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by Richard CareyCover Story
January 2018Putting Modern Lab Equipment to the Test
Laboratory analysis for the wine industry has seen many innovations in equipment during the past decade. The technology has developed to the point that the traditional wet chemistry winery lab of the past is becoming the equivalent of a buggy whip. Advances in equipment allow anyone who can follow a cooking recipe to become proficient in a wine laboratory.
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December 2017Cabernet Sauvignon Reigns as King
While the biggest news for the wine industry in 2017 was the devastating complex of fires in California’s Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties, arguably the best news was about a grape variety heavily planted in all three of those regions. Cabernet Sauvignon, long at the top of the sales heap among red wines, reached even greater heights this year as off-premise sales grew nicely, DtC sales grew rapidly and deals involving prime Cabernet Sauvignon brands and vineyard sites made headlines.
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October 2017Series Entry Claims Top Prize
Judges from the fields of design, wine retail and wine media evaluated a record number of entries to the Wines & Vines Packaging Design Awards and whittled the field down to 50 finalists that appeared at the Wines & Vines Packaging Conference held Aug. 16 in Yountville, Calif. This year’s competition included five categories, a Best in Show award and the People’s Choice Award voted on by conference attendees.
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September 2017Top 10 U.S. Wine Distributors
This first-time ranking of the top 10 U.S. wine distributors is intended to help domestic wineries as they confront the ongoing challenges of distributor consolidation. Wines Vines Analytics, the data research arm of Wines & Vines, created this top 10 list using unique criteria chosen to emphasize the interests of wineries, including how many and which U.S. wineries a distributor represents, the percentage of population in the states they cover and other factors. Note that there is a significant break in size between the top four distributors and numbers five through 10. Distribution of imports, beer and spirits were not considered in this methodology.
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June 2017New Equipment for a Safer, Quicker Crush
New and established wineries are taking advantage of the latest winemaking equipment to trim labor costs and make winemaking operations safer and more efficient.
Optical sorting systems and new technology that enables a winemaker to remotely manage and monitor multiple pumpovers may require a large initial investment, but the efficiencies and savings in labor help make those costs pencil out.
For the 2016 vintage, Tamber Bey Vineyards in Calistoga, Calif., invested in a new Vitisort optical-sorting machine by Key Technology. Winemaker Fredrick Deliveret says the machine reduced the amount of overtime paid during harvest and delivered clean grapes. “To me it’s true that this is the only way to sort,” he said. “Overall it’s a huge improvement.”
Deliveret said sorting and processing can now be handled by a forklift driver and cellar worker, allowing the interns to start pumpovers earlier and be finished earlier. (See the related Technical Spotlight article.)
Tamber Bey uses a Bucher Vaslin Oscillys machine to destem the grapes prior to sorting with the Vitisort. Titus Vineyards uses the same destemmer in its new winery, which was built in time for the 2015 harvest. The Oscillys employs a swinging cage that separates the berries from their stems with centrifugal force.
At Titus Vineyards, the Oscillys is fed with an elevated conveyor by Carlsen & Associates and then emptied onto a shaker table for berries to undergo additional hand sorting. Winemaker Stephan Cruzan said he was impressed by the Oscillys. “Any stems that came through were really pretty big actually; they were really easy for the sorters to pick out, so the fruit going into the must pump was really clean,” Cruzan said in a September 2016 report about the new winery.
Also built in time for harvest, the new Davis Estates winery in Calistoga uses an Oscillys destemmer, but owner Mike Davis also purchased Bucher Vaslin’s R1 optical sorter. Destemmed and sorted grapes are transferred from the winery’s central crush pad with either a must pump or a custom-built machine that mimics a gentle gravity transfer.
Davis worked with Wayne Burgstahler of Burgstahler Machine Works on the machine, which has a stainless steel hopper at its base and an elevated conveyor that carries berries to the top hatch of tanks. A hinge near the machine’s base allows the conveyor to be lowered so the apparatus can be moved in and out of the cellar.
Investing to ‘micromanage’ crush
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May 2017Not Just a Summer Wine
In the past decade, the versatile rosé wine style bloomed as a popular beverage that can be enjoyed on its own or paired with food during every season. It’s even earned its own festival, Rosé Today Wines. With the help of festival organizers, we contacted top winners of the 2016 competition to tap their experiences in packaging this gorgeous wine, which can incorporate a number of grape varieties.
Carol Shelton, proprietor of the eponymous Carol Shelton Wines, may have best summed up the marketing arc of these wines.
“Finally the world has seen the light…and it is pink. We started making a dry rosé in 2002, and it has been quite an uphill battle to sell, especially ‘out of season,’ with too many people treating it like white shoes, which (traditionally) should not be worn after Labor Day. Many consumers had been prejudiced by White Zin and also by sweet rosés of the past,” Shelton said, admitting she fancied Lancers and Mateus in college but left both behind as her palate became more sophisticated.
“We get a lot less resistance to rosé, especially from the younger generation, who were raised without the bias of the sweet/bubblegum rosés of the past. I think the market competition is twofold—the super-pale rosés from Provence really dominate on the East Coast especially, plus Los Angeles (whose style tastes mimic New York).
“To me as a Californian, those wines are shadows of what they could be—no depth of flavor, or color. In addition, U.S.-made rosés often are made from saignée of super-ripe reds, to concentrate the red wine remaining on the skins. The rosé fraction is a byproduct, and it is rather pale like Euro rosés, but really high in alcohol and sometimes rather flat in acidity, because the ripe grapes’ bleed juice either ferments dry to high alcohol or is watered down to reduce the alcohol, thereby losing the acidity and depth of flavor once again.
“It is a shame, since the real joy of dry rosé is because of its lower alcohol (about 13%) and its crisp acidity, both of which make it so enjoyable with just about any kind of food (and) so refreshing when it is hot outside.”
Kevin Casey at Finnella Cellars began selling his first dry rosé in spring 2016, but licensing problems delayed the release and missed the summer selling season. Although many retailers said “Try again next year,” a serious sales uptick from restaurant and retail partners in early winter provided an encouraging sign. Finnella sold out its 2015 vintage, bottled its 2016 vintage on Feb. 16, 2017, and already has sold through 75% of this current vintage through pre-orders and commitments from retail partners, according to Casey.
“There is no doubt that the rosé market has seen an almost meteoric rise in popularity,” Casey observed. “And like anything else, it will level off and the market will find its equilibrium. But rosé has definitely shaken the stigma placed on it a couple decades ago and is here to stay. This is a wonderful thing for both U.S. consumers and winemakers alike.”
“The global marketplace continues to grow, and wines from all over the world are becoming more and more accessible to everyone. There really are so many great wines out there from all over the world, I cannot invest too much mindshare in what others are doing. I watch the competition, taste the competition and draw inspiration from the best,” Casey said. “As a small producer and a winery still in its infancy, the only thing I can do is continue my effort to produce the best rosé in the world (and hope) the rest takes care of itself.”
In a recent Forbes interview (quoted here with permission), Stephanie Gallo, vice president of marketing with Gallo Family Vineyards, told Jeff Fromm, “We found that there is strong interest in rosé among millennials, particularly in warmer months but also beyond the summer season. Millennials are almost twice as likely to purchase rosé as baby boomers, so they are clearly driving the purchase trend for these wines. Millennials’ growing passion of rosé is indicative of their interest in a more diverse selection of wine overall.”
Presenting the rosé
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January 2017Today's 'Amazing' Wine Diversity
With about 14,000 attendees, a 170,000-square-foot trade show and two-dozen educational sessions created for a variety of wine industry professionals, the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium is a memorable experience for a first-time attendee.
Unified organizers have big plans for one such guest. Eric Asimov, chief wine critic for The New York Times, will give the keynote address that kicks off the annual event, which takes place this year on Jan. 24.
While he has never attended the Unified, Asimov’s name is well known among the wine industry community for whom the symposium is organized in Sacramento, Calif., by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture and the California Association of Winegrape Growers. Asimov joined The New York Times as a news editor in 1984 and started writing a restaurant column in 1992. In 2004 he was named chief wine critic for the paper, where he currently pens three wine columns as well as occasional articles about beer and spirits.
