How Modern Tech Empowers Winemakers Managing Multiple Labels
The modern winemaker’s role is taking on completely new heights. Many winemakers today aren’t just responsible for a single estate label. They are now overseeing multiple brands, managing custom crush clients and facilities, tracking case goods inventory, and wearing a rotating list of hats.
The pressure, or unclear map that comes with scaling your output, can be intense and daunting to the already overworked winemaker. More SKUs, pick-decisions, fermentation tracking, tank space, bottling runs, you name it – the list goes on and on.
For many winemakers, the question becomes: How do you grow your operations and output without burning out, or letting quality slip?
In the latest episode of Expert Talks, we sat down with Mike Tracy, Director of Winemaking for Trois Noix, Consulting Winemaker for Peter Paul Wines, and founder of his own new label. Mike has mastered the art of managing multiple brands without compromising the integrity of each wine or sacrificing his sanity. Hear first hand how he makes this happen, and view his blueprint for winemakers looking to scale thoughtfully and sustainably.
1. Brand Expansion Starts with Crystal-Clear Expectations
When your work spans multiple facilities and multiple brands, clarity becomes a winemaker’s greatest tool.
Each winery, cellar crew, and production team operates in a unique way, which means assumptions can easily lead to missed details or misaligned execution. Mike emphasized the importance of setting clear expectations up front. Be sure to:
- Define your winemaking protocols
- Document your processes
- Establish communication preferences and rhythms
- Align stylistic goals early on
These ensure you build trust and set expectations the right way from the beginning. These reduce friction, protect wine quality, and streamline your workload when you cannot physically be in every location at once.
2. Use Data as Your Backbone
Scaling without burnout requires intentional structure. And this comes from clean, centralized, real-time data through InnoVint. Mike leans heavily on this data, accessible anywhere, to stay organized across multiple brands. He looks at:
- Fermentation metrics (Brix and temp)
- Topping and sulfuring schedules
- Lab results
- TTB Compliance & reporting
- Daily work orders
- Bottling logistics and dry goods
- COGS by facility and SKU
Mike emphasizes that this doesn’t replace being physically at the winery; it supports it. With solid data workflows, you’re not managing from memory, notebooks, or scattered spreadsheets. You’re making informed decisions with confidence and freeing up headspace for the creative and problem-solving work that matters.
3. The Power of Small, Consistent Actions
One of the biggest pitfalls of managing multiple brands is letting small details slide. Mike notes, it’s the smallest things that protect wine quality, especially when scaling.
Mike’s Non-negotiables:
- Topping and sulfur checks every 3–4 weeks, not 6-7 weeks.
- Before bottling: DO and gas pressure checks, small but easily missed in large facilities.
- Regular sensory evaluation throughout the year
- Clearly communicated standards at each facility
When you multiply these across brands or facilities, organization matters even more. Missing one round of SOâ‚‚ or one topping cycle can introduce unnecessary risk and start to compromise quality.
4. Protect Your Work-Life Balance by Protecting Your Processes
Scaling your output and improving your work-life balance are not competing goals. They depend on each other. Managing multiple brands is easier when you have a structured backbone supporting your stylistic choices.
When your data is centralized, your teams are aligned, communication is consistent you remove that constant mental load. You shift from a reactive, scrambling winemaker to someone who anticipates, steers, and empowers.
That’s how you reclaim evenings, weekends, and mental space, especially when your brand count grows.
5. Scaling Is Not About Doing More, It’s About Doing Less, Better
This may be the most important insight of the entire episode. Scaling doesn’t mean working twice as hard. It means redirecting your energy, organizing your workflows, and aligning your team to the decisions that matter most.
“When the pick is perfect, the wines make themselves.” — Mike Tracy
When you utilize modern tools, like InnoVint, Mike states he has fewer last-minute surprises. The increased visibility allows information to be accessed from anywhere and reduces double-work. He uses his time back to be present in the vineyards, to be hands-on with the cellar teams at each location, and to spend quality time with his family and friends.
The Future of Winemaking Belongs to Those Who Scale with Intention
Every winemaker deserves the ability to grow their career, alongside their life, and not have to choose between the two.
Mike shows that this is possible when you adopt modern technology and lean into building sound relationships and protocols that are well communicated. With the right systems, clarity, and data foundations in place, winemakers can expand to new SKUs, new facilities, and be open to new opportunities without compromising what matters most.
At InnoVint, we’re building tools that support modern winemaking, intuitive, comprehensive data management that scales with you.
Watch the full Expert Talks episode with Mike Tracy to get actionable insights on expanding your output without sacrificing wine quality. Check out Trois Noix and Peter Paul Wines to experience the wines from Mike and see how data and discipline are shaping the next generation of winemaking.