In an industry known for its high capital outlay required to obtain high rates of value-adding, contract winemaking services can provide an alternative for many sectors of the industry.

Economies of scale will dictate the feasibility of setting up the infrastructure necessary to take grapes from a primary product to a finished wine. Small to medium producers will always find it more practical to channel their capital into growing exceptional fruit and brand building, rather than into their own processing plant.

Contract winemaking services offer the benefits of sophisticated, state-of-the-art equipment, modern research, analytical techniques, and years of winemaking expertise to the small to medium wine producer, without the need to tie up valuable capital and time. Those producers can then be free to better invest that time and money into viticultural improvements, packaging, and marketing.

Although small to medium wine producers and grape growers are the main customers of contract winemaking services, larger producers can also benefit. Often, a lack of processing facilities at peak times during vintage, particularly crushing and fermentation space can occur even in large facilities, due to increased crop levels, or uneven fruit intake over the vintage period. In this case, those producers can employ the services of a contract winemaking facility to manage the excess tonnage. Small and large processing plants can also supplement their own facilities by utilising specific processes such as wine stabilisation, RDV filtration and fine filtration.

Having fruit made into your own wine brand is a way you can diversify business plans.

Grape growers are always enthusiastic about their grape quality, and in the quality of the wine  produced from their fruit. It is often a natural progression for them to want to produce their own  wine, either for their own use or as an entry into the wine market. The  contract processing facility is able to accommodate the production of  vigneron-owned labels. The idea of diversification of business through the sale of “estate-grown” wines is an attractive concept for many growers.