By:
Nathan Chambers, Gaynor Strachan Chun and Susan DeMatei
Research shows that your email success can be significantly
improved if you enact a campaign list segmentation strategy – MailChimp reports
that segmented emails can increase open rates by +15% and click through rates
by up to 100%.
Segmenting your email list
allows you to deliver more personalized and relevant content to specific groups
of customers. Not segmenting your list results in higher customer attrition. On
average, over half of those who subscribe to email lists end up throwing the
email in the trash when it hits their inbox.
For your customer, there
are many reasons why they will be more likely to open an email from a brand
that delivers content that is more relevant to them in a timely manner. One of
the most important reasons is it shows them you understand their needs and
wants. In other words, it delivers a more personalized experience.
For you and your brand,
the value of email list segmentation is quite simple – increased ROI.
Segmenting your email list drives increases in loyalty and lifetime value
(LTV).
Let’s look at it from your
customer’s perspective. They were at the winery, they filled out a customer
information card, or made a purchase and shipped bottles home; they either
asked or were aware they’d be added to the mailing list and are hoping for
special offers, events, or other news. This is a transaction of trust. As a
payback for their trust in you, customers expect to get something of value
back, on a reliable basis, and not so often that it adds to their in-box clutter.
If the only thing you offer them is random, or generic, you violate that trust.
But where do you start?
Here are 7 effective ways to segment your email list and leverage other data to
increase your email ROI.
#1: Demographics: The simplest way to segment your list is by
demographics. Age, gender, job title, native language, etc. These traits,
individually or combined, can help you understand what products or offers they
are more likely to be interested in.
#2: Survey Results:
People like being asked what they want and
need. Rather than overloading your opt-in function, use your list to conduct
surveys. This way you can create a more complete picture of your target
audience. Ask about interests, needs, why they chose your brand.
You can then use your
survey results to segment by interest, sending content that is relevant to the
different interest groups. Maybe you have a group of customers who love recipes
and like to cook. Target them with an email about a new wine and include a food
and wine pairing recipe element. This will greatly increase your rate of
engagement with this customer segment. The more they engage, the more likely
they are to keep an eye out for further emails. Repeating that engagement until
it becomes a regular habit.
#3: Sending
Frequency: Nobody likes their email box to be overloaded,
even if the emails they are receiving might be relevant to them. Understanding
the optimal cadence for your emails can be difficult. Use your email engagement
data to understand the best frequency. The ideal frequency may also vary by
segment.
#4: Geolocation
Segmentation: The easiest and quickest
way to segment your database is through geography. For instance, target people
in a certain area for events, or shipping offers based on weather. When they
joined the mailing list, they felt a connection. Your customers expect
accountability, integrity, and accuracy. Geolocation segmentation offers many
benefits beyond email campaigns. “Taking the winery on the road” brings the
winery and the wines to those who may not make it back to your tasting room.
Your winery can develop relationships with retailers or have Wine Club members
host a tasting at their home in a key market.
#5: Page Views: Where do your website visitors spend most of
their time? By analyzing your page views, you can better understand what your
visitors are looking for and even segment content to them. Are they looking for
the hours your tasting room is open? The send them tasting room information.
Are they looking at the gift set page? Send them a vertical package offer. One
of the easiest segmented communications in this group is to target a resend to
people who opened an email and went to the landing page of the product for sale
but didn’t buy. These retargeted communications might be just the reminder they
needed to complete the purchase. Whatever messaging you choose to play with,
when you tie your email segmentation to website visits, these insights to
create more relevant content for your emails.
#6: Purchase Cycle: Understanding the purchase and repurchase
cycle of different groups of customers is invaluable. It allows you to build
customer behavior profiles and each profile type will respond to different
email approaches. If a customer has just signed up for your mailing list, they
will want an introduction to who you are and what you offer. A case or library
magnum offer is not for this group who are just getting to know you. What you
want to do with customers early in their life cycle with you is reduce barrier
to trial, so give them single or double bottle offers with your best-selling
wines. Save the big purchases for when they become loyal members (and then
segment on their past purchases – see below). With the purchase cycle in mind,
you can tailor email content and timing based on customer behavior, increasing
your likelihood of conversion.
#7 Past Purchases: By analyzing what your different groups of
customers are buying, you build an understanding of what products interest them
and what products don’t. This allows you to create target segments for each
product type and only send information or offers about products you know will
interest them, increasingly your likelihood of securing a sale. Additionally,
it signals to the customer that you care about their preferences and are not
sending them emails about products they would never buy.
For instance, imagine you
decide to send a special offer email on a new vintage of a particular wine. If
a group of your loyal repeat customers have never purchased that varietal, why
would they care? New members will appreciate the email and may make a purchase
because they’re trying new things, but most consumers show you through purchase
action what they’re interested in. Send them too many emails that don’t apply and
they’ll ignore it or, worse yet, mark it as spam or unsubscribe.
Implementing These Strategies
Don’t try to tackle all
these segmentation strategies at once. It’s more valuable to master one of
these strategies before developing the next one than it is to fumble with
implementing all of them at once. Baby-steps count. Start with one idea with a
goal to try out a new segmentation each month. Then you’ll see what your
database responds positively to, and you can play more in the areas that
resonate. The single most important thing is to at least try segmentation in
all your campaigns. Doing so will undoubtedly increase your success rates and
metrics for your ongoing email marketing.
Susan DeMatei, Nathan Chambers and Gaynor Strachan Chun work for WineGlass Marketing, a full-service direct marketing
firm operating within the wine industry in Napa, California.
From pruning, shoot
thinning and positioning, leaf and lateral care to hands-on vine training,
canopy management is the best way for a vineyard to achieve optimal, mature fruit
from their vines. Good canopy management, partnered with the proper trellis and
row spacing, allows vineyards to better combat fruit loss due to disease or
pest damage while providing an overall protective and nurturing environment.
Canopy Management Is An Evolving Science
“It’s always been
evolving, but it seems to be moving along at a more deliberate pace now,” said
Duff Bevill, founder and partner of Bevill Vineyard Management in Healdsburg,
California. “We’ve come a long way in the past 30 years from when it was
fashionable just to have the California flop, meaning the grapes were grown-up
vertically, and the canopy was left to flop over. When increased production was
needed, and European varieties were introduced, it became apparent that we needed
to provide better light and greater air circulation for the fruit. Around the
1980s came the push to reduce or eliminate bunch rot and mold, and after a
particularly wet season, the practice of leafing began. Then around the
mid-1980s, Dr. Richard Smart, an Australian viticulturist, revolutionized our
way of grape growing with his Smart-Dyson trellis system.”
Smart’s trellis system
helps canopy management by finding the balance in leaving enough foliage to
facilitate the necessary photosynthesis process without causing excessive
shading that would negatively impact fruit ripening or promote disease.
“His style of trellis
system is still the way to go,” said Bevill. “We see the Vertical Shoot
Position trellis or modified VSP trellis with movable wires used the most
because it traditionally results in a high-quality first crop. Another popular
configuration is the high wire system, with the first wire 42 to 48 inches
above the ground and then a secondary wire hanging about six inches above that
first one. The downside to the high wire system is that it creates a need for
manual shoot training for about the first five years. But if done properly,
subsequent pruning can be done mechanically, with manual pruning only necessary
for mechanical misses. Suckering is also minimal.”
Bevill told The Grapevine Magazine that hand labor can eat up to 60% of a vineyard’s expenses, so
that is an area of canopy management that is drawing extra attention. In an
industry looking toward a mechanized future but, in the meantime, still
requires hand labor, the VSP trellis remains the best all-around canopy
management trellis for fruit production.
“First, that hand labor
has to be available,” said Bevill, “and it needs to be available when needed,
frequently and for extended times to get the fruit picked on time and during
prime harvest conditions. That’s getting harder to come by and more expensive
to utilize. We offer bunkhouses and higher wages to our immigrant workers here
on H2A visas to ensure our labor availability. But if things keep going the way
they are, I would estimate that such extensive use of hand labor will end
within the next five or six years in favor of mechanical labor. Compatible
trellis design, along with smart canopy management, has a lot to do with this,
allowing your trellis systems and vine configurations to grow in a manner that
is favorable to mechanical picking, pruning and leafing. It’s better if you can
accomplish these tasks with the off-the-shelf mechanical implements available
today.”
Bevill has already seen
this in action. By applying the principles of trellis placement and design with
well-planned canopy management, the cabernet sauvignon vineyards have shown a
dramatic decrease in farming costs associated with labor.
“Only one man is needed
per ten acres here in Sonoma County,” said Bevill. “That figure matches what we
believe is necessary, and that’s also what we have and use. Currently, only
about 50% of farms are mechanically harvested. Many older ones can’t take
advantage of mechanized farming because of how they were originally planned.
Some leafing and mechanical harvesting can be done, but much of the canopy
management has to be done by hand. Some older vineyards with their original
planted vine systems are still entirely managed using hand labor. We are seeing
a lot of these vineyards now being pulled out and replanted to use a flat-faced
trellis system more conducive to mechanical farming.”
