Winery Adopts Home Wine Gadget

Napa winery offers custom small-lot production service for would-be vintners
  

The WinePod's self-contained features include a wine press, and a system for easy pomace removal.

Napa, Calif. -- The futuristic wine pod, introduced in 2006 as an expensive toy for home winemakers is now being used by at least one commercial winemaker to enter the lucrative custom crush business.

The WinePod self-contained fermenter/press incorporates wireless, computer-controlled heating and refrigeration as well as automated Brix sensing that allows the user to produce 40 liters of wine with production profiles that mimic small or large tanks.

The system is already being used by winemaker Gustavo Brambila of Napa's Gustavo Thrace Winery to craft small lots for wine lovers who want to create custom private-label wines, though the unit is really aimed at wine connoisseurs for home use. "We want to convert serious wine lovers into winemakers," says Gary Snell, inventor of the unit.

Brambila, who long worked with Grgich-Hills, and recently gained notoriety as a subject for the movie Bottle Shock, says the unit is very convenient to use. "You can't lose control of temperature, and you can put the wine through malolactic fermentation at 70 or 72°, even if the outside temperature doesn't cooperate."

It is especially useful for white wine, he notes, which is difficult to make on a small scale because of the need to maintain the proper temperature. Brambila says it can also be used to cold-stabilize wines.

He and his business partner Thrace Bromberger have a WinePod on display at their new winetasting salon in downtown Napa's Oxbow District, and Brambila also is using two units at his winery facility.

Gustavo Thrace has specialized in small lots of 200 to 300 cases of wine, producing some 7,000 cases per year, but making four cases at a pop is a new effort. The cost is $1,872 ($39 per bottle). 
 
 

At 4-feet high, the sleek WinePod can double as a drinks table.

The WinePod is a stainless-steel unit shaped like a Riedel Syrah wineglass. It stands 4 feet tall. Its heart is an integral fermentation tank and press that operates like a giant French coffee press. It has internal refrigeration and heating systems, and temperature and Brix sensors, and is designed for easy removal of pomace in a basket.

The unit's sensors communicate via proprietary wireless technology to a personal computer containing the company's WineCoach software application used by the winemaker to monitor and control fermentation. The software guides the user step-by-step through the winemaking process, recording fermentation data and prompting corrective actions.

Winemaker and biochemist John Kelly at Westwood Winery in Sonoma helped develop the winemaking software, and supplies grapes from his Annadel Estate Vineyard.

WinePod makes four cases of wine per cycle, which takes up to a month. Users can supply their own grapes, or the company will ship destemmed frozen red grapes or white juice.

WinePod supplies Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Rancho Sarco and Napa River Ranch in Napa Valley. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay come from Sangiacomo Vineyard in Sonoma Valley and Syrah from Annadel Vineyard in Sonoma Valley. One lot--15 gallons of 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon--costs $700. WinePod plans to offer additional varietals. It also provides certified lab analysis of both self-supplied fruit and finished wine through Vinquiry.

The WinePod alone is $4,499; a package with one load of Cabernet fruit, accessories, consumables kit and bottling kit is $5,999. The company has just announced a less expensive model. With a 75-liter stainless tank and press, the Garagiste retails for $1,999, but does not include temperature control or Brix sensor.

WinePod is produced in San Jose by ProVina, a consumer electronics company co-founded by CEO and WinePod co-inventor, Greg Snell. Snell is a Silicon Valley native who worked in the semiconductor industry before launching ProVina. Its backers include T.J. Rodgers of Cypress Semiconductor, who is a founder and co-owner of Clos De La Tech winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. ProVina is funded by VantagePoint Venture Partners.