Will wine grapes become Nevada’s new cash crop? Are wines grown and bottled here key to a new arena in economic diversity?

Could be the case.

Although it took 15 years of frustration for youthful entrepreneurs Rick Halbardier and his wife, Kathy, to grow healthy grapes at their Tahoe Ridge Winery in Genoa, output this year reached an all-time high of 8,300 cases or 100,000 bottles. Compare that to 456 bottles in 2001. With plans to market internationally, the Halbardiers and their partners now are building the framework for the multi-million dollar company they foresee.

While the future shows great potential, the road to success in viticulture wasn’t always as promising. After retiring from his Silicon Valley career at age 28, Halbardier’s fascination with wine ironically led him on a circuitous route to Nevada where he discovered not a grapevine in sight.

Lacking a horticultural background, but full of natural curiosity and a large chunk of money to invest, Halbardier beat a path to the University of Nevada, Reno’s Max Fleischmann College of Agriculture. He also developed firm relationships with several scientist-researchers at the Desert Research Institute.

Trial and error

In 1990, DRI assisted in the construction of a climatic model that revealed grapes would grow in Nevada. The United States Department of Agriculture also funded the project with a Hatch grant. But it took several years and many false starts to discover only specific varieties thrive in the state’s diverse climate.

After intense work with Cornell University and the University of Minnesota, the consortium discovered interspecific wine grape varieties hardy to -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

“[The year] 1999 was the turning point,” Halbardier says. By 2000-2001 the couple decided to pursue the business more aggressively and lined up investors. “That’s when we reframed the company and developed Tahoe Ridge,” says Halbardier. “The company’s founding members made an initial contribution of $1.5 million as the initial start-up capital for the project.”

Key to the venture is the importance of Buffalo Creek Ranch and its owners Dave and Susan Semas. They have entered into a partnership with Tahoe Ridge to grow the grape varietals.

Now, planted in three research plots in the Minden/Genoa area, four white wine varieties and three reds thrive.

A lively addition

On Genoa’s main street, the lively tasting room bears the company’s brand of hospitality. Tahoe Ridge operates a wine tasting and gourmet deli out of its 2,500-square-foot headquarters.

As for the future, Halbardier is thinking big. “We’re going to create an economic paradigm between states,” says Halbardier. “California wineries someday could come to Nevada and buy grapes because we now produce grapes here that are not grown in California.”

Based on projections from the Lake Tahoe Visitor’s Authority, with eight million people poised to travel through Tahoe, Reno and the Carson Valley in the coming years, Halbardier envisions a built-in tourism-based clientele.

“About 30 percent of our business comes from the holidays, but we now host close to 100,000 people in our tasting rooms annually,” says Halbardier. “We’re estimating our impact at $12 million a year by 2010. We know we drive a lot of business to the region now.”

Growth curve

Sue Knight, a member of the Genoa Town Advisory Board, shares the enthusiasm. “They’re a terrific asset,” she says. “They’ve brought people here, and they’re very community minded. I hope they develop according to plan.”

Halbardier says the company has sustained more than 100 percent average growth in production as well as revenues for the past three years. To allow expansion, they have collaborated with the owners of the historic Van Sickle Station in Genoa, a 600-acre ranch, where plans are complete for a winery including visitor attractions.

“The struggle now is raising the money to get the project off the ground,” Halbardier says. “We’ve got a great investor pool, but we’ve had to step back to analyze the big picture. But we know this is going to happen.”

The project is pegged at an initial cost of $20 million.