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 some clarity to the process of identifying and selecting what crush equipment and other machines you will need to make wine.
In these leaner economic times, smart business owners are looking for ways to make their product more competitive while increasing margins. One sure way to do this is to spend less man hours making your wine, or cleaning up before and after doing so. Winery equipment is expensive. But re- purchasing winery equipment is more expensive when it is to correct a low quality or undersized purchase. Buy right the first time ("buy once, cry once").
If you buy good pumps, tanks and crush equipment now, it will retain more value. Shop where quality and price meet on the graph. Buying above that point will not get you a noticeable amount more quality, but spending below that point will lose you a lot in service- related frustration, lost time, or worse: LOST GRAPES! Also consider that the dollars you vie for in the local wine marketplace have to come from somewhere. Please buy as domestically as possible. Try to draw a line from the manufacturer to you. Did that line start in America? Did this line of winery equipment at least go through a shop in the U.S. before it landed at your winery? Please think about where your winery equipment suppliers are buying from. And question the availability of parts locally.
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, if that consultant is no longer affiliated with your winery, it is up to you to maintain the relationship with the winery equipment suppliers. So play nice :-)
I recommend that you ask your winemaker for a list of winery equipment items to buy, discuss what the winemaker's preferences are, then make the decision that is best for the wine together. Maybe a couple of extra bucks for something slightly better will amortize in a way that's ultimately positive for your margins.
FAQ:
1. Q: What size/ type of press, destemmer, pump, tanks do I need?
A: Everything is based on tonnage or gallons (at 165 gallons per ton) in production for the next 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. 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 some headaches and expense.
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 think of tanks, refrigeration, barrels, pumps, process equipment, hoses, valves, and a pressure washer being the motor of the winery. The fuel in this analogy will be all the consumables (corks, capsules, 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. For square, stackable, porta- tanks, price some TranStore tanks here. The square tanks are good for beginning wineries, overflow, 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 real test: Make two identical batches. Sort one. Taste later. Repeat if necessary.
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 forklift- friendly fermentors, e.g., TranStore tanks or Macro bins.
6. Do I need a basket press or a bladder press? Or a closed- tank bladder press?
A: A basket press is 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!
But "EVERYBODY" thinks I need a tank press. Do you think you need a tank press? Which are you more afraid of?: A: Oxygen B: Microbes
I think you want a tank press if you choose A. If you picked B, you want a traditional open- style bladder press. My fear is that I may not be able to get a tank press absolutely clean. And I do not beleive in an "automatic" cleaning system because I have some experience with a dishwasher. I also think that you actually want to brown the whites in the juice stage to make them more stable in the bottle when done. But I will sell you any press you want. Because you are the winemaker and you are the customer. And not only are you almost always right, but you are also a creative, scientific, rock star/ genius. And I love what you do. I love wine. We all love wine. Make the best wine you can by being practical and smart when choosing a wine grape press.
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 "b.s." 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. If you think that the single most important feature of a piece of winery equipment is price, I can't help you. Price is nice, but sometimes you get a lesser value along with a lower price.
8. Q: What does "Value" mean? Hint: It is NOT a synonym for low price!
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 potentially 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: How do I pick a supplier?
A: "Check References". Oh, and I almost forgot this one: CHECK REFERENCES. Hey, it's time for a joke. "Knock- knock". "Who's there?" CHECK REFERENCES.
Ask for names and numbers (ten is a good round number) of folks who bought what you want to buy. And call them. We have sold millions of dollars worth of commercial winery equipment over the years and it seems like only the small minority of customers has checked references. Please be the person who uses the customer list. Do you really want to buy from the guy who wants to play, "Let's Make a Deal"? What assurance do you have that the starting price was the real price to begin with? Does your neighbor get a better price than you next month? And how does that company plan to support what they sell if they are offering hit and miss prices and terms? Is there really a deal? is it fair that the other guy paid 15% more? Is it a fair business practice for a company 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 wont compete in its class; Or it would cost more.
10. Q: Is there really a deadline or is that evil, dishonest, greedy, 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.
At any rate, ORDER BEFORE THE DEADLINE!!!!!!!! If they ask for a deposit, pay it. If they have a question, answer it. Please get that ball rolling before it costs you more in cash to meet the urgency that was created by a lack of action! 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!
If you enjoyed this, drop me an email or check out the blog.