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December 2016The Biggest and Best of 2016
This special feature by the editors of Wines & Vines recognizes the biggest and best news stories and industry trends of the past year. It encompasses everything from an accounting of the largest winery and vineyard mergers and acquisitions to what wine categories and price points were the hottest in off-premise sales and direct-to-consumer shipments, to the articles that you, our readers, clicked on most often to read. The “best and biggest” items that follow are based on data, much of which was sourced from our own Wines Vines Analytics, plus data partners IRI, ShipCompliant, BW166 and others.
BIGGEST DEAL
Constellation Trades Canadian Holdings for Growing Brands
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November 2016Suppliers Agree on Industry Health
From booming direct-to-consumer sales to available credit for expansion, wineries and vineyards are reaping the benefits of a thriving wine sector, according to Wines & Vines’ annual survey of wine industry suppliers.
For the first time since Wines & Vines launched the survey in 2008, 100% of respondents said the financial health of their winery and vineyard clients was as good or better than the previous year. The results are markedly different from those reported in 2011, when almost 20% of respondents said their clients were “doing worse” financially than the year before.
But just as the price consumers are willing to pay for wine is trending up, so too are the prices for goods and services offered to wine industry businesses. More than half of those surveyed indicated they plan to raise prices during the coming year.
As suppliers of products and services to wineries and vineyards, vendors are in a unique position to gauge their clients’ businesses. One respondent from the packaging design sector summarized that winery health “appears to be very good, based on our receivables.” With a strong Consumer Confidence Index boosting the luxury goods market, wineries have cash in the bank and are paying their bills on time rather than waiting for the busy season to catch up on past-due invoices.
Another respondent, a bottling equipment vendor, noted that wineries are making the most of the favorable economy by investing in new construction and filling their cellars with top-of-the-line winemaking equipment. Even those who aren’t upgrading their facilities are re-evaluating their assets and making capital improvements, possibly encouraged by the low interest rates available to good candidates for credit.
As technical sales director for BSG Wine Division in Napa, Calif., Ryu Yamamoto works with wineries big and small. “They all seem to be growing,” he said. “Their sales are going up.”
EASY FINANCING
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October 2016Shedding Light on Dark Labels
59 Prime is designed to retail for less than $20 and is available in retail and on-premise exclusive formats.Remember “critter” labels, the hot trend of the early 2000s? To the relief of many in the wine industry, these are long past their peak. What looks hottest now, according to package designers, suppliers and their clients, are black or deep-colored labels. For the fourth annual Bottles & Labels Issue, Wines & Vines examined the art and the science behind this chic new trend.
Always ahead of the design curve, David Schuemann of CF Napa Brand Design published a blog post in December 2014 that accurately predicted the coming fashion. “Black labels were once assumed to be recessive and ominous, but today black is one of the hottest new colors in alcohol packaging,” the designer wrote. He called the tone a key communicator of chic luxury.
Schuemann attributed this trend to recession recovery, noting that wary consumers might still be price conscious but willing to pay slightly more for products they perceive as more premium. “Nothing says luxury like black.”
A black limousine evokes more gravitas than a long white vehicle; a black tuxedo has more class than baby blue. The timeless little black dress has been and will forever be a staple in women’s closets. Black label Johnny Walker Scotch is more expensive than the red label, and Jack Daniel’s whiskey has long been identified by its black label.
“Black has also become a way to effectively target men in a way that is neither distastefully overt, nor polarizing to women,” Schuemann wrote. In the wine industry, Constellation’s Black Box became the first brand to make bag-in-box packaging an acceptable alternative.
Paper suppliers and printers have responded with new label stocks, inks and techniques, while observant package designers are promoting the style with their winery clients.
Designer notes
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September 2016A Healthy Market Solidifies
EDITOR’S NOTE: The news from lenders has never been more positive. As you will see in author Ben Narasin’s introductory article and the multiple interviews that follow, financial institutions are eager to lend to the wine industry and have aided the ongoing consolidation of vineyards and wineries through mergers and acquisitions.
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August 2016Multiple-Choice
Wineries producing fewer than 500,000 cases annually don’t generally have enough inventory to indulge in “alternative” packaging options. Bag-in-box, refillable kegs and single-serve formats can drink up large quantities of wine that these producers could sell more profitably in 750ml bottles at premium prices.
That doesn’t, however, limit their selections when it comes to capsules and closures. Wines & Vines spoke with an assortment of winemakers at top-flight wine producers, asking them to explain why they seal their bottles with different types and styles of closures and capsules.
Our team of winemaking experts included Jeff Cichocki of Bonterra Organic Vineyards; Kevin Willenborg from Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery; Kristin Belair of Honig Vineyard & Winery; Ken Foster from Mahoney Vineyards; Charles Tsegeletos of Cline Cellars, and Damian Grindley from Brecon Estate Vineyards.
Each of these winemakers bottles wines under more than one type of closure, and each had a different story to tell about the choices they make and how they do it.
It’s not random
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June 2016Well Equipped for Crush
The Armbruster Rotovib destemmer is a popular pick by Pinot Noir producers who say the machine is gentle on grapes.Based on regularly reporting about key equipment at new and updated wineries—and after checking in with suppliers and walking the trade shows of industry events—the Wines & Vines editorial team has compiled a collection of some of the newest and most popular crush equipment to help winemakers prepare for harvest season.
Crusher/destemmers
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May 2016Key Points of the Bottling Process
The importance of managing headspace level for screwcaps has been emphasized in scientific literature. ?If not appropriately purged with nitrogen, the closure will compress a higher level of oxygen under the cap.Bottling is a complex and delicate step of the winemaking process that requires a lot of professional expertise. Maintaining wine quality during bottling, storage and shipping is one of the highest priorities, and the objective is clear: protect the wine from oxidation as long as possible.
Implementation of good bottling practices begins with preparation adapted to the type of wine and the marketing channel. It continues with careful monitoring of the bottling line and, most important, the oxygen intake (pickup).
To obtain a full assessment of oxygen pickup, instrument manufacturers and wine experts have undertaken new efforts to measure total package oxygen (TPO),1 which is the sum of dissolved oxygen (DO) and headspace oxygen (HSO) in the bottle.
Measuring HSO can be achieved using a needle that goes through the closure and is directly connected to an analyzer.2 An alternative method consists of estimating TPO by measuring DO only after shaking the bottle to obtain equilibrium of oxygen pressure between the headspace and wine.3
With the development of non-destructive analytical instruments (PreSens, NomaSense), a complete assessment of the bottling process is now possible. Luminescence-based technologies allow for non-invasive measurement of dissolved oxygen and headspace oxygen through the glass bottle wall.4
Oxygen can dissolve into the wine at every stage of the bottling process, and it can have an effect on wine composition, shelf life and consumer acceptance. During bottling, wine undergoes multiple operations: pumping, filtration, filling and corking or capping. These operations are particularly conducive to the dissolution of oxygen in wines.
