Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/816747
May 2017 WINES&VINES 35 WINEMAKING side) and tap style. Then a box design is created and ordered along with a master case. Prime Tap currently has a four-week lead time. The client can provide the two to three hourly workers or have Prime Tap supply them. Avina notes that bag-in-box has had a nega- tive connotation in the United States, yet he sees more small wineries successfully putting good wine into these packages. "I'm excited that small wineries are putting great wine into great packaging. It makes sense. The consumer can have a glass or two for up to four weeks, and they don't waste wine." Yes we 'can' Many small wineries are launching their own canned wine brands thanks to mobile canning services such as The Can Van, which started filling beer cans in 2011 and entered the wine industry about 18 months ago. Lindsey Herrema runs The Can Van's dedi- cated wine-filling line. She compares her op- eration to a mobile bottler, with the exception that the canning equipment rolls off the truck, which allows it to be closer to the bottling tank. Capital costs are similar to a glass filling line. Winery setup takes about one hour. Their line runs at the equivalent of 100 9-liter cases per hour in three can sizes: 187 ml, 250 ml, and 375 ml. The 250 ml format must be bundled in three- or four-packs, as 250 ml is not an approved standard of fill. While figures on the success of small canned wine brands are difficult to get, The Can Van's growth shows the category must be doing well. They have canned wines for more than 10 wineries in past 18 months, with strong recur- ring business and a line that is fully booked for the next three months. Customers include 9,000-case Scribe Winery in Sonoma, Calif. Six of The Can Van's customers bring their wines to be canned at American Winesecrets in Sebastopol, Calif. Operations manager Travis Smith explains that Winesecrets has "a number of complementary services for canning, such as carbonation, cross-flow filtration, sterile filtration and Velcorin dosing. We can also employ any tool from our suite of reverse-os- mosis processing, e.g. ultrafiltration or alcohol adjustment." Herrema hears from her customers that canned wines increase the number of occasions to consume wine, such as picnics, tailgating and camping, or places where glass is not al- lowed. The typical consumer is likely younger, active and outside, and may not want to com- mit to a whole 750 ml bottle. In some bars, cans are considered "new and hip." Getting started with The Can Van is rela- tively easy. They charge per can, with setup costs included in the rate. In working with a can manufacturer, you will need to design the can to either receive a label after filling or be shrink-sleeved in advance of filling. Printed cans have a prohibitive minimum quantity in the range of 200,000 to 300,000 cans. Herrema often sources generic cases for her customers. Small lots, big headaches Shaunt Oungoulian is a partner and wine- grower at Les Lunes Wines in Napa Valley, making wines since 2013. Their wines are mar- keted under the Populis brand sold by the glass through distribution and the Les Lunes brand of artisan wines. They take pride in producing very small- scale, hand-made wines, with the same one or Say good- bye to a corkscrew Vinoseal is widely popular among wine lovers because of the easy opening and closing of the bottle. It takes just a click to open a bottle. Another click, and the bottle is sealed back and completely leakproof again. Easy to open and easy to close. No corkscrew is needed. To find out more, visit www.vinoseal.us. E X L C L U S I V E D I S T R I B U T O R I N U S A Vinolok-Bayard-2017-12x19.indd 1 08.02.17 20:54 " Refermentation is a real risk. Everything in the wine industry is sanita- tion, and one mistake can cost you a fortune." —Gregg Lamer, Boxx Cellars