Bevill told The Grapevine Magazine that mechanized farming will likely be the focus for the
foreseeable future. There is nothing new on the horizon regarding the
mechanical aspect of agriculture. All the advancements are within farming
technology, things like devices to better detect the best times and amounts for
irrigation, and increased uses for drone mapping. The yields and performance of
high wire trellises are showing promise, but it will be another 10 years before
any data can be confidently identified as reliable.
“Overall, farming
knowledge is constantly increasing, and as a vineyard management company, we
are always looking at new and better planting standards and goals. They’re all
tied into making mechanized farming as friendly as possible,” said Bevill.
“Acquiring and using machinery to do the work is certainly the way of the
future. It’s much cheaper and more reliable than hand labor, and let’s face it,
it’s there when you need it.”
Seeing Each Vineyard As A Unique Environment
“I literally have a
different protocol for every vineyard depending on the winemaker’s desires for
his product and the environment that we’re growing in,” said Mike Loconto,
viticulturist for Barbour Vineyards, a vineyard management and development
company in Napa, California. “You know, we do all the normal tasks, like
suckering, tucking, shoot positioning and hedging, but the winemaker’s end goal
determines the amount and timing of these tasks and the best canopy management
practices for their situation. For example, we like to leave 12, 14, or 16
leaves per shoot to get two clusters of fruit out of each one, but when to
remove those leaves is different for each client. We always like to open up the
fruit zone, including below the clusters, but you have to leave just enough
shade to baffle the sunlight and produce a great environment all around the
fruit zone. It’s about getting sunlight and airflow to that bloom at the right
time to deter disease and increase the quality of the fruit.”
Loconto told The Grapevine Magazine that canopy management in Napa is all about controlling the heat
and sun exposure to provide the highest quality fruit and the highest volume of
product. When some of the older vineyards were installed, they preferred open,
wide spacing between the rows. Over time, in an attempt to increase grape
production, the vineyards started tightening up and leaving less and less
spacing between the rows. Some were tightened to the point that they lost
volume, quality, or both by inadvertently limiting light and decreasing
airflow, increasing heat retention and inferior growing conditions.
“Heat prevention here in
Napa is big and proven to directly affect quality, so now we try to stay around
the seven-foot mark for row spacing and utilize cross arms to provide shade and
heat prevention for the fruit,” said Loconto. “In any vineyard installation,
you want to be smart about canopy management and factor in the ability to
mechanize the farming now or in the future. Labor is so expensive that even if
you can find it, you may not be able to afford the amount you’ll need to get
the tasks done on time. Canopy size and row spacing need to be used jointly so
that at some point, mechanized tools can be used for leafing, pruning and
harvesting. By using between eight and 12-inch cross arms, you make more
effective use of available mechanized tools.”
Loconto works mostly with
high-end cabernet growers, and over the past five to 10 years, he’s seen the
customary canopy management practices start to change.
“Call it climate change or
whatever, but we’re starting to see a fundamental change,” said Loconto.
“There’s still a high use of VSP or modified VSP trellis systems, but any newly
planted, replaced or moved rows are being repositioned and spun in a better and
more precise North-South orientation. This makes better use of the natural path
of the sun and maximizes and better balances the use of morning and afternoon
for both sides of the canopy. After that, it’s about timing and the goals of
the vineyard regarding their fruit and vine quality and desired yield. If you
have weak or younger vines, it may be better to sucker sooner and perform your
fruit thinning. For stronger and older vines, you can thin fruit and sucker
later for maximum sugar loading. Open zones are beneficial for more aromatic
profiles, and they can help with the amount of acidity and tannin development
with simple vine management. You always want warm days and good sap flow for
pruning.”
Different environments
require different management and trellis considerations. Vineyards located in
volatile weather settings have to be willing to use netting, shades or some
other blocking material in case of severe weather, extreme winds or hailstorms.
Some colder climate vineyards make use of buried canes, green growing vines
that are pulled down and buried in the vine row. The Geneva Double Curtain
trellis is a popular choice for increased frost protection because of its
downward growing, split canopy system. Still, being bulky and top-heavy, it is
a liability in areas experiencing frequent windy situations.
“Our biggest challenge here in Napa is to
develop mechanized vineyards that retain the quality we’re known for, while
also controlling heat and sun exposure issues,” said Loconto. “Everywhere you
go, you’ll see misters and shade cloth used to combat sun exposure. For those
older vineyards that are still orientated to have unequal amounts of sun in the
morning and afternoon, there is a noticeable difference on the contrasting
sides of the vine. Any issues we address have to be solved with the idea of
optimizing our vineyards for mechanical farming. Plain and simple, labor is
just hard to come by and getting harder. Some equipment manufacturers are
helping by developing machines that are comparable to hand labor, gently
pulling the right amount of leaves while being relatively gentle on the fruit
and soft on the clusters. That trend has to continue to move towards the
mechanized vineyard.”
A quick glance at the wine list at Fullerton Wines, and one could
easily be fooled into thinking this family-run venture is a large-scale
commercial winery. Depending on one’s palate and pock-etbook, they can choose
from Fullerton Wines’ Single Vineyard and Reserve wines, their nu-anced Five
FACES line of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, or their more playful and lighter
Three Otters line of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir Rosé and Pinot Gris. So
how can a boutique winery that produces 8,000 cases annually craft such a vast
array of wines?
The short answer? “I’m on
the road a lot,” said Fullerton Wines’ winemaker, Alex Fullerton. The long
answer starts with Alex’s lifelong passion for wine, cultivated through his
family back-ground and education in viticulture and enology at Oregon State
University. These factors gave him the tools he needed to craft distinctive
wines that reflect the soil where they are grown.
A Wine-Loving Family
Prior to founding
Fullerton Wines, Eric and Susanne Fullerton, hailing from Denmark and Swe-den
respectively, introduced their passion for wine to son Alex and his siblings.
As a teenager, Alex caught the wine bug during a trip to France with his
father. His interest continued when he journeyed with his family through
Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne and other Old World re-gions. During these trips,
he learned how wine can serve as a bridge between cultures.
After high school, Alex attended
OSU, where he graduated with an economics degree before en-rolling in the
Viticulture and Enology program. Here he obtained the scientific skills needed
to fine-tune the informal education and refined palate he received from his
parents.
After college, Alex worked
at Drylands Winery in Marlborough, New Zealand, as well as Pen-ner-Ash Wine
Cellar and Bergström Wines, two wineries based in Newburg, Oregon. While
get-ting hands-on experiences at Willamette Valley wineries, he gained an
in-depth understanding of Willamette Valley soils. While the Valley’s soil is
known internationally for producing award-winning Pinot Noirs, other area soils
are ideally suited for growing white wines such as Char-donnay and Pinot Gris.
In some instances, the same soil can produce both grapes.
In 2011, Alex and his
family put that Willamette Valley soil to the test. Despite a challenging
growing season, they achieved success with the 468 Chardonnay vines planted at
Estate Ivy Slope Vineyard, the formal name of the family’s backyard in
Beaverton, Oregon, on the northern border of Willamette Valley.
From the winery’s
inception, the Fullertons have sought to produce quality fruit that mitigates
the impact of climate change. They achieved this goal by employing organic and
biodynamic farming methods such as permanent cover cropping and the use of
organic fertilizers.
Looking to the Soil
Since then, the Fullertons
expanded their winery by exploring which grapes work best with the type of soil
in a given vineyard. The soils present in the Willamette Valley are
sedimentary, vol-canic, and loess. The history of how the soil came to be so
varied is as complex as the grapes that grow from it.
Flooding during the end of
the last ice age formed the Willamette Valley and left behind a com-plex series
of soils with unique characteristics. A repeatedly melting glacial dam led to
Missoula flood deposits that were brought down the Columbia Gorge and
eventually became the Valley’s floor soil.
The flooding from the
Pacific Ocean brought marine sediments, creating the soil that produces
voluptuous blue and black fruit with rich aromatics, denser tannins and earth
tones.
Basalts originated due to
lava flows from eastern Oregon, which gave rise to the volcanic hills in the
Valley. Here, one finds grapes that produce red-fruited wines with soft
tannins, a noteworthy acidity and spicy aromatics.
Silt blown up from the
Valley onto the northeast side of the Willamette Valley produced wind-blown
loess. This soil tends to produce a darker flavor with grapes that have a round
tannin structure and mixed berry aromas with undertones of exotic spices and
briar patches.
A Vast Portfolio of Vineyards
This year, Fullerton is
working with a dozen vineyards nestled among the AVAs that spawn the entire
Willamette Valley wine region. These AVAs and their corresponding vineyards
include:
• Willamette Valley
(Apolloni Vineyard, Bennett Vineyard, Croft Vineyards)
This vast portfolio of
vineyards are selected based on the Fullerton family connections. The net-work
allows Alex to pinpoint the exact plots of land that will work best for
producing particular types of wine. “This selection process preserves the heart
and soul of the individual vineyards so they can all speak for themselves,” he
said.
According to Alex, this
diversity allows him to blend with consistency, as he has a vast palette of
grapes at his disposal that he can use to craft specific wines. Furthermore, by
having vines scat-tered throughout the Willamette Valley, Fullerton Wines can
still harvest grapes should one re-gion experienced a severe weather crisis
such as drought or fire.