- Satisfactorily yours,
Joe Lutomske
[email protected]
In these leaner economic times, smart business owners are looking for ways to make their product more competitive while increasing margins. One sure way to do this is to spend less man hours making your wine, or cleaning up before and after doing so. Winery equipment is expensive. But re- purchasing winery equipment is more expensive when it is to correct a low quality or undersized purchase. Buy right the first time ("buy once, cry once").
If you buy good pumps, tanks and crush equipment now, it will retain more value. Shop where quality and price meet on the graph. Buying above that point will not get you a noticeable amount more quality, but spending below that point will lose you a lot in service- related frustration, lost time, or worse: LOST GRAPES! Also consider that the dollars you vie for in the local wine marketplace have to come from somewhere. Please buy as domestically as possible. Try to draw a line from the manufacturer to you. Did that line start in America? Did this line of winery equipment at least go through a shop in the U.S. before it landed at your winery? Please think about where your winery equipment suppliers are buying from. And question the availability of parts locally.
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, if that consultant is no longer affiliated with your winery, it is up to you to maintain the relationship with the winery equipment suppliers. So play nice :-)
I recommend that you ask your winemaker for a list of winery equipment items to buy, discuss what the winemaker's preferences are, then make the decision that is best for the wine together. Maybe a couple of extra bucks for something slightly better will amortize in a way that's ultimately positive for your margins.
FAQ:
1. Q: What size/ type of press, destemmer, pump, tanks do I need?
A: Everything is based on tonnage or gallons (at 165 gallons per ton) in production for the next 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. 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 some headaches and expense.
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 think of tanks, refrigeration, barrels, pumps, process equipment, hoses, valves, and a pressure washer being the motor of the winery. The fuel in this analogy will be all the consumables (corks, capsules, 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. For square, stackable, porta- tanks, price some TranStore tanks here. The square tanks are good for beginning wineries, overflow, 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 real test: Make two identical batches. Sort one. Taste later. Repeat if necessary.
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 forklift- friendly fermentors, e.g., TranStore tanks or Macro bins.
6. Do I need a basket press or a bladder press? Or a closed- tank bladder press?
A: A basket press is 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!
But "EVERYBODY" thinks I need a tank press. Do you think you need a tank press? Which are you more afraid of?: A: Oxygen B: Microbes
I think you want a tank press if you choose A. If you picked B, you want a traditional open- style bladder press. My fear is that I may not be able to get a tank press absolutely clean. And I do not beleive in an "automatic" cleaning system because I have some experience with a dishwasher. I also think that you actually want to brown the whites in the juice stage to make them more stable in the bottle when done. But I will sell you any press you want. Because you are the winemaker and you are the customer. And not only are you almost always right, but you are also a creative, scientific, rock star/ genius. And I love what you do. I love wine. We all love wine. Make the best wine you can by being practical and smart when choosing a wine grape press.
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 "b.s." 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. If you think that the single most important feature of a piece of winery equipment is price, I can't help you. Price is nice, but sometimes you get a lesser value along with a lower price.
8. Q: What does "Value" mean? Hint: It is NOT a synonym for low price!
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 potentially 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: How do I pick a supplier?
A: "Check References". Oh, and I almost forgot this one: CHECK REFERENCES. Hey, it's time for a joke. "Knock- knock". "Who's there?" CHECK REFERENCES.
Ask for names and numbers (ten is a good round number) of folks who bought what you want to buy. And call them. We have sold millions of dollars worth of commercial winery equipment over the years and it seems like only the small minority of customers has checked references. Please be the person who uses the customer list. Do you really want to buy from the guy who wants to play, "Let's Make a Deal"? What assurance do you have that the starting price was the real price to begin with? Does your neighbor get a better price than you next month? And how does that company plan to support what they sell if they are offering hit and miss prices and terms? Is there really a deal? is it fair that the other guy paid 15% more? Is it a fair business practice for a company 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 wont compete in its class; Or it would cost more.
10. Q: Is there really a deadline or is that evil, dishonest, greedy, 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.
At any rate, ORDER BEFORE THE DEADLINE!!!!!!!! If they ask for a deposit, pay it. If they have a question, answer it. Please get that ball rolling before it costs you more in cash to meet the urgency that was created by a lack of action! 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!
If you enjoyed this, drop me an email or check out the blog.
- Satisfactorily yours,
Joe Lutomske
[email protected]