Mobile Bottling Comes to Midwest

Nebraska brothers' custom-built trailer carries line that runs at 50-60 cases per hour
  
 
Hartington, Neb. -- Winemakers in California take for granted that certain services that will be available to them if the need arises. If, for example, a winery chooses not to buy a bottling line, there are several mobile bottlers that will be happy to take care of putting the production into bottles. In other parts of the country, however, obtaining such services can be difficult, if not impossible. This is certainly true in the Midwest, even though the grape and wine industries are growing rapidly in that part of the country.

Tim Nissen and his brother Dave grow 13 acres of grapes in Hartington, Neb., and when they started Nissen Winery, they wanted to purchase a bottling line. After investigating the cost -- as well as the more than 100 wineries in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota -- the Nissen brothers entered the mobile bottling line business in January.

According to Tim Nissen, many small wineries within 150 miles of his location in the northeast corner of Nebraska would like to buy a bottling line, but just can't afford it. "We can bottle their wine for them," he said, "for less than what they'd pay in interest on a bottling line of their own. And it lets us have the bottling line we wanted for our own winery."
 
In September they purchased an Italian-made RTCE-601 bottling line from AB Techno. The line uses single phase 220 electricity and compressed air, has a four spout filler and can fill, cork, capsule and label between 50 and 60 cases per hour. It also can apply Stelvin screw caps. Wineries have the option to bottle in 375 ml or 750 ml bottles, and the line can adapt to different dimensions of these bottles.

The brothers had a trailer custom-built with a tilt bed that allows the line to be wheeled off the trailer and into a winery. (The bottling line is on four caster wheels.) "We thought about putting the line on a trailer, but that just wouldn't work in our climate. I like taking the bottling line off the truck and into the winery."

The Nissens charge $25/hour plus $3 to $4 per case, with larger quantities getting a better price break. If a winery is more than 150 miles from Hartington, a mileage fee is added, although there are no set-up fees or changeover fees.

For more information on the Nissen's mobile bottling service, e-mail Tim Nissen at tnissen@hartel.net.