Still, Alex admits it can
be draining to run around sampling the vines. He decides when it’s time to
harvest a particular vineyard based primarily on his taste assessment. A
refractometer helps him assess the sugar and when to mash the grapes. Then he
titrates the wine and uses a spec-trometer to evaluate the enzymes.
Less is More
Zoning restrictions and
the desire for a modernized facility led the family to move the winery to
Corvallis, Oregon. Here Alex puts his “less is more” belief into practice. For
example, the reality that wine can be made naturally with the aid of wild
yeast, combined with Alex’s years of tasting hundreds of inoculated and
spontaneous fermentations, led to his preference for spontaneous fermentations.
He eschews fining, which results in producing vegan-friendly wines. Also, only
select wines will receive cross-flow filtration once testing proves they will
benefit from the pro-cess.
Fullerton’s Single
Vineyard and Reserve wines point to those selections that Alex believes come
from the best barrels from their premier vineyard sites. Each bottle represents
the unique condi-tions of that particular vineyard, and are marketed towards
the serious wine connoisseur.
Their Five FACES label, an
acronym for the five Fullerton family members—Filip, Alex, Caro-line, Eric and
Susanne—was created to make a true Willamette Valley blend. Five FACES Pinot
Noir and Chardonnay blend fruit from both volcanic, basalt-based soils and
sedimentary, sand-stone-based soils. The complexity of this wine is due to
their restrained use of aging in new French oak.
Five FACES Pinot Noir
tends to be on the lighter side, with refined tannins and high but
well-integrated acidity. Notes of spice, smoke, and wet earth speak to the
mixed berry aromas and fla-vors like fresh marionberry, strawberry, and cherry.
Five FACES Chardonnay
speaks to the growing acceptance of white wine grapes in the Willamette Valley.
This wine has a medium-plus body with an elegant tension between acidity and
texture. Underneath the intense aromas of apple, pear, brioche and citrus, is a
sense of min-erality and spice notes.
In 2014, Fullerton
launched its Three Otters line with the intention of offering an intriguing
value wine. The line is geared towards the broader market by appealing to
consumers who are seeking a quality wine in the $15-$25 range. The label honors
the family’s Northern European heritage, as three otters have rested
prominently on the Fullerton family crest since the 13th century. This label
also highlights the playful nature of this approachable, lighter and easier
drinking wine.
In addition to Pinot Noir
and Chardonnay, the Three Otters line includes Pinot Noir Rosé and Pinot Gris.
The rosé was crafted as the result of a friendly competition between Alex and
his fa-ther, Eric. It has soft floral undertones and a light, breezy structure
with notes of watermelon, strawberry and citrus. Even though Alex admits that
Pinot Gris can be a “boring wine,” he want-ed to add one to the Three Otters
line because he had a unique chance to work with some fifty-year-old Pinot Gris
vines.
While the winery is not open to the public,
visitors who take a trip to Fullerton’s wine bar and tasting room in Northwest
Portland can take a mini-tour through the range of wines produced by the entire
Willamette Valley. That way, they can sit and savor without spending the day
navi-gating traffic.
Concern about threats
related to climate change is inspiring more consumers to make lifestyle changes
like going vegan, upgrading to electric cars, reducing plastic waste and
seeking more environmentally sustainable products. It’s also starting to affect
how consumers select their wine.
Surveys of wine consumers
in Canada, the U.S., Sweden and the UK are indicating a growing interest in
purchasing sustainably produced wine, favorable perceptions of sustainable
certifi-cation programs and certification logos, and a willingness to pay more
for sustainably pro-duced wine—particularly by Millennials and Gen Z.
For many Canadian
winemakers, however, their interest in sustainable winemaking began well before
consumers started paying attention.
According to veteran British Columbia winemaker Gordon Fitzpatrick, adopting environmentally sustainable practices isn’t just the right thing to do—it also makes good business sense. “Often, sustainable choices have economic benefits. It’s not mutually exclusive,” Fitzpatrick said. “Every little bit helps.”
Fitzpatrick has been in
the wine business since 1986 when he founded Cedar Creek Estate Winery. He sold
the majority of his vineyards to Mission Hill five years ago, but kept one
be-tween Peachland and Summerland. In 2017, he launched a new label,
Fitzpatrick Family Win-ery, using those grapes.
The boutique winery
focuses on sparkling wine and has approximately one-fifth of the produc-tion
capacity of Cedar Creek, topping out at about 10,000 cases at full production.
The shift into sparkling wine was a strategic choice to take advantage of the
vineyard’s unique microcli-mate.
“We lose the sun about two
and a half hours earlier than most other vineyards,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s
why we specialize in sparkling wine. It creates that natural crisp acidity. I
call it shade’s gift.”
Fitzpatrick Family Winery
is located in the Thompson Okanagan region, British Columbia’s pri-mary
wine-growing region. The area boasts 84% of the province’s vineyards by acreage
and has over 200 wineries. Wine tours are a big draw for visitors to the
region. With the local tour-ism association increasingly spotlighting
sustainable tourism, wineries like Fitzpatrick’s are get-ting more recognition
for their environmentally friendly choices.
The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association recently developed a sustainability pledge to identify and feature responsible tourism providers in the region, including Fitzpatrick Family Winery. Other wineries who have signed on to the program include Poplar Grove (https://www.poplargrove.ca/), Grizzli Winery (www.grizzliwinery.com) and Meadowvista (www.meadowvista.ca).
The region was also officially certified as the first destination in the Americas to achieve the Sustainable Tourism Accreditation from Biosphere International and the Responsible Tourism Institute. The certification criteria includes commitments to environmentally sustainable practices, including ensuring access to sustainable energy and adopting measures to mitigate cli-mate change.
Fitzpatrick Family Winery was a pilot winery for the program last fall, Fitzpatrick said, which included a thorough audit on water, energy and waste management practices.
“We think of ourselves as
good stewards of the land, but you always want to look at how you’re doing
things. They came up with some recommendations on how we can do things even
better than we currently are [doing them]. It was a very worthwhile process to
go through,” he said.
Recommendations ranged
from replacing big-ticket items like a 25-year-old water pump with a newer,
more energy-efficient model, to less costly initiatives like installing flow
meters to better monitor water usage, and expanding the winery’s compost program
to incorporate food waste from the on-site, seasonal restaurant.
The winery is also now
pursuing organic certification, following a recent $40,000 investment in
mechanical weeding equipment that will allow Fitzpatrick to stop using
herbicides in the spring.
In the last five years,
Fitzpatrick said consumer awareness of sustainable practices has changed
significantly. “People are much more aware and want to know what your practices
are, and are you being a good steward of the land,” he said. “it’s nice to be
able to stand be-hind what we do.”
Do Wine Consumers Care? Researchers Say Yes
According to market
research by Wine Intelligence, it’s not just hippies who are choosing more
socially and environmentally conscious purchases. Interest in organic, fair
trade and sustaina-bly produced wine is growing and is now considered
mainstream, particularly among consum-ers under the age of 45.
In the U.S., almost
three-quarters of consumers surveyed said they would consider buying
sus-tainably produced wine in the future. Seventy percent of Canadians agreed.
Nine out of ten millennial
consumers surveyed said they would be willing to pay an average of $3 more for
sustainably produced wine. The research found that sustainability
certifications for wine improved consumers’ willingness to buy.
The research was presented
at the first U.S. Sustainable Winegrowing Summit in Sonoma last June. In a
speech at the event, Wine Intelligence CEO Lulie Halstead outlined five key
concepts to “sell” sustainability to
consumers, highlighting how it’s good for people as well as for the
environment:
1. Focus on the small steps
producers and consumers can take today.
2. Frame sustainability as a
positive choice: talk about positive benefits.
3. Use groupthink for good:
invite customers to be part of a larger movement to make greener choices.
4. Appeal to feelings, not
facts: logic is not as persuasive as emotion.
5. Be brief: keep messaging
succinct.
The second edition of the
U.S. Sustainable Winegrowing Summit will be held this year on May 5-6 in Long
Island, New York. The event will feature tours of sustainable wineries in the
area, as well as a full conference program. Tickets are $50. More details are
online at https://www.sustainablewinegrowing.org/summit/.
British Columbia to Host Global Sustainable Tourism Conference
The Thompson-Okanagan
region is also hosting the 2020 Global Sustainable Tourism Confer-ence November
19-22—the first time the annual event will be held in Canada—at the Delta
Ho-tels by Marriott Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna.
The event will feature
expert speakers and panelists from around the world. Over 500 local, national
and international delegates are expected to attend, including destination
marketing professionals, airlines, travel agents, international media and
tourism-oriented business lead-ers.
According to President and
CEO of Tourism Kelowna, Lisanne Ballantyne, industry research indicates that
interest in sustainable tourism destinations is growing. She said recent
reports have found 87% of consumers want to travel sustainably, and 67% are
willing to pay more for travel that has a less negative impact on the
environment.
In 2019, for the second
year in a row, TOTA was named the World Responsible Tourism Award Winner at the
Annual World Travel Awards.
According to British
Columbia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Lisa Beare, the prov-ince’s
stunning scenery and unspoiled wilderness is a key draw for visitors from
around the globe, and the region’s tourism strategy reflects that.
“Our strategic framework
for tourism seeks to responsibly grow the visitor economy by re-specting nature
and the environment, and making sure that everyone sees the benefits of this
important industry,” Beare said in a press release about TOTA’s award win.
