Local vineyard stays productive despite lingering pandemic issues
ARRINGTON, Tenn. (WSMV) - Supply chain issues continue to impact businesses, including the wine industry.
Arrington Vineyards bottles wine 2 to 3 times a week, which amounts to about 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of wine.
Lead winemaker, Chase Vienneau said their team is working hard to meet demand.
“Coming out of the winter months, you can expect a human tsunami,” Vienneau described.
To ride the wave means working against supply shortages and rising costs that are impacting the entire industry.
“Our glass is coming from Mexico,” Vienneau explained. “Our cork is coming from Portugal and our tin capsules are coming from Spain, and our label and label stock is coming out of Washington state.”
The shipping of those materials is what is costing the vineyard the most.
“Wherever you’re buying the glass, they come across on the freightliners and that shipping cost went up from anywhere from $2,000, all the way to $20,000 a container,” said Vienneau.
Vienneau said their decision on how much is, now more than ever, about projection.
“Our business is really weather driven and so if we have some really rainy months, they can really affect our sales,” he admitted. “So, if we over-project, we really still need to take the glass. If we don’t take that glass when it’s ready and produced, then it’s already sold to someone else.”
To help with storage to meet that demand, Arrington is building another facility on their property to help house it all.
“To be able to order all of our packaging supplies in bulk and not have to worry about where it’s at in the ports and delay times,” explained Vienneau.
Customers are not seeing an increase on pricing, however.
“It’s not impacting our customers at this moment,” Vienneau said. “But if there’s a little slight increase, you know, everyone’s kind of taking it on.”
Arrington is also looking for a more efficient recycling process for their bottles. A recycling vendor to pick to recycle and reuse the bottles, would be ideal.
Arrington is also hiring, so if you are interested, visit their website.
Copyright 2022 WSMV. All rights reserved.
