Though a study by the University of Minnesota suggests Minnesota’s wine industry may face challenges as it matures, a local winery is leaving those worries at the bottom of empty glasses.

Owners and employees at Four Daughters Vineyard and Winery, east of Grand Meadow, are aware of the U of M’s report, along with recent articles in response that mention wineries will need to do more to stay profitable in an industry that garnered $59 million in Minnesota in 2011. But they’re not concerned. Business is business, and they plan to keep steamrolling ahead with innovative ideas and creative marketing.

“I understand where they are coming from,” owner Vicky Vogt said about the concerns in the report. “But we are a completely different animal.”

The report — based off of surveys from wineries in several states — says more than two thirds of Minnesota wineries’ sales comes from tasting rooms, and they’ll need to do more to stay profitable as the popularity wears off. While Four Daughters also makes much of its sales from tastings, according to winemaker Justin Osborne, it is doing more to expand. The company, which opened in December 2011, boasts a kitchen full of chefs who crank out unique pizzas, salads and dishes not found in many area restaurants.

While the report looks at wineries across the board in Minnesota, Four Daughters is one of the largest wineries in the state. Because of that, the outlook is a somewhat different compared to smaller wineries. Owners and managers have focused more on customer experience, with tours, vineyard dining, grape stomps, live music and more.

“I’m excited yet about our growth,” Vogt said.

Simply put, the owners have focused on the business as a whole instead of only banking on wine. Like any other business, wineries need to switch things around once in a while.

“You always have to come up with something new or change things to freshen it up,” Vogt said. “We have plans for those. It will be exciting to see how those roll out.”

The U of M report also heavily weighed the significance of marketing. Vogt and Osborne agree with the importance of that. And Osborne’s wife, Kristin, a public relations professional, is a strong part of the business.

“I think marketing is very important,” Justin Osborne said, and mentioned another important factor. “It helps that we have a good thing to market. You can’t market something boring or plain and ordinary.”

Of course, wine is a huge part of the success, and Four Daughters is gearing up to produce more of it — a lot more. While it has used some of its own grapes in wines thus far, it will use even more this year, as the vines are maturing.

Furthermore, the facility plans to add four 4,000-gallon production tanks and increase its production to about 10,000 cases of wine per year. With that, it will be able to wholesale its product to local liquor stores, too. Osborne is confident the increase will make Four Daughters the largest-producing winery in the state. Among using cold-hardy grapes, Four Daughters will also ferment and bottle wines from California and Washington grapes.

An upcoming event could help bolster Minnesota’s wine industry, as well. The Minnesota Grape Growers Association will hold its picnic at Four Daughters on July 28. Representatives from wineries around the state will share their wines and ideas, and the event will be a chance for people to learn more about the industry.

Other ideas include passes, such as $25 punch cards for wine tastings that would be honored at several wineries. Vogt said Four Daughters is on board with that, and such an idea could help spread business to smaller wineries.

“I think it’s great, especially for smaller wineries. “I think it really promotes the industry.”

Some suggest the novelty of cold-hardy grapes grown in Minnesota and served at wineries within the state is fading. Osborne realizes this business is somewhat based on novelty, but he says he and others at Four Daughters are going to push their business past that phase. They see the glass as half full, or more.