At each transfer, and with each treatment, oxygen may penetrate and dissolve in the wine, with an average pickup (introduction) of 1.6 mg/L.5 As wine progresses through bottling, a so-called “U-curve” of dissolved oxygen occurs. High amounts of oxygen are introduced at the beginning and end of the bottling process, and lower and steady levels are common in the middle of a bottling lot.6 According to Zoran Ljepovi?, Constellation Brands quality assurance director, the bottling process should start with a DO of less than 1 mg/L, and if any increase occurs throughout the run, it should be maintained below 0.3 mg/L.7
At filling, oxygen concentration in bottle headspace can range from 1.5 to 2.5 mg/L.1 The oxygen concentration depends on three factors: wine volume, headspace volume and oxygen concentration in the headspace. Thus, at the end of the packaging process, it is possible to find wines with dissolved oxygen levels ranging from 2 to 4 mg/L and a final oxygen content approaching 8 mg/L.8
Measurement of total package oxygen
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April 2016Barrel Rescue
Old barrels are broken down into stavesDuring barrel maturation, the volatile compounds extracted from oak wood can contribute to a wine’s overall aroma and flavor, enhancing its character and complexity.8 These compounds include, but are not limited to, cis- and trans-oak lactone, guaiacol, 4-methylguaiacol, eugenol, vanillin, furfural and 5-methylfurfural. Due to its abundance in oak-aged wine and relatively low detection threshold, cis-oak lactone is perhaps the most important oak volatile. Both cis- and trans-oak lactone impart coconut aroma and flavor characters to wine,5 while guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol exhibit smoky attributes, and vanillin and eugenol afford distinctive vanilla and clove characters, respectively.9 The furanones are thought to make less significant contributions to aroma due to their considerably higher aroma-detection thresholds, but they may influence the perception of oak lactone.9
The extractable levels of oak volatiles can vary significantly from barrel to barrel, largely due to variation in oak composition associated with species, origin (i.e., French or American oak) and the seasoning and toasting processes of cooperage.3,8
However, barrels have a finite pool of extractable material, and the amounts of oak-derived volatile compounds available for extraction diminish over time.7 As a consequence, barrels are typically decommissioned after five to six years. Used barrels can be rejuvenated by scraping a thin layer (up to 5 mm) from the barrel’s interior to expose fresh, unextracted wood.6 Sometimes the rejuvenated barrel will also be re-toasted. While this practice can prolong the life of a barrel, rejuvenated wood contains reduced amounts of extractable material, so it contributes less flavor than new barrels. Furthermore, any wine that remains in the wood can be caramelized during re-toasting, creating a risk for unpleasant “burnt” characters. The increased microbial load and potential for Brettanomyces spoilage can also discourage barrel rejuvenation. For these reasons, most winemakers favor replacement of old barrels.
A group of Australian scientists recently investigated whether decommissioned barrels represent an untapped source of high-quality oak that can be “reclaimed” for use in wine maturation. The potential for contamination by the spoilage yeast Brettanomyces in reclaimed oak also was investigated.
Flavor potential of reclaimed oak battens
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December 2015The Best of 2015
Wines made from Oregon grapes such as those from Willamette Valley Vineyards (shown) commanded the hightest price per bottle in 2015.The editorial staff of Wines & Vines toasts 2015 with this special feature that includes reports on the best sales by varietal, best growth by wine package type, best direct-to-consumer market and even the best day to buy wine online. The section also includes the most-read stories published on winesandvines.com and in the pages of the print magazine. Much of the data used to determine what was the best comes from Wines Vines Analytics, IRI and ShipCompliant. Most-read articles were determined by metrics.
SALES
Best Growth by Type
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November 2015Supplier Opinions in Line With Bullish Economy
The short harvest prompted some winemakers to cut back on 2015 barrel orders.Recently, as Chinese stock indexes crashed and trading fluctuated widely in U.S. markets, Wines & Vines conducted its eighth annual survey of wine industry suppliers. Despite the shaky economic indicators from Shanghai to Wall Street, providers of supplies and services to the wine industry reported healthy growth and forecast an even brighter time to come.
More than 80% of respondents to our survey of suppliers to wineries and vineyards agreed that the wine industry continued its upward trajectory this year, with nearly one-third of all respondents saying the industry “grew rapidly” during the past 12 months.
Jean-Pierre “J-P” Giovanni, vice president and general manager at SGP Packaging-Verallia, said the most growth has come from the premium wine segment, prompting a number of acquisitions by large beverage companies looking to cash in on the growing market for wines priced $20 per bottle and up.
To illustrate his point, Giovanni cited E. & J. Gallo Winery’s purchase of J Vineyards & Winery, a 150,000-case producer known for its sparkling wines, from founder Judy Jordan.
“J was a boutique winery that was doing OK in terms of growth on an annual basis. Now, being owned by Gallo, it will probably be pushed to the Gallo distribution network, which is one of the largest in the world,” Giovanni told Wines & Vines. The exposure will “push it to new distribution channels that J on its own was unable to reach before.”
Giovanni also noted that some existing wineries are working to move their brands from the value or mid-level category into the premium price range, a shift he said would require an overhaul in packaging, branding and marketing.
Health of wine industry clients
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October 2015Bottle-Label Combos That Hook Buyers
Honig uses Monvera's screen-printing capabilities to differentiate its multiple tiers of wines.Despite incursions from alternative packages like bag-in-box, pouches and cans, most wine still arrives in glass bottles that mimic the standard shapes and colors established centuries ago. Many of the reasons for this involve marketing concerns.
Traditional bottles present important cues to buyers: What varietal is the wine? Is it white, rosé or red? Are the bottles easy for retailers to display, and do they fit conveniently in home wine racks and refrigerators? Wineries may opt for an embossed bottle, but they rarely adopt the innovative shapes and finishes that are commonplace for liquor and perfume packages.
Inconvenient, messy, wet-glued labels have largely—but not entirely—been supplanted by their roll-fed, self-adhesive counterparts. Pewter and wood-laminate labels are now available, largely adopted for high-end custom packages. Moisture-resistant label stocks protect packages from condensation and ice-bucket service.
In the past decade, direct on-bottle screen printing has become wildly popular. This durable format provides designers with a larger canvas for imaginative branding using virtually every inch of bottle surface for design. It saves time on the always-worrisome bottling line, but because bottles are printed before the wine is bottled, over- or under-runs are not unlikely.
We consulted established wine packaging designers and their clients to learn how successful bottle/label (paper or direct print) combinations can forge the right bond.
All scream for screen print
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September 2015Bankers Optimistic and Ready to Loan
When Wines & Vines started an annual review of wine industry finance four years ago, the universal response was caution, conservatism and a general feeling that clouds still hovered on the financial horizon as we fought our way out of the Great Recession. Today, our expert panel of bankers seems to see only sunny skies—and some predict even brighter times ahead.
The story this year is strength begets strength, and optimism abounds, with the one blemish of a general belief that interest rates must start to increase at some point in the foreseeable future.
Panelist Mark Brody of Umpqua Bank summed up the dichotomy between then and now quite eloquently: “The wine industry is highly cyclical—a function of economic health, agricultural conditions, evolving consumer tastes, social trends and many other factors. Ultimately, the evolution and cyclicality very much play into finance trends, which tend to lag. Sustained periods of industry health attract new entrants and greater aggressiveness among the existing players. Periods of stress tend to cause the opposite effect.”
As the wine industry has improved—and improved many individual wine businesses along with it—existing lenders have increased their appetites to loan. This has increased the supply of capital to the industry in the form of more and larger loans, an increased number of businesses that lenders consider creditworthy and increased number of banks and players willing to lend into the industry. Of course the entrenched players with deep wine experience point to the fair-weather nature of many new arrivals—or long-absent returnees—and caution that borrowers should understand the partner they will be playing with long term, and whether that lender will remain long term when the cycle goes against it.
New players and aggressive competition for the best clients continue to encourage attractive and competitive credit terms and rates in any already record-low interest-rate environment. Terms and covenants also appear to be loosening. There has not been a better time in our recent experience than now for borrowers to shop around, improve the loans they have, add new ones and lock in long-term dating on debt at prices no one seems to believe can be sustainable at current levels.
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August 2015Sticking With Cork
Jordan's corks from throughout history show various levels of wear.“Many, many wine drinkers want an old-fashioned cork. Folks like popping a natural cork out of their wine,” said Ryan O’Connell, a founder of NakedWines.com.
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July 2015Choosing Winery Production Software
With many software options available, find the one that best meets your business needs.Everyone in the wine industry organizes how they keep track of their work in ways that are unique, and virtually everyone now keeps some digital records. Furthermore, in the digital information age, government regulations require that we keep records to support tax payments, consumer protection information and statutory information that prove a business is in compliance with government regulations. Software developers have created a wide range of choices to achieve those goals.
Reasons for choosing wine production software
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June 2015Is Your Crush Equipment Up To Snuff?
Are you ready for the 2015 harvest? Wines & Vines reviewed the crush pad equipment and operations at some of the best-equipped premium wineries to see what types of destemmers, sorting tables, presses and tanks they use to process grapes.
B Cellars
Oakville, Calif.
