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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is TVC and what does TVC do?
    TVC is a private wine and beverage real estate and business investment firm. We partner with investors to develop and operate large blocks of mechanized wine grape vineyards. TVC manages these vineyards for our investors with a focus on providing long-term (25+ years) cash flow. Our business model is very similar to a multifamily or commercial real estate syndication structure.
  • What am I investing in with TVC?
    You are investing in a project-specific syndicated development of a new "block" of mechanized wine grape vineyard. A new block is approximately 320 gross acres (our minimum development unit), which maximizes economies of scale. TVC manages all aspects of vineyard development, management, finance, and reporting so you are able invest passively.
  • Vineyards aren’t for every investor. Who is Vineyard Investing NOT for?
    NOT for Investors who want extremely fast ROI: Vineyards are yachts, not speed boats. They take years to responsibly develop to full production, but provide exceptional cash-on-cash returns for many years in an asset class with high barriers to entry for new investors and inexperienced operators. NOT for Investors who want extremely liquid assets: while forced appreciation is high in vineyard development, buyers for hundreds of acres of vineyard aren’t as common as single-family home buyers! Despite this, other “exit” strategies such as a cash-out refinance or sale of ownership shares are readily available. NOT for Investors who are averse to farming: if purchasing insurance against risks like hail, freezes, and insects scares you, agriculture probably isn't the investment for you.
  • What kind of investor SHOULD be investing in vineyards?
    Investors seeking diversity and higher cap rates: multifamily, self-storage, mobile homes, and other commercial real estate markets are crowded with buyers, compressing cap rates, and sophisticated institutional competition. Vineyards have much higher effective cap rates than multifamily when developed from raw land, provide strong long-term cash flow, and are insulated from many factors affecting other commercial real estate classes. Investors looking for legacy investments: vineyards are for the long haul. Ownership turnover is low relative to classes like multifamily, but returns can be much higher with a similar or better investment horizon (25+ years without any additional plant replacements). Cash-out refinances are easily had and can be used to develop further vineyard acreage with little-to-no downside to investors, snowballing their initial investment and cash flow. Investors seeking a trophy investment that produces like a work horse: Let’s be frank, vineyards are a “sexy” investment. If an apartment complex is a Cadillac, vineyards are a Bugatti Chiron. However, if a $3MM depreciating car isn’t for you, you will certainly appreciate how a vineyard distributes cash and looks good while doing it.
  • What makes TVC’s vineyards different from other vineyards? Aren’t wine businesses just a “passion play”?
    TVC is hyper-focused on being commercial. Our strategy is simple: build vineyards from scratch based on maximizing mechanization, fruit quality, and yields, while minimizing overhead costs. TVC revolves around mechanization. You won’t see massive crews pruning, thinning, weeding, or harvesting on any of our established vineyards. After initial training (years 0 through 4), nearly all of our operations are done by a single manager in a tractor. TVC maximizes economies of scale. You won’t see us doing 5, 10 or even 150 acres at a time. 320 gross acres is our development unit size. This makes maximum use of a minimum amount of equipment and manpower.
  • Why Texas? Why the High Plains AVA?
    Texas currently imports approximately 50% of all raw winemaking materials (bulk juice/wine) from mechanized vineyards on the West Coast. Because traditionally operated vineyards in Texas cannot meet the price point or quantity needed, we position ourselves to be highly competitive with fruit of any origin. Texas has several main advantages over California and other areas such as affordable land, favorable regulatory climate, and better proximity to major client markets (TX, the Midwest, NY, the Southeast) than the west coast. This makes profitable development of vineyard and disruption of current fruit markets readily attainable. The Texas High Plains AVA has many advantages to other AVAs in the state. It has greatly reduced or eliminated pest and fungal pressures, flat easily navigable terrain, deep fertile soils, hot days and cool nights, a long growing season, low humidity, lots of sun, readily available equipment and labor due to the existing farming culture, and affordable land.
  • Aren’t there plenty of vineyards in California?
    There are hundreds of thousands of acres of vineyard in California, nearly a million! Many thousands are using nearly identical methods of mechanization. So why here? Overhead and proximity. Cheap land and labor, a favorable regulatory climate, and little disease and pest pressure combine with mechanization to produce unbeatably low overhead costs. The proximity advantage Texas has to wineries east of the Rockies is unmatched by the west coast. With already unbeatable overhead costs and significantly cheaper shipping costs, supplying this market with fruit is ripe for disruption and will require many thousands more acres.
  • Does TVC accept 1031 proceeds? Can I invest with my self-directed IRA or other retirement account?
    It depends on the circumstances. Contact us and we can walk through your scenario.
  • Does TVC partner with other syndicators?
    We are very particular about who we do business with. TVC partners with trusted General Partners (syndicators) who focus on investor management.
  • Who can invest with TVC?
    The SEC regulates who can invest in private placement offerings like ours. We typically work with two different kinds of investors as defined by the SEC: Accredited Investors or Sophisticated Investors. To qualify as an Accredited Investor per the SEC, one must have earned income that exceeded $200,000 (or $300,000 together with a spouse) in each of the prior two years, reasonably expect the same income for the current year, or have a net worth over $1 million (either alone or together with a spouse, excluding the value of the person’s primary residence). To find out how to become accredited, please CONTACT US. A few non-accredited investors may be categorized as a sophisticated investor. While not as rigidly defined by the SEC, sophisticated investors are those with sufficient knowledge and experience in financial and business matters to make them capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment. To find out if you might qualify as a sophisticated investor, please CONTACT US.
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