Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/670981
52 WINES&VINES May 2016 WINEMAKER INTERVIEW delivering the performance we are looking for in our closure and the decorating abilities we need, and they meet our delivery and logistic needs. Q What sorts of adjustments do you make to wines that are under screwcap? HARMS: With our wines under screwcap we don't make many adjustments that are different from the can or our cork-finished wines. The one area where we have made some adjustments is with free SO 2 . In the early days, we were going to bottle with lower free SO 2 (18-22 ppm) and found some of our wines evolving faster than I would have liked. When we started looking deeper into it, we saw that our dissolved oxygen levels were on the high side. By using a DO meter, we are doing a better job on our pre-bottling quality control, and we decided to bottle our wines under screwcap at higher free SO 2 levels (28-32 ppm) than we had been doing previously to ensure we are satisfied with how they evolve. Q Why continue to use cork on some of your wines? HARMS: With our Alchemist and Amity wines, we are still using cork. With Alchemist, we felt that cork was an appropriate closure for both performance and aesthetic reasons. Amity Vineyards, which I purchased with my brother Eric Harms in April 2014, has traditionally used cork as a closure for all its wines. While we are redoing the packaging, we wanted to be careful about how many changes we made before we had a sound understanding of what was work- ing and not working for the brand. For some of the Amity Vineyards white wines, I think screwcap is totally appropriate, and we will be discussing that change this year with the intent to make changes in 2017. We are also looking at DIAM corks and running some trials, as I still am disturbed at the number of corked wines I see and feel that the failure rates of that closure are really unacceptable. Q You've used kegs but haven't made a big commitment to that package. Why not? HARMS: I love the idea of keg wines! They align with so many of our values and have benefits on a number of levels within the sys- tem. The challenge that I have is getting the logistics solved to manage kegs when they are in the market. Brewers have developed the infrastructure to manage kegs in their space, but for wineries this would be a substantial investment. I know there are some third-party vendors who can assist with this, but we have looked into the fee structure and have made a decision to not move in that direction yet. We have also looked at one-way kegs, but while this solves the return issue, it is adding to the complexities of the waste/recycling stream, so we haven't moved in that direction either. A resident of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Laurie Daniel has been a journalist for more than 35 years. She has been writing about wine for publications for more than 21 years and has been a Wines & Vines contributor since 2006. Keyes earth-friendly wine packaging is made from 100% post consumer recycled content. The packaging is easily recycled where paper and cardboard are accepted or can be added to your compost pile where it will biodegrade over time. Ship your wine in Safe, Reliable, Sustainable Style! Keyes Wine & Beverage Packaging Contact us for a distributor in your area. 509-663-8537 ext. 245 www.keyespackaging.com The ORIGINAL Green Company® WHO BUYS HIGH-QUALITY WINE IN A CAN? "I don't love the idea of defining populations with terms like gen X or millennial," says Union Wine Co. owner Ryan Harms. "At Union, we tend to talk more in terms of psychographics when discussing our consumer. Our consumers are adventurous, urban, socially aware and don't take themselves too seriously." Harms also has seen acceptance from some unexpected quarters. "I love the example of a woman who was probably in her early 70s who came up to our wine-tasting truck at an event, and when she saw the cans turned to her friend and said, 'We need these for the golf course. They're per- fect!' It was really cool to see someone who I might expect to reject the whole idea of the cans actually embrace the idea and internalize its value in their own life," Harms says. He adds that the company has seen some regional buy- ing patterns develop. "Our sales in the central United States softened in the winter months, while the coasts seemed to defy any seasonal trends."