Kyle Hafemann is the youngest person ever to start in New York Farm Winery.
Opened in 2007, it produces over 7000 gallons of 13 different varieties of wine.
The winery we are talking about is called Otter Creek Winery which takes its name from the creek it overlooks.
Fresh off a stint at the 2022 New York State Fair, we spoke with Otter Creek Winery owner Kyle Hafemann.
Q – There is one thing I noticed about the Fair this year Kyle-you’ve got a lot of competition. There seems to me anyway to be a beer stand or a winery around every corner. With that being said, how do you compete with that?
A – So, I’ve been there 4 years, 5 years and to me there’s still not as many vendors as there were pre-Covid. To me it’s still a little more open than I remember in the height of the years. This was the first year of me having two spots, so being able to walk around more going back and forth between booths. I was pigeonholed more in the wind court area before. So, I wasn’t able to go out and see what exactly was out at the fair all the time. I was just stuck working in the booth most of the day. Everybody said there was more, but to me, I was never able to gauge what was there a year before.
Q – Why set up at a fair at all? What’s the advantage of setting up at the New York State Fair?
A – It’s an opportunity to get exposure on a grand scale that way I do smaller shows around the state (New York State). They garner two or 3000 people to a show. You set up a spot for 13 days and you get all that exposure of almost 1,000,000 people every year. It can only help your business.
Q – Do you set up at County Fairs?
A – Were more geared towards the wine festivals and the farmers market.
Q – Do you set up at the regional market in Syracuse, New York?
A – No. I actually didn’t get down in the Syracuse area much, other than the State Fair. I’m more in the Adirondacks. I’m from that way anyways. You start getting South of the Thruway that’s were wine country is. You run into a lot more competition with wineries. So, I try to stay in the inlet, Long Lake, Indian Lake, north through the Adirondacks up to the Canadian border that way is where I focused my attention on.
Q – Otter Creek Winery was a family farm at first and you decided to get into the wine making business?
A – I actually purchased the farm I grew up on. We actually had a commercial sheep operation when I was growing up. I went to college. I actually had an automotive engineering degree. I went to Detroit for a few months and that was at the height when everything was starting to collapse. In 2005, 2006, I interviewed with Ford. Ford said wait two years. Things are going to be drastically different then it is now. I didn’t mind it out there. It was also not where I really thought I wanted to be in the end. I came back home for an Easter break and actually met Steve Conaway of Thousand Island Winery. He was the first one in the area to open a winery. He said I’m trying to develop a Wine Trail. Do you have an interest in opening a winery? So, I had talked it over with my parents who still owned the farm at the moment. I said I think I want to move on to the farm and build a winery. At first they thought it was crazy. As time went on for a couple more weeks, the more serious I got, they found out I was actually going to do it. Since then my dad has been working for me and once my mom retired from school she helps out to.
Q – Who taught you how to produce the wine? Steve Conaway?
A – No. I’m self-taught on the wine making side of it.
Q – You can’t go to school to learn how to do it or can you?
A – You can. I had just come out of college when I wanted to do this. I didn’t have a lot of interest in going back to school and change everything at the moment. I read a lot of books and figured it out for myself.
Q – How many people does it take to run your winery and how many people does it take to run your stands at the fair?
A – So at the winery in the summer we have 4-5 full-time employees. In the winter it drops down to basically me and maybe my parents part-time. My one store we shut down in the winter anyways. The Alex Bay location shuts down for the winter. My other store is open year-round. It’s still on the farm so I live there. It might as well be open if I’m there anyways. Then the Fair I have a group of people that do nothing but work for me at the fair every year. So, I don’t have to pull labor from my winery and that is somewhere between 5-6 people. Obviously not everybody’s there all the time except me. Weekends obviously you have a bigger presence than during the week. During the day there might only be one or two that’s there.
Q – You have on your website in the about us section what looks to me like Jerry Garcia. Would I be correct about that?
A – That is actually my dad.
Q – He looks like Jerry Garcia.
A – He does. In his older years he looks more like Neil Young now.
Q – You tell your father he looks like somebody famous. He may or may not like that. I don’t know if he likes the Grateful Dead.
A – He does.
Q – Kyle how far can you take this business of yours?
A – With a farm winery in New York State you’re able to sell any kind of product made in New York State. Without any additional licenses we can sell beer, wine, cider, spirits. So really it’s where do you want to be? What do you want to do? I’m pretty close to what I want to take on. There is gaps where you can make money. There’s gaps where you can’t make money. So, your next step is going to be pretty big to get to where you can make money again. So I’m sitting at the 10,000 to 12,000 a gallon a year mark. I think I could go to about 15,000 gallons a year and after that data shows you really got to be at 30,000 and even a little bit more. And then you’ve got all of that help, employees to get to Phase Two. I’m where I want to be.
Q – Would you try to place your wine in hotels, bars and restaurants?
A – I don’t focus on the wholesale end a lot. I produce pretty much what I can sell every year. Again, it’s just not where my focus is. You need to have people out there if you’re going to be serious about that you need regular salesman going door-to-door, checking in, doing tastings and that’s just not where I want to go. I’m in a few liquor stores, more in my area, so it’s convenient for my true customers. Downstate here and there where I can’t get to all the time. I’m in a couple Albany liquor stores. The same in Rochester. But, I’m not real big on the wholesale side of it.
Official website: ottercreekwinery.com
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