Kite Hill Vineyards

What Kite Hill Vineyards does

Kite Hill Vineyards is a privately held, family-owned winery located at 100 Tasting Room Road in Carbondale, Illinois, within the Shawnee Hills American Viticultural Area (AVA), the first AVA in Illinois, established in 2006. The company was founded in the late 1990s and acquired by Jim and Barbara Bush in 2006; in 2010 the owners built a dedicated on-site production facility enabling 100% in-house winemaking. The portfolio consists of approximately eight SKUs, including reds (The Aeronaut, Broadwing, Red Kite), whites (White Kite, Sol), a rosé (Flyway Rosé), and specialty wines (Máni, Lost Prop Traminette), with bottle prices ranging from $18 to $27. Winemaker Scott Albert oversees production using state-of-the-art fermentation techniques focused on grape varieties suited to the Shawnee Hills region, notably Chambourcin, Chardonel, and Viognier.

The business operates a direct-to-consumer go-to-market model through three channels: an on-site tasting room with seasonal hours (March-November, Wed-Sun), an e-commerce website shipping via UPS to select states, and a retail locator for in-store availability. The tasting room hosts recurring promotional events, including Wine Down Wednesday (half-price glasses) and Slushie Sunday (half-price wine slushies), to drive repeat visitation. The company is a member of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail and the Illinois Wine association, providing collective regional marketing and tourism exposure. Customers are predominantly wine enthusiasts, regional tourists, and the Southern Illinois University Carbondale community, located approximately ten minutes from the property. The company has 11-50 employees, no disclosed funding, no parent company, and no AI, mobile app, or public API surface.

Name

Kite Hill Vineyards

Legal name

Kite Hill Vineyards

Website

https://kitehillvineyards.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kite Hill Vineyards is a family-owned winery in Carbondale, Illinois, producing award-winning estate wines from the Shawnee Hills AVA. It sells directly to consumers through an on-site tasting room, e-commerce shipping, and recurring promotional events targeting regional tourists and the Southern Illinois University community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Winery

NAICS

Wineries (312130), Grape Vineyards (111332), Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (44532)

SIC

Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180)

akta.pro primary industry

Wine & Sparkling Wine Wineries & Brands (CRADAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wineries & Vineyards (Tasting Rooms) (THAFALAE), Wine Tastings & Vineyard/Winery Tours (THAJAGAD), Vineyard Establishment & Development (Site Prep, Trellising, Planting) (AFAGAJAA)

Keywords

• Estate winery
• Wine production
• Wine tasting
• Vineyard operations
• Direct-to-consumer wine

Headquarters

HQ city

Carbondale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Direct Wine Sales: Sale of bottled wines directly to consumers through the on-site tasting room and online e-commerce shop. Wines are shipped directly to customers' doors via UPS across select states. The vineyard also offers wine slushies and special promotional pricing during events.
2. Tasting Room Experiences: On-site wine tasting experiences at the Carbondale tasting room. The vineyard hosts regular events including Wine Down Wednesday (half-price glasses) and Slushie Sunday (half-price wine slushies) to drive visitation and tasting room sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Kite Hill Vineyards is a family-owned estate winery in the Shawnee Hills AVA of Southern Illinois that produces and sells award-winning wines (reds, whites, rosés) made from on-site grown grape varieties such as Chambourcin, Chardonel, and Viognier. The winery operates an on-site tasting room in Carbondale, an e-commerce shop shipping via UPS, and a portfolio of branded wines plus wine slushies sold directly to consumers.

