Hymn and Herd Winery
Hymn and Herd Winery is a growing family business offering quality wines to customers in the Midwest. The winery is located in Spencer County in an old church built on the Boyd family homeplace, a 60 acre cattle farm that has been in the family since the 1880s. Harkening to the heritage of the farm, wines such as “Homestead, Harvest, and Mammaw’s Mix” can be found in their collection. Currently, their wines can be found at local wine festivals and by wine club subscription, with plans to open their tasting room next year.
The business is currently owned by Mac Webb, his brother, Malin, and his parents, Mike & Shelly (Boyd) Webb. The family has had a long appreciation for quality wines, and Mac began experimenting with wine-making as a teenager, watching videos online and learning from others. In 2016, the dream of turning this hobby into a business took root when Mac and his grandfather bought back the old church that was built on farm land donated by his Great Grandparents back in 1948. They bottled their first batch of wine in 2021, and since then, have slowly been transforming the 8000 square foot church into a winery.
Mac admits that the journey has been challenging and fraught with unexpected turns. The owners have invested their own money into this business, all working full-time jobs elsewhere, and still finding time to produce wine and tend to their customers. They’ve had issues with zoning, Department of Health requirements, and challenges trying to fit production equipment into a space that was not originally designed for manufacturing purposes.
In January of this year, Mac attended an info session with the Southwest Indiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to learn more about grant opportunities and the Indiana Technical Assistance Program (INTAP). After attending the class, he was connected to business advisors Julie Folz and Doug Claybourn to help with his application. Hymn and Herd Winery received 2024 INTAP funding to cover engineering costs for installing a larger door, enabling the accommodation of bigger tanks and equipment. They’ve also begun an application for the Manufacturing Readiness Grant, with help from an Indiana SBDC Manufacturing Specialty Advisor to think through uses of the funds and submit a strong application.
While there have been many challenges, the family has also had many successes along the way. Mac says they love making something people enjoy. They attend wine festivals and have many loyal customers across the region, from Scottsburg and Corydon to Evansville and beyond. In the Texas International Wine Competition, their Lakeview wine won Best of Show Fruit Wine and was the third highest scored wine in the entire competition. Lakeview is a peach wine, made with peaches from the local Lakeview Orchard. Pappaw’s Pasture, the wine served at Mac and Jennah’s wedding, also won a platinum award from the Great American International Wine Competition.
“We want to make good wine that people like to drink,” Mac says. “We want to be the fun winery. When we do wine cruises with Patoka Lake Winery, we sell out pretty quickly. People know they are going to have fun and get a couple extra wines to taste. We tell our events staff ‘they need to make sure our customers have a happy, positive experience.’”
Offering advice to fellow small business owners, Mac shares, “No matter how hard you think it’s going to be, it will likely be twice as hard. If we could do it over, we’d start with the SBDC right from the beginning to help navigate the hurdles—and I mean that sincerely. We thought we were ready to open, but once the letters started coming in, we realized there were so many additional steps we hadn’t anticipated.”
Reflecting on the past 8 years and looking to the future, Mac says, “Starting a business is very hard and very time consuming, but when you hear the positive things it makes it worth it. I love providing a tourist destination for our county that will contribute to the local economy. This will be the third winery in our county. We are proud of where we are and saving a 75 year old church. We have a good plan, a good product, and a great location.”
To read more about Hymn and Herd Winery and to purchase their products, please visit https://hymnandherdwinery.com/ or follow them on Facebook.