesn’t want to create an exception for one or the other.

It was agreed that more information is needed and that the beer license will come before the council at a later date.

“I really hope it works out for you,” said council member Bill Kvapil to Osborn. “I just don’t want to see anybody get in trouble.”