How To Buy Winery Equipment

     If you are reading this, you may be dangerously close to starting a winery right now, or possibly upgrading the one you have. Welcome; in any case! These thoughts should bring acuity to the concept of buying machines, etc.

      In these leaner economic times, smart business owners are looking for ways to make their product more competitive with less labor. Re- purchasing, do- overs, and low quality are all avoidable if you buy right the first time. And that does not mean spend the least or spend the most. Shop where quality and price meet on the graph. Spending more will not get you more quality, but spending less will lose you alot in service- related frustration, lost time, or worse: LOST GRAPES!

     The way to purchase equipment for your winery is to be involved with the supplier and get to know them. Having a supplier relationship through a consultant/ resident expert insulates you and could keep you from noticing that some of the people you are trying to give your money to are unresponsive and uninterested at the quote stage. WHY would you purchase from them? It's almost a sure bet that they will be reluctant to answer a service call under warranty!  Furthermore, when that consultant is no longer affiliated with your winery, it is up to you to maintain the relationship with the supplier. So play nice :-)

     I recommend that you ask your winemaker for a list of items to buy and go and shop yourself.

FAQ:

1. Q: What size/ type of this/ that do I need?

    A: Everything is based on tonnage or gallons in production in five years. Other factors that come into play are the number of varietals, the ratio of reds to whites, the percentage of dry wines, late harvest/ ice wines, fruit wines, etc. Look at what the neighbors have and decide if you are going to be like them. Are you more or less frugal? Are you more or less mechanically and electrically inclined? Are you more or less quality wine minded? The reason why we say tonnage first is because that translates to labor. Labor is more expensive than equipment over the long haul. We want to size your stuff for where you will be in five years.

2. Q: How much should I budget to completely outfit my winery?

    A: This depends. Are you somewhere where you can use a mobile bottler? If yes, the answer is $85K- $200K less than you think. My advice is to plan on tanks, refrigeration, barrels, racks, pumps, process equipment, hoses, valves, and a pressure washer being the motor of the winery. The tires in this analogy will be all the consumables (bottles, corks, etc.). The bottling line is typically an expense that can be spared through creative and convenient means.

3. Q: Why mobile bottling?

       A: If you have one close by, interview them. The cost will be fairly low compared to the capital and labor you lose owning this equipment. The stinking thinking around "having real control over when I bottle" is an expensive rationalization. If you have adequate tank, case, and barrel storage, you see what I mean. You will figure out if this is a workable solution for you. At any rate, please worry about making great wine first. You can transport it in porta- tanks to a place with a bottling if you must. If you must purchase a bottling line, why not put it on a trailer to share with other small wineries?

4. Q: Where should I buy tanks?

    A: Check used listings first. Then try all the usual suspects. And remember to get a quote from Atlantic Welding for round tanks. Visit them here. They are under new ownership and full of the customer service spirit the last time we checked. For square, stackable, porta- tanks, price some TranStore tanks here. The square tanks are good for overflow and small lots and transport. Stackability is key. And their design enables you to put them in and out of the refrigeration loop at will.

5. Q: Should I sort? And what good is a receiving hopper?

     A: Sorting in the wine industry today is like Vitamin E in the 70's. I sell sorting tables and I resist the trend. It is a personal choice and all goes back to the pursuit of quality. Is the quality of the fruit there yet? Is it hand picked? A good quality crush pad package works very well and may preclude the need for sorting.

The question I ask is, "How new is the winery?". For the first vintage, I might try a receiving hopper and see if I really need to add the labor and expense of a sorting table. If you already use a receiving hopper to feed your destemmer a constant, metered flow of fruit you are probably pretty close already to optimal must quality. And the hopper earns its keep feeding the fermented reds back to the press if you ferment in TranStore tanks or bins.

6. Do I need a basket press or a bladder press?

    A: A basket pressis a really nice idea as a second press or as a primary press for a one- varietal boutique. I love them. Would I own one? No. A basket press in general terms is smaller batches, lower yields, and better juice. If you are making a blend of hybrids and vinifera and vary your residual sugar from sweet to dry, buy a bladder press. If you are patient and listen to the part of the sales pitch where the guy selling you a bladder press tells you that it can do anything a basket press will do, ask what he means. Puleo presses have 12, 12- step programs (ironic, isn't it?) in which you may specify how long to hold pressure, what pressure to generate, number of rotations, whether or not to release pressure, etc. We have found that we can increase yield without over- squeezing using wheat grass or rice hulls with no negative impact on flavors or degredation of juice quality. I sell basket presses, too if you still want to go that way. And they are made in the USA!

7. Q: WHAT IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE OF EQUIPMENT IN THE WINE INDUSTRY?

     A: In a word, Quality. Quality of advice, build, support, and service. In a place where alot of really good salespeople work, your head will spin with all the perceived bullshit that flies around at trade shows while you shop for equipment. The smartest customers I know buy using a customer list first and a price list second. Check references. And think about a couple of things: training, warranty, money back guarantees, ease of cleaning, quality of results, etc

8. Q: What does "Value" mean?

    A: Simple? No. To a person with my background, education (or arguable lack thereof), experience, vocabulary, and philosophy:

Value is a nice warm, fuzzy word that is abused by slippery sales guys in our fair industry more often than any other word. Value does not mean that you are willing to compromise on reliability, results, training, support, delivery, setup, expertise, design, functionality, ease of use, reputation, ethics, or honesty to get a low price. If you buy the cheapest thing you could find, expect nothing. That is not value. Value in winery equipment means you could have spent more to get a list of descriptors that was comparable in terms of features and benefits as a whole, but you didn't. You paid less than you could have and got everything that you paid for plus all of the things that you didn't have to. Or, "cheap is expensive".

9. Q: Is there really a deadline or is that evil salesman- created false urgency?

     Rhetorical question: Is it in stock, sitting on a shelf like at the mall?

     A: If we are talking about something that costs more than $1,000.00 that you need for your winery, there is a really strong chance that the sales guys are telling the truth. The sales girls always tell the truth; in my experience. At any rate, ORDER BEFORE THE DEADLINE!!!!!!!! If they ask for a deposit, pay it. If they have a question, answer it. And again, if they are difficult to contact to place an order, imagine how fun it will be to get them on the phone when your new stuff inspires a question!

Hint: If it looks like this outside, you may be lacking a tan, but you have plenty of time to order equipment for the next harvest.........

....And if it looks like this, when you look up at night, it is probably too late.

To our country, and our industry: "Cheers".