Managing Compressed Vintages at VinLink Marlborough

A case study

- Dave Pearce

NEW ZEALAND MORE THAN SHEEP AND HOBBITS

• Increase in value of NZ wine exports.Approximately 1.5 Billion p.a.

• Big increases in total sales.Up by nearly 10% this year

• Sauvignon Blanc dominates NZ wine exports.

Currently 86% by volume

REGIONAL VINEYARD GROWTH

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

MarlboroughHawkes BayGisborneCentral Otago

Vine

yard

are

a (h

ecta

res)

Year

MARLBOROUGH WINE REGION(S)

WAIRAU VALLEY AWATERE VALLEY

New Zealand's largest wine region

New Zealand's 2nd largestwine region

SAUVIGNON BLANC “MONOCULTURE”

VINLINKMARLBOROUGH

VINLINK HISTORY

• Independent contract winemaking facility. • Established in 2012.• First started processing in vintage 2013.• 11,231 tonne for its first vintage. • Increased to 21,322 tonne for its second vintage. • New Zealand’s largest ever winery growth rate.

VinLink 2012 Stage One

COMPANY STRUCTURE(NON-VINTAGE)

Cellarhand

Currently unfilled

Cellarhand

Daniel Ching

Cellarhand

Mary-Ann Reinke

Assistant Winemaker

Jeremy Tod H&S Deputy Chair

Cellar Supervisor

Andrew Bassett

Laboratory Technician

Mai Nguyen

Administration Assistant

Tanya Grieve H&S Officer

Production Winemaker

Kerrie Stronge

Production Winemaker

Kathy Cooney H&S Chair

Production Winemaker

Jeff Lee

Quality Systems Manager

Shelley Wetton BRC HACCP Chair

Administration Manager

Jackie Doull

Board of Directors: Phil Turner (Board Chair), Simon Gilbertson (Managing Partner), Rob Godwin (Managing Partner), John Gilbertson, Reid Fletcher

General Manager

Dave Pearce BRC HACCP Deputy Chair

• Has worked in wineries since 1978 as a Cellar Hand, Lab Tech, Distiller, Production Manager, Winemaker, Chief Winemaker, General Manager.

• B. Food Technology (hons) - Massey NZ.• Headed the conversion of the world’s first carbon

neutral (carboNZero) winery.• First to make a Sauvignon Blanc “Top wine of NZ”

(Royal Easter Wine Show - 1997), later a “World’s Best Sauvignon Blanc” (Int. Wine Challenge -2006).

• Has received International trophies for Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc (most auspiciously “Top Wine In The World With Oysters”).

DAVE PEARCEVinLink General Manager

MARLBOROUGH - 1983 TO 2015

Vintage growth around 3,300%

Sauvignon Blanc increase from about 5% to about 85%

1983 normal vintage 6 weeks

2015 normal vintage 3 weeks

Overall increase in Sauvignon Blanc intake rate: approximately 110,000%

MARLBOROUGH SAUVIGNON BLANC

Comparative aromatic profile of Sauvignon Blanc.

Marlborough vs. Bordeaux

INTRODUCTION

“You know in Marlborough you really need to be able to get your fruit in over a two week period.

Shouldn’t happen… but you need to plan for it.”

CAUSES OF VINTAGE COMPRESSION(IN MARLBOROUGH)

• Frost• Stress• Monoculture• Botrytis • Rain• Heat• Drought• Viticulture• Sprays• Market

Early end to vintage Water (usually..) All the same variety And other infections Can bucket down SB Over-ripens very quickly Irrigation can be stopped Evens out performance Standardised schedules Little stylistic variation

AND..(IN MARLBOROUGH)

• Harvesting!Big advances in harvesting technology and logistics; the “down-side”, if there is one, to managing all the others.

MAIN DRIVERS?(AND I GENERALISE)

Cold and/or wet - 2 in 5 vintages

Hot and dry - 1 in 5 vintages

Because that’s the way it is, deal with it!- 2 in 5 vintages

And because timing is everything..

Dry Season Precautions in the VineyardAs we come into what is expected to be a very dry growing season, Wine Marlborough will be hosting a brief seminar for members.

1. Rob Agnew from Plant and Food Research will provide an overview of how the current season has started out with regard to Temperature, Rainfall, Soil Moisture, Water Deficit, in relation to previous seasons and the current climate situation as reported and forecast by NIWA.

….

4.Members of the Viticulture Task force will be discussing how they manage these conditions on the ground.

Dry Season precautions in the vineyardWhen: Tuesday 17th November 2015Where: Marlborough Research Centre Theatre, 85 Budge StreetTime: 4.00pm approx. 1 hourRSVP: To harriet@winemarlborough.nz

MANAGING VINTAGE COMPRESSION(A TRADITIONAL WINERY VIEWPOINT)

“We can’t justify investing that sort of money when vintage only lasts for six weeks of the year.”

