This Issue of The Grapevine Magazine

  Wherever the active consumer is headed, wine in a can has become the preferred beverage to accompany their spontaneous lifestyle. Whether camping, picnicking, heading to the beach, hiking, stand-up paddleboarding, you name it: people enjoy wine while enjoying their favorite activities.  And when winemakers offer premium wine selections in a portable can, it’s a win-win.  Wine in cans is booming because it’s simple, sustainable, and smart. PakTech can carriers complement these attributes just so. As an established yet innovative packaging leader in the beverage industry for over 25 years, PakTech delivers the highest quality and most environmentally responsible packaging solutions available.  Offering active, discerning wine drinkers an attractive multi-pack of their favorite beverage is…the way to go. THE SIMPLE […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Cl: Hartness, An ITW Company Dt: 9/26/18 With New Facility, and Aligning Behind New VP/GM Tim Hudson, Hartness Targets ‘Better-than-Ever Products and Customer Service’ GREENVILLE, S.C., Sept. 26, 2018 — It’s an oft-proven fact of business and industry that expansion, in and of itself, does not always and automatically lead to bigger and better things. For example, about eight years ago, Hartness, An ITW Company, recognized that it had outgrown its main facility. Accordingly, the company undertook an overall expansion achieved by moving some of its manufacturing to a second facility several miles from Headquarters. As an unintended consequence of operating in two buildings, customers calling on Hartness would often end up in the wrong location or have […]

The high wire trellis has recently become popular in several U.S. wine regions. In California, this trellis is seen as being easy to mechanize, and so can help save labor problems. In other regions where native and hybrid varieties are grown, the system is being promoted as offering many advantages over other systems involving vertical shoot positioning. History of the High Wire Trellis The high wire trellis is not new despite its recent promotion. Professor Nelson Shaulis of Cornell University began the “canopy management revolution” in the 1960s when he introduced the Geneva Double Curtain. The GDC was the first of the new divided canopy systems, consisting of two vertical foliage walls per row of vines, about three feet apart, […]

One of the biggest tasks in setting up a winery or expanding one is the decisions on the wine tanks.  Much time, thought and effort should go into planning what the winery wants to accomplish with the tanks.  If these decisions are made properly and well in advance huge dollar savings can be achieved.   What will these tanks be used for?  If the tanks will be used for fermenting juice one set of criteria may be used.  If used additionally for cold settling of juice, red fermentations or cold stabilization the list of criteria may expand.  Deciding what the tanks are needed for in the winery will lead toward the correct choice. White wine fermentors often have a small […]

The rush of harvest is over. Throughout much of North America, precise ribbons of red, orange and yellow frame the landscape as grape leaves reflect the change in seasons. Soon, this colorful confetti will fall, allowing vines to rest. For vineyard managers, it’s just the opposite. A post-harvest checklist details a number of duties designed to ensure the success of next year’s crop. From soil analysis to composting evaluation, from disease control to aerial assessment, there are many reasons to stay active between the rows. From the Ground Up For centuries, the prevailing attitude among winemakers was that stressed vines produced higher-quality grapes. Rocky, rolling hills whisked away excess water and forced craggy vines to send roots far and wide […]

Every year, after harvest and punch downs, winemakers have to make an important decision – to filter or not to filter. Located within the lees is often a high percentage of recoverable product that many would like to use to boost their bottom line. For some vintners, as much as 10 percent of their winery’s volume comes from that sediment, an amount they’d prefer didn’t go to waste. However, if you ask twenty different winemakers their opinions on wine filtration, you’ll get twenty-one different answers. Some prefer no filtration. Some prefer moderate filtration. Some prefer instead to fine their wines. The goal for all winemakers is the same – spectacular tasting, clear wines with no impurities. Their decision will be […]

Trout Springs Winery, an award-winning winery in Greenleaf, Wisconsin, is not just a popular wine destination – it’s also a fish hatchery, a plant nursery and the only winery in the state that offers luxury camping in a vineyard. If you go into the tasting room, you can also try some of Trout Springs beers, produced off-site under the Sassy Girl label, as well as products made from freeze-dried grape skins and seeds that offer proven health benefits. To the casual observer, this may seem like a lot under one roof, but to Steve DeBaker and his wife, Andrea, co-owners and operations managers at Trout Springs, it’s all in a day’s work.  “We’re not your usual winery,” DeBaker told The […]

