My dear old mum used to say the hop and the grape do not mix, but then she'd never heard of Chapel Down Group PLC (ISDX:CDGP).
It's an English winery that also makes beer (and cider), or possibly an English beer company that makes wine.
“They are two tremendously complementary businesses, with the wine requiring investment over a long cycle and the beer generating cash flow,” Chapel Down's chief executive, Frazer Thompson, told Proactive Investors.
The wine came first. Indeed, once upon a time the company was a sleepy operation called English Wines Group, but that was back in the days before cool climate wines became … er … cool.
Nowadays, Chapel Down's annual results statement seems to be as much about the awards its wines have won that year as the profits it has made.
That could be because a lot of Chapel Down's shareholders are also fans of the company's tipples, which is just how Thompson likes it.
“We've got all of these product evangelists who, frankly, are going to rattle on all night about our wines at dinner parties unless someone stops them.
“It means that when we raise money, we don't have to splurge it all on marketing,” Thompson asserted (though he used a slightly fruitier term than “splurge”).
“We can spend the money on something substantial, like our new brewery in Ashford.”
Ah, yes, the brewery.
Here's where Thompson's point about product evangelists rings true, because the company's beers, sold under the Curious brand (Curious lager, Curious porter and Curious IPA), are very popular in the Proactive Investors office.
Still, what do journalists know about beer, eh?
Sales of Chapel Down's beer are growing faster, even, than sales of the award winning wines, helped by the burgeoning interest in so-called craft beers.
Thompson could claim to be a visionary and to have seen this craft beer craze coming, but he is honest enough to admit that the major motivation for branching out into beers was the cash flow and the fact he could not bear to see these storage vats lying unused for large parts of the year when the wine had been sold.
What he sees as being a factor behind the rise in popularity of craft beers is what he sees in his own company, which is a creed of doing things no one else is doing, and doing them with passion.
“Beer … what a fantastic market that is. It is actually, as a market, flat. If you look at it, there's nothing happening in terms of value, and volume, and it looks [superficially] the same as it always was, but of course within that there's lots going on.
“The big brands are getting absolutely pounded by the little guys,” Thompson asserts. “How refreshing is that?”
As refreshing as a glass of Chapel Down Vintage Reserve Brut, I would venture.
Not that Thompson has anything against “big brands” per se. He used to work for Heineken, where he was global brand director, and Whitbread back in the days when it still brewed beer, and he sees no reason why some day Chapel Down should not be as big as Heineken.
For now, the challenge is to continue to grow organically at a good rate, above the industry norm.
Last month's results covering 2015 indicate that the company is firing on all cylinders, with 34% growth in sales to £8.18mln from £6.11mln in 2014.
Sales of wine were up 27% year-on-year while beer & cider sales grew 50%.
The company is investing in a new brewery, so clearly it feels it has something good brewing with its Curious range.
The company as a whole is profitable, with adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) rising to £507,249 in 2015 from £478,517 in 2014.
The company does not pay a dividend at present, but being a shareholder does come with a number of perks.
Looking ahead, Thompson thinks a certain amount of consolidation in the industry is inevitable in the coming years, and Chapel Down wants to be in a position to be part of that process – as the acquirer, not the acquired.
“With English sparkling wines growing in popularity and prestige, there are bound to be new entrants in the market. We're not going to make it easy for them to enter our space,” the Chapel Down CEO declared.
It probably comes with the territory of making wine, but the company's approach is a long-term one, even to the extent of Thompson eschewing bonuses.
“I get paid, and I get paid well, but I don't get any bonuses, so I am not tempted to go for short-term objectives. Everything is invested back in the business,” he told Proactive.
If the funds need a bit of a top-up, the company has already proved it can rely on those loyal customers.
Last month the company announced it had raised £1.16mln through the Seedrs crowd-funding platform, and another £550,000 through a share placing, and about a third of the money raised via Seedrs came from investors in Kent, which is where the company is based.
Now that really is putting your money where your mouth is.