I can’t count the number
of times I’ve heard people say, “I don’t like Ontario wine.” It’s a statement I
constantly hear, especially in the Niagara region, where a lot of wine lists
focus on local producers. Every time I hear this sentiment, I’m a little appalled.
It’s like saying you don’t like Chardonnay. Maybe you just haven’t found the
right Chardonnay for you. So, this year, when I attended my very posh friend’s
annual holiday wine tasting party, I brought along a nice, moderately priced
bottle of Ontario wine to add to the mix of thirty bottles we were blind
tasting. The premise: each person brings a bottle of wine and, throughout the
night, tries each one and chooses their favorite. The winner was chosen based
on everyone’s overall rating. Simple. The prize: a $200 bottle of Gamble Mary
Ann, a Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend. I quietly uncorked my bottle of wine from
Ontario’s Ridgepoint Wines and waited for the night to unfold.
Currently, Ontario is
cursed with the same stigma that California received in the 1970s before the
Judgement of Paris. No one seems to believe Ontario vintners are capable of
producing great wine. Forty years later, California is one of the leading
producers in the world and seen as a premier destination. However, Ontario
winemakers are still fighting to make a name for themselves in the
international market, despite having been producing wine for decades. Several
factors influence this: the lack of knowledge when it comes to the Ontario wine
region, the stereotypes associated with Ontario wine, and the need for better
distribution of wine from within the province.
Winemaking in Ontario
dates back to 1811 when German native, Johann Schiller planted
Pennsylvania-native Labrusca grapevines in Cooksville, Ontario. The first
winery in the province opened its doors in 1866 on Pelee Island and Niagara’s
first winery, the Ontario Grape Growing and Manufacturing Company, followed
shortly after in 1873. These early days of winemaking in Ontario saw over
thirty new wineries open for business by the late 1800s. Unfortunately, by the
time prohibition was repealed in 1927, this number had fallen from 61 to six.
At this same time, the government created the Liquor Control Board of Ontario
to control the sale, transportation and delivery of alcoholic beverages in the
province. Eighty-six LCBO stores opened by the end of that year, and liquor
permits were issued at $2 each to enable individuals to purchase alcohol. At
this point, the rules and regulations surrounding the production and sale of
wine did not allow for new wineries to open.
It wasn’t until the early
1970s that winegrowers started to take the first steps to revitalize the
Ontario wine industry. In 1974, Inniskillin Winery became the first new Ontario
winery to open its doors since 1916. They opened the gates for a slew of other
wineries to follow, and, by 2005, a total of 75 new wineries had opened up in
the region. In 1988, the Vintner’s Quality Assurance laid out the specific
geographic guidelines for the winemaking appellations of Ontario and set strict
production standards on wine throughout the province.
Today, there are three VQA
wine appellations in Ontario: Lake Erie North Shore, Niagara Peninsula and
Prince Edward County. Within the Niagara peninsula, there are two regional
appellations: Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Escarpment. These regional
appellations are then broken down further into 10 sub-appellations based on
their unique geographical conditions. Each sub-appellation has different
geology, soil, elevation and variation in temperatures and precipitation. There
is such diverse terroir in this 13,600 acres of land that they can produce
everything from delicate Rieslings to bold and tannic Petit Verdot. The Niagara
Peninsula currently boasts over 46 different grape varietals. Riesling,
Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Gamay Noir and Pinot Noir particularly flourish
here.
When people think of
Canada, they don’t naturally think of wine. They think, “The Great White
North,” hockey and snow. The reality is, the Ontario landscape is so vast and
varied that it allows for the production of a lot more than just icewine. The
Great Lakes border the southern part of the province. Most vineyards are
planted along the perimeter of Lake Ontario, an enormous body of water that moderates
the typically colder winter temperatures of the area. Moderate temps also make
for a longer growing season. Harvest of most grapes doesn’t start until late
September, with the late-ripening grapes being picked still well into November.
Everything from Malbec to Nebbiolo can be grown. Ontario may have cold winters,
but the summertime temperatures reach Mediterranean levels of 95 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Ontario also has
elevation. The Niagara Escarpment stands 177 meters tall and runs through the
entire Niagara Escarpment appellation. The enormous cliff formation faces north
and, combined with the moderating effect of Lake Ontario, creates the perfect
micro-climate for nurturing a diverse variety of grapes. The escarpment
shelters the vineyards from prevailing southwest winds and traps warm lake air
from the north, allowing for later bud bursts and less risk of frost in the
spring, as well as extended growing seasons in the fall. Hot days followed by
cold nights allow grapes to retain their acidity while fully ripening, making
for exceptionally well balanced, food-friendly wine. The streams that run
through the escarpment provide drainage during the spring melt and provide an
excellent source of groundwater during the dry summer months.
The soil in the Niagara
Escarpment is rich and complex. UNESCO recognizes the region as a World
Biosphere Reserve due to the regional appellation’s fossil-rich sedimentary
soils, not unlike Burgundy and Loire Valley. The Beamsville Bench
sub-appellation has some of the most sought after vineyard land because it’s
home to fossil-enriched dolomites. High in calcium-magnesium, the dolomites
give the wines of Beamsville Bench a distinct minerality, similar to a Chablis.
Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris are being produced here with notes of
slate and wet stone, complemented by fresh pear and crisp green apples.
Just a few kilometers from
the Beamsville Bench, you find yourself in the Twenty Mile Bench with a terroir
comprised predominantly of limestone and shale. These soils provide excellent
water holding capacities during the growing season. Combined with the numerous
streams that dissect the escarpment and provide drainage in the spring, Twenty
Mile Bench is a highly regarded VQA sub-appellation. Here you will see producers
focusing primarily on Burgundian style Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These
beautiful cool climate wines are a breath of fresh air after an onslaught of
overripe and overproduced New World wines the market has been seeing over the
recent years.
Directly next to Twenty
Mile Bench, nestled between the escarpment and Lake Ontario, the Lincoln
Lakeshore appellation has one of the longest and warmest growing seasons in the
region. The scarp acts as a shield from heavy winds, and the lake provides insulation
against cold temperatures and traps moisture during hot, dry summers. The most
notable characteristic of Lincoln Lakeshore, though, is its terroir. The soil
within this appellation is extremely varied. Fifty-five percent of the area is
covered in light sand, but you will also find pockets of deep red clay loam and
alluvial deposits from the ancient lake that once existed here. Cabernet Franc
seems to flourish in these areas in a very classic expression of the varietal.
Big tannin, bold black fruit and a hint of crisp green pepper are typical in
these wines.
Meanwhile, along the sunny
banks of the Niagara Lakeshore appellation, light, sandy soils allow for
deep-rooted vines and later ripening grapes. Here, you will find notably
fuller-bodied wines with potential for maturing: big Bordeaux style blends with
bold black fruits and ripe tannin. They are even growing Petit Verdot and
Tannat in this appellation. The simple geography and proximity to the lake and
Four Mile Creek ensure warm temperatures and lots of sunlight year-round. In
other words, when it comes to wine in Ontario, there’s the opportunity to
produce just about anything.
The issue is you won’t
necessarily find the best Ontario wines in the local liquor store. Ontario
vintners can’t even get most of them on the shelves in their own LCBO stores.
The process of getting wine in the hands of consumers is not an easy one in
Ontario.
Most Ontario wineries are
opting for small-batch wines that are only available in the winery tasting
rooms. Recently, “virtual wineries” have started popping up with no physical
storefront, just a product packaged under a winery name—similar to the Old
World French tradition of “negociants.”
The best way to find the
best Ontario wine? Come to Ontario. Let the locals tell you where to go. It
won’t necessarily be the big names like Wayne Gretzky or Jackson-Triggs. Some
of the best wineries are literally inside the winemaker’s house, and they’re
all too happy to have you.
Since moving to the region, I have had the pleasure of discovering numerous wine producers who are doing remarkable things. Ridgepoint Wines, located in the Twenty Mile Bench, is one of the wineries that impressed me. At Ridgepoint, they are producing everything from appassimento-style Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to single varietal Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. The wine that I brought to the holiday tasting party was a 2012 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Ripasso-style Aglianico. Amongst the juicy California Cabs and concentrated Amarones on the table, it was a delightful respite.
Tasting thirty wines in one night is no easy feat. Your palate can only handle so many Barolos in one evening. What my wine offered was a beautiful variation from the others, starting with a complex nose of cherry and cassis, toast and cedar. The refreshingly bright acidity stood out amongst the other wines, and the body, tannin and alcohol still held up against all of the heavy hitters. The palate showed lots of plush fruit balanced with oak and developing notes of leather and tobacco that lingered on the palate in a long, complex finish. The crowd didn’t know what hit them.
At the end of the night, I put on my jacket and packed up my newly acquired bottle of Gamble Mary Ann with a smug grin on my face. I proved to myself, and the others at the party, that Ontario has something to offer the world of wine. Ontario wine is not just good—it’s great.
Last fall, the state of
Texas began the process of auditing all of their direct-to-consumer (DtC) wine
shipping licensees, the biggest such audit in the history of this market.
