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Mobile Bottling Preparation Tom Payette coiistilts with estab/ished

wineries to improve theii products and sys-turns and assists in new winery start-ups

The devil is in the details, so plan ahead

reparing for bottling is no easy task, whether you have your own line or hire a mobile bot-

tler. The keys to success with mobile bottling are communica-tion and planning. This can't be stressed enough as you digest the information below.

WHEN TO BOTTLE

It is recommended that you to contact a mobile bottler at least six months prior to actually need-ing the service, Discuss the overall plan - wine styles, case volume, road access for the truck, etc., and address questions the bottling operator may have.

Then request the bottler's spec sheet for data on label wind, label core size, capsules, bottle styles, closure capabilities, etc. Answer these questions: Does the mobile bottler require power? If so, which amp service and configuration? Start to lay the foundation as you move forward toward bottling, focusing your vision and taking note if the bottler can fulfill that vision. Set firm dates with the bot-tler at this time, since many fill their calendars quickly.

Keep in mind that hitting your bottling date with a mobile bottler is crucial to your business. Should one piece of the puzzle not fall into

place, it could result in unlabeled product being run, or canceling

the bottling all together. Either situation can result in huge delays in getting the bottler back to your facility, and in lost revenue if your wines aren't ready for market on time.

DRY GOODS ORDERING

Now having made arrangements with the bottler, you can start to order dry goods from your vendors.

Early on the day of bottling, be ready

to load all your dry goods - capsules,

closures and labels - on the truck so the

bottlers can set their equipment accord-

ingly. Photo: winemakingconsultant.com

• Labels. Speak with your label company representative and

give him the wind directions/ori-entation. Of course, make sure TTB approval and any other gov-ernmental approvals needed for

labels are in hand before pulling the trigger to print. New labels can take as long as six months to be printed, so don't delay this process. Get the label design/ approval/printing process rolling and keep it rolling.

•Capsules. Contact suppliers and determine if they have what you need in stock. Either place an order for the capsules, or have them placed on hold. Some cus-tom capsules come from over-seas, so allow enough time for them arrive by boat, saving lots of money on airfreight charges. Stay on top of the capsules situ-ation.

• Corks. They typically aren't a huge issue in terms of lead time, but it's still a great idea to place your order two months in advance, with a ship date that ensures their arrival to the winery at least 10 days prior to bottling. This can be extended to longer in-house time if testing of the corks

PM

SHORT COURSE • Communicate early and often with

the mobile bottler.

• Stay on top of dry goods with ongoing contact with suppliers.

• Properly prepare and warm the

wine/bottles for the day.

• Be available and on your toes the day of bottling.

• Closely monitor quality control.

WVVWVWM-ONLFNE COM NOV DEC 2010 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 33

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is performed. Leave time for the testing, rejection and re-ordering to make sure the bottling date remains secure. Screwcaps and other closures with printing need to be ordered well in advance.

• Bottles. Once again, stay in contact with the supplier just to make sure what you need will be available when you need it. Contact the bottle supplier three months in advance just to check in and secure your needs. Per-haps place an order early, to be refined after filtering and racking losses are realized, Give the sup-plier a rough idea of what your needs are and project out on ship dates for a timely arrival.

THE WINE

Often, this is the easy part! Start making blends well in advance and begin working toward stabilities. Leave enough time, or "wiggle room," to be able to re-perform any stability actions, just in case one process doesn't react as the lab tri-als predicted.

Try to set up a production sched-ule that has your wines ready about one month prior to the arrival of the bottling truck.

the ball will jump through hoops to make it right.

Start looking at the small things, too: shrink wrap, carton tape or glue, case coding ink, date stamps and product codes. Place the order for any inert gases you may need, notably nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

THREE DAYS BEFORE BOTTLING

Form a plan to warm your wines to the desired bottling temperature, typically 65°F. Look at the weather forecast to see what the actual tem-perature may be on bottling day. Address extreme cold or hot tem-peratures with the mobile bottler.

Start to review the parking lot area. What cars, trucks or tractors will need to be moved? Will the press need to be relocated on the crush pad?

Collect dry goods and formu-late the vision of where the truck will be, how empty glass will be supplied, how full cases will be removed, how the wine hose will supply the truck, and how the water supply will connect and sup-ply the truck.

Start double-checking that you will have the helpers needed to run the line for that day. Place a reminder call to them.

DAY OF BOTTLING

• Morning. If the truck has not yet arrived, make sure you have cleared the proper amount of maneuvering space for its entry. Have inert gases ready and a water source (chlorine-free) avail-able. The bottling crew will need to start the steamer as soon as

FILTRATION

Make sure your wines are fil-tered to the proper pore size that you and the bottler discussed. In most cases, a 0.45 micron cartridge filter will be used, but if you plan to do otherwise, discuss this in advance with the bottler.

