Page 20 - Grapevine NovDec 2020

In The Winery

Meanwhile, kegged wine has been growing in carry, especially when shipping wine across the
popularity as an on-premises option and offers country or overseas.
by-the-glass pours at restaurants and bars. The
next wave of wine products is getting even more However, packaging costs may increase if a winery
creative with wine packaged in tubes, triangu- chooses to switch gears entirely and buy expensive
lar-shaped bottles and other eye-catching specialty equipment to accommodate new packaging strate-
shapes that capture the imagination. gies. This is especially true if a winery is still in the
experimental phase of package design and isn’t yet
Pros & Cons of Packaging Options sure if the packaging style will resonate with con-
sumers or maximize product quality over time.
As with all aspects of winemaking, there are pros
and cons to the various wine packaging options Life Expectancy Considerations
available to wineries today. Many alternatives
weigh less, don’t break as easily and produce The amount of time that wine stays fresh should
fewer greenhouse gases than traditional bottles. always be a top priority when choosing a packag-
Alternative packaging allows for more experimen- ing strategy. Glass bottles are known for their long
tation opportunities for wineries curious to try cre- shelf life and can last for decades because glass
ative flavor profiles in single-serve portions. does not chemically react with the wine.

Tim Orr, the president of TORR Industries in Wine packaged in cans should have adequate
Redding, California, told The Grapevine Magazine acidity to maintain the freshness of flavors and help
that some alternative packages are beneficial it last longer. There have been considerable strides
because they offer more advertising space than in technological improvements for both oxygen
glass bottles, which only have a few inches of space control and bag films. Ten years ago, consumers
for branding. Founded in 2007, the TORR Industries would often find bag-in-box wine to have incon-
management team has over 50 years of combined sistent taste and quality. However, this is hardly a
experience in filling bag-in-box, stand-up pouches concern today, thanks to the high-tech fillers pro-
and shelf-stable extended shelf-life food products, pelling this industry into the future.
as well as bulk aseptic packaging. TORR designs and
manufactures wine filling, packaging and dispensing Machinery for Different Packaging
solutions in its Northern California facility. Strategies

Alternative packaging options typically succeed When a winery decides to change packaging types,
better than bottles at allowing the same container it often needs to upgrade its equipment to handle
of wine to be enjoyed over multiple days. However, new demands or outsource packaging to a special-
wine may not age as well in alternative contain- ized company. The machinery required to make a
ers, which is a problem for certain types of wine. switch may include canning machines and filling
Glass bottles excel at keeping oxygen and microbes equipment.
out of the wine and preventing it from going stale
or growing mold while retaining the best flavor. Delkor Systems has recently developed cut-
Although attitudes are changing, the perception ting-edge packaging machinery for the wine indus-
still exists that wine in alternative packaging is of try – Delkor’s Performance Case Packer with pat-
lower quality than wine in glass bottles. ented Intelligent Synchronization technology. Based
in St. Paul, Minnesota, Delkor makes case packers
Cost Considerations for bottled, pouched, canned and bag-in-box wine,
as well as cartoning machines for canned wine
Although style is important when choosing wine and a bag-in-box closing machine. The Intelligent
packaging, the ultimate decision often comes down Synchronization equipment design is compact and
to cost. Bag-in-box wine is economical, and by put- new to the wine industry, offering two useful appli-
ting more premium wine into boxes, a producer’s cations: the automatic cartoning of eight-ounce
profit margin may increase. Transportation costs wine cans into four- and six-count paperboard car-
can be lower for alternative packaging because tons, and case packing of the paperboard cartons
lighter loads without heavy glass are cheaper to into boxes for shipment.

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