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38 WINES&VINES January 2017 J anuary in the winery. Harvest is in the rearview mir- ror, and wines are aging or getting ready for bottling. You had some time over the holidays to get reac- quainted with your family and resume a normal sleep schedule. The last thing you want to think about is next harvest, but if you plan to buy new crush equipment, now is the time. You may already know that your crusher isn't going to sur- vive another harvest—either because it's too old, or it doesn't have the capacity to keep up with your winery's growth, or both. Or maybe you think a piece of new technology would improve wine quality, like a berry sorter or cross-flow filter. It's easy to develop a list of needs and wants. Since you don't have an infinite supply of money, your challenge is to evaluate the relative merits of each type of equipment you may want, com- pare the various manufacturers and then come up with a list of what you will acquire. If there is a common theme to my columns, it would be: It's OK to plan. I state this because planning skills matter, yet the wine industry undervalues them. Typically, a winemaker is hired for their ability to make great wines that get high scores and medals. Winery/brand owners tend to have a vision and passion. No wine reviewer ever wrote, "This delicious wine comes from a well-organized winery whose new fermentation tanks arrived eight weeks prior to harvest, allowing their planning team plenty of time to stage crane operators, electricians and HVAC technicians, and get final permit approvals." How do well-run operations prioritize and plan their equipment purchases? The following is what a few of them shared with me. I asked for their insights about: • Their decision-making process • How they justify equipment when the primary benefit is improved quality • Buying new vs. used • Service contracts • Negotiating tactics. Safety first: prioritizing needs Clay Brock is the direc- tor of winemaking for Central Coast Wine Services and Paso Robles Wine Services, two custom-crush wineries in California. Both are part of the Thornhill companies and Turn Key Wine Brands owned by the Miller family, who also own vineyards and other farmland in- cluding Bien Nacido Vineyards in the California's Santa Maria Valley and French Camp Vineyards near Paso Robles, Calif. Combined, the two facilities crush approximately 10,000 tons of grapes for roughly 40 clients. Brock has extensive experience, having worked for 300,000-case Edna Valley Vineyard and 40,000-case Zaca Mesa, as well as Constellation Brands' Estan- cia and Wild Horse facilities. Decision-making process: Brock has been brought into a winery as an outsider many times, making him a pro at evaluating operations and assessing equipment. He starts by walking through the winery with the cellar master and learning the process from start to finish. Taking copious notes, he evaluates what's working and what isn't, and he asks everyone where improvements could be made over time. Some things are obvious, others are not. From that he creates a list of A, B and C priorities and assembles a meaningful document for management. He advises holding a post-harvest staff meeting as soon as possible, to discuss improve- ment for the next harvest. Brock puts his trust in the front-line staff who operate the equipment. "I rely on the folks in the cellar (to advise me) on what works, what doesn't, what needs to be replaced," he said. While it is easy to create a wish list, it's harder to narrow it down to what you will buy this year. I asked Brock how he prioritizes. "The 'A' priority items start with anything related to safety or compliance." Those are automatic have-to update items, Brock said, noting, "Safety is the easiest thing" to priori- tize. Other A-list items are anything old and/or broken. Evaluating quality-based equipment: Brock defined 'B' priority items as equipment that improves wine quality, which led to his insights about the inherently difficult problem of justifying a purchase when the payoff is qualitative. Brock tries first to establish the degree of quality improvement before making the case for acquisition, often finding a way to trial the technology. For example, instead of using top feeding to load presses, a winery used an axial-feed system, causing excessive rotations and phenolic extraction. Switching to top loading their four presses meant adding pneumatic valves and infra- structure to move fruit over the top, plus catwalks, a significant capital expense. So Brock and his crew figured out a way to n ANDY STARR Start Planning Equipment Purchases Now Winemaking The Wine Foundry crushes 550 tons of grapes per year.