Hickory Creek Winery

What Hickory Creek Winery does

Hickory Creek Winery is a privately held, boutique winery founded in 2006 in Buchanan, Michigan, located in the heart of the Lake Michigan Shore AVA. The company produces approximately 1,500 cases per year of small-batch, European-style wines — including Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Riesling, Pinot Gris, Grüner Veltliner, Traminette, and specialty blends such as the five-grape Bordeaux-style Mélange — from locally grown vitis vinifera and hybrid grapes. Production is entirely hand-crafted, with bucket-by-bucket winemaking, French oak barrel aging for select reds, and manual bottling, corking, and labeling. The company is owned and operated by Adam McBride, who purchased the winery in September 2017 after living in Germany's Mosel Valley wine region; McBride holds an MBA from Michigan State University, WSET Level 3 with Distinction, and is a 2020 honors graduate of Lake Michigan College's Wine and Viticulture Technology program.

The business operates a direct-to-consumer model centered on its on-site tasting room and adjoining second-floor event room. Revenue is generated across five streams: (1) tasting-room wine sales by the glass and bottle, plus $15 guided tastings and flight boards; (2) a three-tier wine club with semi-annual bottle commitments (Red Barn 12 bottles, Oak Barrel 6 bottles, Steel Tank 3 bottles) and 10–20% member discounts; (3) private event hosting for weddings, showers, rehearsal dinners, and corporate gatherings (capacity 40 standing / 25 seated) with DIY or full-service packages; (4) e-commerce sales of wine, branded merchandise (glassware, apparel, corkscrews, barrel-stave flight boards), and at-home tasting flight kits with Zoom-guided sessions, shipping to Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois; and (5) gift cards ranging $25–$300.

The customer base consists primarily of regional wine enthusiasts, tourists along the Lake Michigan wine trail, wine club members, and group/private event clients. Distribution is intentionally limited to a three-state shipping footprint and the on-site venue, and the company holds multiple medal awards from the Michigan Wine Competition and a TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice badge. Headcount is reported at 11–50 employees, with no venture or institutional capital involvement; the company is solely founder-owned.

Name

Hickory Creek Winery

Legal name

Hickory Creek Winery

Website

https://hickorycreekwinery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hickory Creek Winery is a privately held boutique winery in Buchanan, Michigan that produces approximately 1,500 cases per year of hand-crafted European-style wines from Lake Michigan Shore AVA grapes, selling direct to consumers through its tasting room, three-tier wine club, on-site private events, and a limited MI/IN/IL e-commerce channel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Boutique Winery

NAICS

Wineries (312130), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (722410), Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (445320)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAFAAAB

Wine Production & Winemaking

Agriculture & Food Production/Beverage Production/Alcoholic Beverage Production (Beer, Wine, Spirits, Cider)

SECONDARYTHAFALAE

Wineries & Vineyards (Tasting Rooms)

Travel & Hospitality/Foodservice & Beverage (Restaurants, Cafes, Bars)/Breweries, Wineries & Distilleries (Taprooms/Tasting Rooms)

Keywords

• Boutique winery production
• European-style wines
• Wine club membership
• Direct-to-consumer wine
• Wine tasting experiences

Headquarters

HQ city

Buchanan

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Wine Sales (Direct): Direct wine sales through tasting room and online store. Bottle and glass sales, flight boards. Online orders ship to Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois only. Prices range from $23-$42 per bottle.
2. Tasting Fees: $15 per person for traditional guided tasting of 5 wines or flight board experience.
3. Wine Club Membership: Three membership tiers requiring purchase commitments of 12, 6, or 3 bottles per half-year. Members receive 10-20% discounts on wine and merchandise, complimentary tastings, and exclusive access. No cost to join.
4. Event Hosting: Revenue from hosting private events including weddings, rehearsal dinners, showers, seminars, and parties. Offers DIY room rental and full-service packages including furniture, catering, bartending, and decorations.
5. Merchandise and Gift Items: Sells branded merchandise including hoodies, trucker hats, coffee mugs, corkscrews, wine glasses, flight boards, and local artisan products like Blueberry Store items.
6. Tasting Flight Kits (Remote): At-home tasting flight kits with 5x50ml bottles, crackers, and HCW logo glass. Includes Zoom guided tasting with winemaker. Ships to MI, IN, IL only. $36+

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hickory Creek Winery is a boutique, hand-crafted winery producing approximately 1,500 cases per year of European-style wines from locally grown grapes in the Lake Michigan Shore AVA. It sells its wines directly to consumers through an on-site tasting room, an online store shipping to Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois, and a three-tier wine club with recurring semi-annual deliveries. The winery also generates revenue from private event hosting, merchandise, and at-home tasting flight kits.

