If you're reading this, you may be dangerously close to starting a winery right now, or upgrading the one you have. Welcome, in any case! These thoughts should bring some clarity to identifying and selecting the crush equipment and other machines you'll need to make wine.
In leaner economic times, smart owners look for ways to make their product more competitive while increasing margins. One sure way is to spend fewer man-hours making your wine, or cleaning up before and after. Winery equipment is expensive. But re-purchasing it is more expensive, when it's to correct a low-quality or undersized purchase.
Buy right the first time: "buy once, cry once."
Good pumps, tanks and crush equipment bought now will retain more value. Shop where quality and price meet on the graph. Buying above that point won't get you noticeably more quality, but spending below it will cost you a lot in service frustration, lost time, or worse: LOST GRAPES!
The dollars you compete for in your local wine market have to come from somewhere, so please buy as domestically as possible. Draw a line from the manufacturer to you. Did it start in America? Did the equipment at least go through a U.S. shop before it landed at your winery? Think about where your suppliers buy from, and question the local availability of parts.
Get involved with your supplier and get to know them. Buying through a consultant can insulate you from noticing that some of the people you're trying to give money to are unresponsive and uninterested at the quote stage. WHY would you buy from them? They'll almost surely be reluctant to answer a warranty call! And if that consultant leaves, it's up to you to maintain those relationships. So play nice.
Ask your winemaker for a list of equipment, discuss their preferences, then decide together what's best for the wine. A couple of extra bucks for something slightly better may amortize in a way that's ultimately good for your margins.
Questions We Hear
What size and type of press, destemmer, pump and tanks do I need?
Everything is based on tonnage, or gallons (at 165 gallons per ton), in production over the next five years. Other factors: the number of varietals, the ratio of reds to whites, the percentage of dry wines, late harvest and ice wines, fruit wines, and so on. You need to make the best possible wine with the least possible waste of grapes and time. Right-sizing a few pieces of crush equipment and having some small tanks for overages and blending will save headaches and expense.
How much should I budget to completely outfit my winery?
It depends. Can you use a mobile bottler? If yes, the answer is $85K–$200K less than you think. Think of tanks, refrigeration, barrels, pumps, process equipment, hoses, valves and a pressure washer as the motor of the winery. The fuel is the consumables: corks, capsules and so on. The bottling line is typically an expense that can be spared through creative and convenient means.
Why mobile bottling?
If you have one close by, interview them. The cost is fairly low compared to the capital and labor you lose owning the 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'll see what I mean. Please worry about making great wine first. You can move it in portable tanks to a place with a bottling line if you must. And if you must buy a bottling line, why not put it on a trailer and share it with other small wineries?
Where should I buy tanks?
Check used listings first. For square, stackable, portable tanks, price some TranStore tanks. Square tanks are good for beginning wineries, overflow, small lots and transport. Stackability is key, and their design lets you put them in and out of the refrigeration loop at will.
Should I sort? And what good is a receiving hopper?
Sorting in the wine industry today is like Vitamin E in the '70s. I sell sorting tables, and I resist the trend. It's a personal choice that goes back to the pursuit of quality. Is the fruit quality there yet? Is it hand picked? A good crush pad package works very well and may make sorting unnecessary. The real test: make two identical batches, sort one, taste later, and repeat if necessary.
The question I ask is, "How new is the winery?" For a first vintage, I might try a receiving hopper and see if I really need the labor and expense of a sorting table. If a hopper already feeds your destemmer a constant, metered flow of fruit, you're probably close to optimal must quality. And the hopper earns its keep feeding fermented reds back to the press if you ferment in forklift-friendly fermentors like TranStore tanks or macro bins.
Basket press, bladder press, or closed-tank bladder press?
A basket press is a really nice idea as a second press, or as the primary press for a one-varietal boutique. I love them. Would I own one? No. In general terms, a basket press means smaller batches, lower yields and better juice. If you make a blend of hybrids and vinifera and vary residual sugar from sweet to dry, buy a bladder press.
Puleo presses have 12 programs of 12 steps each (ironic, isn't it?) where you set how long to hold pressure, what pressure, how many rotations, whether to release pressure, and so on. We've found we can increase yield without over-squeezing by using wheat grass or rice hulls, with no negative impact on flavor or juice quality. I sell American-made basket presses too, if you still want to go that way.
But "EVERYBODY" says I need a tank press? Which are you more afraid of: A, oxygen, or B, microbes? If A, you want a tank press. If B, you want a traditional open-style bladder press. My fear is that I might not get a tank press absolutely clean, and I don't believe in "automatic" cleaning systems because I have some experience with a dishwasher. I also think you actually want to brown the whites at the juice stage to make them more stable in the bottle. But I'll sell you any press you want, because you're the winemaker and the customer. Not only are you almost always right, you're also a creative, scientific rock star genius. And I love what you do. Make the best wine you can by being practical and smart when choosing a press.
What's the single most important feature of winery equipment?
In a word: quality. Quality of advice, build, support and service.
Where a lot of really good salespeople work, your head will spin from the perceived "b.s." flying around trade shows. The smartest customers I know buy using a customer list first and a price list second. Check references. And think about training, warranty, money-back guarantees, ease of cleaning and quality of results. If you think the single most important feature is price, I can't help you. Price is nice, but sometimes you get a lesser value along with the lower price.
What does "value" mean?
Hint: it is NOT a synonym for low price. Value is a warm, fuzzy word abused by slippery salespeople in our fair industry more than any other. Value doesn't mean compromising on reliability, results, training, support, delivery, setup, expertise, design, ease of use, reputation, ethics or honesty to get a low price. If you buy the cheapest thing you can find, expect nothing. That's not value. Value means you could have spent more for a comparable set of features and benefits, but you didn't: you paid less than you could have and got everything you paid for, plus things you didn't have to. Or: cheap is expensive.
How do I pick a supplier?
"Check references." Oh, and I almost forgot: CHECK REFERENCES. Knock-knock. Who's there? CHECK REFERENCES.
Ask for names and numbers (ten is a good round number) of people who bought what you want to buy, and call them. We've sold millions of dollars of commercial winery equipment, and only a small minority of customers ever checked references. Please be the person who does. Do you really want to buy from the guy playing "Let's Make a Deal"? What assurance do you have that the starting price was real? Does your neighbor get a better price next month? How will that company support what it sells with hit-and-miss prices and terms? Is it fair that the other guy paid 15% more? Is it a fair practice to sell you an SUV at a scooter price just to keep you from buying the other guy's Volvo wagon? No. Run far and fast from that guy. That SUV won't compete in its class, or it would cost more.
Is there really a deadline, or is that salesman-created false urgency?
Rhetorical question: is it in stock, sitting on a shelf like at the mall? If it costs more than $1,000 and you need it for your winery, there's a really strong chance the salespeople are telling the truth. ORDER BEFORE THE DEADLINE! If they ask for a deposit, pay it. If they have a question, answer it. Get the ball rolling before it costs you more to meet the urgency created by a lack of action. And if they're hard to reach when you're placing an order, imagine how fun it'll be to get them on the phone when your new equipment inspires a question!
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Satisfactorily yours,
Joe Lutomske