While all states reserve
the right to audit their licensees, the scope of this mass audit surprised
many. More than 1,600 wineries possess permits to ship directly to Texas
customers. Many have already received a notice from the Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Commission (TABC) requesting to review their records. This
time-consuming process began in September 2019, when the first round of notices
were sent, and will continue as the TABC reviews all permit holders to ensure
they are in compliance with the state’s laws.
At the heart of this
heightened regulatory scrutiny by Texas is the dramatic rise in popularity of
the DtC channel in recent years. Many wine drinkers have come to appreciate the
DtC wine shipping market for bringing a direct connection to their favorite
brands and greater access to wine clubs and highly-allocated labels, creating a
$3 billion national market.
The beverage alcohol
industry has long been one of the most regulated enterprises in the country, so
it is little surprise that this increased scrutiny has come to the DtC wine
shipping channel. States have a vested interest in making sure they collect the
full balance of tax money they are due and that their laws are followed to the letter.
As Texas’s audits proceed, they could well represent a harbinger of what’s to
come for DtC wine shippers, making it important to understand how and why
regulators are examining this market.
Even the Audits Are
Bigger in Texas
In May 2005, Texas Governor
Rick Perry signed into law Senate Bill 877, a transformative reform of the
state’s Alcoholic Beverage Code that smashed open the door for wineries to ship
directly to consumers in the state. Since then, wine enthusiasts in Texas have
been able to purchase wine directly from out-of-state wineries, provided those
wineries obtain the necessary sales tax and Winery Direct Shipper’s permits.
The state’s timing was
no coincidence. Just one week after Gov. Perry signed the new bill into law,
the Supreme Court held in Granholm v. Heald that the states’ ability to
control their internal alcohol markets under the 21st Amendment did not
supersede the general prohibition on discriminating against out-of-state
interests under the Commerce Clause.
Under the decision,
states could no longer prohibit direct-to-consumer wine shipping if they
allowed in-state shipping. In the years following Granholm, a wave of reforms
flowed across the country. But Texas was one of the first to update its wine
shipping laws. And today, the state lives up to its outsized reputation by
being the second-biggest recipient state for direct-to-consumer wine shipping, according to Sovos ShipCompliant data.
So what are Texas
regulators seeking to achieve with this wave of audits? The goal appears to be
ensuring wine shippers are properly licensed, paying excise taxes, reporting
shipments, and not exceeding limits on how much they can send to individual
Texans. The TABC has asked licensees for the sales data used to produce their
Texas Excise Tax returns, including requests for copies of certain invoices
In addition to order
data and invoice copies, the TABC has requested information regarding
licensees’ business structures, including copies of their state and federal
permits, and lists of corporate officers and directors. Contracts or other
agreements that licensees have made with fulfillment houses and similar service
providers have also been sought.
Finally, the TABC is
looking into the specific wines that licensees have shipped to Texas consumers.
Texas’s DtC statutes prohibit licensees from selling wines that the licensee
does not personally produce or bottle. As such, the TABC has requested
licensees provide Certificates of Label Approval (COLAs) and production records
for wines shipped to Texas consumers.
These past requests,
though, are subject to change at any time and any DtC wine shipper that does
receive an audit notice should ensure they comply with the specific requests on
their notice.
This heightened review by the state of Texas comes at a time when
many states are working to ensure that direct-to-consumer shippers are
complying with local regulations. For example, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission
is stepping up in response to reports by the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers
Association alleging widespread violation of its DtC shipping laws, and the
Mississippi Supreme Court recently heard a case regarding stings conducted by
the state Alcohol Control Board to catch illegal DtC shippers.
While Texas is currently the only state to have announced a review
of this size, it almost certainly won’t be the last.
As the Market Grows, So
Will Regulator Scrutiny
The Supreme Court’s
decision 15 years ago in Granholm v. Heald triggered a wave of wine
shipping reforms across the country. Today, 45 states plus the District of
Columbia permit DtC shipping, enabling over 90% of Americans to connect
directly with their favorite wineries.
As a result, direct-to-consumer wine shipping has grown from a
small, niche market in 2005 into a hugely important channel worth more than
$3.2 billion in 2019. According to Sovos ShipCompliant’s annual
Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report, the channel grew by 7.4% percent
in value and 4.7% in volume last year as more wineries invested in e-commerce,
the average price-per-bottle increased, and Oregon and Washington again
outpaced the overall channel in shipment growth, among other trends.
In many cases, DtC
shipping succeeds because it allows smaller wineries access to markets they
would struggle to enter if they relied solely on the traditional three-tier
system due to their relative size. According to the 2020 Direct-to-Consumer Shipping Report, wineries in the small winery category (5,000
to 49,999 annual case production) again dominated the winery shipping channel
in 2019, accounting for 42% of the volume of shipments and 45% of the value of
the DtC channel. DTC shipping has emerged as one of the best ways for these
smaller producers to reach a national audience.
This growth also reflects
consumer demand across the economy for goods delivered directly to their
doorsteps. Apps like Instacart and UberEats have democratized delivery, and
consumer expectations for quick and convenient delivery have never been higher.
This presents a tremendous opportunity for wine sellers to expand their reach,
develop their customer base and increase their sales online.
The marketplace is also
likely to get more competitive in the new decade. In 2019, the Supreme Court
paved a path for expanded DtC shipping of wine by retailers in its ruling in Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers
Association v. Thomas. While only 15 states
currently allow some DtC wine shipping by out-of-state retailers, many see this
decision as an opportunity to challenge old laws to expand this market.
Litigation is ongoing in several states that seemingly discriminate against
out-of-state retailers in regards to their ability to ship wine DtC – notably
Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri. Much in the same way that Granholm
prompted a wave of statutory reform, observers expect consumers and advocates
to push legislative changes across the country. While it may take a number of
years for these changes to take effect, expanded retail shipping is something
everyone should be watching closely.
In the meantime, regulators have a vested interest in making sure
all sellers—whether package stores, direct wine shippers or otherwise—are in
compliance with the law. That means ensuring they are properly licensed,
collecting all applicable taxes, not overselling to individuals and preventing
sales to minors. So if other states see the Texas audits bring positive
results, they are likely to follow suit to uncover gaps in their own systems.
Overall, the DtC wine shipping market is still young and
regulators are still figuring out how to manage it. As the market grows, we can
expect this trend of closer attention being paid to DtC shipping to continue at
the state levels, making now the best time for wine producers to firm up their
direct-to-consumer compliance processes and overall channel strategy.
Now Is the Time to
Ensure Compliance
The risk of audits like those in Texas underscores the importance
of closely adhering to the various laws and reporting requirements imposed by
states. That the regulations can vary among states only adds to the complexity,
whereas failure to comply may result in fines, loss of home state or federal
licenses, and even possible criminal charges.
Wineries have a number of ways to handle this. Some are able to
build in-house teams that can manage compliance, though this can be expensive.
Others rely on outside consultants to manage their compliance needs. But of
course, automating compliance processes is the easiest way to ensure audit
success, limit compliance risk and reduce the overall administrative burden on
shippers as state-by-state tax rules, rates and forms change.
Shipping wine can be complicated, and compliance will never be a task that anyone relishes. However, as the direct-to-consumer channel grows in its importance to the industry, it’s vital that producers shore up their compliance strategy now before the next round of state audit notices goes out.
About the Author: Alex Koral, Senior Regulatory Counsel with Sovos
Alex Koral is senior regulatory counsel for Sovos ShipCompliant. He actively researches beverage alcohol regulations and market developments in order to inform development of Sovos’ ShipCompliant product and help educate the industry on compliance issues. Alex has worked with the company since 2015, after receiving his J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School.
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By: Dr Richard Smart, Dr Misha Kwasniewski, Alex Fredrickson and Dr Angela Sparrow
Think about it, if you will, what is the essence of winemaking? A very important question.
How about if wine is were
made just from the juice and pulp. What an uninteresting beverage it would be.
Alcohol only, with no aroma and no flavour. Spirits are not so uninteresting.
All of the chemical
compounds which make wine such an interesting beverage are to be found in the
skins, maybe a few in the seeds. These compounds include colour phenolics and
the complex of flavour and aroma compounds which help to make varietal wines so
distinctive.
So the answer to my
rhetorical question is: the essence of good winemaking
is in skin extraction.
This leads then to the
important question of how winery practices might be conducted to facilitate
extraction from the skins. I remember well my friend Dr Chris Somers,
distinguished wine phenolic scientist from the Australian Wine Research
Institute making the statement: ”everything that winemakers
want in their wines is to be found in the pomace”. In other words the
standard winemaking factors is inefficient at extraction from the skins.
How can Extraction from the Skins be Improved?
I have long thought about
this remark made by Chris Somers and wondered how might extraction from grape
skins be improved. I had the opportunity to investigate some solutions to this
problem in 2011. As part of my consultancy with Tamar Ridge Wines near
Launceston in Tasmania we had established an experimental winery. This allowed
us to make pilot scale fermentations to evaluate vineyard trials aimed to
improve wine quality.
This facility (in fact a
converted apple-packing cum sheep-shearing shed) also offered the possibility
for Angela Sparrow and I to investigate how the extraction from grape skins
might be improved. Angela initially worked as a technician in the experimental
winery before enrolling as a PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania in
2011.
