Frozen pails of must...are they worth it?

[Johnd]

I wonder if you can elaborate on the supply chain development process? Maybe we could work on that in our different geographic areas.

We buy grapes from Colavita’s at a very good price and have them shipped with deliveries to nearby wineries, it’s been great so far. Prices on 36# lugs delivered to LA on refrigerated trucks have been under $40, not too shabby at all.

The winery our stuff gets delivered to is sourcing from other places in WA and OR, he offered to let me into his buy up there as well.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Chicago is a good place to source buckets, 36 pound lugs, and Minnesota hybrid grapes. Have you joined the Vinters club? or join two since the connections will be different.

wonder if you can elaborate on the supply chain.

 

[Johnd]

Chicago is a good place to source buckets, 36 pound lugs, and Minnesota hybrid grapes. Have you joined the Vinters club? or join two since the connections will be different.

In addition, it’s a hub for Brehm’s frozen must distribution, you could pick it up straight from their facility and save packing / shipping costs.......

 

[ibglowin]

Does that really including shipping?

Prices on 36# lugs delivered to LA on refrigerated trucks have been under $40, not too shabby at all.

 

[jburtner]

I'm also planning a shipment to Nashville from Colavita for next season as we approach. I believe that if they have a distributor in the area they'll send you through the distributor for small orders. If no distributor they can ship via LTL. I figure I'm spending a couple G's give or take each season (year) on frozen must and juice buckets. I have a small press so that'll have to do for next season but will need a crusher/de-stemmer and probably more bulk storage. Maybe a larger barrel and/or VCSS tank.

Cheers,
johann

 

[buzi]

In addition, it’s a hub for Brehm’s frozen must distribution, you could pick it up straight from their facility and save packing / shipping costs.......

John, unfortunately Brehm does not have distribution here anymore. They closed the operation last year. They only sell out of Washington, Cali and Scranton PA...

 

[Chuck E]

Chicago is a good place to source buckets, 36 pound lugs, and Minnesota hybrid grapes. Have you joined the Vinters club? or join two since the connections will be different.

I know about the McHenry County Corkers. They sponsor a group purchase of Chilean juice in the spring. I probably should look around for more clubs.
I can buy CA grapes locally in the fall from two sources.

 

[Ajmassa]

There’s a Brehms hub in Scranton!? Hmmmm

Very very interesting.

[the large ‘grinch’ smile slowly overtaking my face]

 

[Johnd]

Does that really including shipping?

Yes, it does. My lugs this year (prices were lower this year) were between $27 and $29 depending upon the varietal. I paid the winery owner $300 for allowing my 42 lugs to ride in his refrigerated delivery truck, $7.14 per lug, for a total cost of $34.14 to $36.14 per lug.

 

[Johnd]

John, unfortunately Brehm does not have distribution here anymore. They closed the operation last year. They only sell out of Washington, Cali and Scranton PA...

Really, didn’t know that, sorry for the misinformation.

 

[Ajmassa]

The most recent blog post on the Brehm website is from November 2019. Mentions the Chicago freezer open and scheduled to be stocked for 2019 harvest as well as their brand new partner’s freezer location in Scranton PA.

 

[ibglowin]

That is a sweet deal for sure. I was looking at my last invoice from 2105 from the Denver club I worked with. The club pretty much bought the entire lot from the vineyard owner. One full size refer truck. Cost for shipping 1200 miles from Acampo, CA to Denver, CO was $0.11/lb. Grapes were $1.03/lb for Cab Sauv or $37 a lug FOB origin. Is this the winery in Covington? They must buy a **** load to get a wholesale price of $0.80/lb FOB origin in 2019.

Yes, it does. My lugs this year (prices were lower this year) were between $27 and $29 depending upon the varietal. I paid the winery owner $300 for allowing my 42 lugs to ride in his refrigerated delivery truck, $7.14 per lug, for a total cost of $34.14 to $36.14 per lug.

 

[Johnd]

That is a sweet deal for sure. I was looking at my last invoice from 2105 from the Denver club I worked with. The club pretty much bought the entire lot from the vineyard owner. One full size refer truck. Cost for shipping 1200 miles from Acampo, CA to Denver, CO was $0.11/lb. Grapes were $1.03/lb for Cab Sauv or $37 a lug FOB origin. Is this the winery in Covington? They must buy a **** load to get a wholesale price of $0.80/lb FOB origin in 2019.

They’re located in the northern part of the state, they buy three semi’s full of grapes per year.

But, I don’t buy from the winery, I buy from Colavita, direct, just little old me, same price you’d get if you called. Colavita turned me onto the winery as a place they ship to near me, and suggested I call them since this particular winery arranges their own shipping. So, I only have my grapes shipped with the winery grapes and pay the winery for freight, and am thankful.

I’ve said this before here, and I’ll say it again, Colavita cuts out all of the middle man BS. They buy vineyard direct, move a lot of fruit, and have some buying power. When they determine that fruit is ready to pick, their guys pick, pack, and load, they don’t pay someone else to do it. The grapes either ship from there or go to their facility prior to shipping, again, no middle man.

 

[mainshipfred]

There’s a Brehms hub in Scranton!? Hmmmm

Very very interesting.

[the large ‘grinch’ smile slowly overtaking my face]

It's a 4 hour one way trip for me and they are only open weekdays.

