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60 WINES&VINES May 2017 BUSINESS PRACTICAL WINERY & VINEYARD of Selby Winery in Healdsburg, Calif. Selby owns and operates her own bottling equip- ment. Her current annual production is 13,000 cases with 8,000 cases bottled inter- nally. The remainder is sourced to an outside mobile bottling line. She purchased new equipment in 2000 that includes a 12-spout rotary filler and single-head corker. The mobile line provides screwcap closure application. "I use my own small bottling equipment for most of the wines we produce, which range from small lots of 150 to 500 cases to larger production wines of 2,000 to 3,000 cases," Selby says. "Not only are my costs lower than a mobile bottling (vendor), but I have scheduling flexibility and more creative freedom with bottling decisions. The key to my ability to do this is my equipment-savvy cellar master, who has been with me for 15 years. We are able to service the bottling equipment in-house, which keeps costs down through the life of the equipment. "The exception is when I bottle wines that need a strict sterile environment such as my Sauvignon Blanc, which does not go through malolactic fermentation, or Zinfandel with 0.05% residual sugar. I do contract a mobile bottler for these wines, but I am careful to use a company that has an appropriate truck size for the lot size. The mobile bottler I use has trucks that range from 1,200 (cases) per day to 3,000 per day, and by choosing the appropriate truck, I can maximize the utiliza- tion of equipment and labor. With increasing labor costs, it is becoming increasingly im- portant to streamline any production pro- cess," Selby adds. William Chris Vineyards is located in Hye, Texas, and its annual production is about 20,000 cases. Chris Brundrett and Bill Black- mon bottled their first vintage in 2008. In 2016, they purchased a new in-house bottling line from Collopack Solutions that includes a Bertolaso 12-nozzle bottle rinser, a 12-valve filler with a single-head corker, capsule dis- penser/spinner and a two-head pressure-sen- sitive rotary labeler. Cost savings, additional revenue opportu- nity and quality assurance were the main reasons for the investment. Brundrett says, "We are able to reduce our bottling costs by almost half by bringing the operations in- house." In addition to bottling their own wine production, they will bottle an additional 2,000 to 5,000 cases for local wineries, gen- erating additional revenue while maximizing asset utilization. William Chris Vineyards bottles anywhere from 300 cases to 1,500 cases per wine offer- ing. The ability to bottle on their own sched- ule allows them to give each wine lot the attention it deserves. "Bottling lead times in this area are three to five months. We found it challenging to prepare five to 10 wines for Selby Winery bottles about 60% of its wines using a 12-spout rotary filler. A mobile bottler is employed for Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel with residual sugar. 1-800-797-2772 sales@primera.com www.primeralabel.com Print & Apply Your Own Labels