Our first effort was a
modification to fermenter design which showed little promise. The second was
the light bulb moment. We figured that a
simple way to improve skin extraction would be to make skin particles smaller
(skin fragmentation), so that they had a larger edge to surface area ratio.
There would be a smaller diffusion path of skin constituents to the skin edge
from smaller rather than larger skin particles. So extraction would be
enhanced.
We find in fact that most
grape berries coming out of commercial crushers are simply squashed or
flattened, each with a rather small broken skin edge. We call this phenomenon
“flattened spheres”, each “envelope” often contains skin and seeds. We analysed
a sample of Pinot Gris berries from a Bucher Vaslin crusher, and found that
there were 181 flattened spheres, and only 12 skin fragments.
We evaluated fragmenting grape skins simply using a laboratory blender. We were of course mindful that such an operation should not damage the seeds, and careful checking revealed that this was the case. Therefore we proceeded to make experiments using our micro-vinification techniques, and found that the color and phenolic extraction of Pinot Noir was greatly improved, and sensory evaluation showed that so was the wine quality. We were of course thrilled!
Figure 1
Figure 1 shows Pinot Noir must samples one hour after treatment. The sample on the left shows typical flattened spheres after crushing, with limited color diffusion. The sample on the right was crushed then fragmented, and see the difference in color extraction!
Confirming the Results
The intensive study by
Angela of grape skin fragmentation for her PhD created a considerable number of
scientific publications, including both wine chemistry and sensory evaluation
verification of the concept. Angela developed the term “ACE” to describe the
process, the acronym standing for Accentuated Cut Edges. The first paper in the
series was published in the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture in
2016. It was entitled “Reducing skin particle size
affects the phenolic attributes of Pinot Noir wine. Proof of concept.” Other papers followed
including wine chemistry and sensory evaluation. Always ACE shone through,
producing better Pinot Noir wines.
For the next six years
Angela’s studies progressed from small ferments to those in commercial wineries,
helped in part by an industry research grant. A prototype machine to achieve
ACE was designed and developed, and allowed ACE evaluation at commercial scale.
Enter Della Toffola and DTMA
The machine, the
scientific results and wine samples were shown to Giacomo Della Toffola in
Tasmania. The large Italian winery equipment company Della
Toffola
then proposed a joint venture with Richard Smart and Angela Sparrow to further
the development commercially. The result is the DTMA machine, DTMA being the acronym for Della Toffola Maceration Accelerator.
This machine was evaluated as a prototype by Angela in Australia, New Zealand and Italy in 2016 and 2017. The DTMA machine is now commercially available in a range of capacities through the international dealerships of Della Toffola (see www.dellatoffola.it).
The machine is shown in Figure
2. It is
relatively small and portable, and is connected by hoses between the crusher
and the fermenter.
Coriole winery of McLaren
Vale, South Australia was the first to purchase DTMA in Australia following
trials conducted there by Dr Angela Sparrow. More recently the unit has been
used in experiments by several researchers from the University of Adelaide.
Trials have been conducted as well in California during the 2019 vintage which
will be reported in the future.
Using ACE to Improve Chambourcin Tannins in Missouri
Interspecific hybrid wines
are generally much lower than vinifera in final tannin content. This is in
spite of some hybrid grapes having appreciable tannins in their skin and seeds.
Several studies have pointed to hybrids as having trouble with tannin
extraction and retention during winemaking.
This has led researchers
at the University of Missouri in the U.S. to investigate the efficacy of ACE
treatment on cv. Chambourcin. Alex
Fredrickson, PhD. student in Misha Kwasniewski’s lab, presented preliminary
results of the study at the 2019 Eastern Section of the American Society of
Enology and Viticulture. Alex found that ACE treatment at crush and immediately
before pressing substantially increased final tannin concentration in the wines
versus control, in measurements made 6-months after pressing, as measured by
Adams-Harbertson assay.
ACE at crush yielded 146
mg/L catechin equivalents (CE), ACE 24 hours to pressing was 118 mg/L CE,
whereas control was only 47 mg/L CE. ACE at crushing represents a massive 310% increase in tannin!
This work was part of a larger investigation that included looking into
exogenous tannin addition retention as well as tannin protein interactions. The
ACE treated wines were similar in concentration to a massive exogenous tannin
addition of 1400mg/l at either 20° Brix (1-day after inoculation) or later at 5°
Brix.
These results suggest that
ACE treatment either released a large enough amount of tannin to overcome
whatever factor is causing poor retention of exogenous additions, or
alternatively that the ACE treatment somehow is mediating the problem. No differences
were found between total protein content in ACE treated wines or control
immediately after pressing; this suggests that the protein-tannin interactions
may not explain the increase. Further characterization of the proteins is
ongoing.
Given the promising
results the work was repeated in 2019. As this work moves forward the group
will be looking into impacts on wine volatiles, the consistency of treatment
impacts on Chambourcin and potentially other interspecific hybrids. As well,
studies continue into the underlying mechanism for the dramatic increase found
in the 2018 results.
Conclusion
Giacomo Della Toffola
believes that the ACE process achieved with DTMA will be a “revolution in winemaking”, his impression when he first viewed the results of ACE
research.
Interestingly Della
Toffola has been awarded an esteemed Innovation Award in Winemaking at the 2019
SIMEI Winemaking exhibition in Milano Italy.
Continuing research has
shown that ACE/DTMA can considerably save winemaking costs, some of which are
accentuated by vintage compression and climate change. Earlier research by
Angela Sparrow has shown that following ACE treatment, red wine ferments can be
taken off skins after only three days, thus allowing more use of specialized
red wine fermenters and with savings in cellar labor. Early results with DTMA
have shown encouraging results with aromatic white wines.
Wine grapes ready for crushing, Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
By: Thomas J. Payette, Winemaking Consultant
The crush pad design of a winery is one of the most critical areas
of the winery. Much of the hard work, in
making wine, happens on the crush pad especially during harvest. Make sure to design and implement all aspects
of the desired needs into the crush pad of your functional winemaking
facility. Below are some broad and
expandable review points that apply to most, if not all, crush pads.
Weather: Often grapes are picked
based on weather. Realistically, if
inclement weather is forecasted the vineyard and winery team may make a
decision to pick a variety before that forecasted event. This will often mean that the crushing and
pressing of that fruit may happen during poor weather conditions. For this reason and for protection from all
the elements, including hot sunshine, it is recommended the crush pad have a
roof or cover over it. Be sure to have
ample ceiling height under the cover so as not to restrict certain activities
such as dumping fruit into hoppers by way of forklift.
Cost: This will be some of the
least expensive square footage you will build at your winery. Make sure to have enough room to handle the
bulky mass of grapes so that the fruit may be crushed or processed into their
respective least bulky state whether it is juice or must. Make sure the concrete floor, if used, is
thick enough to handle forklift traffic and that the finish has enough
aggregate (rough surface) to make sure foot and vehicle traffic will have ample
traction on the surface. Because this
will be some of the least cost in terms of square footage be sure to battle
building planners that may want to reduce the amount of crush pad space
allocated in the plans.
Plumbing: Think through your
operations anticipated on the crush pad.
Then use critical thought as to where certain needs for water are. Winterizable plumbing, hot and cold, should
be placed so hoses can be used but out of the way of foot and vehicle traffic,
including doorways. Size the lines to
the area to allow for ample flow and encourage the plumbing contractor to use
full port handled ball valves and to not use standard boiler valves for water
supply. Plan mechanical “stub outs” is
this area if this area is planned to be the future expansion area of the winery
buildings growth.
Wiring: Make sure to think through
plug outlet placement in respect to how it will service each piece of equipment
anticipated, use the shortest length of cord and placed so the cords remain out
of the way of foot and vehicle traffic.
Examples of operations that will need power are: Press, pump, crusher, must pump, sorting
table(s), shaker(s) and perhaps a few extra outlets if multiple operations will
be happening in alternate work areas.
Make sure these electric outlets have weather proof closures and
possibly set up on GFI’s ( Ground Fault Interrupters ). Ample work lighting, including lighting to
view into tractor trailers, should be addressed and ample 110 volts outlets
should exist. Review if ceiling fans are
desired on your crush pad and if so – place them high above the floor to allow
for forklift activity. Review if any
“mood lighting” is desired on a marketing level outside crushing hours. Make sure to know what power service is run
to your building in terms of amps and how many phases (single vs. three
phase). Additional wiring needs may be
for internet access, cameras, intercoms, phone etc.
Drains: A critical feature of the
crush pad due to the large volume of water and cleaning used. Proper sloping floors to these drains should
be used so water will gravitate toward them without the assistance of a
squeegee If portions of the crush pad
are not covered, make sure to place a three-way valve from the drain to
redirect storm and rain water to a more proper location (review local building
suggestions). Review the need for a
catch basin to strain solids from the crush pad effluent. Make sure these drains will withstand the
heavy forklift and equipment traffic.
Walls: The walls on the crush pad
should be durable and reasonably easy to clean.
Concrete, cinderblock, tile or other physically strong materials should
be considered for at least the first 40 inches of height of the walls. These are reasonably cleaned and very durable
to resist bumping from pallet jacks, forklifts, tractors and other heavy
items. Above the 40 inches, if the
masonry is not extended, perhaps look at an easily cleaned attractive and
durable surface such a metal or vinyl siding materials.
