Technical production audit
Two days at the winery with measurements, then a report in which every recommendation carries a cost, an expected effect and a note on available funding.
The core service. Most problems at small estates are not in the equipment but in decisions taken from habit and without measurement.
What gets measured
Free and total SO2, with the molecular fraction recalculated at actual pH. At pH 3.2 and 3.6 the same number in the logbook means different protection, and this is the most common audit finding.
Then: malic acid by enzymatic method, volatile acidity, dissolved oxygen at transfers and total package oxygen, temperature regimes, water use per litre of wine.
What is inspected separately
The bottling line. An estate works on a wine for a year and loses it in twenty minutes: oxygen pickup at fill, closures chosen without regard to oxygen transmission, uncontrolled fill level. A bottling audit almost always returns a result out of all proportion to its cost.
Transfer practice and vessel integrity. Inerting, closed transfers, working with nitrogen.
The spray programme in the vineyard and whether it matches actual disease pressure.
What you receive
A report with baseline figures taken before any intervention, a list of recommendations with costs and expected effect, and a note on each item as to whether it fits an open funding line.
The baseline matters in its own right: without it there is no way to show the difference a year later, and without a demonstrated difference there is no second engagement.
Where the work happens
On site anywhere. For estates outside the region, the audit is arranged around a single visit, with preparation and reporting handled remotely and the sampling protocol agreed in advance so that one trip is enough.