Product overview

Kite Hill Vineyards is a family-owned winery and vineyard located in Carbondale, Illinois, within the Shawnee Hills AVA. The company produces a portfolio of award-winning wines including reds (The Aeronaut, Broadwing, Red Kite), whites (White Kite, Sol), rosé (Flyway Rosé), and specialty wines (Máni, Lost Prop Traminette). Their winemaking style emphasizes ripe fruit flavors from grape varieties suited to the Shawnee Hills region, including Chambourcin, Chardonel, and Viognier. The product offering also includes wine slushies (frozen wine drinks) featured at Slushie Sunday events, and wine tasting experiences at the on-site tasting room. The company operates an e-commerce platform for direct-to-consumer wine sales with shipping to select states via UPS.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Aeronaut Award-winning estate red blend (95% Chambourcin, 5% Viognier) bottled and sold directly to consumers at $24 per bottle.
• Broadwing Award-winning estate red wine bottled and sold directly to consumers at $18 per bottle.
• Flyway Rosé Award-winning estate rosé wine bottled and sold directly to consumers at $22 per bottle.
• Máni Award-winning estate wine bottled and sold directly to consumers at $27 per bottle.
• Lost Prop Traminette Estate wine made from Traminette grapes bottled and sold directly to consumers at $21 per bottle.
• Red Kite Estate red wine bottled and sold directly to consumers.
• White Kite Estate white wine bottled and sold directly to consumers.
• Sol Estate wine bottled and sold directly to consumers.
• Wine Slushies Frozen wine drinks in rotating seasonal flavors made from locally grown grapes and house wines, available at the tasting room.
• Tasting Room Experience On-site wine tasting experience at the Carbondale, Illinois tasting room with indoor and outdoor patio seating and vineyard views.
• Wine Memberships Wine membership program affiliated with Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, Shawnee Hills AVA, and Illinois Wine industry associations.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Shawnee Hills Wine TrailcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerKite Hill Vineyards is a member of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, a regional wine tourism organization promoting member vineyards in the Shawnee Hills AVA. This partnership provides collective marketing, event coordination, and tourism initiatives for the regional wine industry.
• Shawnee Hills AVAcoreOthersKite Hill Vineyards is located within the Shawnee Hills American Viticultural Area, the first AVA in Illinois established in 2006. This designation provides regional recognition and regulatory protection for wines produced from grapes grown in this specific terroir.
• Illinois WineminorOthersMembership in the Illinois Wine association, representing the broader Illinois wine industry and promoting local vineyards.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• St. Julian Winery: Michigan's largest and oldest winery with tasting rooms, DTC e-commerce, and broad Midwest retail distribution — comparable Midwest DTC wine brand at larger scale.
• Wollersheim Winery: Family-owned Wisconsin winery with estate vineyard, tasting room, and award-winning wines — comparable small family DTC winery model in the upper Midwest.

Broad incumbents

• Willamette Valley Vineyards: Public DTC-focused Oregon winery with tasting rooms, wine club, and direct-to-consumer shipping — analogous DTC-tilted business model at significantly larger scale.
• Vintage Wine Estates: Public multi-brand wine company with DTC tasting rooms, wine clubs, and e-commerce — comparable DTC infrastructure across a portfolio of regional brands, though at much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Alto Vineyards: One of the oldest Shawnee Hills AVA wineries in Alto Pass, Illinois, also a member of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail with tasting room and award-winning regional wines — a close local peer.
• Owl Creek Vineyard: Shawnee Hills AVA winery and Shawnee Hills Wine Trail member producing estate wines with on-site tasting experiences in Southern Illinois — directly comparable boutique operation.
• Lynfred Winery: Illinois-based winery operating tasting rooms and a wine club with DTC events — directly comparable DTC model targeting Illinois wine consumers.
• Galena Cellars Vineyard: Long-established Illinois winery with multiple tasting rooms, DTC e-commerce, and broad state distribution — comparable DTC model at greater scale within Illinois.
• Blue Sky Vineyard: A fellow Shawnee Hills AVA winery in Southern Illinois offering estate-grown wines, on-site tasting room, and event programming — directly comparable in geography, DTC model, and product mix.
• Pomona Winery: Shawnee Hills AVA winery operating a tasting room at the same Cobden/Alto Pass region, producing regionally expressive wines — a direct AVA peer competing for the same visitor base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kitehillwine
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kitehill-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Kite Hill Vineyards