 

[mainshipfred]

They’re located in the northern part of the state, they buy three semi’s full of grapes per year.

But, I don’t buy from the winery, I buy from Colavita, direct, just little old me, same price you’d get if you called. Colavita turned me onto the winery as a place they ship to near me, and suggested I call them since this particular winery arranges their own shipping. So, I only have my grapes shipped with the winery grapes and pay the winery for freight, and am thankful.

I’ve said this before here, and I’ll say it again, Colavita cuts out all of the middle man BS. They buy vineyard direct, move a lot of fruit, and have some buying power. When they determine that fruit is ready to pick, their guys pick, pack, and load, they don’t pay someone else to do it. The grapes either ship from there or go to their facility prior to shipping, again, no middle man.

I sent an email to Colavita's yesterday asking if they had any wineries in my area I could piggyback off of. Almost immediately I received a response letting me know of one 30 minutes from me. I asked if I could contact them and evidently they sent an email to the winery, I guess asking if I could contact them. Within the hour I received an email from the winery saying they would be happy to help. The Owner of the winery used to be a home winemaker turned commercial calling himself a Private Label. I'm not sure what that means but it appears they don't have a tasting room. He invited me to come by and talk about what my needs would be. I have many sources for grapes now and the opportunities just seem to be getting easier to find. I would have never even thought about calling Colavita without this thread, thanks.

 

[buzi]

The most recent blog post on the Brehm website is from November 2019. Mentions the Chicago freezer open and scheduled to be stocked for 2019 harvest as well as their brand new partner’s freezer location in Scranton PA. View attachment 58281

Hopefully they are bringing it back to Chicago! 2018/ early 2019 they had a closing sale for the Chicago warehouse and it is not on the order form for 2019. :-(. I sent the an email and we will find out for sure!

@Johnd no worries! That is not typically where you would order out of...

 

[Ajmassa]

It's a 4 hour one way trip for me and they are only open weekdays.

Just over 2 hours for me.

If shipping costs are out of the equation then definitely opens up some options.
I’m Looking at $650 for 12 gal of wine using $162 per pail.

In 2018 I paid $68 per lug for grapes from Pintos. (Less than 1/2 Brehms, but double $ direct colavita shipping) but those grapes were a little disappointing. So Even though the Brehms must is still significantly more expensive, it becomes much more enticing to me without shipping for something I know for sure is a high quality product.

With Colavita - I cant remember if I spoke with them or Collingswood previously about piggybacking on a closeby winery’s truck — but the issue was being limited to the winery’s order. For me I would have been forced to get grapes that were harvested at the same time of the winery’s order. And was told they are typically buying the lower priced grapes, while the higher quality grapes would not typically have been harvested yet. I didn’t get specific info on the grapes then because my main purpose wasn’t looking for a deal, it was looking for the highest quality grapes I could find. I’m very interested to hear more about what’s available.
Colavita also supplies keystone HomeBrew. The markup seems to be quite a lot. But it’s so hard to compare anything without actually knowing the quality. Therein lies the appeal of Brehms.

 

[mainshipfred]

Just over 2 hours for me.

If shipping costs are out of the equation then definitely opens up some options.
I’m Looking at $650 for 12 gal of wine using $162 per pail.

In 2018 I paid $68 per lug for grapes from Pintos. (Less than 1/2 Brehms, but double $ direct colavita shipping) but those grapes were a little disappointing. So Even though the Brehms must is still significantly more expensive, it becomes much more enticing to me without shipping for something I know for sure is a high quality product.

With Colavita - I cant remember if I spoke with them or Collingswood previously about piggybacking on a closeby winery’s truck — but the issue was being limited to the winery’s order. For me I would have been forced to get grapes that were harvested at the same time of the winery’s order. And was told they are typically buying the lower priced grapes, while the higher quality grapes would not typically have been harvested yet. I didn’t get specific info on the grapes then because my main purpose wasn’t looking for a deal, it was looking for the highest quality grapes I could find. I’m very interested to hear more about what’s available.
Colavita also supplies keystone HomeBrew. The markup seems to be quite a lot. But it’s so hard to compare anything without actually knowing the quality. Therein lies the appeal of Brehms.

The quality of the grapes to a degree that's what is nice about S&S and Procassi, you get to see and test (at least for sugar) what the grapes are like. The disadvantage you can only get what they have.

 

[Ajmassa]

The quality of the grapes to a degree that's what is nice about S&S and Procassi, you get to see and test (at least for sugar) what the grapes are like. The disadvantage you can only get what they have.

Never pre-tested Procacci, although I never asked either. But I don’t complain there. Procacci I know what I’m gettin.
But places like Pintos, Keystone, and late Harford are great because of options offered. My Paso clone#8 grapes were meh. But could have just as easily hit a homerun had I went with Lanza, LMP clone169, Amador Gold etc. But spending anywhere from $55-$80 a lug.
The direct Colavita route is fantastic if the logistics can work out for quality fruit. And any way ya slice it- Brehms =substantially more $ with substantially less gamble for a proven winner. One day I know I’ll end up making the call and driving to Scranton on a whim lol

 

[jburtner]

Colavita estimated maybe about $400 for an LTL reefer delivery to Nashville on a pallet of grapes which doesn't sound unreasonable to me. Another option to pick up at a winery may save a little on shipping but probably close enough to a wash for me.

Cheers!
-johann