Software for the winery and vineyard

Wines & Vines, Sept, 2001 by Jennifer Rofe

Running a successful winery exceeds the responsibility of growing healthy grapes, producing good wine and selling attractive bottles in tasting rooms and retail shops. With it comes a slew of tasks like record keeping, data tracking, accounting, shipping and government reporting. For some wineries, particularly larger ones, managing these necessary operations by pencil and paper can be an overwhelming, burdening and nearly impossible chore. Bring forth computers and state-of-the-art software, and you have what can be an easier and more efficient way to manage a winery's operations.

Fortunately, various companies produce software for wineries to make the essential tasks less intimidating. Wines & Vines surveyed a few to uncover what services they offer.

Blend Winery Software

Blend Winery Software (BWS), a company that "develops and markets software for managing production and back office operations in the wine industry," offers two software systems. The PC-Blend bulk wine tracking system covers all functions of wine production, from harvest to bottling, such as tracking fermentation, wine movement, blending and additions. "(The PC-Blend system) also has a full cost accounting component to track the costs of individual additions, overhead and grapes," said President Doug Campbell, who started BWS in 1990. "When you sell the wine to somebody, you can tell the exact composition down to a hundredth of a gallon."

Modules available for the PC-Blend system created to interface with the PC-Blend software include a barrel bar coding system, which "provides an automated link to a scanner used to track cellar activities"; packaged goods system module, which tracks packing materials such as corks, glass, capsules and materials used in wine production; custom crush system, which produces invoices for custom crush accounts; and a grower management module for writing multi-year grower contracts.

The Sales and Distribution system "is a winery specific solution for tracking all activities involved with the inventory of finished goods."

The system, which has a full accounts receivable system built in, tracks the inventory of case goods into various warehouses, has a full-order entry system for selling wine directly or to distributors and tracks all sales activities including allocations, payment and invoices.

The full PC-Blend software costs $17,500 and the PC-Blend Lite program, a single-user version, runs $9,800. The Sales and Distribution system costs $16,900. A three or five year lease purchase of the software is also available.

Currently, BWS is revamping its PC-Blend software, and the updated version will be released at the end of the year. "We're adding a lot of new features into that release," Campbell said.

BWS software is sold with first-year support included, and customers receive "personalized, onsite installation and in-depth training," Campbell wrote in an e-mail response.

BWS customers include Joseph Phelps, Silverado Vineyards, Louis Martini (BWS' first customer), Fess Parker, Golan Heights Winery in Israel, King Estate, Hogue Cellars, Geyser Peak and smaller operations such as Pietra Santa.

Case goods production ranges between 5,000 and 2 million.

For more information on BWS, contact Blend Winery Software, P.O. Box 4807, Petaluma, Calif. 949554807, phone (707) 765-9378, fax (707) 769-8484 or visit the Web site blendwinerysoftware.com.

Breckenridge Software Technologies, Inc.

Breckenridge Software Technologies, Inc. (BSTI), which started writing software in 1987, offers various modules including a vineyard management module, geared toward tracking all activities that take place in the vineyard from the growing season until harvest such as pruning, irrigation and yield projections of vineyards; an inventory module, which tracks grapes through the entire production process, tracking tests, additions, histories, blends, fermentation, barrels, costs and does reporting for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF); and the order processing module, which tracks club activities, spot orders, shipping documents, invoicing and traditional accounting functions. A grape-receiving module is also available.

"All modules are designed to integrate together, but are available independently," explained Bart Stroebel, BSTI's vice president of sales. "They can be used on a single computer or on a network to virtually any size."

BSTI's software is written in Microsoft Access, which Stroebel says is "a very open architecture." The software is also available in DOS format, and a SQL server is available for large-end networks. BSTI plans to release a major upgrade to its current software this month, and is currently developing a web-based system for small wineries and wineries with multiple locations wishing to have an integrated system.

BSTI support benefits include training onsite, in a classroom, or via modem or telephone. Support services are available daily by telephone or modem, and maintenance is available for an optional annual fee.

Cost varies, according to the number of users and modules. The most basic service with the inventory module on a single computer runs $5,000.