Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/816747
May 2017 WINES&VINES 61 PRACTICAL WINERY & VINEYARD BUSINESS a mobile bottling line, overshooting to blend and bottle two to five wines with limited tank space. If a wine was at the edge of stability prior to bottling, we would be forced to make a choice to bottle or postpone for the next mobile bottling visit three to five months later. With the line in-house, we have greater flex- ibility in bottling that allows us to maximize quality control." They expanded an existing building at the winery to create a dedicated bottling facility. Fireside Winery is in Marengo, Iowa. The owners also own Ackerman Winery in nearby Amana, Iowa. Ackerman produces a wide variety of wines, including fruit-based wines, and has year-round bottling needs. Zach Bott, Fireside's winemaker, found the decision to buy a Eurostar bottling unit from the Criveller Group to be an easy one. "We have one mobile-bottling option, which is lo- cated in Wisconsin," Bott says. "Since we have year-round bottling needs, we would need to contract their services 12 times per year." Bott recently purchased a cross-flow filter due to the same lack of locally offered ser- vices. "If we were located in California, we could employ a mobile-filter service, but we don't have that option here," he adds. Bott utilizes bottling equipment that can apply either screwcaps or corks. It was in- stalled in early 2016 and can operate at full capacity with three to four employees. The winery is bottling every other week instead of every week due to the new machine's capabili- ties of 1,800-2,000 bottles per hour. It is a 12-spout rinse-and-filler system and a pres- sure-sensitive labeler. Fireside Wines and Ack- erman Wines are sold exclusively in Iowa at 160 different locations. Adirondack Winery, located in northern New York near Lake George, was established in 2008 by Mike and Sasha Pardy. Total annual production is 12,000 cases, with bottling runs ranging from 100 cases to the largest of 4,000 cases. A new eight-valve filler with corker, capper and pressure-sensitive labeler was in- stalled by Prospero Equipment in 2016. "We bottle, on average, about once per week starting in late December through Au- gust," Pardy says. "The average bottling is about 400 cases, and with bottling line setup, cleaning and sanitation it takes about seven hours. We have about 30 different wines to bottle, and with our schedule it works out pretty well. Having a bottling line has really helped reduce our bottling time and saved enough labor time to pay for itself while greatly improving our quality both of the wine and our presentation." Mobile bottling services Mobile bottling services provide wineries with a solution that comes to the winery with all the necessary bottling equipment. The service providers are growing both in num- ber and in the number of units they own. This option is flexible, can scale with your winery and ensures quality control since you oversee the process. Noel Arce in McMinnville, Ore., launched the new Pacific Bottling mobile bottling line in 2016 to address growing demand for bottling services in the Willamette Valley. There is a GAI 18-valve filler, cork or screwcap application and an Impresstik pressure-sensitive labeler. Although the bottling line averages 2,000 cases " We found it challenging to prepare five to 10 wines for a mobile bottling line. With the line in-house, we have greater flexibility in bottling." —Chris Brundrett, William Chris Vineyards