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May 2015Unconventional Toppers for Top-shelf Wines
Chehalem started trialing Stelvin screwcaps with the 1994 vintage, and began using them on some wines starting with the 2003 vintage.Choice is a good thing…isn’t it? While some might argue that the ever-increasing quantity of wine styles, blends and points of origin confuse consumers, hard data demonstrate that the U.S. wine market just keeps growing. In the aftermath of the recession, higher priced wines have recovered market share.
Wine packaging suppliers continue to bring in new developments feeding niche markets, notably bag-in-box and single-serve options. The vast majority of premium wines still reach consumers in glass bottles, and most of them continue to be sealed with traditional natural cork and capsules.
New Zealand’s winemakers overwhelmingly embraced screwcap closures, joined to a lesser extent by Australian vintners and European experimenters. Relatively recently, U.S.-produced premium wineries have begun adopting screwcaps and synthetic stoppers—largely without fanfare or consumer resistance.
Napa’s PlumpJack Winery, founded in 1995, was a notable exception, an experimenter that paved the way by brashly promoting its wines with screwcap closures. PlumpJack now sells some 10,000 cases per year, at an average $90 per bottle. Many PlumpJack bottlings, including half its Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and half of its Chardonnay bottles, are topped with a screwcap. PlumpJack’s winemakers frequently appear at conventions and trade shows, sharing decades of success with closures that many of their colleagues had deemed unsuitable for collectable, age-worthy wines.
Untwisting the screwcap debate
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April 2015Specialty Tanks Encourage Oak Extraction
The redesigned Flexcube works with BarriQ stave insertsAs the use of oak barrel alternative products becomes more popular, several companies are now offering specialized equipment to help winemakers easily and efficiently incorporate oak staves and chips into their wine programs.
Oak suppliers also continue to expand their product lines with new toasts and new barrel alternative products.
At the 2015 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento, Calif., World Cooperage touted the new oak-extraction tank that it developed with Custom Metalcraft for the cooper’s Oak Solutions Group line of barrel alternatives. The extractor tank is a TranStore portable unit modified to withstand pressure of 14.7 psi.
Dr. David Llodrá, World Cooperage’s research and development director, said when chips or staves are suspended in wine, the extraction process proceeds to a certain point before essentially stopping. By running wine through an extraction tank, the oak and wine interface is constantly changing, and more flavor and aroma compounds are drawn from the oak. “It’s like mixing your tea,” Llodrá said.
The strengthened 350-gallon tank is designed to withstand the pressure of a large volume of wine getting pulled through, and it can hold 400 pounds of oak chips. Llodrá said the tank is designed for wine to flow from the tank with gravity and then get pumped out via the outlet valve. He added that a winery could connect several of the extractor tanks together or use one to provide a final boost of oak to hit a certain style before bottling.
Llodrá said optimal extraction depends on how much oak is in the tank and the flow rate of a pump, but he added that a typical application would be to run eight volumes of the tank through the extraction tank in a day.
Tanks for wine aging with staves
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February 2015Strong Barrel Sales Herald Strong Industry
Cooper Cesar Villagomez raises a barrel at Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage.Barrel sales stayed strong in 2014, and coopers are expecting to see another good year in 2015 in spite of significant price increases for American oak.
French oak prices are expected to rise between 3% and 5%, yet the euro has been dropping against a strengthening dollar, and it’s widely expected that trend will continue for the short term at least. American oak barrel prices shot up by as much as 10% for some coopers in 2014 because of supply constraints resulting from the surging demand for whiskey barrels and other factors. That supply issue isn’t expected to abate in 2015, so American oak barrel prices will also increase in the range of 3% to 5% (or higher) this year. Prices for European oak, which includes Hungarian oak, are seeing some increases or staying stable, based on the cooper.
Just as the United States has become the largest wine-consuming nation in the world, it is also the biggest wine barrel market. In June of 2013 the French coopers’ trade association Tonneliers de France reported that its 49 members sold a total of 532,990 barrels worth 332 million euros (or $408 million), which was a 3.6% increase in volume and 3% increase in value. Nearly seven out of every 10 barrels produced in France is exported, and the United States (as the largest export market) is now rivaling French domestic demand. The coopers’ group, which does not include every French barrel maker, reports France and the United States account for 60% of its members’ sales. “The USA is definitely the largest wine barrel market in the world, much larger than France,” said Jason Stout, international sales director for Cooperages 1912. “If you consider Europe to be a single market, then Europe is slightly larger than the USA.”
Rough weather during the past two harvests in Burgundy and Bordeaux reduced France’s barrel needs, while California posted record wine grape crops in 2012 and 2013. Cooperage sales staff, many of whom spoke to Wines & Vines after attending the recent Vinitech-Sifel expo in Bordeaux in December, said the focus for French barrel makers has been the United States (and especially California) for a few years.
It’s a challenge to pin down the total volume of the worldwide barrel market because many of the companies making and selling barrels are privately held firms that seldom release figures about their production volume.
Demand strong; prices creeping higher
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December 2014The Best of 2014
Wines & Vines reports daily on our website and monthly in the magazine about what’s new and what’s best in the wine industry. This year-end special section highlights the best of those stories, trends and metrics as we measure them.
Many of the Best of 2014 selections are based on data from our own Wines Vines Analytics team and our market research partners, IRI and ShipCompliant. The best-read articles and social media posts are based on user metrics.
SALES
BEST-SELLING VARIETAL
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October 2014Wine Packages Go Wild
After centuries of traditional wine packaging, the past decade has opened the doors to experimentation in design and materials. Small to medium-sized wineries are harnessing their creativity to reach the millennial market (ages 21-35), for whom social media is the lingua franca.
Terravant's lenticular labels utilize special materials and printing techniques so the image appears to spin when the wine bottle is viewed from different angles.You needn’t reject the bottle-and-cork (or screwcap) model to break the mold, although the market won’t object if you do. Here, we report some recent breakout designs that may help get you started.
Magic with labels
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September 2014Finance Outlook Gets Sunnier
Six prominent lenders discuss the happy state of wine industry finance. From left, Perry DeLuca of Wells Fargo, Quinton Jay of Bacchus Capital ?Management, Mark Brody of Umpqua Bank, William Bishop of BMO Harris Bank, Rob McMillan of Silicon Valley Bank and Charles Day of Rabobank. Photo: Bill RietzelWhen Wines & Vines printed its first cover story about wine industry finance two years ago, the picture was mixed at best. The aftershocks of the Great Recession were still echoing in minds and affecting terms of lending. Signs of light were starting to appear, and financial tension was easing for the strongest players. In 2013 our industry expert panel cautiously proclaimed we were almost entirely back in the sunshine, with financial darkness receding and interest rates at record lows. Market challenges had created a Darwinian process dividing the strong and creditworthy from the weak—and everyone wanted to bank the strong. Most panelists tempered their optimism with caveats that things “seemed almost back to normal.” Both debt and equity transactions were happening at a quickening pace—and at levels attractive to both borrowers and lenders, and to buyers and sellers.
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August 2014Using Closures to Customize Oxygen Transmission
Innovations from purveyors of traditional cork (clockwise from top left), screwcaps, synthetic closures and technical corks offer winemakers more control of oxygen transmission rates.Glass bottles remain the overwhelming favorite container for wine, despite the recent proliferation of alternative packaging. To accommodate winemakers who prefer glass, closure manufacturers have broadened their offerings to encourage flexibility in design while meeting increased demand for technical improvement.
As we’ve noted in previous reports, many major wineries now bring their bottled wines to market using diverse closures to match their various tiers, price points and varietals.
Eight years ago we covered a road show sponsored by the Cork Quality Association and APCOR, the Portuguese Cork Association, which presented scientific assessments of natural cork, synthetic stoppers and screwcaps and their ability to preserve wines for an appropriate time period. (See “Cork Suppliers Make A Compelling Case” in the August 2006 issue of Wines & Vines.)
At that time, screwcaps had virtually taken over the New Zealand and Australian wine industries, and they were beginning to enter the mainstream in North America. Several presentations focused on the perception that screwcaps caused post-bottling “reduction,” unpleasant off- odors and flavors created by the mix of oxygen and sulfides.
Since then, manufacturers in each of these segments have labored to make their products more appealing for both age-worthy and drink-ready wines.
