Support for a new winery's first vintage

Why the first vintage is hard

Nothing in a new winery has been tested at volume. The press has never held a full load. The tanks have never been filled and cooled together. The team has never worked a twelve hour day side by side.

Grapes do not wait. Once they are ripe the schedule belongs to the vineyard. A first vintage goes well when most decisions were made months earlier.

Before harvest: equipment and people

Run every machine empty and then with water: destemmer, pumps, press, cooling and filtration. Fix leaks and noises now. Check that each tank has the right fittings and that you can reach the sample valves.

Set up the laboratory with fresh reagents and calibrated instruments for sugar, pH, acidity and sulphur dioxide. Write down who does which job at intake, in the cellar and in the lab. Practise the routine once with a small lot of bought grapes if you can.

Also check supplies: yeast, nutrients, sulphur, cleaning chemicals and enough sanitiser. Running out on a Sunday in the middle of harvest is a classic problem.

At intake: decide with data

Picking date is the biggest single choice. Taste the grapes in the vineyard and measure sugar and acid. Look at the seeds and skins as well as the numbers. Warm regions can push sugar up faster than flavour develops, so waiting on numbers alone can mislead.

At the winery, sample each lot and record weight, sugar, acidity and condition. Keep lots separate where you can. In a first year, small separate lots teach you what each block gives.

In the cellar: keep it simple

Choose a straightforward approach for the first vintage. Control temperature, protect the must from oxygen where the style needs it, give the yeast what it needs and watch fermentation twice a day. Red wines need regular management of the skin cap. White wines need cool, steady fermentation.

Measure sugar and temperature on each tank at the same time each day. Record them. A sticking fermentation caught on day three is a small problem. Caught on day ten it is a large one.

Keep sulphur additions and cleaning routines written down and checked. Cellar hygiene prevents most of the faults that new wineries blame on the grapes.

After fermentation: stabilise, age and bottle

Decide early what each wine will become and how it will be aged. Plan clarification, filtration and any stabilisation. Test before bottling for free sulphur, dissolved oxygen where you can and microbiological stability. Bottling is the point of no return, so rehearse it.

Keep records of every wine from grape to bottle. They are your quality system. They also protect you in an excise inspection. Rules on records and labels depend on the state and change, so ask a licensing adviser. See also our guide on what winery consultancy covers.

Where outside support pays off

Most first-vintage problems come from planning, not skill. We support new wineries with a pre-harvest review of equipment and routines, a written intake and cellar plan, a laboratory routine and help during harvest and bottling. Ankur Napa leads on quality systems and records. The work runs remotely by video call, with site visits by arrangement around harvest.

We do not promise a style or a score. We help you reach the end of the first vintage with wine that is sound, records that are complete and a team that knows what to repeat next year. If you are weighing the wider plan, see how consultancy changes with plant size.

Notes for the days after harvest

When the last lot is in, the work is only half done. Clean the whole winery properly, check every piece of equipment for damage and write down what to change before next year. Memory fades quickly once the pressure is off.

Hold a short review with the whole team while the experience is fresh. Ask what slowed intake, what was missing from the stores and which job was done by the wrong person. Turn the answers into a short list for next season.

Taste the wines regularly through the winter and record the notes. Early tasting tells you where to act while you still can.

Common questions

When should support start?

Ideally two or three months before harvest, so there is time to fix equipment and train the team.

Can you help during harvest remotely?

Yes. Daily review of tank data and decisions by video call works well. A site visit by arrangement helps at intake and bottling.

Do you provide a winemaker?

We support your own team and can help define the winemaker role and skills you need. We do not supply staff.