Flooring Surface: Mentioned earlier but
worth re-emphasizing. Make sure the
surface of the flooring will handle all predicted vehicles, such as pallet
jacks and forklifts, in terms of its thickness and PSI ratings. Also make sure the surface has enough
aggregate finish to avoid slipping of foot and vehicle traffic.
Mirrors: An easy tool to implement,
and rarely considered, if certain areas are difficult for forklift and
machinery operators to see. Try and
locate a mirror placement that will allow sight to that area. This could be in, near and around door
ways. Another area nice for mirrors is
above any equipment that has high hoppers filled by forklift. This will allow the operator to remain on the
forklift, yet, be able to see inside the hopper to know all the fruit has moved
through the hopper before adding more or closing a press door for example.
Catwalks: Study your crush pad
operation to determine if you need catwalks to service, operate and clean
certain machinery. Can these catwalks
have dual purpose by allowing winery production staff access the catwalk while
also allowing tour guides to accompany tour traffic through the same area? This can be a great marketing tool as well as
a great working tool. Some wineries have
successfully placed their hopper to the press along a catwalk so winery workers
may rinse and clean that hopper carefully from that catwalk location. The same
area can be used for customer tours.
Crush Pad Access Into Building: Many
wineries opt for a lay out that gives access to the tank room from the crush
pad. Often this is the first place the
juices or must will go so that layout makes logical sense. Try and have easy access to the lab, also, so
winemakers can easily assess the fruit and corrections, if desired, can be made
quickly and easily.
Crush Pad Access from Outside:
Makes
sure to plan for forklift, pallet jack, truck, tractor trailer and drive on
traffic by way of tractor and wagon.
Most designs have at least two tractor trailer loading dock stations so
one may park a refer semi on the premise to chill fruit as needed. Another dock may be used to receive fruit or
other items by way of tractor trailer.
If possible include a height to load a box truck or pick up with some
relative ease and then make sure vineyard tractors and wagons may drive on the
crush pad for delivery and perhaps pomace removal from the crush pad. Many smart winery setups elevate their
presses high enough in the air so that pomace may be dumped directly into a
wagon or manure spreader to remove that pomace quickly and efficiently with
little shoveling. Think this through when deciding on placement of the
equipment.
Building Door Access Placement: Make
sure to have at least one people door, with glass panes , and one larger overhead
door, with see though/drive through plastic strip doors added. The overhead door is usually where large
tanks are brought in and out of the winery.
New glass shipments, if arriving at this loading dock will need to have
access to the building and this door is often the door of choice due to its
proximity to the loading dock.
Thresholds: Make sure to design most of
the crush pad, as well as the complete winery building, with minimal raised
thresholds in doorways or between floors so as to allow for easy movements of
items by way of pallet jack, forklift, dolly etc.
Vineyard Safety Assistance: If
your winery has vineyard operations on the property or close by, review if one
may place the potentially required outdoor chemical safety shower on the crush
pad in case of emergency. Check with
someone who knows locality regulations to see if this is an option at
reasonable savings. In many cases this
same shower may be enough for the winery lab and production needs.
Non-Stationary Equipment: If
your winery has movable equipment make sure to place electric outlets
appropriately to service these pieces of equipment. Plan to be able to crush reds and to press
whites simultaneously if possible. Many
pieces of equipment come with short flexible electric cords to them so take a
proactive step, before crush, to replace them with reasonable length cords so
as to allow various configurations and flexibility in their set-up. Not each grape with go through the exact same
process and the winery will benefit from this flexibility.
Stationary Equipment: Make sure stationary
equipment is placed strategically to allow it to function properly. Make sure, for example, that a press is
placed far enough away from a wall to allow its juice pan to be moved so a
pomace wagon may pull underneath for unloading.
Protective Corners: Wall corners, by way of
some form of angle iron type material, to protect from day to day traffic and
worker abuse are a great asset. These
areas often have hoses and cords pulled through them and they wear easily. It is best to protect them. Other areas to
need protection may be around mechanical equipment or winemaking gases such as
: Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, Argon,
Liquid Sulfur Dioxide and now Oxygen.
Pilings best protect these areas from larger traffic issues.
Sight Into Cellar: If possible make sure the
winemaking staff can see into the cellar from the crush pad. Often transfers are being made and a design
that allows visual inspection that the transfer is happening as expected is
important. This function can be a simple
as glass paned doors as mentioned above.
Other groups have used cameras to assist the winemaking team confirm
their valuable juice or wine moves safely from the crush pad to the cellar or
vice-versa.
Hose Access to Cellar: Many wineries now have
openings, usually oversized PVC pipes through the walls, of the buildings so
small wine transfer lines may be run through them. This helps eliminate leaving cellar doors
open during the crush allowing cold air to escape and more than likely large
amounts of fruit fly access. These may
be used additionally for water hoses and electric lines, if unplanned for in
the lay out. I recommend two PVC
“sleeves” with plugs at a minimum place about two inches above the crush pad
floor with a slight fall back toward the crush pad so wine, juice and water
will drain out on the crush pad for proper cleaning/disposal.
Gravity: Keep in mind the crush pad
placement if gravity is desired to be used and how that feature will integrate
into the rest of the structure and winemaking processes. Must can transfer into the tanks by way of
gravity if the crush pad is elevated higher than the tanks. Other ways to achieve gravity are by way of
forklift. Be sure to work with all
winery personnel and designers to make sure these areas are discussed and
completely thought through. The
forklift should be the only machine (see below) that is critical in your
process. This machine is typically
easily fixed or replaced on short notice.
Always place a few calls before crush to have a plan “B” as close to
your potential needs as desired.
Forklift: Often the most utilized
piece of equipment for moving materials during the crush on the crush pad. Gravity may be achieved easily with a
forklift. Heavy items are also easily
moved from one point to another. Allow
plenty of space for the forklift operator to have adequate space to perform
these tasks easily.
Over Thinking Your Processes: Make
sure that your crush pad set up is not so rigid that production on the crush
doesn’t have some flexibility. Imagine
if one machine, in a series of machines, were to become broken. Can a crushing set up plan exist to skip that
machine or does the complete process come to a halt? Make sure the winemaker has enough “stage”, if
you will, to have several variations in production choices.
Emergency Processing: Similar to over thinking
the process above. Imagine poor weather
has been persistent for many days during harvest. Projections of more poor weather are
predicted and you are rapidly losing your crop and/or quality. Contract growers and estate vineyard crews
are grumbling. You can’t keep enough
labor at your sorting table and/or you choose not to sort. Can this process or any other parts in your
process be skipped, at will, to not loose or jeopardize the complete
vintage? Perhaps a break down occurs
with one of the machines. Can they be
worked around or does this bring the complete processing to a stop?
Equipment: Make sure when planning
your winery and crush pad to think through all the pieces of equipment that may
needed. Make sure ample space is
provided on the crush pad for these items.
A starter list of equipment may include but not be limited to : Press; crusher-stemmer; must pump, pump,
sorting table(s); shaker(s) and other(s).
Make sure enough power, light, refrigeration, compressed air or other
needs are supplied to the crush area to support these selected pieces of
equipment.
Non Crush Pad Use: I always like to think of
the winery as a large refrigerator. I
often will move barrels, on racks by way of forklift, from the winery and work
with them on the crush pad when possible.
This allows me to access the barrels fully for a quality control check
and to work with them for such activities as racking, stirring, topping,
adjustments and making blends. Working
on the crush pad allows more efficient use of the winery square footage inside
for storage and minimizing utilities associated with the winery power usage.
Crush Pad Café: Using this term loosely to
suggest other activities can happen on the crush pad area. This could include tables and chairs, picnics
and other winery marketing functions.
Small heaters can make the season longer for this type of use. Winery personnel often want to hide the
machinery associated with processing grapes but we must remember customers
often find it interesting if it is clean and safely arranged on the crush pad.
Noise: Be sure to have mechanicals
such as HVAC compressors and glycol units placed with enough distance from the
crush pad. This will assist in better
employee communication and help with the use of this area for marketing
functions. Often architects and builders
see this ample flat area as a place to station these mechanical units. Be certain to tackle this topic well in
advance to make for better planning and smoother operations both at building
and during upcoming harvests.
Future Building: If the crush pad will
eventually be another part of your winery building planned in the future, make
sure to include the infrastructure to support those plans into the mechanical
aspects of the crush pad. This could
include footers to code where load bearing walls are projected to be
constructed, plumbing stub outs, electrical trunk feeds etc.
Regulatory: Make sure to review your
plat and bonded area before moving forward with some of the operations
mentioned above. In many cases wines
being handled on the crush pad means that area should be bonded. In other cases such as social events taxed
wine may not be allowed back onto a bonded premise area. Review the needs of your winery to see if
multiple uses may be possible in one
form or another.
Ancillary Thoughts:
• Will a large water tank,
elevated high, be mounted on/near the crush pad to fill a sprayer rapidly?
• If production and tour
catwalks are used to service both needs simultaneously? Will rinsing water overspray be an issue?
• Will employees respect the
crush pad space by keeping it organized and not parking personal vehicles on it
during working hours?
• Will extra unused pallets
be stored on the crush pad and if so where?
