A Canadian writer's life: A little wine research and development: CORKED

Sunday, March 14, 2021

A little wine research and development: CORKED

Friday was research and development day for my newest novel, Corked.

It's a murder-mystery set in a local, but fictitious, winery.

With over three hundred wineries in British Columbia, Canada, it was a challenge to pick a name for my winery that wasn't already in use. I chose one of Lawrie's favourite expressions and named my fictitious winery No Regrets. It is supposedly located in the southern part of the Okanagan Valley.

For authenticity in the story, I picked the brains of my winey-friends, Prudence Mayer, owner of Ruby Blues on the Naramata Bench, in Penticton, Sharon Hickey, who works at Ruby Blues, plus wine consultant and long-time friend, Eric von Krosigk at Frind Estate in West Kelowna.

Sharon Hickey and Kerry Younie - let's go!

This past week was bottling time at Ruby Blues for their whites: Gewürztraminer, Grüner Veltliner, Viognier, Riesling, and White Stiletto. Sparky and I received an invite to pop out and watch the action, so we did. Early Friday morning, I drove to the property just in time to see the crew start the process. What an amazing operation.

Rudy tipped the clean bottles onto the line to be whisked away and cleaned, then filled, capped, and capsuled. The bottles automatically made their way along the line until they arrived at the boxing station where Sharon Hickey and Kerry Younie checked each one for correct placement of the labels, and that it had been filled to the proper level, then added six each to the case before it passed under the taping device and slid down the line to be stacked on the wooden pallet. Wine-maker, Blair Gillingham, took turns with Melanie, Spencer, Paul, and Prudence lifting and stacking the boxes.

The hard-working crew was flying to keep up with the speeding bottles. At the end of the day, they had bottled eighteen pallets of wine.

That equals 18 pallets x 56 boxes on each pallet x 12 bottles in each box, or 12096 bottles of yummy Ruby Blues wine. So, 12096 times in one day, someone picked up a bottle, examined the label and the fill line, then placed it in the box. That's a shoulder-killing repetitive movement all for our sakes, so that we can enjoy the delicious product.

Video of the bottling line and workers in action.

When you read Corked, keep them in mind.

The automated line is the brainchild of Norman Cole, founder and owner of Artus Bottling Ltd. Started in 2005, the company provides a much-needed, mobile beverage bottling for small to medium-sized wineries and cideries in the Okanagan Valley. Previously, many smaller wineries struggled to afford equipment that was used twice a year; once in the spring to bottle the whites, and again in the fall for the reds.