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August 2015 WINES&VINES 33 WINEMAKING Mooney Family Wines: dodging enormous fixed costs "Meticulous winemaking" is the best way to describe the core competency of Michael Mooney, co-owner of Mooney Family Wines, located in the Paso Robles appellation of Cali- fornia. Mooney explained that he needs to use best practices and have control over every step at his 3,000-case boutique winery, which has three distinct brands. He prefers to use acreage contracts rather than pay by the ton, as it al- lows tighter farming control. Vineyards pro- ducing only 1.5-2.5 tons per acre are hand picked and sorted in the vineyard, then sorted again at the winery. Mooney uses gravity feed, three-day cold soaks and 50%-100% new French oak, none of which would be feasible at most custom-crush facilities. He owns a beautiful estate that hosts fre- quent weddings, so a sparkling wine was neces- sary. Like Loma Prieta, he can't justify the enormous fixed costs for bottling and disgorg- ing sparkling wines, so he uses Rack and Rid- dle. To Mooney, it feels like it is entirely "his wine" run on someone else's equipment to his exacting requirements. Other outsourced items include compliance and bottling. "They do it for a living," Mooney explained of the latter. And since he believes knowing tannin concentration is an important tool in keeping a consistent style across vintages, he also outsources phenolic assessments. Sextant Wines: picking at the peak Craig Stoller, owner of Sextant Wines, also in Paso Robles, believes it is critical to pick fruit at its peak. Having his own equipment com- bined with using a custom-crush facility allows him to do that economically. He uses Pacific Wine Services, saying they have great people and the ability to color sort, which is critical for a variety like Grenache. Stoller notes that it costs more, but the al- ternative would be lower quality wine from unsorted grapes, which would be a tough sell. One more reason to outsource wine production is to keep a winery looking smaller than it is. Visitors like the feel of a cozy boutique wine producer, and 32-foot tall utilitarian concrete warehouses run counter to that. In summary, successful win- eries understand their core com- petencies and happily let others do the rest. There is no stan- dardized, uniform way to opti- mize winery operations, except to play to your strengths. Andy Starr, founder of StarrGreen (starrgreen.com), is an entrepreneur, marketing manager and winemaker who provides strategy, management and business de- velopment consulting services. A resident of Napa Val- ley, Calif., he holds a bachelor's degree in fermentation science from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from UCLA. Include Code 0114 on your first order for an extra 10% off! 510-732-7010 A Division of Bay Seal Company Providing Sealing Solutions for over 50 Years wineryseals.com Mooney Family Wines sorts wine grapes first in the vineyard and again at the winery.