Designing a Commercial Production Winery with Expansion in Mind

"Designing a Commercial Production Winery with Expansion in Mind", is the mindset that we are in right now. Our morning conversations include projections of harvest from 2021 to 2023 with the idea of outfitting a small winery for these needs. I found this article online from The Grapevine Magazine. This article covered the basic construction elements of a startup production winery, while considering the most efficient means of expansion. This is right up our alley.
Size / Scale / Layout

• minimum suggested scale for a commercial winery is in the 1000 – 2000 case size
• for a 1500 case winery, plan on a minimum building size of 3,500 ft² with roughly 1/3 space devoted to tasting room and 2/3 to production/finished case storage
• a porch, office, event space (to be discussed), kitchen, etc can also be added
• a separate barrel room and warehouse room for stored cased goods is the most common space obstacle that beginning wineries face
• keep in mind how future building additions will tie together
• keep in mind elements such as roof line, utilities, placement of windows and doorways, and wastewater drains

Electrical Power

• ideally 400-amps of electrical service will provide more than ample power for your startup winery with significant room to grow into while keeping expansion in mind
• for one or two pieces of equipment that require 480 volts it may be less expensive to have a transformer bump-up voltage to 480 volts for those two pieces of equipment than having 480 volts delivered to the building and having to step-down the voltage for all remaining piece of equipment on 220 volts
• if you have access to 3 phase (common near urban / industrial parks/ large scale farms), recommend tying into that upfront
• most large pieces of equipment utilizing a frequency drive or motors at greater than 5 hp demand 3 phase electrical power
• 3 phase power is needed for several key pieces of equipment (press, destemmer/crusher, tank mixer, monoblock bottling line, etc.), purchasing a phase converter may be all that is needed

Water Supply / Wastewater / Drainage

• an on-demand hot water heater capable of hitting 180-185°F is important for sanitation purposes with a minimum recommended flow rate of 1 – 2 gallon per minute, to maintain 180°F for prolonged periods of time
• the on-demand water unit can have dual functionality as it can be used to sanitize winery production equipment on the production end and can also be used to sanitize stemware on the tasting room
• in the production area, figure on having 1-2 water access points (hose bibs) per wall
• minimizing the distance between heat source and end-point should be considered in order to increase efficiency and decrease heat loss
• lateral water lines that carry water from the source to its endpoint should be at least ¾” in diameter, as opposed to the standard ½”
• for waste water management, the four most common options to choose from include:
  (1) surface spreading
  (2) aerobic biological treatment
  (3) settling holding tank / septic tank
  (4) municipal sewage system (easiest if available near you)
• the placement of waste water management systems should be outside the zone of potential expansion
• location of drain systems should take into account future expansion possibilities

Building Ceiling Height

• the ceiling height should ideally be at least 16’ high
• this allows stacking 2 pallets of empty glass high during bottling (note a minimum 14’ is needed for filled bottles, assuming cases are stacked 5 high/each pallet and 2 pallets per column)
• as production volume increases size, so will your tank size – having tall ceilings allows for larger tanks

Misc. Items that Should be Considered

• Outdoor Crush Pad: At the starting scale of 1500 cases, a good size crush pad is 30’ x 30’ but could easily be 50’ x 50’ off of the production-end
  the concrete that is poured should be able to withstand the weight of a forklift, pallets of bottles, tanks, etc. (typically 5” or greater in thickness)
  may need to install a specific wastewater containment system on the crush pad
• Garage Door: the winery’s overhead garage door to the will need to accomodate the largest piece of equipment that will enter the building
• Loading Dock: although not an absolute necessity in the beginning, a loading dock with a docking plate (height adjustable) makes loading and off-loading logistics much simpler that taking the forklift to the back of semi and using a palette jack to move items to the back of the truck for pickup
• Production Floor Sealant: consider using an Epoxy Resin and Urethane protective coating to withstand a battery of abuse from constant foot traffic, heavy loads (forklift / pallet jack), and should be chemical and water resistant

Event Space / Tasting Bar

• space to hold events, also must include the appropriate support amenities: prep. kitchen, restrooms, storage space, etc
• make sure your plans have been submitted to ALL local and state authorities (Commercial Building inspector) before starting construction
• for the Tasting Room have a dedicated and segregated checkout area that is separate to the tasting bar. Ideally, this checkout area would be located right next to the exit of your building

References:
1. Piero Spada LLC, "Designing a Commercial Production Winery with Expansion in Mind", The Grapevine Magazine, April 10, 2019.