Elliott, our winemaker, spent weeks figuring out how many barrels of this and that and the other would go into each blend. Some were easy (vineyard-designate wines like our Dutton Ranch chardonnay), others took a little more planning (the Maison Grand Cru pinot and chardonnay blends).

Rutz Cellars has always taken special care in handling our wine, and bottling was no exception. The wines were filtered from the barrel into the blending tanks. No wine was left in the tank for more than 12 hours, and it was kept at a constant, cool temperature the entire time. Nitrogen was continuously pumped into the tank to displace any oxygen. In fact, the oxygen levels of this year's bottling came in well below normal, meaning there will be very little bottle variation.

The bottling line is a fast, efficient setup, but it still needed a crew of at least nine people to keep it running at full steam. Romero (above) and Phil, the two line operators, were constantly monitoring the system. Fill levels, vacuum levels, corking pressure, label placement, and a dozen other details needed to be watched.

A Rutz Cellars employee was responsible for loading the empty bottles onto the conveyor. After the bottles were filled by the 8-head filler (above) and corked, they passed by two more workers who were given the task of putting the foil capsules on the bottles (above). Two people are a necessity here, since the line generates each new bottle in under two seconds. An 8-head "spinner" then molded the foil to the bottle's neck (right).

This is the second year that we have used our re-designed, foil-embossed labels. They are printed on rolls specifically designed for this type of bottling line, and are applied automatically (below); just change rolls every 2000 bottles.

The bottles are then packed into cases (below). With the speed of this bottling line, almost every job needed at least two people. The conveyors are relentless, bringing 36 bottles per minute, or 300 cases per hour past each station. "We're actually running a little slower than normal", one of the line operators said with a smile. "We wouldn't want to work you guys too hard." The cases are sealed and sent down a conveyor, where they are labeled and loaded onto pallets for shipment to the warehouse.

Everyone at the winery pitches in during bottling. The entire office staff was there, helping out where they could. Our Operations Manager, Lito, was a constant presence on the line; applying carton labels, and loading pallets for shipment (below). 

Finally, it was over. All 10,000+ cases had been shipped to the warehouse, the bottling truck was packed up and gone, and the tanks and barrels were all empty. All the remnants of the last six days had disappeared, and the winery looked like it was back to normal. Everyone was starting to relax until Elliott stepped up and said, "All right, break's over. There's only three weeks until crush and lots to do. Let's get to work."