Wines can be ruined in just one moment: during bottling. After all of the attention in the vineyard, all of the details that go into making the wine… …we can completely ruin the quality with poor bottling practices. While this operation seems somewhat straightforward, and may often become boring, there is an incredible amount of […]
Sanitation
“What do we do?”
Maintaining Individual Health and Safety while Staying in Business The COVID-19 pandemic is causing regular changes to daily life, and suggestions for essential businesses are being altered daily. The one issue I hear from wineries right now is the stress of not knowing what to do in the current moment: how to stay in business […]
DIY a Handwashing Station: Uses for Wineries
In last week’s Winery Operations in Response to COVID-19 blog post, I mentioned that wineries can set up DIY handwashing stations. Since that posts release, I thought of a few additional purposes for this station to help during the COVID-19 pandemic: Add at the entrance to the production space. Have employees wash their hands upon […]
New Wine Packages = New Problems
As many in the wine industry transition from packaging wine in traditional 750-mL bottles to trying out alternative packages like cans, pouches, and Tetra packs, new stability problems emerge. It’s easy to assume that the package has no real impact on the wine other than potential quality characteristics (e.g., aromatic intensity, aromatic profiles, shelf-life or […]
Acetic Acid Bacteria Growth in New Vintage Red Wine
A Case Study The Problem A freshly fermented batch of red wine, wine pH above 3.65, was put into a variable capacity tank (VCT). Following the completion of malolactic fermentation, approximately 50 ppm sulfur dioxide was added to the wine. The lid to the tank was floated on the surface of the wine and sealed. […]
Four Steps to Transition the Cellar in Preparation for Harvest
For those wine regions in the southernmost states, harvest prep may have already started in May, as harvest season may be in full swing early July. However, for many wine regions in the U.S., the months of June and July mark the beginning of harvest preparation in the winery cellar and production space. While it […]