It may be hard to conceptualize that the Midwest was once one of the largest producers of grapes and wine in the United States. In fact, the state of Iowa ranked 11th in grape production in 1899 and sixth in 1919. Even though the wine is be produced all over the United States including the Midwest, their combined yield and production combined cannot match what is produced in California. When passing through the states in the Midwest, one sees row crops of mostly corn and soybean, yet in the late 19th century one would see large vineyards. Today there is a resurgence of vineyards, a sort of grape Renaissance, but it is still small compared to the industry it once […]

Utter the word “oxidation” in a room of winemakers, vintners and related equipment manufacturers, and immediately catch everyone’s attention. That’s how vital oxidation and its potential ramifications are in the wine industry. In winemaking, oxidation is successfully controlled during bottling by introducing a dosage of nitrogen. Concerns and the desire for increased consistency in flavor and bouquet, along with the opportunity for increased shelf life, give many winemakers the only incentive they need to consider adding nitrogen dosing to their bottling process. It’s All About Science Tyler Jones, Product Manager of Dosing Systems for Chart Inc., a highly recognized designer and manufacturer of cryogenic liquid gas delivery systems, said nitrogen dosing comes with multiple benefits beyond decreasing oxidation. “Nitrogen dosing […]

Grapes must be picked at the perfect point of maturation, and its plant must have the appropriate intake of water during its development so that the wine ends up having the properties that consumers request. Controlling those parameters which are so vital for vine-growers is not done on the ground because it is complicated and expensive and, if it is done, few can afford to use pressure chambers that measure water potential. “This prevents the vine-grower and winemaker from having access to complete and reliable information during the grape’s growth and maturation cycles, on a regular basis and in real time. This way, a majority of producers don’t use data that could help them optimise the handling of their vineyard […]

I think the real story in the Willamette Valley (and other small regions nationally) is that 75% of wineries produce fewer than 5,000 cases annually. It’s micro-production by any measure. They have survived because of so-called “Premiumization” and the recent fascination with their AVAs. What will happen when the next economic downturn occurs, as the distribution consolidation continues, and/or as vineyard and winery acquisitions accelerate (which they are doing now)? Are there business parallels between what is happening in Willamette Valley and other wine producing regions in the United States; and what about other burgeoning industries such as craft beer or high tech? Is large destined to win? How will small craft producers survive and thrive in the long run? […]

You’ve been in business for several years and have a dozen hard-working, dedicated employees working for your company, or so you think.  Out of the blue, a new competitor enters the market and the next thing you know, all 12 of your employees have jumped ship to join the new firm.  With them, they have taken company records and customer lists.  What do you do?  Do you have any legal recourse against the poaching company? Against your former employees?  How could you have prevented this? Can a Competitor “Poach” Your Employees? In most states, yes.  Many people are surprised to learn that, generally, poaching is a perfectly valid and legal way to find new employees. There are exceptions and limitations, of […]

The Western Cape of South Africa and its historic vineyards, nestled in the mountains to the east of Cape Town, are a major draw for tourists, with tens of thousands of overseas visitors enjoying tours and tastings every year. The worst drought in living memory hit vineyards in South Africa’s Western Cape hard, reducing grape harvests and adding to pressure on the region’s centuries-old wine industry. As the world’s seventh largest wine producer, a decrease in its wine production could heavily hit the country’s overall economic growth. In October 2017, the mayor of Cape Town and the South African government made a dramatic declaration that caught the attention of the world. Day Zero, the date on which the taps are […]

There’s nothing quite like opening up a new bottle of wine that you’ve been saving for something special, but many wine-lovers don’t give a second thought to how and where their favorite beverages were actually bottled. There are many different processes involved in making wine, and some of them are more complex, time-consuming, and costly than others. For example, bottling wine is a particularly delicate process that requires a high level of expertise to protect the wine from oxidation and ensure proper sanitization. Therefore, mobile bottling services have been gaining popularity among wineries, both large and small, across the country in recent years. In this article, we will discuss the trend of mobile bottling, including its pros and cons and […]