Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/369547
8 4 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | S e p t - O c t 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m BY GENI WHITEHOUSE sk anyone in the wine industry about the software they use to run their business, and you are certain to uncover at least one area of dissatisfaction. You won't find them using a single solution in most cases, but rather a series of tools that have been cobbled together to address the needs of the business. Regular spreadsheet manipulations and data recalcula- tions are required just to keep data flowing from one system to the next. Winery owners and employees find themselves mired in a data inferno. It's no wonder the solutions are complicated. The business of making and selling wine is a complex proposition. As an owner, if you survive the three to five years it takes for a vine to yield usable fruit, you then have to deal with the intricacies of harvest, pro- duction and multiple sales channels, not to mention licensing and tax compliance challenges. Throw in the unique accounting issues related to inventory costing, accounting for farming costs, and property valuations, and you start to wonder how anyone manages to thrive in the wine industry. But thrive they do – often in spite of the software they use to run their business. Winery software must serve many masters, because everyone involved in the wine business has a different perspective. Accountants worry about accuracy and G e t t i n g t h e M o s t f r o m W i n e ry S o f t wa r e The devil is in the details Image: Thinkstock