A growing winery management software company with a unique and highly functional vineyard and cellar module, Process2Wine® is always on the lookout for savvy wineries that are taking technology to the next level. Named after its founder, esteemed Finger Lakes Winery, Dr. Konstantin Frank, is embracing the technology wave and with fourth-generation family member Meaghan Frank as General Manager, they may go even further.
Meaghan’s great grandfather, Dr. Konstantin Frank, began the “Vinifera Revolution” on the East Coast changing the way wine grapes were grown in many areas there. Meaghan wants to keep up the revolution, this time implementing the technological advantages of Process2Wine. “Meaghan has stood out to me. We sought them [Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery] out three or four years ago, as they are one of the best-known wineries in the Finger Lakes,” notes Process2Wine’s Chief Operations Officer, Patrick Oates. “When Meaghan transitioned in, she started contacting us right away to learn more and more about the winery management software.”
Frank explains that although she only moved to Process2Wine within the last year, she is finding it ultra-helpful, “It’s very exciting to see the capabilities of Process2Wine and even more exciting to have access to the components on our cell phones.”
She and the winemaking staff have received the full training set and were impressed by being able to use the cell phone app to input all of the lab analysis; inputting brix and weight levels while at the tank, seeing which tank a particular lot is in and how much juice it’s producing, even down to the detail of noting the condition of the fruit. “It’s all entered right there. We make 36 different wines, so having it all in one place is really nice,” Frank particularly likes that, “This system is very user-friendly and it syncs instantaneously. The interface seems easy to use.”
She says they have two assistant winemakers, one from France and one from South Africa, who are accustomed to tracking different facets of winemaking this way and are happy to see more technology being used. As for Frank, she speaks highly of the app, “Graphically, the interface is very attractive. When we’re bottling, it shows pie charts with our blend components. It’s a good added visual feature that I hadn’t seen before.”
Other features she mentions are used for better understanding their vineyards and the time savings for 702 reports, “So for me, the winemaker knows what’s going on, but we need to have records of everything we do so we can understand our blocks better, and for improve our reporting. A key feature of Process2Wine is that we’re able to generate a 702 report, saving us at least an hour each month.” This represents a major time savings for most wineries.
Frank notes that they’ve had two previous systems, “Dad (Frederick Frank) pushed to have a system in place before I came on board, but we had an early model. Dad understands the value, and so he didn’t need a lot of convincing.” A huge stand-out to her is the education and support that comes with a Process2Wine system. After a large investment, a previous system let them down, giving little to no support, so good follow-up was important this time around. Frank is enthusiastic on this topic, “Their support has been very good. We don’t have a long track record with them, but the trainings have been great. We’ve received specific trainings at every stage, matched to wherever we were in our learning process. Sometimes it’s really difficult to find good support once you make a big purchase. Clement is our support trainer and he’s been very helpful.”
A grandson of Dr. Konstantin Frank is the vineyard manager, “We have 130 acres planted across two sites; the main site where our oldest block is, where my great-grandfather started planting, and our other site, started in 2005, which has a slightly warmer climate. It’s 50 minutes away, so it has its own vineyard manager.” Meaghan hopes that one day they will incorporate the vineyard management component of Process2Wine into their routine as well.
Oates is impressed with this technologically savvy winery, and its cutting-edge General Manager, “Meaghan is definitely one of the up and coming people to watch in that entire area.”
With remarkably affordable pricing, this technology provides vast potential to the new wave of technology-driven vineyard decision making. Contact their team today to demo the software and see how Process2Wine can take you winery and vineyard management to the next level.
