Bottling Requirements
Customer Responsibilities:
A single person is to be designated to make all packaging decisions and is to be on site at all times during bottling.
This includes but are not limited to fill height (determined prior to bottling and confirmed at start of run), label height (determined prior to bottling) and overall finished package appearance.
Bottling Hours:
Normal bottling hours are from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm and includes a 30-minute lunch break and two 15 minute breaks. Bottling outside these times is considered overtime and needs to be approved in advance.
Access to power, water, and bottling materials is required at 6 am for bottling line sanitation and preparation.
Winery needs to have pump and hoses sanitized and ready for wine by 7:45. Also 3 sanitized 5 gallon buckets will be provided for initial rinse through of wine.
Power:
Winery will provide a service disconnect box with 3 phase 208 or 240-volt power capable of at least 60 amps. Box needs to be 5 wire (3 hot legs, a dedicated neutral leg and a ground leg). This should be located within 100 feet of trailer location.
Alternately a 35 kW generator or larger capable of 208 volt 3 phase power can be rented from a local rental company.
Water:
A potable water source with garden hose fittings needs to be available at all times during bottling.
Nitrogen:
Customer will provide nitrogen for bottle purging. Minimum requirements are 1.5 cubic foot per case for high pressure cylinders or a 180L dewar per 3000 cases.
A separate nitrogen (argon or CO2 is ok) source is required for purging lines prior to bottling and pushing wine to bottling line at the end of each lot.
Wine:
All wines should be bottle ready the day before bottling. Filtration of wines to be sterile bottled needs to take place no more than 4 days prior to bottling.
Wine should be 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit for proper fill height and to control condensation on bottles for labeling.
Pump and Hoses:
Pacific Bottling provides a pump with 1-1/2” TC fittings.
Customer is responsible for all hoses and connections between the tank, pump, and bottling trailer.
Customer needs a compressed gas connection for purging hoses prior to startup and pushing wine to the bottling line at the end of each lot.
Customer is responsible for cleaning and sanitizing pump and all hoses prior to bottling startup.
Crew:
The strength and ability of the crew directly impacts the quality of finished products. Please inquire if you need assistance with arranging a qualified crew.
Customer to provide 7 people capable of physical work including repeated lifting of 35-40 pound finished cases of wine. This should not include cellar staff responsible for wine preparation and bottling tank management.
1 experienced forklift driver
1 person to dump empty glass from boxes onto line
2 for placing finished bottles into boxes
3 to label, stamp and stack finished cases and wrap pallets
Additional crew will be necessary for special runs such as 6 packs, tapered bottles, bulk glass, and multiple case labels. Please inquire about any concerns.
Corks:
Maximum cork dimensions are 24mm x 54mm.
Labels:
Pacific Bottling utilizes an Impresstik 2 station linear labeler. It is capable of running either front and back on the same web or front back separate.
Labels need to be wound #4 (outside off left) with a 3” core diameter and 12” maximum roll diameter. Always check for correct wind direction upon arrival of product.
Max label height is 6”. Minimum label surface area is 2 in2.
Bottling Price List
Services:
Setup Fee (charged per bottling) $600.00 flat fee
Full Service: $2.50 per case*
Nitrogen purge, fill, cork or screw-cap, capsule and label
Partial service: $2.20 per case*
Nitrogen purge, fill, cork or screw-cap, capsule
Or capsule and label
Bottle changeover (one free change per day) $150 each
Closure Change (cork or screw cap change with same bottle) $50 each
Magnum or 375mL changeover (under 250 cases) $300 each
Bottling Operator Overtime (after 8 hours) $250 per hour
Winery Caused Downtime $500 per hour
Hourly Bottling Rate (<50 bottles per minute average speed) $550 per hour
Overnight Lodging (applies to travel of more than 50 miles) $200 per person per night
Minimum service charge $2500 per job
Liquid N2 Dose (for oxygen reduction under screw cap) $600 per day
Laser Bottle Code (Julian date, current time and bottler id) $600 per day
*Billed as 12 bottles/case for 750mL and 375mL, 6 bottles/case for 1.5 L
Filters: (market price, subject to change without notice)
Millipore 30” .5-micron nominal prefilter $250 each
Millipore 30” .45-micron absolute final filter $450 each
Millipore 10” 10-micron filter $75 each
Bottling Contract
Terms and Conditions:
Full Payment is due at the completion of bottling unless prior arrangements are made. After 30 days a 1.5% fee may be charged per month.
Pacific Bottling Services will retain two bottles every day of production for each varietal for quality verification in the case of future quality questions. We will not retain any bottles for label only projects.
Terms of Liability:
The winery and all its agents agree to fully exonerate, indemnify, defend and save Pacific Bottling Services LLC and its officers and employees harmless from or against all claims or actions (and all expenses incidental to the defense of any such claims or actions) arising out of loss, damage or injury to bottled product or persons other than Pacific Bottling Services employees in connection with, or arising directly from the operations to be carried out hereunder. This shall apply to all claims, losses, injury and/or other damages.
Pacific Bottling Services assumes no responsibility for the biological stability of the bottled product. The winery must assume full responsibility of the bottle sterility, packaging methods, bottle fill level, cork vacuum, label accuracy and placement, and all items related to the bottled product.