Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/998810
July 2018 WINES&VINES 23 HERE'S WHAT WORKS Yet every interviewee thought a small win- ery can and should do this and offered advice on how to do so. Jennifer Murray is vice president of qual- ity for wine and spirits for Constellation Brands, the owner of Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Simi, Ravenswood, Estancia, Black Box and many, many others. With extensive experience in quality and regulatory issues, Murray recommends starting by forming a cross-functional team to include production, quality assurance, procurement and account- ing. In a small winery, that may be just the owner, winemaker, bookkeeper, plus whoever orders packaging supplies, as they are the first control in the process, and the person who handles consumer complaints, as they cover the last control point in the process. (In a small winery, it's likely that one of these people also does the Costco run when you're out of town.) This team should meet to de- velop a process and activity map that identi- fies and documents your everyday activities and answers questions such as: • What are all the steps in the production and bottling process? • Who is the owner of each step? • Where do raw materials go once they are received? • How are raw materials tracked from receipt to use? • What are common consumer complaints? • What adverse events make you worry? • What data are we currently tracking? Murray said "going through the process can be an eye-opener," as it shines light on gaps in your current methods and record-keeping. After completing the process map, then create a docu- ment list so that you can confirm completion of each activity. This document list forms the start of your lot-coding system. Ultimately, all num- bered documents will culminate in a unique master number, your lot code, which identifies every piece of documentation for the lot. At Constellation, lot-traceability and coding pro- cesses are continually being evaluated and improved. Log the data: Ashley Egelhoff is assistant winemaker for Honig Vineyard & Winery, re- sponsible for its quality-assurance programs. According to Egelhoff, logging the data is straightforward as "existing wine production software is already set up for this." Honig uses the blend software and cellar- tracking module from Orion Wine. Varner at G3 adds, "You can record with ink and paper at the bottling line, and then transfer later to an Excel spreadsheet or your production software." Pre-bottling: Much of what you should be doing pre-bottling is ensuring quality and pre- venting problems. In addition, Egelhoff notes that any future insurance claim requires the winery to provide baseline pre-bottling data showing the wine was in good condition at bottling. Honig does these pre-bottling analy- ses: free and total SO 2 , pH, TA, VA, dissolved oxygen, residual sugar (even if you believe it's dry), CO 2 , heat and cold stability for whites, malic acid for reds, and microbiological testing for sterility; plus tests for spoilage byproducts such as 4EP and 4EG for Brettanomyces and TCA for wood corks. During bottling: This is where your planning gets tested. Varner said you should keep it simple and recommended using — and logging the use of — product sequentially, e.g., cork box No. 1, cork box No. 2, etc. on bottling day. Varner stressed the need for good record- keeping for anything that touches the wine, such as bottles, closures and sterile filters. Be- lair stresses testing filter integrity at the start and end of each day, and logging the time and date when you change to a new one. Bottle coding: The group consensus is that lot traceability works only with a bottle code. While case coding should be done as well and is helpful at the warehouse level, the consumer buys and makes a complaint about a single bottle. Without an identifying mark on that bottle, you will likely return to recalling your entire run of 2016 Chardonnay. Chad Carney, vice president of marketing and corporate communications for Squid Ink in Brooklyn Park, Minn., sells inkjet bottle-marking machines starting at $6,800. Laser etching is more expensive and provides a permanent mark, as it etches rather than relying on ink. Squid Ink's marking device mounts on the bot- tling line conveyor and prints on bottles as they move by. Carney said data collected should be compatible with whatever software a winery is using, from an Excel database to winery produc- tion software to a JD Edwards platform. Squid Ink's case-marking equipment starts at $1,800, and its products are sold through bottling-equipment distributors, including Epic Labeling and Veritiv in Northern California. Honig uses a Markem laser etcher for bottles and a case printer with time and date as well as any other required information. Bottling marking is becoming standard on mobile wine lines, as well. It helps the winery and provides protection to the operator from insurance claims. Squid Ink supplies glass and case-marking systems to many mobile-bottling companies. As an example, all three of G3's mobile glass-bottling trucks have integrated bottling marking. Along with a lot number, the bottles should be marked with a dynamic time and date stamp. Varner recommends using Julian dates, a numerical date format that combines the current year and the number of days since the beginning of the year. For example, 10:33 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2018, is represented as 10330322018. "Laser printing adds credibility, which re- ally helps regulatory agencies feel better about what you are doing," Belair said, adding it shows a winery can properly address safety concerns from consumer or supplier. Belair and Murray both noted that the FDA has in- spected their respective facilities, with plans to eventually inspect every winery. Post-bottling: This is the time to log any handwritten notes. Honig has a thorough post- bottling checklist. The winery keeps reference samples of everything bottled and measures free SO 2 on a regular basis. Winery staff regu- larly taste all wines post-bottling, every two to three months for whites, and every six months for reds. Belair said that it is worth the extra time to look at wines post-bottling to assure that standards are being met. The future: Squid Ink's Carney said lot trace- ability is consistent with consumers' desire to know the exact sourcing of their food and bev- erages. "People want to know what they are putting into their bodies," he said. In produce fields, some are taking farm-to-fork to the ex- treme, tying a tag to each unit of organic pro- duce, which is tracked via GPS to the field location where it grew. Belair said that while doing lot traceability may be challenging, and it continues to become more complex, "it enables us to use data to determine cause and effect quickly and effi- ciently, as well as giving us the ability to de- termine if a potential issue is isolated to a single bottle or if it is of broader concern." And as Varner said: "It's never an issue until you have an issue." Andy Starr, founder of StarrGreen (starrgreen.com), is an entrepreneur, marketing manager and winemaker who provides strategy, management and business de- velopment consulting services. A resident of Napa Val- ley, Calif., he holds a bachelor's degree in fermentation science from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from UCLA. Even if it wasn't required by law, there are many good reasons to institute a real lot-traceability program.