Winery Master Planning
As harvest winds down and the cellar quiets, there’s a rare opportunity to step back and ask: Is our winery layout still serving us — or are we serving it?
We talk with winery owners every day who produce beautiful wines in facilities that aren’t aging nearly as well. Tight crush pads, dated equipment, undersized or oversized tanks, and hospitality experiences that don’t reflect the caliber of wine being poured. Most of it stems from one thing: the original layout wasn’t built for today’s workflow, safety expectations, or hospitality experience.
Workflow Leads to Wine Quality
Any cellar team can tell you that layout directly impacts wine quality. Poor layouts force inefficient movement of fruit, must, and finished wine. The right size tank selection and placement will support operational flexibility while optimizing adjacencies for receiving, pressing, tanks, and bottling.
Modernization = Marketability
Your facility is part of your brand. For many visitors, the experience of the space is as memorable as the wine. As direct to consumer sales continue to be a primary focus in today’s market, rethinking your customer experience from parking to pour can help increase sales. This could include creating visual and physical separation between front-of-house and cellar, framing production spaces to add drama and transparency without exposing clutter, integrating accessibility upgrades and/or sharing your story in a unique way.
Flexibility is Key to Growth
Winery trends change over time. A rigid layout that worked 10 years ago might now be choking your creativity, hospitality programming, or custom crush business. Consider the use of modular zones and movable equipment where possible; plan utilities (water, power, drainage) with scalability in mind; and allow for seasonal reconfiguration without shutting down operations.
Safety and Labor Retention
An unsafe or uncomfortable workspace leads to more than just injuries, it can also drive staff turnover and impact morale. A well-designed layout can separate production and visitor traffic in a way that still supports hospitality and processing functions. These improvements in lighting, ventilation, and utility layout are also conducive to a better work environment, while overall layout considerations for operational movements and adjacencies can help maintain safety.
Let’s Walk Through It!
The best winery solutions don’t start in front of a screen they start in the cellar, with boots on the ground and a walk through what’s working and what’s not. If you’d like a fresh set of eyes on your operation, we would love to come by, walk your site, and listen to your goals. Let Summit be the partner to help you realize your vision.