The owner of Haldon Estate Wines is facing the prospect of closure because she says the business can no longer be viable after Indigo councillors refused her application to expand what can be offered at the winery.
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Tracey Richards said the decision made at last week's council meeting was "a miscarriage of justice" and she was looking into ways to get the decision reversed.
She wanted permission to have the winery open from 10am to 11pm and serve alcohol across just under six acres of the property.
This would enable wine tasting in the vineyard, so people could see where the grapes originated.
"I'm developing paddock to plate experiences. I grow eight varieties of grapes here and they make different wines, so it's to cover every variety for those paddock to plate experiences," Ms Richards said.
Mayor Jenny O'Connor used her casting vote to dismiss the Haldon Estate Wines application.
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Cr Bernard Gaffney was one of the strongest opponents, saying he disapproved of the "massive drinking area" close to the town's residential area.
"I just find it unusual that people would go to a wine tasting close to 11pm at night. What it means is the cellar door is open for 13 hours," he said at the meeting.
Another 14 wineries in Beechworth have liquor licences until 11pm, many of which council staff said were granted in the past outside of the council process - but Ms Richards disagreed.
"The council obviously was not briefed properly," she said.
"They ignored the recommendation of the planning department completely.
"None of them are town planners, none of them would know the Indigo Shire planning scheme inside out - that's why they've got a planning department to advise them, and they ignored the advice."
She has written to Cr O'Connor and asked her to rescind her decision, have councillors get another briefing, then put forward the application again at a future meeting.
Two councillors would have to agree to make that happen.
"If that fails, I will slightly revise the application and resubmit it, and then if they knock it back again, I will go out of business," Ms Richards said.
"I'll have to shut down because I'm not viable under the current restrictions that are placed on my business by council."
The last option could be an appeal through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which is an expensive process.