Summary: When thinking of the crush pad it is best to list everything one may want to do in the space. Try to think in terms in how each operation can be done with the least amount of physical effort, maximizing quality, and employ those ideas. “How can I do the best possible job with my fruit, wine and marketing with the absolute minimal effort?” Make it a pleasure to work at your winery structure with ample planning on the crush pad.
In earlier articles, I have discussed the benefits of federal registration of trademarks, how they differ from patents and copyrighted materials, and how far you should go to protect your marks. But, when someone decides to take the ultimate step to initiate litigation, I find that they often have little understanding of the process, the timelines, the costs, and the burdens involved. This article is meant to give a high-level view of what a litigation entails, either at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or in federal court.
Two Venues
If your goal is to oppose
the pending registration of another person’s trademark, or to cancel such a
registration after it issues, you will generally bring your case to the USPTO’s
Trademark Trials and Appeals Board (TTAB).
On the other hand, if you believe that someone is infringing your
trademark and you want to seek monetary damages, you will file a lawsuit in a
U.S. District Court. There is overlap in
these proceedings; for example, you can seek to cancel a registered trademark
as part of a court case, but there are differences as well; e.g., you cannot
seek monetary damages at the TTAB.
Generally, though, the processes in both venues are similar.
Before Filing – Due Diligence
Whether at the TTAB or in
federal court, before you file your case, you are obligated to ensure that you
have a proper basis for doing so. Your
attorney will ask many questions and likely want to see some documentation. This is their due diligence process to see
whether you have reasonable grounds to bring your case and to assess your
likelihood of success in the matter.
They are looking for such issues as: whether you own a valid trademark
and have standing to bring the case; whether the other party has a valid
trademark and, if so, which party has priority in its rights; the similarity of
the two trademarks and their channels of trade; evidence of when and how the
other party has used its mark, etc. If,
after reviewing these materials, the attorney agrees that you have a reasonable
basis for your case, they will draft the initial filing documents. In the TTAB, these would be a Notice of
Opposition or a Petition for Cancellation; in federal court, it would be a
Complaint. For simplicity sake, I will
refer to all of these documents as complaints.
Filing the Complaint
Your attorney will
synthesize the material you provide into a complaint. While complaints have a required structure
that is somewhat dry and formulaic, because it is the first opportunity to
educate the TTAB or judge as to what the case is about, it should paint a very
clear picture of how you have been aggrieved and the other party is
responsible. The cost of this stage of
the case will depend upon the complexity of the issues and, of course, your
attorney’s hourly rate. For a complex
case, it may take as much as 30-40 hours of attorney time to do the legal
research, analysis, investigation, and draft the complaint. The government filing fees for the complaint,
whether at the TTAB or in federal court are $400.
Discovery
This is the stage of
litigation of which clients tend to have the least understanding, and for good
reason. It’s a complex array of
processes and rules and is frequently the source of many disputes between the
parties. For this reason, it is also
often the most expensive part of the litigation process.
As a general matter,
“discovery” is the process through which you get information from the other
side in order to try to prove your case.
In both TTAB proceedings and court litigations, the discovery process is
fairly broad, meaning that you are allowed to ask for a wide array of
information from the other side. Court
litigations, however, are broader in scope because, for example, those cases
usually involve monetary damages, which are not at issue in TTAB proceedings.
This is also one of the reasons that court litigations are more expensive.
There are four basic tools in discovery: interrogatories, requests for production, requests for admission, and depositions.
Interrogatories are simply questions you ask the other side and they are required to answer. For example, you might ask the other party to describe the dates and circumstances under which they created and adopted their trademark.
Requests for production are how you ask the other party to provide you with documents or other tangible items in their possession. As an example, you might ask the other party to produce documents that demonstrate the geographic areas in which they have sold products under the challenged trademark.
Requests for admission are statements of fact that you ask the other side to admit or deny. These can be useful to narrow the issues and pin your opponent down on specific points. For example, you might ask the other party to admit that they did not use their trademark before a particular date.
Depositions are probably the most dreaded discovery tool. Through a deposition, you subpoena a witness to physically appear in a room with your attorney and to answer questions under oath in the presence of a stenographer and/or video recorder that will take down their every word. Depending upon the complexity of the case, these depositions may last as long as 7 hours, each.
Often, there will be several rounds of written discovery between the parties before depositions are taken. This enables the parties to review the documents and narrow the issues so they may ask more pointed questions of the deposition witnesses. This written discovery process can be lengthy, arduous, and disruptive to the parties’ businesses. The parties generally have 30 days to respond to each discovery request, so the whole discovery process can take anywhere from several months to several years in more complicated cases.
In addition to drafting and responding to each other’s requests, the attorneys will often have protracted discovery disputes, arguing about the scope of the requests, the disclosure of confidential business information, or the application of attorney-client privilege. Most clients dramatically underestimate the amount of time it will take to complete discovery, the amount of time and effort they will have to spend in collecting documents and responding to requests, and the costs involved.
Experts
All of the discovery
issues mentioned above relate to what are called “fact witnesses.” This can be anyone who has factual
information relevant to the case. In
most instances, the requests will be directed to the company and/or individual
owners or employees of the company. In
some cases, the litigants may also seek discovery from third parties who have
no direct involvement in the matter, but nevertheless have information relevant
to the case. There is another category
of discovery, however, relating to expert witnesses.
In trademark cases,
experts will sometimes be called by one or both sides to provide opinions as to
whether there is a likelihood that the relevant public will be confused as to
the source of goods due to the similarity of the two trademarks. Sometimes these experts will conduct surveys
of the public. The experts will then
draft a written report of their findings and stating their opinions. The other side will usually then take a
deposition of the expert to try to expose weaknesses in their opinions. While experts can be extremely useful, they
also dramatically add to the cost of the litigation due to their fees as well
as the cost of associated discovery.
Motions
Throughout the case, but
particularly after discovery, each party may file a variety of motions with the
TTAB or court. A motion is a document
requesting the court to decide an issue.
For example, if the other party refuses to provide certain requested
documents, you might file a motion to compel, asking the court to require the
party to produce the documents. There
may also be motions to dismiss the case, motions for sanctions for abusing the
discovery process, motions to exclude evidence or disqualify an expert, and
many more. After discovery is completed,
the parties will often file a motion for summary judgment, in which the party
claims that there are no material facts in dispute between the parties and
therefore they are entitled to win the case as a matter of law.
With all motions, the
other party will have an opportunity to file a written opposition to the
motion. In some cases, the motion will
be decided by the court just on the basis of these written briefs, but for more
complex issues, the parties or the court may request an oral hearing to present
the issues to the court in-person.
Trial
Up to this point, the
processes at the TTAB and in federal court are very similar. This is where they diverge
significantly.
At the TTAB, the plaintiff
will have a period of time in which they may present evidence to the board in
support of their case. They first have
to make “pre-trial disclosures,” telling the board and the other party what
witnesses they will present, for example.
Then there will be a “trial” period during which they present their
case: they will submit various documents and affidavits, and may take
testimonial depositions of the witnesses either through live testimony or
written questions. At the conclusion of this period, the defendant will have an
opportunity to do the same. The
plaintiff will then have an additional period for rebuttal. Once these “trial” periods are complete, each
side will have an opportunity to file a brief, arguing the facts to the
board. This entire process from the
beginning of the plaintiff’s trial phase, to the filing of the last brief, may
take as long as 9-10 months. Upon
completion of the briefs, one or both parties may ask the board for an oral
hearing. After all of the briefs are
completed and, if requested, the hearing has taken place, the Board will then
take all of the evidence under consideration and render its decision. This process may take several more months.
By contrast, a trial in
federal court is the process with which people are more familiar. As with a TTAB proceeding, the parties will
make certain disclosures to the court and may argue about what evidence may be
presented, but the trial phase itself is what people typically expect. It is a live process in front of a jury and/or
judge in which the parties may call witnesses to testify and may present
physical evidence for the court’s consideration. It is a more interactive process, where each
side may cross examine each other’s witnesses immediately. The whole trial process generally may take a
couple days to several weeks.
Conclusion
Whether at the TTAB or in
federal court, a trademark litigation is a lengthy, costly, and exhausting
endeavor. Whenever possible, parties
should attempt alternative means to resolve disputes that are far less
burdensome. But, when litigation cannot
be avoided, the parties should at least have a full understanding of the
timeline, the processes, and the costs involved. While most cases at the TTAB and in federal
court settle, the parties should be prepared for the case to go all the way
through trial. Every case is different,
but parties should expect a trademark case to take 1 ½ – 2 years to complete, sometimes more. A TTAB case that goes to trial will certainly
cost in the tens of thousands of dollars and often will reach six figures. A federal court case will start in the
hundreds of thousands and may reach seven figures in more complicated
matters. It is imperative that the
parties have a full and frank discussion with their attorneys about all of the
issues discussed herein.
Brian Kaider is a principal of KaiderLaw, an intellectual property law firm with extensive experience in the craft beverage industry. He has represented clients from the smallest of start-up breweries to Fortune 500 corporations in the navigation of regulatory requirements, drafting and negotiating contracts, prosecuting trademark and patent applications, and complex commercial litigation. bkaider@kaiderlaw.com, (240) 308-8032