Product overview

Hickory Creek Winery is a small-batch, boutique winery in Buchanan, Michigan, specializing in classic European-style wines made from locally grown grapes in the Lake Michigan Shore AVA. The winery produces approximately 1,500 cases annually with hand-crafted wines including Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Riesling, Pinot Gris, Grüner Veltliner, Traminette, and specialty blends like Mélange and Mélange Blanc. The portfolio also includes fruit wines such as Apple Wine and a Wine Club with three membership tiers (Red Barn, Oak Barrel, Steel Tank) offering discounts and exclusive access. The winery complements its wine offerings with merchandise (glassware, apparel, corkscrews), at-home tasting kits with Zoom winemaker sessions, event hosting services, and food pairings including charcuterie and pizza.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 2022 Pinot Noir

Quantifiable outcome

• Approximately 1,500 cases produced annually - boutique scale allowing quality focus
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• RoundBelly's Pizza (South Bend)minorOthersProvides thin crust pizzas for the tasting room, including pepperoni, sausage, cheese, and seasonal specialty topping options. Limited availability - can sell out.
• The Blueberry StoreminorOthersLocal vendor whose products are sold in the winery's tasting room gift shop. Products include chocolate-covered blueberries, blueberry butter, preserves, jam, mustard, BBQ sauce, and dog treats.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Bright Cellars: Online wine subscription club using a taste-profile quiz to ship curated bottles monthly. Comparable subscription-driven DTC model and customer-acquisition approach to Hickory Creek's wine club, though without a physical tasting room component.
• Winc: Direct-to-consumer online wine subscription company delivering personalized bottles to consumers nationwide. Comparable DTC and subscription/club mechanics, though operating at a fundamentally larger scale and without a tasting room layer.

Direct peers

• Wyncroft Wines: Small estate winery located in Buchanan, Michigan — directly adjacent to Hickory Creek and producing limited-quantity European-style wines from Lake Michigan Shore AVA grapes with a tasting room experience model. Highly comparable in scale, philosophy, and customer overlap.
• Round Barn Winery & Distillery: Baroda, Michigan estate offering wine, beer, and spirits with a tasting room, event venue, and full hospitality operation in the same Lake Michigan Shore AVA. Comparable DTC-plus-events business model with overlapping customer base.
• Tabor Hill Winery & Restaurant: Southwest Michigan winery also based in Buchanan producing vinifera wines from Lake Michigan Shore AVA with tasting room and event hospitality. Direct geographic and product peer with comparable DTC and event-driven revenue mix.
• Lemon Creek Winery: Family-owned Berrien Springs, Michigan winery producing estate-grown vinifera wines with tasting room and event hosting. Comparable boutique scale and Southwest Michigan AVA positioning, sharing the regional wine-trail customer base.
• Domaine Berrien Cellars: Berrien Springs, Michigan winery producing European-style wines from estate and Lake Michigan Shore AVA grapes with on-site tasting room. Closely comparable in product philosophy, scale, and DTC model.

Broad incumbents

• St. Julian Winery: Michigan's largest and oldest winery, based in Paw Paw, offering broad portfolio of Michigan-grown wines across price points with extensive wholesale distribution. Represents the larger, established end of the same regional industry where Hickory Creek competes at the boutique tier.
• Chateau Grand Traverse: Well-established Traverse City, Michigan winery specializing in cool-climate vinifera wines (notably Riesling) with tasting room and statewide distribution. Larger incumbent with comparable European-style positioning and DTC emphasis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hickorycrkwine
• Facebookfacebook.com/HickoryCreekWinery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hickory-creek-winery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hickory Creek Winery