Recent research
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Cover Story
July 2014Data Management and the Wine Industry
Winery sales staff can use GreatVines software to track depletions and re-orders.Over the years, software developers have created many tools for solving problems in the wine industry. As the first part of an ongoing series, this article will provide an overview of the scope of program types, the goals of the software and a synopsis of the major players in this arena. Subsequent articles will look at the workings of different aspects of winery software and provide insights into the solutions that these businesses have developed for the industry. The goal is to describe the software available in detail so that grapegrowers, winemakers and winery owners can find the appropriate software to help their businesses grow.
Software for the wine industry can be broken down into three types: accounting, production and sales/marketing. Accounting software is certainly important, but this type of software does not need as much special programming for the wine industry as the other types.
A company in the wine industry can potentially be in the grape- or fruit-growing business, the wine production business and the wine- and/or fruit-selling business. The wine- and fruit-selling businesses can be further expanded into both retail and wholesale sales, on-premise and off-premise sales, the entertainment business and (in many places) the restaurant and event business.
Finding one set of software tools that can handle all of these niches is a rather daunting task, which is one reason there are so many software providers for the wine industry. The Wines & Vines Buyer’s Guide contains 277 providers of information technology for the wine business.
Some winery software is intended for data collection and management of winery and vineyard operations, while another type offers the legal forms necessary to comply with regulatory requirements and the transfer of production assets into the business side for tracking sales and marketing of wine products produced. Business software developers often provide data hook procedures that include a way to import financial information in an orderly manner. The laboratory data collection similarly provides data hooks to populate the winery- or vineyard-specific software.
Software suites
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Cover Story
May 2014When It's Time to Redesign
Trinchero creative director Andrew Rice said Montevina's old label (left) "didn't do it justice." The contemporary design (right) took about three months to complete.When wineries have grown enough to become established brands, the time inevitably comes that someone wants to redesign the packaging. The blessings of success and market recognition come with implied demands for change, be it to keep pace with current trends or expand product lines.
Redesigning a package that’s been working for your company comes with inherent risks. Here, leading package designers describe how best to meet these challenges, and well-established wineries reflect on their most recent redesign experiences.
First, what prompts winery owners to revise their designs?
David Schuemann, president of CF Napa and author of the book 99 Bottles of Wine, enumerated what motivates clients. He said that, typically:
• Sales are lagging.
• New competitors have entered the marketplace and are threatening brand space.
• Brand hierarchy creates confusion between tiers/offerings of wine within the brand.
• The winery desires or plans to introduce a price increase.
• Packaging production requirements have changed, or new SKUs are being added, and it provides an opportunity to revisit the packaging in conjunction with production changes.
• There has been a change internally that they want to signify externally. For instance: increased quality of the wine via sourcing, winemaking or new ownership.
David Hanson-Jerrard at 4Parts Design in Sausalito, Calif., added his take on the major decisive issues:
• Adjustment of brand focus, due either to a change in channel focus or a change in FOB pricing because of changes in grape sourcing.
• Expansion of a brand by adding line or tier extensions.
• Updating a design due to the current packaging being outdated versus the market, and the desire to stand apart from the competition.
You’ve got the itch: Now what?
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Cover Story
April 2014An Alternative for Every Decision
Oak chips are compressed to form ?Seguin Moreau's Oneofirst log.Fermentation?
Hit it with dust, shavings or chips.
Maturation?
Bring in the staves, blocks, chips, rods or even balls.
Finishing?
Think blocks, chips or powders.
Winery suppliers these days offer oak barrel alternatives for every phase of the winemaking process, and each year new products and new toasts allow winemakers more options to use alternative products with greater precision.
One of the most common uses for alternatives is during primary fermentation, when oak powders or small chips are thought to provide color stability, help protect against oxidation and mask or even reduce the presence of green, vegetative flavors.
Seguin Moreau has developed a new barrel alternative designed to make such an addition easier and safer for cellar workers. The company unveiled its Oenofirst product—oak chips and dust compressed into a log—at this year’s Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in January.
One log per ton
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Cover Story
March 2014Winemaker Interview: BOB CABRAL
Winemaker Bob Cabral has developed two estate vineyards and overseen the construction of a new winery during his tenure at Williams Selyem in the Russian River.Williams Selyem director of winemaking Bob Cabral grew up around grapes, but not in the famed Russian River Valley. It was on his family’s ranch in Escalon, located in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where he learned about growing grapes—as well as riding bulls and roping calves. From Escalon, Cabral went on to study at California State University, Fresno, in the 1980s, receiving a bachelor’s degree in enology and a master’s degree in agricultural chemistry.
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February 2014American Oak at the Source
Dale Kirby strides through the forest pushing back tree limbs and stepping over logs and the uneven ground with the nimbleness of someone well experienced in the outdoors.READ MORE »
Cover Story
October 2013Best of the Bottles
Wine packaging plays an important role in the industry and in Wines & Vines’ editorial coverage, but this magazine does not normally rely on competitions for our reporting. Rather, we identify trends among our audience of winemakers and suppliers in order to share technologies and techniques that bring effective wine packages to the shelves.READ MORE »
Cover Story
September 2013Recovery Strengthens Wineries' Credit
The story of wine industry finance during the past 12 months combines contradictions and consistency. The contradictions come in the form of increased activity, competition and expanded players in some areas of finance, contrasting with consolidation in other areas—including the failure or exiting of some private-equity players entirely. Consistency comes in the form of uniformly low interest rates throughout the year, although a window into increases has appeared of late, and it is rocking financial environments far beyond just those for wine.READ MORE »
Cover Story
August 2013Brands at Risk
Three wineries outside Beijing are closed after a raid reveals 5,000 boxes of fake wine, including China’s own heavyweight brand Great Wall. Another raid, this time on an empty house in southern China, uncovers a stash of 10,000 copycat bottles of brands from esteemed French producer Domaines Barons de Rothschild. Meanwhile, Shanghai authorities diligently pour more than 3,000 bottles of fake wine down a drain in front of media.READ MORE »
Cover Story
July 2013On Campus, Off the Grid
When the University of California, Davis, Department of Viticulture and Enology opened its teaching and research winery in January 2011, it was the most advanced and sustainable winery in the world. Now, with the addition of the adjacent Jess S. Jackson Sustainable Winery Building, the facility will rise to new heights as the first self-sustainable winery.READ MORE »
Cover Story
June 2013Topography and Temperature
Rivers and mountains define many of the world’s great wine regions, and the West Coast of North America is no different. The Columbia River winds its way south from British Columbia through Washington state; the Willamette River carves a home for Pinot Noir through Oregon, and the Russian River flows through Mendocino and Sonoma vineyards in California on its way to the Pacific Ocean.READ MORE »
Cover Story
May 2013Label Printers for Short Runs
Rudy Jungwirth, owner and winemaker of Valley Vineyard in Prescott, Wis., discusses using a short-run printer to make labels for his small winery.
Label printing continues to make great strides in efficient technology, and most wineries continue to utilize the expert services of established commercial printers for most of their labeling requirements. But just as office desktop printers have become smaller, faster, cheaper and more reliable in recent decades, so have label printers manufactured specifically for wineries of any size to use in-house, producing professional-quality labels in short runs at a reasonable cost.
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Cover Story
April 2013Historic Winery's Modern Center
The wines of Napa Valley are enjoyed by celebrities and billionaires and served at the world’s best restaurants. But few wineries can boast about their wines having graced the tables of Winston Churchill, Gen. Douglas MacArthur or Queen Elizabeth II.After getting some tips from the staff at Beaulieu ?Vineyard, the winemaking team at Crew Wine Co. in Zamora, Calif., developed their own system for barrel ?fermentation.
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Cover Story
March 2013Mechanizing Vineyard Development
To Cameron Hosmer, owner of Hosmer Winery in New York’s Finger Lakes region, the revelation came when he saw a new vineyard planted in about six hours. “That was it; I said I’ll never plant by hand again,” he told Wines & Vines.Click the photo above to watch a Clemens GPS-guided planting machine in action in this video produced by the German vineyard equipment manufacturer.