Also discuss who supplies the cartridge and what the "lock sys-tem configuration" is for the bot-tler's filter housing, size, etc.

THREE WEEKS BEFORE BOTTLING

Start to take inventory of items from your suppliers. Mistakes hap-pen with orders, so make sure all is moving forward. There is still time to fix small mistakes, and suppliers who have inadvertently dropped

34 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT NOV DEC 2010 WVVW VWM-ONLiNE.COM

Ile

11

Bottles should be easily accessible so as not to slow down the bottling process.

Photo: winemakingconsultant.com

possible to sterilize the filter and filling parts.

• Glass. Make sure the bottles are in an area where you can get to them to supply the truck rapidly.

They should already be "pulled from the warehouse" and accli-mating, if necessary.

• Other dry goods. Be ready to load all the dry goods such as

capsules, closures and labels on the truck early in the day, so the bottlers can set their equipment to those supplies. The team may request them at another time, but be ready.

• Start-up. It is recommended that you remove the first set of filled bottles equal to the num-ber of spouts of the bottling line prior to closure application, and to dump them into a clean bucket. These bottles can still be refilled and used in most cases. The col-lected wine in the bucket may be dumped to bulk, if the winemaker chooses.

QUALITY CONTROL

Discuss any quality-control issues with the mobile bottler. In many cases, crew members will bring certain issues to you, and you should bring up anything that con-

WWW VWM-ONLINE.COM NOV DEC 2010 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 35

cerns you. Have people at places needed to make sure operations are happening as they should. The people placing the bottles of wine back in the box should be fast, but also have a keen eye for any abnor -malities. Make sure they know they can bring any concerns to your attention or to that of another appropriate person.

Make sure that the operations in the truck are running as they should. Take bottles and inspect them. Check the vacuum, label spacing, label alignment, fill level, capsule application and everything else from start to finish. Is every-thing going as you expect it to?

OTHER HANDY TOOLS

• Melting crayons. These crayons melt at certain temperatures and can be used to touch surfaces to test if the steam and sterilization process is going as predicted. Infrared equipment may work here, but I have not tested that to be certain.

N Calipers. Keep them close by, as they are helpful when you're looking at quality-control issues and working through dry goods/

machinery functionality prob-lems.

• Vacuum needle gauge. It's also needed as a quality-control check when monitoring the vacuum being pulled at the corker. Gaug-es can be obtained from winery supply vendors, or e-mail me (winema kingconsultant©gmail. com ) for a parts list to make one in-house.

• Oxygen meter. This is a great time to get a feel for your bottler and the oxygen pickup at various stages. Once you know a specific unit and how it operates, you can possibly reduce the amount of testing you do.

• Pallets. Depending on how many cases you will have per pallet of finished wine, they will likely be in short supply. Make sure to have enough pallets to cover your needs. New glass often comes with 100 cases per pallet, and many wineries will stack 60 cases per pallet at bottling. These pallets need to be of good to great quality.

BUILD COMMUNICATION

Build on your communica-tion skills with your bottler. Every mobile line has different equipment and run patterns; once you and the bottler become familiar with each other, the systems come together flawlessly and bottling becomes an enloyable process. Build on this foundation to develop a checklist of your own (start with the one here) that is specific to your winery, wines and packaging. Keep quality in the forefront as a winemaker.

Many thanks to Landwirt Bot-tling in Harrisonburg Va., and New Kent Winery in New Kent, Va., for their assistance in my research for this column. •

Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwrn-online.com .

This list accounts for most bot-tling-truck needs. Make changes to the checklist as required by your specific setup.

0 Early communications

O Stabilities checked; wine warmed to 65°F and filtered (truck will typically have pre-filter and 0.45 micron filters)

O Cartridge filters on hand, if needed

O Free S02 and pH noted and action taken accordingly

o Gases ( CO2 and/or nitrogen)

O Water hose and enough hose to get to truck

O Dry goods: Corks, bottles, cap-sules, labels

O Wine from vented tank, with enough clean hose to reach truck

O Acclimated glass (sweating could be an issue)

• Date stamp for cases

• Product stamp or labels for product

O Shrink wrap, to wrap pallets of cases

o Extra (dry) pallets, solid and well built

0 Tape and tape guns to seal cases. Glue if gluing

O Utility knives, permanent mark-er pens

O Helpers (for quality control)

• First aid kit and ear plugs

• Vacuum needle gauge, cali-pers, melting crayons, oxygen meter

O Dump first bottle per spout

O Great communication through-out the bottling day

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