Big wineries versus small wineries

Which is better big or small? The answer when it comes to production sizes of wineries like most things in life is complicated. The most accurate response is it depends. And the most important determining factor in the answer is your own palate. All of you have read it enough times to know what makes a wine good or not good is how you as the wine consumer feels about it when you taste it. The discussion though is a valid one to have.

The differences between big wineries and small ones go well beyond the size of their respective production. It involves fruit sources, productions methods and marketing strategies just as it does for all businesses. And with the exception of those few wineries run by very wealthy people who care little about making a profit these are all businesses, and the goal is to make money. Any business owner can only write checks for so long without the expectation of earning a return; it is true of wineries too.

When it comes to fruit sources the very largest wineries have to be purchasing some of their grapes from other growers. Few if any wineries producing hundreds of thousands of cases have the vineyard land they would need to meet their demand for grapes. For small wineries when they first start production they simply don’t have the capital to also own their own estate vineyard. The best winery owners and winemakers in both categories understand the importance of a stable source of grapes and therefore have long term contracts in place to ensure their supply.

Production methods are perhaps the areas where you see the greatest difference when it comes to scale. When you are producing hundreds of thousands of cases it would be nearly impossible to give each varietal and each lot the same attention and cater to the needs of each “lot” of grapes the way a producer does that makes a couple of thousand cases. As an owner of a huge winery you simply can’t employ enough “assistant winemakers” and cellar hands to manage it that closely.

So too with oak barrels when you are making millions of gallons some use of “oak chips” floating in giant fermenters must be used over individual barrel aging of lots when your best expectation is to make a million cases you sell for $5 per bottle. There are these and many more factors that go into the myriad decisions in wine production and the overall output of any winery.

The question remains unanswered though which is better big or small, and more importantly it may be unanswerable! The most accurate assessment is that it is possible to find well made wines that are delicious from both categories big and small and all of those that lie in between. When the North Idaho Wine Rodeo wine competition was still running there was a small winery, under 5,000 case total production, that entered their bottles every year. Their wines were dreadful. I and the other judges could never tell if they were just not very good at this, or if there were flaws with their equipment or perhaps a cleanliness issue, but good vintage and challenging vintage the wines were just bad.

Similarly there is a slew of grocery store brands from the biggest of the big wineries that when you drink them you can tell no attention was given to the wine. They just taste bad and are uninteresting at best and at worst undrinkable.

On the flip side you can find so many great small wineries that are tightly managed by their owner/winemakers and are producing fabulous wines across price spectrums. Walk into any wine shop here in North Idaho and you will find them from here in the Northwest, California and across Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. Similarly there are wineries producing hundreds of thousands of cases who spend the time and capital to invest in production standards for some of their wines that become our favorites.

So the answer is does size matter? You bet! Is it the only thing to consider when making your purchase? No way! The best and most accurate arbiter is still your palate, and the guidance of your favorite wine professional. Taste a lot of wine and ask a lot of questions and you will find the bottles that best fit your taste and budget, I’m guessing you will find some of your favorites come from big wineries and some from small ones.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d’Alene Press.

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George Balling is co-owner (with his wife Mary Lancaster) of the dinner party, a wine and table top décor shop located by Costco in Coeur d’Alene. George worked as a judge in many wine competitions, and his articles are published around the country. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. Be sure and check out our weekly blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com/home/blog-2. You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.