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6 WINES&VINES May 2016 A member of Wine Communications Group Inc. ADVERTISING Vice President and Director of Sales Jacques Brix jbrix@winesandvines.com (707) 473-0244 West Lydia Hall lydia@winesandvines.com (415) 453-9700, ext. 103 Midwest Hooper Jones hooperhja@aol.com (847) 486-1021 East (except New York) Laura Lemos laura@boja.com (973) 822-9274 New York and International Dave Bayard dave@bayard.com (973) 822-9275 Advertising Manager Christina Ballinger ads@winesandvines.com DIGITAL EDITION All print subscribers now get digital access to Wines & Vines. You can: • DOWNLOAD pages or full issues • BROWSE current and archived issues • WATCH videos • ACCESS via desktop, tablet or smartphone • SEARCH by keyword or table of contents • NAVIGATE by topic or page thumbnail • QUESTIONS? Contact customer ser- vice at custserv@winesandvines.com or (866) 453-9701 Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. PDT. 54 WINES& PACKAGING Eye-catching inspirations from the Unified Symposium and beyond CONNECT WITH US CONTRIBUTORS Hend Letaief, Ph.D., reports on her groundbreaking research about oxygen ingress during bottling, beginning on page 36. Dr. Letaief holds a Ph.D. in food science and technology from the University of Turin in Italy and joined California State University, Fresno, in 2013 as an assistant professor of wine chemistry working on projects relat- ed to oxygen management, grape texture and phenolic extractability. She is now taking the position of technical director at Enartis USA. Fritz Westover advises grapegrowers for a living, and his advice in this issue (page 28) is to take a close look at vines after pruning and before they fill the canopy. May is not too late to assess how the prun- ing job went during the window between bud break and bloom. Now based in Texas and operating Westover Vineyard Advising, the author has been working more than 15 years in viticulture. Two Pennsylvania researchers who investigated different methods to reduce the development of bunch rot report their findings in the Wine East section this month. Bryan Hed is a research technologist at the Lake Erie Grape Research and Extension Center in North East, Pa., with an interest in disease management strategies for grapes, and Dr. Michela Centinari is assistant professor of viticulture at The Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. They found that early leaf removal led to a reduction in bunch rot, and the earlier leaves were removed, the greater the reduction in rot. Growers can read their article beginning on page 82 to learn about other considerations concerning leaf pulling and bunch rot. WINESANDVINES.COM MINIMIZE O 2 , MAXIMIZE QUALITY MAY 2016 Shelf Life of Glass Alternatives The Case for Canning Tasting Room POS Systems Proof Is in the Pruning Early Lea ng Reduces Bunch Rot PACKAGING ISSUE ON THE COVER Bimmer Udsen of Castoro Bottling shot the image on this month's cover, which depicts wines being sparged with liquid nitrogen to keep oxygen from being sealed under screwcap. The cover story on page 36 details ways that finished wine is exposed to oxygen and reviews tactics to keep it out. QUESTION FOR MAY: How do you prepare for bottling day? Clay Burke Bottling manager Testarossa Winery Los Gatos, Calif Bottling is a season more than a day. Preparation is all communication: communicating with vendors for delivery timeframes, the cellar and lab on the state of the wine, and the bottling crew on the preventative maintenance allows bottling day to flow seamlessly. Ray Brammeier Senior supply chain manager Rack & Riddle Healdsburg, Calif. First and foremost is sanitation, with a focus on the filler. I work with QC and the cellar to verify the wine analysis meets speci- fications and gets winemaker approval. Team leads handle the packaging specifications and ensure the equipment is fine tuned for the run. I provide sup- port for the team leads, because they're the key to our success. Isaias Bareno Bottling operations manager Terravant Wine Co. Buellton, Calif. Our average bottling day starts off with a bowl of sunshine and a cup of joe. Once this is done, the crew is ready to go. We start off by checking our work orders to ensure the wine is at its best quality and our packaging ma- terials needed are ready and of the highest quality.