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Cover Story
February 2013When Bigger Oak Is Better
Winemakers are increasingly returning to the past to improve their wines, and there are few places that is more apparent than in the increasing use of larger-than-standard oak barrels for aging and large oak vats for fermentation.READ MORE »
Cover Story
January 2013Improving by Degrees
If you’re already making good wine, how can you make it better?READ MORE »
Cover Story
December 2012Navigating the New Normal
Even after a mild and generous growing season across most of North America, there’s always something to furrow the brow of a winemaker or grapegrower. The Spanish economy, for example; or deciding when to replant—and with what varieties; or determining the right amount of time to spend on Twitter.READ MORE »
Cover Story
November 2012Basket Presses Are Big For Reds
It seems that everything old is new again for boutique wineries: gravity feed, no yeast inoculation, fermenting in wood vats or concrete—and, now, basket presses.READ MORE »
Cover Story
October 2012Essential Analyses For Harvest
Historically, basic grape and juice analyses practiced by most wineries or requested from commercial laboratories included Brix, titratable acidity (TA), pH, ammonia (NH3) and malic acid. For decades winemakers have relied on these test results in addition to physical and organoleptic evaluation of the fruit, juice and must to determine when to harvest and proceed into primary and secondary fermentation.READ MORE »
Cover Story
September 2012SPECIAL REPORT: Wine Industry Finance
By 2010 Jason Hinde, a vice president and senior relationship manager with Mechanics Bank, says that the wine industry was starting to revive itself from the economic doldrums ushered in with 2008. But since the start of 2012, Hinde says, “My phone has been ringing off the hook” with wineries looking for credit.READ MORE »
Cover Story
August 2012Get the Max From Your Capsules
In the past decade, the business of wine packaging has evolved dramatically. Most wine is still sold in glass, but a growing volume now arrives on shelves or in glasses in alternative containers: single-serve cups or flasks, pouches, bags with or without boxes, refillable casks for on-premise service. Bottles are trimmer as wineries shave shipping costs, and shippers, too, are getting greener and more protective, crafted from innovative, sometimes recyclable materials.READ MORE »
Cover Story
July 2012When Hardware and Software Converge
Winemakers have tracked vintages from standalone computers for decades. They transferred journal entries from notebooks and clipboards—paperwork that Chateau Montelena winemaker Cameron Parry replaced as part of a recent renovation at the 130-year-old winery in Calistoga, Calif.READ MORE »
Cover Story
June 2012Desperation or Diversification?
During the recent grape glut, many growers felt forced to make bulk wine when they couldn’t get the prices they sought for their grapes—or couldn’t sell their crops at all. With the supply suddenly tightening, however, many have found that making bulk wine was a good decision. Some growers report that they’re making more from the bulk wine than they could have gotten for the grapes alone. Some even see it as an alternative path for the future—even if there are plenty of buyers for their grapes today.READ MORE »
Cover Story
May 2012Tradition Wraps New Wines
In the first two months of 2012, WinesVinesDATA added an astounding 134 new bonded and virtual wineries to its list of U.S. producers. All of them reported their annual production as less than 50,000 cases. How do these hopeful small producers present their wares in an increasingly competitive market?READ MORE »
Cover Story
April 2012Eight Questions About Oak Products
CLICK PHOTO TO PLAY VIDEO: Watch a technician install a set of new oak staves into a neutral barrel in this video provided by oak alternative manufacturer Innerstave.The range for oak alternatives has grown dramatically in recent years, and winemakers now can choose from a wide variety of products. But what is the best way to pick between oak chips, rice or powders, and what’s the difference between a block, domino, cube, bullet or bean?
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Cover Story
March 2012Sunny Site + Gravity Flow = Quality Pinot Noir
When Richard Blair discovered Pinot Noir and became inspired to grow grapes that would make a great wine, he did what many people do: He planted the family farm. In his case, however, the family had 300 acres of farmland in the foothills of southeastern Pennsylvania. “Unfortunately, not much of the land was suitable for quality grapegrowing,” Blair told Wines & Vines. “The slopes weren’t right, and too much was northeast facing.”READ MORE »
Cover Story
February 2012Red Barrel Fermentation
Tonnellerie Baron makes barrels custom fitted with clear heads and small hatches that help winemakers ferment red wine in the barrel. The process of spinning barrels on specialized racks is key to the method, as it breaks up and wets the cap.For the sake of a certain style, more and more winemakers are taking two of the most laborious parts of cellar operations— managing red fermentations and barrel work—and combining them.READ MORE »
Cover Story
January 2012Is TPO the new TCA?
On a recent Friday night I met a special friend for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. Earlier I had gladly offered to bring the wine, and being familiar with the menu, I wanted to find that perfect wine that would pair well with most dishes. I spent some time going through my wine “stash” to pick a bottle that would fit the occasion and the menu. I decided on a 2004 Merlot from the Napa Valley.READ MORE »
Cover Story
November 2011Suppliers Rate Industry Health
By the time a consumer pours the first glass from a just-opened bottle of wine, hundreds of decisions have contributed to its development—choices about rootstock, harvesting equipment, yeast, bottling supplies and shipping companies are just a few. In fact, hundreds if not thousands of vendors have an impact on each and every bottle (or box) of wine that reaches a consumer. For this reason, wine industry vendors have a unique perspective about the health of our industry.
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Cover Story
October 2011A Bigger, Better Warehouse
Starting a little more than three decades ago, veterinarian Kent Rosenblum made the leap from making wine at home to a tiny commercial operation, then to a slightly bigger operation and finally taking over a hulking former ship-building facility in Alameda, Calif., and making it home to one of the state’s leading line-ups of vineyard-designated Zinfandels and other small-batch, high-profile wines. In 2008, when production peaked at 250,000 cases per year, the Rosenblum brand, winery and inventory were sold to Diageo for what must have been a pretty penny. And what did the Rosenblum family do with the proceeds?
Barrels are stacked four high beneath Rock Wall’s towering ceilings. The winery occupies two spacious, attached rooms, each of which have large, retractable doors.They leased another abandoned military facility, just down the road, and started all over again as the Rock Wall Wine Co. When I asked Shauna Rosenblum, Kent’s daughter and Rock Wall’s winemaker, why the family didn’t take the money and buy 50 acres and a mini-chateau in Sonoma, just like the glamour wineries, she said, “My parents live in Alameda, and they like their house.” And Kent Rosenblum said, “We thought the formula worked pretty well. You get a farm in Sonoma, you’re out in the country; here we’re in the middle of 10 million wine drinkers.” Simple as that.
CLICK PHOTO TO PLAY VIDEO: Shauna Rosenblum discusses urban winemaking at Rock Wall Wine Co.READ MORE »
Cover Story
September 2011Lean, Green Design
Perched on a gentle hillside above Kelowna, British Columbia, in the city’s historic Mission District, Tantalus Winery strives to honor its location while adopting winemaking practices that reflect long-standing commitments to environmental stewardship as well as sound business practices. Its vineyards, planted near where Rev. Charles Pandosy cultivated the province’s first winegrapes in 1859, trace their origins back to 1927 and the start of British Columbia’s commercial wine industry.READ MORE »
Cover Story
August 2011Here's the Capper
MALA Closure Systems screwcaps are placed by hand on bottles of Castello di Amorosa's sparkling rosé. This step occurs in the seconds between the wine fill on the bottling line and closure attachment by sealing machine. Photo by Dan MillsIn the past decade screwcap wine closures have been transformed from dubious experiments to an established option accepted around the world. Vastly preferred by New Zealand producers, who’ve been topping an estimated 90% of their popular Sauvignon Blanc and other wines under screwcap for years, the closure continues to gain acceptance in other latitudes. “In exporting to Europe, a lot of places really want screwcap,” according to Bob Swain, winemaker for Mendocino Wine Co., Ukiah, Calif., which exports about 5% of its 150,000-case production across the Atlantic.READ MORE »
Cover Story
July 2011Smartphones Invade Vineyards
It’s not just teenagers walking around poking at their iPhones; vineyard managers are becoming avid users as well. They are not only accessing the usual email and websites with the phone’s browser but starting to take advantage of dedicated viticulture tools designed for smartphones.READ MORE »
Cover Story
June 2011Rolling With The Leafroll Punches
Wine made from leafroll-affected fruit (right) shows color loss when compared with a control sample (left). Credit: Christopher BeaverMaking wine with leafroll-affected fruit is not only possible, it’s preferable in certain situations. Some winemakers have managed to craft expressive wines from afflicted vines, while others eschew sourcing virused fruit entirely. Those in between the leafroll love and hate have a few enological solutions.