A TRADITIONAL RESULT

MANAGING VINTAGE COMPRESSION(A CONTRACT PROCESSOR’S VIEWPOINT)

“Because VinLink makes nothing if it doesn’t get its clients’ fruit in we’ve

made sure we’ve got the horsepower up front to do so.”

A BETTER RESULT

3 independent runways, each with a 200HL and 240HL press.35 tonne/hour per runway continuous intake (105 T/hr overall).Red and White simultaneously.100 minute press cycles.Barcoded deliveries.

AND THE REAL DIFFERENCE?(TRADITIONAL WINERY VS CONTRACT PROCESSOR)

…no winery makes anything without the fruit coming in. The very worst case being the winery that’s made the fullestinvestment in the fruit, from vineyard development to in-market representation.

None!

(in other words the “traditional” winery structure)

“Every step along the value chain is critical to a winery’s success and none more important than ensuring that the value created in the vineyard is transferred successfully into the winery.”

A CASE STUDY

VinLink’s strategy to get that value out of the vineyards and into our winery.

IDENTIFY, MITIGATE AND MANAGETHE ISSUES

Process

Plant

Partners

Planning

Procedures

People

“These Issues”

Starting here

PROCESS

“Design your Process flow.

Design it to do the volumes in the timelines you need to them it in.

Be realistic, if vintage can be as short as two weeks then process flow rates should show that.”

A PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM(A STARTING POINT)

PROCESS FLOW INFORMATIONEVERYTHING SPECIFIED

Decision making points – fruit bookingProduct flow rates – freight, crush, pressHuman input – work, decisionsDelay times - presses, lab, cellarAlternate pathways - quarantineDry goods use – locations, waste Fermentation rates – start, middle, finish Inert gas use – type, ratesEnergy use – power, heating, fuelWaste streams - water, marc, perliteRefrigeration loads – ferment, cooling

PLANT

“Plant must be sized to match the process flow.”

“All of it!”

PLANT SIZING EXAMPLEDETAILED REFRIGERATION MODELLING

SURPRISING RESULTS

• Completed 2015, two units.

• One is the largest refrigeration compressor in a New Zealand winery (1.18 MW)

• Room for expansion…

PARTNERS

“An area easily overlooked and often a downfall. These are the many inputs into your process that can miss a mention.”

SOME OF OUR PARTNERS

Appreciate how many you have and choose them well!

WHY PARTNERS?

Vintage stops just as quickly with a food poisoning outbreak as with a water shortage.

PLANNING

“Planning should be clear, specific, involve everyone and be well communicated. It needs to cover the unlikely as well as the expected. Do it well, as no matter how well you do it it’s not going to be the way it happens.”

A PART OF THE PLAN A SECTION FROM VINLINK’S CLIENT CHECKLIST

PROCEDURES

“You can certainly have too many standard operating procedures (SOP’s), - but probably not before 300 or so.”

WINEMAKER SOP’S

PEOPLE

“Staff are both an integral component of shareholders’ investment as well as a pivotal driver of shareholder value; something not as widely appreciated as it could be in the industry.”

QUALITY SYSTEMS MANAGER

SHELLEY WETTON (QSM)Diploma in Viticulture & Winemaking (NMIT).9 vintages experience in Marlborough.

VinLink employed a full time Quality Systems Manager from the beginning, given the vital importance systems and structures have in allowing people to do their jobs effectively.

WINEMAKERS

JEFF LEEDegree in fermentation science (Oregon State).Initially brewing then went on to winemaking in regions including Oregon & Marlborough.12 vintages experience.

KATHY COONEYUndergraduate degree in biochemistry (Canterbury).Post Grad (Masters) (University of Adelaide).12 vintages including Germany, France, Oregon, Central Otago and Marlborough.

KERRIE STRONGEUndergraduate degree in microbiology (Massey).Masters in applied wine science (first class honours) (Lincoln).16 vintages in Australia and NZ, primarily Marlborough.

JEREMY TODBV&O (Lincoln).13 vintages including California, Australia, Mexico, Chile and New Zealand.

OUTCOME?

Process

Plant

Partners

Planning

Procedures

People

Performance!

CONCLUSIONS

“Vintage Compression” is a challenge we either experience already or will do so in the near future.

Managing vintage compression is a significant issue for winemaking caught unawares.

The strategy should be to conduct a realistic assessment of your winery’s current capabilities.

This information must go to everyone with influence in the decision making (capex and opex) processes, because…

LIKE IT, OR NOT, THEY’RE ALL INVOLVED

BECAUSE…

“The best return you can make on your shareholders’ investment is getting their

fruit into your winery, in the best possible condition.”

AND.

We all know what it feels like when we get it wrong!