A High-Flyer Grounds Herself With a Vineyard

IBM marketing executive Cynthia Bohn was presenting a case study on the Robert Mondavi Winery to the Harvard Club when she experienced what she calls her "retirement" epiphany.

Having worked with IBM for several years, traveling the world, she knew at that moment in 1995 that she wanted to own a vineyard in her home state of Kentucky some day. On the plane back to Kentucky, she started sketching out the business plan. By the end of 1996, at age 39, Bohn had found a partner in banker and friend Cindy Hall, bought a 38-acre farm outside of Lexington and begun her first planting. "What started as an idea became a passion," says Bohn, "and the passion became a business."

Raised on a tobacco farm, Bohn knew the work involved in running a farm. "There's such romance associated with vineyards," Bohn says. "But the truth is, it's hard work. During August and September, it's painfully hot in the fields. We start very early, often before the sun is up, to avoid the bees and wasps that come out later in the day." In 2002, her partner left to pursue another career, and Bohn became full owner of Equus Run Vineyards.

Aware that Kentucky and other Southern states were transitioning from a tobacco-based agricultural system to alternative crops and agri-tourism, Bohn began expanding the business, improving the property and renovating the barn for wine tasting and a gift shop. Still juggling her IBM accounts, frequent travels and her management of Equus Run Vineyards, Bohn has turned the farm into a lively tourist destination surrounded by the thoroughbred horse farms and bourbon distilleries of central Kentucky. In addition, the grounds also host music concerts, picnics, weddings, corporate events, and boccie and croquet courts.

Also, this past summer, Bohn partnered with the Actor's Guild of Lexington to offer Shakespeare in the vineyard. "The core of our business is the experience people have; we just happen to have wine to go with it," Bohn says.

The original plan for Equus Run was to grow the business by 17 percent each year, but it surpassed that goal within the first two years and now brings in a gross income of more than $1 million annually, Bohn says with pride. The winery employs four full-time and 18 part-time employees, with 30 or more volunteers who help harvest the vines in the summer. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the winery produces more than 9,100 cases each year, and its award-winning wines have been selected as the Commemorative Wines of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs since 2005.

Bohn, who says both of her parents were jacks-of-all-trades kind of people, is involved in all phases of the operation, from repairing specialized winery equipment and overseeing production to introducing a music group from the stage of the newly expanded wood and stone amphitheater. "My father could take apart and rebuild just about anything," Bohn says. "He made sure every one of us could take apart a motor and put it back together."

Having a master’s degree in industrial technology and a Ph.D. in educational technology has never stopped Bohn from digging her hands into the soil. "Equus Run is the perfect place for me," Bohn says. "I have hands-on contact with all phases of winemaking, beginning in the vineyard and ending at the cellar. One day I drive a tractor in jeans and the next, I’m in a business suit, getting on a plane. It’s great. I just want to enjoy what I do and keep the dreams alive."