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Cover Story
May 2011Avoid Label Mishaps
A striking, evocative label can inspire consumers to pick up and purchase a bottle of wine, and help them remember it the next time around. But no matter how enticing and memorable, a label that chews up costly time on the bottling line is not an asset to the bottom line.
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Cover Story
April 2011Benching Oak Barrel Alternatives
A thorough bench-top exploration can elevate the barrel alternative medium by aligning oak options with desired results, and many suppliers offer an array of pre-measured oak sample kits that inspire experimentation. All that’s required is vision, some wine and an oak sample test kit.READ MORE »
Cover Story
February 2011No Bull Barrel Market
Imagine that you’re a winemaker, and the boss hands you an annual budget demanding a 10% reduction in costs without a decrease in production or a compromise in quality. How would you choose what to cut? Wine industry professionals across the board are faced with similar requests to do more with less, and many barrel suppliers find themselves grappling with how to help winemakers achieve their goals on a budget.
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February 2011Couture Comes to Cooperage
Assuring the quality and repeatability of unique toasting profiles, a cooper at Missouri Cooperage in Lebanon, Mo., monitors the toasting process by time and temperature. Photo courtesy of World CooperageTough market conditions for wineries have led coopers to be innovative when dealing with buyer price resistance during this flat barrel economy. Coopers are distinguishing themselves from competitors by featuring barrel-customization options tailored to their clients’ specific wine programs. From the coopers’ points of view, custom options help keep flat barrel prices from further decline by offering added value and a higher level of customer care without additional charge. It’s like buying an individually tailored suit for an off-the-rack price.READ MORE »Cover Story
November 2010More Suppliers Foresee Growth
Wines & Vines surveyed hundreds of vineyard and winery suppliers during the late summer to gauge their impressions about the availability of credit, the health of their own businesses and the future of the wine industry as a whole. We found in our third annual supplier survey a slightly more optimistic forecast than last year. For example, 4% more suppliers believe the wine industry will grow during the next 12 months compared to those answering the same question in 2009.
© Wines & Vines 2010READ MORE »Cover Story
October 2010What Makes Great Wine?
What goes into making great wine? What distinguishes the wines that earn top scores and top dollar from other wines? To take the process of premium winemaking apart and examine its components, Wines & Vines interviewed winemakers recognized for their artistry. Some are well-known names, others not so famous, but all make wines that consistently appear on Top 10 or Top 100 lists.
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September 2010Preparing for THE BIG ONE
The weather at Santa Rita Winery on Feb. 26 was warm and breezeless. It was an ideal setting for a tasting on the patio at the winery’s hotel, an hour south of Santiago, Chile. While sipping 2008 Medalla Real Carmenère with winemaker-marketing director Maria Cecila Pino, I learned that Carmenère was rediscovered at the Claro Wine Group’s sister winery, coincidentally named Carmen.READ MORE »Cover Story
July 2010Managing Solar Power Efficiently
Like most farmers, Jim Efird, co-owner of Tolosa Winery, pays close attention to the one variable he cannot control. And while he can’t influence the weather, Efird and a growing number of Central Coast winemakers have harnessed one of the region’s most abundant sources of renewable energy.
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June 2010What's Really In That Wine?
Get two wine geeks together over a glass of wine, and you’re likely to hear a discussion about whether the beverage in question is a result more of the vineyard it came from or the winemaker who chaperoned it into the bottle. But what’s in that glass depends even more fundamentally on something else: trust.
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May 2010Strategic Packaging
When you buy a car, you test drive it. When you buy a jacket, you try it on. When you buy wine in a retail setting—at least, outside of the winery’s tasting room—chances are good that you haven’t tasted it. Since wine itself is a moving target, even if you’ve happily sipped this varietal and this vintage from this producer, the wine itself may have altered with age. The packaging is as ephemeral as the product it contains: Once the bottle (or the box) is empty, it will most likely go the way of all recycling.
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April 2010Oak and the Economy
Between the weak economy and improvements in barrel alternatives, many wineries are looking to replace expensive new barrels with other forms of oak. They’re considering cheaper barrels from new regions, renovating used barrels, using the barrels longer and adopting a variety of oak formats from powder to staves and even liquid tannins.
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February 2010How and Why to Do Barrel Trials
There’s one recent movie that all winemakers can easily identify with: “Julie & Julia.” When you watch Meryl Streep playing Julia Child, who coaxes the best out of her ingredients like a virtuoso symphony conductor -- testing this spice and that herb, perpetually tasting and adjusting for balance as the dish takes shape -- you get a familiar feeling that you know this stuff in your bones: It’s the essence of winemaking. Her arena may be food, and yours wine, but the same drive to experiment in pursuit of perfection marks that trial-and-error approach as a common obsession.
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January 2010Julia's, Julia's and Julia's
The 1995 vintage was disastrous for Pinot Noir producers in the Santa Maria Valley. Yields were drastically down because of poor weather during flowering and harvest. Then Sierra Madre Vineyard, a grape source for a number of small producers, was sold to Robert Mondavi Winery, which wanted to keep the grapes.
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December 2009Unified Sessions Preview
Parducci Winery in Mendocino County, Calif., pays meticulous attention to water management. Here, partners Tim and Tom Thornhill operate the rustic-looking gray water settling component of the winery’s water reclamation system.The annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium presents not only the biggest wine industry trade show in North America, but also a rich and varied assortment of educational sessions for grapegrowers, winemakers and wine marketers. The 2010 event in Sacramento runs from Jan. 26-29 and features 17 major sessions on the main days of Tuesday-Thursday, plus an all-day special session on Friday to discuss winegrowing at high elevations and high latitudes.
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November 2009Who Is Buying Crush Equipment?
The first custom-crush operation in Lake County, Calif., Kelseyville Wine Co. opened in March 2009 with a permit for annual production of 15,000 cases.In spite of the weak economy and equally soft market for high-end wine, many wineries upgraded their crushpads during the past two harvests, and a surprising number have created entirely new lines. Most didn’t anticipate the economic problems currently discouraging others from expanding, but those who upgraded during the recession report that it’s an excellent time to buy—provided you have a way to finance the purchase or can pay with cash.
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October 2009Managing Risk
Half-ton bins of winegrapes begin the journey to the sorting table prior to becoming wine. Photo by Steve Lightner of Lightner VineyardsEven in good times, the wine business is tough: Wine may be liquid, but a lot of winery balance sheets aren't. The business requires a lot of capital, because compared with most others, the investment in fixed assets is high, the return on assets is low, and the lead time before raw materials are sold as finished products is immense.READ MORE »Cover Story
September 2009From Soil To Sales
Clos LaChance Winery shipped 60,000 cases of wine last year. It's a small number compared to industry giants, but the technology Bill Murphy has integrated into growing, fermenting, bottling, aging, shipping and selling the 2009 vintage is redefining the way vintners produce and distribute premium wine.
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August 2009OXYGEN & WINE
A few years ago the hot topic in wine science was the closures debate, and more recently it has been reduction. Now it seems that everyone is curious about the complicated interaction between oxygen and wine--a theme that incorporates both of the earlier hot topics, but which puts them in a broader context.
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July 2009GROWERS' REALITY CHECK
Growers seeking good news had to listen carefully at the Vineyard Economics Seminar held June 2 in Napa Valley. The symposium naturally focused on how the recession is impacting the grapegrowing business in 2009, and speaker after speaker outlined news and trends that ranged from tepid to terrible. Most did see light ahead, however, and many offered guidance about how to reach it sooner through smart business decisions and vineyard management.READ MORE »Cover Story
June 2009What's Good About The Recession?
