Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/708909
WINEMAKING TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT 54 WINES&VINES August 2016 cal data about fermentation curves for individual wine lots. The tank controls are also set up to monitor Brix levels during fermentation, a func- tion Materra will use in the future. Stairs and catwalks to access tank-top manways, with overhead steel decking across the full width and length of tank rows for worker safety, were installed by Wolff's Weld- ing & Fabrication of Sonoma, Calif. The win- ery uses several TranStore stainless-steel square tanks from Custom Metalcraft to trans- fer and store small lots with the flexibility to move and stack where needed. The winery's lab is staffed by full-time enolo- gist Stacy Hornemann, who analyzes and moni- tors wine chemistries and works closely with custom-crush clients to monitor wines and work with them on process decisions. The lab will soon add a new BioSystems Analyzer to save time and labor with automated analyses that perform more tests in less time and with smaller sample sizes. Energy efficiency was a major focus in win- ery design. Buildings are equipped with fans and louvers to utilize night air cooling, and thermostats are set to bring in outside air when temperatures drop below 55° F. An RTI control system monitors and controls building tem- perature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels. Building lighting systems use energy-efficient LED lights, and motion-detection sensors turn off lights when rooms are not occupied. Cunat also plans to install a solar photovoltaic system that will be ground-mounted over the winery's wastewater leach field on the property. Barrel building The barrel building is separated into two main rooms: one for white wines and one for red wines. Each room can be further divided into two different temperature zones using a ceiling-to-floor vinyl curtain to separate spaces for barrels undergoing malolactic fer- mentation (at a higher temperature) from barrels at aging temperature. RTI provided equipment and controls for variable zone temperatures and precise temperature con- trol within 1° F and humidity control within 0.5%. Humidity is provided with Larkin hu- midification and fan units. The winery purchases 100% French oak bar- rels sourced directly from multiple cooperages that include: Seguin Moreau, Tonnellerie Boutes, Tonnellerie Marsannay, Tonnellerie Taransaud and Tonnellerie Vallaurine. Barrels are stacked up to six high on Western Square racks. A Tom Beard Barrel Washer cleans and sanitizes two barrels in three minutes for effi- cient water use and labor savings. The winery and barrel buildings have fork- lift access through automatic rollup doors supplied by R & S Rolling Door Products and equipped with LiftMaster motors that can be remotely opened and closed by the forklift operator to save time and reduce building energy losses. The winery uses Nissan by Uni- Carriers electric forklifts with rechargeable batteries supplied by Accurate Forklift of Santa Rosa, Calif. Regalia said the winery does whole-berry barrel fermentation for some of its higher end red wines. Chardonnay and Viognier are barrel fermented. Chardonnay usually sees about nine months of barrel aging before bottling, and red wines are barrel aged for 18 to 22 months before bottling. The winery was designed with a temperature- controlled room adjacent to the fermentation cellar to house a bottling line in the future. MARKET DATA AND ANALYSIS Wineries DtC Shipments Off-Premise Sales Flash Sales WINES VINES ANALYTICS Market Research for Wineries and Suppliers Flash Sales Offers Climb Higher in November The Flash Report Complete flash data is available at winesandvines.com/flash FLASH DISCOUNTS FOR A SAMPLE OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST WINES OFFERED IN NOVEMBER Discount Winery/Brand Region State Varietal Vintage Winery Retail Flash Price Winery Size in Cases Flash Site 18% Long Shadows Vintners Columbia Valley WA Merlot 2012 $62.99 $51.65 30,000 Underground Cellar 38% Northstar Columbia Valley WA Merlot 2009 $40.00 $24.99 30,000 WineShopper 40% Eyrie Vineyards Willamette Valley OR Pinot Gris 2012 $49.99 $29.99 10,000 Last Call Wines 40% Sokol Blosser Winery Dundee Hills OR Pinot Noir 2012 $53.75 $32.50 70,000 Rue La La 44% Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard and Winery Columbia Valley WA Merlot 2008 $36.00 $20.00 300,000 Wine Woot 50% Naked Winery Rogue Valley OR Muscat 2013 $30.00 $15.00 19,000 Wine Woot 58% Emerson Vineyards Willamette Valley OR Pinot Noir 2010 $39.99 $16.99 3,500 Last Call Wines 64% Precept Wine Brands/Primarius Willamette Valley WA Pinot Noir 2012 $50.00 $17.99 680,000 Wines Til Sold Out METRICS 14 WINES&VINES January 2015 T he total number of off ers for domestic wines in November was 4% higher than a year ago, bringing to an end a two- month trend of slightly lower off er totals. Flash websites made a total of 576 off ers and were led by Last Call Wines, which had 113. Wired for Wine, which averages 35 off ers per month held a special event that resulted in 106 off ers for domestic wine and also helped drive the monthly total higher. In 2012 and 2013, the total number of offers in November and December were higher than in previous months of those years. December 2013's total of 722 offers was the highest of that year and has been unsurpassed in 2014. During the past 12 months ending in November 2014, the total offers per month also spiked in May (610 offers), August (601) and November (578). Each of these month's totals were either 100 offers higher than the 12-month average of 500 or close to that level. A higher number of offers by Invino pushed the total higher in three of those months. In November, Invino had just 67 offers, and the higher total can be attributed to Wired for Wine and Last Call Wines. By wine type, the breakdown of offers has stayed relatively the same since Wines Vines Analytics first started tracking flash offers. Cab- ernet Sauvignon is the most popular followed by Pinot Noir. Chardonnay and red blends have occasionally switched the third place position but always remain well ahead of Zinfandel and other varietal wines. In the "all other" category Sau- vignon Blanc accounted for 112 of the 664 offers followed by Petite Sirah's 77. While white Zin- fandel may still account for a sizeable share of off-premise retail shelves, flash sites made only one offer for the wine type in the past 12 months. —Andrew Adams FLASH SITES COMPARED FOR NOVEMBER Flash Reseller Number of Domestic Offers Average Flash Price (750ml) Average Discount Page views* Cinderella Wine 13 $40.17 28% 35,000 Invino 67 $25.39 40% 234,000 Last Bottle Wines 22 $25.36 40% 258,000 Last Call Wines 113 $22.26 48% 9,000 Lot18 42 $19.75 34% 654,000 The Wine Spies 35 $27.20 32% 43,000 Wine Woot 53 $18.48 45% 854,000 Wines Til Sold Out 55 $21.72 50% 862,000 WineShopper 23 $18.42 41% 68,000 Source: Wines Vines Analytics, winesandvines.com/flash *Source: Compete.com, November 2014 TOTAL FLASH OFFERS BY MONTH TOTAL DOMESTIC FLASH OFFERS BY VARIETAL Source: Wines Vines Analytics, winesandvines.com/fl ash 20 leading Flash sites, 12 months ending Nov. 2014 Source: Wines Vines Analytics, winesandvines.com/fl ash 1,500 1,200 900 600 300 0 Cabernet Pinot Char- Red Zin- Sauvignon Syrah Merlot All Sauvignon Noir donnay Blends fandel Blanc Others 800 700 600 500 400 300 Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov 491 1,481 1,203 818 764 298 200 193 664 2014