It takes 5 years on average til you can harvest some grapes. 10 years for generating profit sounds about right.

I know distilleries will often contract with one or more other distilleries to create a custom blended whisky to sell under their label to get some revenue while they wait for their first batches to mature. There are distilleries that basically specialize in doing this. I assume the wine market probably has similar strategies. I know 3 buck chuck basically started like this, buying overstock from other vineyards and blending them into a generic white or red wine.

Out of curiosity, why would a company help out their future competitor?

My impression is that a large portion of the industry is already structured as distilleries that actually make the liquor, like MGP, and a bunch of labels that put their names on it (each different). Like how many name-brand items across grocery stores are all actually made by the same company.

because they may sell the same product, yes, but not compete. there will always be someone starting a new vineyard, distillery or whatever.

it's sort of like banks vs vc funds. both lend money to companies, but still they are not competing against each other.

You might be good at making whisky but not that great at marketing. Either way the market has a desire for generic, unlabeled product and people go in to fill the need.