We were lucky to catch up with Bart Horton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Bart thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

Century Farm Winery began in 2003 with the initial planting of grapes then we opened our tasting room in 2007. CFW was founded by Carl and Jo O’Cain as a retirement hobby that grew out of control and has just celebrated our 15th year in business. I am Bart Horton the son of Jo O’Cain, and I entered the family business in November 2017. My wife, Neka, manages our tasting room and I am responsible for managing our vineyard and the wine making process. We have a wonderful staff that supports in the sales room and production. When they get a chance our two sons also help with harvest and bottling projects. There was a period of time when we had 4-generations involved in the operation at the same time.

Owning and operating a family business is very rewarding as the old adage says, you get out of it what you put into it. We have a love for our family farm and a passion for making fine wines. The business has been passed down to one generation and I hope to see that trend continue.

Bart, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Century Farm Winery is a family owned and operated vineyard and winery in Jackson, TN. Our name comes from the fact that our farm is a Tennessee designated Century Farm being that the property has been in our family for over 100 years of continuous agricultural production. We grow eight different varieties of grapes in our 10+ acres vineyard and we make over twenty award winning wines from Sweet, Fruit, Semi-Sweet, Dry and Specialty Wines. Century Farm Winery has won numerous awards including medals from various wine competitions. We are the recipients of three Governor’s Cups for the best wines of West Tennessee.

When we are not tending to our grapes or making wine, we host many different kinds of events including a summer concert series, Voices in the Vinyard. We have a Wine Club that consists of quarterly orders and themed parties for our members. Our beautiful setting makes a wonderful backdrop for weddings, reunions, birthdays and private events. Guests may also participate in our monthly wine pairing events or a private wine and charcuterie party.

We are currently expanding our facilities to include a larger tasting room and event space which as well as our production capacity. Upon completion we will also offer tours of the operation on a reservation only basis.

How did you build your audience on social media?

As we look into how to expand our marketing presence, we initially explored the more traditional channels of print, radio and tv advertising. After a while we noticed that this strategy had plateaued, and we needed to try new avenues. With our proximity to Interstate 40 we tried billboard advertising which has been and continues to be a great return on our investment. However, we recognized our biggest bang for our buck coming from the emergence of social media. In 2017 we expanded our social media strategy to redesign our website and include a variety of channels including, Yelp, Trip Advisor, Facebook and Instagram.

As we learned more about social media marketing, we discovered that small, short video clips were real attention grabbers. Especially during the pandemic when people spent a lot of time on computers at home, they could really get a feel for what was going on at the winery without being there in person. Our following has grown tremendously over the recent years, and we continue to seek out ways to involve our clients and introduce others to Century Farm Winery. We have found that updating operational hours or highlighting upcoming events is best done through social media. One of my favorite aspects of social media is the near instant interaction that you can have with your guests.

Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses

I purchased Century Farm Winery from my parents in 2018. The purchase was financed by my parents, and I was able to pay off the loan in just a little over three years. Since then, I have expanded the business and am now in the middle of an expansion which will allow us to continue the growth of our operation and expand into additional events.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.centuryfarmwinery.com
• Instagram: Century Farm Winery
• Facebook: Century Farm Winery
• Yelp: Century Farm Winery