"I wanted to thank you. The days went very smoothly and it was the easiest bottling experience in my 22 years of winemaking."
~Sebastien Marquet
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?
Experience. We've got the most experience of any mobile bottler in Virginia. We've been serving the Virginia wine industry for 13, going on 14, years.
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Stuff happens. For this reason we try to leave at least two days each month (more in winter months when weather can be problematic) open so that we have room to re-schedule should there be a problem. Those days can also be used for maintenance. One thing we've learned over the last 14 years is that a certain amount of flexibility is a necessity.
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Packaging. We have a package design expert, with 20+ years of wine and spirit experience on staff who can help you label, bottle and capsule choices.
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Relationships. We are all about building relationships whether it's with our customers or suppliers. We operate as part of your team and we will do everything we can to problem solve when it's necessary. We don't give up easily.
First-time clients require a site visit to make sure we can safely gain access and to review equipment placement.
HOW WE DO IT
OUR GAI EQUIPMENT is well maintained with a 12 head rinser and filler. Our new capsule and labeler mono bloc has a 4 head spinner and two label stations and can do regular and tapered bottles with front and back labels on a single or individual rolls. We do not currently have the capability to apply screw caps.
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Your bottles are rinsed, sparged, filled, leveled, corked, capsuled and labeled by our line. We have inline PALL filter housings which take 20" Code 7 filters.
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We have a newly installed on-board diesel generator so we are self-contained and can keep running even if the power goes out (it's happened!).
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OUR TRAILER is a 35ft. gooseneck trailer designed to be able to access most small farm wineries. A site check is required for new customers to make sure we can access the property.
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PACKAGING REVIEWS can be done upon request at no charge by our in-house expert and our bottling line operators. We highly recommend our customers take advantage of this service and have us review any new label designs or bottle changes to avoid costly mishaps on bottling day. We will work with your packaging supplier if getting samples to try on the line is necessary.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
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Wines must be a minimum of 62° F to prevent condensation and provide for consistent fill levels and cork vacuum.
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Wines must be sterile filtered and stored in sterile conditions no more than two days prior to bottling. Fruit wines must be filtered no more than 24 hours prior to bottling.
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​Winery must supply a preliminary worksheet when requesting a bottling date.
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​Winery must supply a final worksheet 2 weeks prior to bottling.
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​All packaging materials must be present when bottling begins or an hourly fee will be charged for any downtime due to waiting on materials.
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​Filter cartridges must be checked at least 2 weeks prior to bottling.
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Winery must supply Nitrogen, CO2, or Argon for sparging and leveling wines.
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​110V outlet for bottling line to access.
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​Access to clean water, preferably hot and cold.
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​6-8 personnel capable of lifting a full case of wine.
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​Winemaker, or designated personnel, is responsible for approving fill levels, label positioning, cork depth and vacuum.
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See our FAQ's for more information.
PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS
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Natural or synthetic corks.
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Tin, polylam or aluminum capsules
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​Bottles from 60mm-115 mm in diameter and 180mm-370mm in height.
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​Tapered bottles (check with us first).
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​Labels in position 4, maximum web height 6", roll diameter 10.25".
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Ability to do clear labels and die cuts (contact us before ordering labels for specific requirements).
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​Two label stations allow single or double rolls of labels.