For months on end, reports about the state of the economy have been gloomy enough to make you just want to go have a drink--and that's great news for the wine industry.READ MORE »Cover Story
May 2009How Light Can You Get?
Saint-Gobain in April began producing its Eco Series, which looks like a traditional glass bottle lineup but uses 15% less raw materials and is of lighter weight--potentially saving shipping costs.In response to a collective clamor from wineries for more competitively priced bottles with greater environmental sensitivity, several glass manufacturers are "light-weighting" -- introducing bottles that weigh (and cost) less, without sacrificing style.
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March 2009Adapting to Drought
Water, always a big issue for most of California and Washington's vineyards, is becoming even more critical.
As drought conditions intensify in North America, winegrape growers are being forced to adjust drip irrigation practices that waste water (above). Watering at off-hours has become common.
PHOTO: Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resource Conservation ServiceREAD MORE »Cover Story
February 2009INSIDE HUNGARY'S FORESTS
Distant chain saws rip through the tranquility of the old forest like modernity gone mad. Black crows caw their avian warnings. And every minute or so, a hammer slams into the sawn end of a newly felled log, its report ringing roundly through the tree's thickness.
The Zemplén region (above) is known for producing tight-grained staves.READ MORE »Cover Story
January 2009Wines & Vines Marks 90 Years
First printed in 1919 under the name California Grape Grower (shown at right), Wines & Vines celebrates its 90th birthday in 2009. Its longevity makes Wines & Vines the longest running success story in North American wine publishing.READ MORE »Cover Story
January 2009WINES THAT CHANGED THE INDUSTRY
As Wines & Vines marks its 90th anniversary, it seems appropriate to publish a historically oriented piece on the many achievements of our audience during those nine decades. Rather than retelling the history of winemaking, as many authors have already done so well in book form, we conducted the thought-provoking exercise of picking out individual wines from the last 90 years that embodied important advancements in premium grapegrowing and quality winemaking.READ MORE »Cover Story
December 2008What to Expect At Unified
Every January, the annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento, Calif., pivots around a Wednesday morning session on the state of the industry. With a torrent of PowerPoint slides full of charts and numbers--acreage totals, import volumes, the rise and fall of this or that grape variety--a recurring cast of characters dissects the business of wine: Nat DiBuduo of Allied Grape Growers on the ups and downs of grapegrowing, Jon Fredrikson on world wine trends, and so on.READ MORE »Cover Story
November 2008Gentler Is Better
The new machinery at Concannon's renovated facility in Livermore, Calif., represents the latest in winery technology. Above. Petite Sirah goes through.When I made a round of calls to winery equipment suppliers, asking what products and features were in high demand around the country this harvest year, I expected to hear about the latest trends in crushers and presses and bottling lines. But to my surprise, the first two words out of nearly everyone's mouth were: sorting tables.READ MORE »Cover Story
October 2008Tapping Money
When wineries want to expand vineyards or production, build new facilities or initiate new marketing efforts, they've traditionally turned to families and friends or their local bank. Likewise, when faced with family issues such as divorces, estate taxes or conflict between owners, selling all or part of the property was sometimes the only possibility.READ MORE »Cover Story
September 2008THE SECRET LIFE OF DNA
Since the French-Italian Public Consortium for Grapevine Genome Characterization released the genetic code for Pinot Noir on Aug. 26, 2007, scientists have accelerated their search for ways to increase the grapevine's resistance to disease, reduce its demand for water and enhance the aroma, flavor and texture of its fermenting grapes.READ MORE »Cover Story
August 2008Closures Suppliers & Offerings
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August 2008Finding Closure
So, you've made your wine, and it's time to start thinking about bottling it. Which closure are you going to use? It's an important decision, but it's also becoming an increasingly complicated one. Of course it used to be easy, because the only decision that needed making was what grade of natural cork you could afford for each product. Now, if anything, there's too much choice, with very little information save for the varying claims of closure manufacturers and salespeople.READ MORE »Cover Story
July 2008Growers Transition to Organic
The use of cover crops, animals and compost are hallmarks of organic growing at Jim Fetzer's Ceàgo Vinegarden (above). "In the 1980s... chef John Ash used to make outstanding meals for our guests. We thought, 'If organic vegetables taste so good, how would organic winegrapes taste?'" Fetzer said.In California, more than 9,000 acres of vineyards have been certified as organically farmed. During the past 20 years, practical grower knowledge backed by university research has helped to create organic farming practices that allow the production of high-quality fruit at yields comparable to vineyards farmed with conventional farming practices. At the same time, (in my experience) growers have never lost a crop because they were using organic techniques to control pests and diseases.READ MORE »Cover Story
June 2008Don't Call 'Em Crushers
One has pink rubber "fingers" that look almost human and leave the berries, as one winemaker described it, so intact that they look like a dainty pile of "caviar." Another comes with a vibrating mechanism that enables the fruit to remain whole. And all of them have frequency controls that slow the machine down and enable the winemaker "to give a name to each grape" as it passes by.READ MORE »Cover Story
May 2008MAKING IT REAL
Sasha Match and Randy Sloan experimented with at least 15 label ideas referencing the brand name Match before a group of butterflies and dragonflies in their vineyard inspired them to dub the property Butterdragon Hill and incorporate a dragonfly into their label design. .The moment a winemaker tires of his or her own label, Susan Sokol Blosser said, is the very moment at which consumers are beginning to recognize it. Nowhere in Sokol Blosser's portfolio is this insight more evident than in Evolution--a blend of nine white varietals including White Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer, among others--which the winery first introduced in 1998 under the name Evolution No. 9--a riff on the Beatles.READ MORE »Cover Story
April 2008Viagra for Barrels
A Barrel Builders cooper inserts new staves into a used barrel, to restore its useful life.Primarily the province of large wineries that for many years have added oak staves to steel tanks to emulate the flavors of oak barrels, "oak alternatives"--really "new barrel alternatives"--now are becoming increasingly popular among boutique wineries.READ MORE »Cover Story
March 2008Beating the High Cost of Planting
Rising costs of materials and labor are making planting and replanting vineyards ever more expensive. UC Davis posts guidelines at its websites on costs, but changing conditions soon render them out-of-date. The most recent "cost of establishment" papers are located on the UC Davis agricultural and resource economics department website (ucdavis.edu).
Robert Smiley, of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, observes that the cost of planting a vineyard has risen 50% in five years. His colleague Jim Wolpert, who has happily "demoted" himself from department chair to a viticulture extension specialist at the UC Davis department of viticulture and enology, notes, "My guess is that increases in cost are due to the cost of steel. As we move away from treated wood posts for environmental reasons, we go to steel line posts, and of course have an increased number of wires (not a new thing) as a result of vertical trellis systems."READ MORE »Cover Story
February 2008Bracing for Barrel Shock
When John Irving Levenberg arrived at New York's Bedell Cellars two vintages ago, a national wine writer wrote that he "was too unabashed a proponent of new oak." The California winemaker doesn't shy away from the charge and neither does the owner of Bedell.READ MORE »Cover Story
February 2008Still Second Rate?
There I was in Italy, near the end of a press trip through Tuscany and Umbria, tasting through the wines of a relatively new, upscale, state-of-the-art producer whose lineup includes Cabernet and Merlot, on their own and in blends with Sangiovese. The consulting winemaker who has been helping the owners get started is Franco Bernabei, an Italian enological all-star, and the winery's Merlot just snagged a coveted Tre Bicchieri designation in the 2007 Gambero Rosso awards.READ MORE »Cover Story
February 2008Well-Seasoned Staves
Winemakers have long known that barrels made from dried rather than green oak staves yield more subtle, smooth and complex wines. The drying or seasoning period enables chemical changes in the wood that affect its flavors, and the longer the wood is seasoned the more changes seem to occur. But how much stave seasoning is enough? Can it be pushed to the point of diminishing returns?READ MORE »Cover Story
December 2007PROBING THE RESEARCH GAP
For premium winemakers like Susie Selby, life can't get much better. Empty harvest trays line the corner of her tool shed. And the must she pressed into juice last fall is maturing into wine that promises to be a very good vintage.READ MORE »CURRENT COLUMN ARTICLES »
