Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/83237
WINEMAKING TECHNICAL REVIEW Our portfolio of services and supplies VA Reduction* 4EP/4EG Reduction* LO-Crossflow Filtration Cold Stabilization Wine pH Reduction without acid addition Oenological Products Yeasts, Tannins, nutrients, etc Trials available Juice/Must Concentration FOSMOS Forward Osmosis pouches Large scale service available Ultrafiltration Heavy press color removal Bitter tannin reduction Lees Filtration Sweetspotter Rental and sales Smoke Taint Reduction* TCA/TBA Removal Alcohol Reduction Ion exchange RO and NF Equipment manufacture & sales After a mobile line fills bottles at Dragonette (top), more wine bottles are emptied at a release dinner for the Dragonette wine club. *US Patent 7651616 & 7828977 Tel : 800 577 1220 bryan@vafiltration.com www.vafiltration.com 50 WINES & VINES OCTOBER 2012 have traveled there frequently, know every wine distributor and writer in the country and sell a decent amount of wine there. Because of the brand's visibility in Denmark—and the winery's proximity to Solvang, a Danish theme park of a town—they get, not surprisingly, a lot of Danish tourists. This draw is a mixed blessing, since the visitors often mistakenly assume that they are the first Danes ever to drop by, and they rarely buy much wine. Dragonette sells through three brokers: Bradford for the Cen- tral Coast, Sandy Garber for Southern California and the Burke Wine Brokerage for the Bay Area. For both labels, direct-to-consumer sales are vital. For Drag- onette, sales through the tasting room, wine club and website account for about 70% of sales. Ampelos is at about 40% DTC and growing, with another good chunk of their custom-crush and private label business pre-sold. Both wineries do a series of release parties and other events each year. Ampelos uses Wineweb software for its website, newsletter and point-of-sale tracking. Dragonette's website was created by the Vin Agency in a way that lets them do their own maintenance and updates. Both handle regulatory and shipping compliance in-house. In the end, neither winery has difficulty selling its wines. Neither had much trouble during the 2008-09 recession; both have good and growing reputations with wine drinkers and the trade, and neither is distracted by grandiose plans to sell 100,000 cases of wine. Not a bad deal for a couple of relative newbies occupying half of a ceramic tile warehouse across the street from a municipal sewage plant in a place where grapes don't grow.