In a down market like the one the wine industry faces today, wineries are taking different paths to adapt. Some pull back, reducing production or pulling vineyards. Others seek to acquire struggling wineries, consolidating to broaden their portfolio and leverage their production facilities. Another route is to premiumize their brands to rise above the fray and appeal to confirmed oenophiles with white glove winemaking and customer service. The other turn along the price path is to downgrade to a more affordable price to attract shoppers who are increasingly price-conscious in this economy. These are only a few of a bewildering array of choices for wineries, and the decision tree will take each winery owner or winemaker to a unique solution. Chris HollingsworthChris Hollingsworth, General Manager at Punchdown Cellars in Santa Rosa, outlines three reasons a winery might choose a custom crush facility like the one he runs. “An established brand might want to change facilities to tak

Unified Wine & Grape Symposium | Booth 400 Jan. 29 & 30 | Sacramento, CA WHAT'S NEW IN 2025 ML PRIME™ A new Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (non-Oenococcus) co-inoculation strain for rapid malolactic fermentation that produces little to no volatile acidity. GO-FERM STEROL FLASH™ Rehydration nutrient for use in cool water - in most cases, inoculation can take place after just 20 minutes.  2025 WINEMAKING HANDBOOK We will have copies of the freshly printed 2025-2026 Winemaking Handbook at our booth. Stop by and pick up a copy! EQUIPMENT ON DISPLAY: ROTOVIB 15 DESTEMMER VLS UNICO CROSSFLOW DT MOTION VELCORIN DOSER LENTICULAR & CARTRIDGE FILTERS - Housings & Media TALK TO US ABOUT: CORK & CLOSURES FERMENTATION WINEMAKING FILTRATION EQUIPMENT OAK & TANNINS

Come by Booth #151 to say hello and see what’s new at Scott Laboratories!   WHAT WE DO: Yeast & Bacteria Fermentation Nutrition Oak & Wine Finishing Filter Media Filtration Systems Crossflow Crush Equipment Cellar Equipment Cork & Wine Closures WHAT’S IN THE BOOTH: Come check out the newest Armbruster Rotovib 5 destemmer, processing up to 5 tons per hour and well-suited for small to medium sized wineries. Chat with our filtration experts and look at options for lenticular, cartridge, and water filtration setups. See our custom and stock packaging options including corks, capsules, screw caps, and sparkling wine closures. ATTEND OUR TRIAL TASTING: Join us for this tasting session where you can experience how Final touch® mannoproteins can positively impact wine quality and contribute to potassium tartrate and colloidal stability, reduced astringency, enhanced color, improved wine texture. Click here for more info: https://wineindustryexpo.com/confer

We are excited to see you at Unified and talk about what’s new from Scott Laboratories in 2023! GO-FERM STEROL FLASH™ - We are excited to introduce GO-FERM STEROL FLASH™ a revolutionary new rehydration nutrient that allows yeast to be rehydrated with cool water, bypassing the need for acclimatization and significantly shortening the yeast rehydration process. See it in action at our booth! Xpür® Micro-agglomerated Corks - Xpür® is a new cork cleaning process which removes volatile substances that could cause sensory faults without damaging the natural characteristics of cork. This process preserves the elasticity of cork granules, eliminating the need to use any artificial components like plastic microspheres, commonly used in other micro-agglomerated cork stoppers. Armbruster Rotovib 5 Destemmer - Stop by to see the Rotovib 5 at our booth and learn more about this new addition to the Rotovib family – the gentlest destemmers on the market. The

Have you met Gravity Wine House founder, Jeff Pisoni? Jeff loves making wine—and considers himself a lifelong student of enology. It’s the craft that his father inspired him to explore, study and pursue since he was just a toddler. Through his role as a winemaker, Jeff developed a passion for exchanging information and insights with the winemaking community, all with the goal of driving for higher quality wine and methods. This passion is seen through our work with clients on both our mobile bottling line and in the cellar. Jeff recently spoke with Wine Industry Advisor on the reasons behind using the Armbruster Rotovib for unprecedented grape processing quality for Pisoni Family Vineyards, as well as our clients at Gravity Wine House.  Read the full article on Wine Industry Advisor

Situation: Winemakers producing premium wines know that wine quality is dependent upon the efficient removal of fruit from the vine and preparing the berries for destemming, a critical process requiring high-end, sophisticated, and reliable grape handling equipment. Jeff Pisoni, Winemaker at Pisoni Vineyards, had been looking to upgrade their previous destemmer for quite some time. “There was a lack of innovation in destemmers for a while,” comments Pisoni. “Purchasing new processing equipment is a big investment and long-term commitment, so we were waiting for the next generation of destemmers to come to market since destemming and sorting is such a critical part of the winemaking process.” When new destemmers did start to become available, it was clear they all had the common goal of giving wineries a very clean destemming process with as little MOG (material other than grapes) as possible. However, only the Armbruster Rotovib Destemmer delivered a f

Winemaker Rob Fischer of Marine Layer Wines in Healdsburg, CA speaks on his Armbruster Rotovib Destemmer and why they chose to purchase Armbruster crush equipment from Scott Labs.

How to Prepare your Equipment for Harvest 2021 harvest is upon us! If you haven't already, it's time to pull the covers off your crush equipment and make sure they are prepped and ready to go to ensure optimal results.  Scott Labs' Senior Service Technicians have put together a couple short videos to help winemakers prepare both their Armbruster Rotovib Destemmers and Willmes Presses for harvest. How to Prepare your Destemmer for Harvest How to Prepare your Press for Harvest Need additional help? If you have questions or would like more information, visit our Parts & Service page to shop spare parts or request service online.  Cheers to happy, healthy, safe & successful harvest!

Avoid Shipping Delays: Order your 2021 Harvest Equipment this Month In the market for new harvest equipment this year? Whether you’re looking to add on to or upgrade your grape handling equipment, or are interested in purchasing a new press, now is the time to place your orders to ensure your machinery arrives in time for 2021 harvest. Armrbruster Rotovib Destemmer With its patented vibrating technology, the Rotovib Destemmer provides the gentlest handling of fruit, yielding the maximum number of whole berries with a minimum amount of stems, ensuring fruit is processed under the best conditions. Rotovibs are the highest quality, longest lasting, easy to maintain destemmer in the industry at a competitive price.  Learn more or place an order Armbruster RollerSorter The Armbruster RollerSorter is the newest solution for removing jacks, stems and leaves after the destemming process. The high percentage of whole berries generated by the Rotovib allows for very effective o

As the exclusive US distributor, we're proud to be celebrating 25 years of partnership and collaboration with Armbruster. Since 1996 Scott Labs has provided high quality Armbruster crushpad equipment to the North American wine community: from hoppers and destemmers, to crushers, sorters and more. Visit our website to check out our full line of Armbruster crush equipment, or contact our Equipment Sales team for more information and to place an order.  What our customers are saying: “I’ve built a strong relationship with Scott Labs over the years.  From the expert sales team to the best after sale support, Scott was the easy choice for me when upgrading my destemmer. The Armbruster Rotovib 20 with roller sorter and crushing rollers has increased the speed, efficiency and quality of our throughput on the crushpad. It’s quickly become a valuable tool for us during harvest.”   - Scott Moeller, Winemaker, Novelty Hill-Januik Winer