- Napa, California
- 12+ Facilities
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President: Jason Strobbe
VP of Winemaking: Alison Crowe
Director of Operations: Jessica Valenzuela
Plata Wine Partners is a premium “vineyard-to-bottle” production house rooted in California’s top coastal AVAs. With more than 20,000 acres of sustainably managed vineyards, Plata provides bulk-wine, private-label, and custom-program solutions for brands of all sizes. Their team brings together expertise in viticulture, winemaking, production, and finance to deliver programs aligned with modern consumer preferences.
As the business evolved, Plata recognized that their Winemaker’s Database (WMDB) system lacked the accuracy, speed, and real-time visibility required by a 12+ facility production model. Plata implemented InnoVint in 2024, and the difference after just one harvest was remarkable.
The Challenge
A System That Slowed Down the Entire Business
Before InnoVint, Plata’s production and finance teams were burdened by manual processes that made everyday work harder and introduced costly risk.
- Excessive manual data entry. Every two weeks, the team manually entered transactions from multiple custom crush partners. During harvest, the workload doubled. One team member spent nearly a week each month updating records by hand, all for data that was still behind.
- Inaccurate and outdated costing data. Tracking fruit value, materials, overhead, additions, and ownership splits was nearly impossible. WMDB delivered what Jessica Valenzuela, Director of Operations, described as “behind-the-times information,” leaving finance without a clear or timely understanding of true production cost.
- Error-prone corrections. Fixing mistakes in their legacy system was painful. The “fix the tank transaction” tool rarely worked. As a result, their database itself was cluttered with unnecessary tanks, duplicate additives, and outdated data.
No visibility into blends, bottling materials, or program commitments. Blend tracking lived in a massive spreadsheet outside the system, bottling materials had no home at all, and unallocated gallons were frequently inaccurate because movements weren’t entered in real time.
The Turning Point: A Need for Real-Time Accuracy and Scalable Processes
When Plata began evaluating new solutions, accuracy and scalability were paramount. Plata needed more than just a wine production software and thus prioritized:
- Real-time visibility across programs and blends
- A single source of truth for costing and inventory
- Accurate ownership percentages for bottling and sales
- A system that eliminates duplicate work, not creates it
- A platform that the whole team could learn quickly
After evaluating their options, InnoVint stood out for its:
- Clean, intuitive workflows
- Powerful costing engine
- Robust by-client inventory tracking
- Trial blend management with cost, analyses, and composition prediction
- Ease of training and adoption
- Strong track record with premium producers
- Deep wine industry knowledge
And after seeing InnoVint’s simplified interface and real-world winemaking workflows, the decision was clear, as Jessica Valenzuela, Director of Operations at Plata shared: “We don’t want to switch systems again. We wanted a long-term partner — and that’s InnoVint.”
Seamless Migration from Winemakers Database to InnoVint
Plata’s transition from WMDB to InnoVint was far smoother than they expected. Despite years of accumulated data on a legacy on-premise system, the migration was clean, structured, and fully supported by the experienced InnoVint team. Workflows were mapped, data was validated, and users were trained quickly, allowing Plata to get up and running in less than 3 months without disrupting production. For a team that once worried about the pain of change, the move ultimately proved to be one of the most valuable decisions they made.
The Solution
A More Profitable, Efficient, and Healthy Wine Business
InnoVint has made us incredibly efficient, saved at least a headcount, and cut our consulting needs by 70% during harvest. We now have immediate visibility to tank blends and costing enterprise-wide — and have saved margin points by costing projects with 100% accuracy.
-Jason Strobbe, President
One year after switching to InnoVint, Plata reported measurable gains in accuracy, efficiency, and profitability across the business:
Plata’s Smoothest Harvest Yet
2025 was a turning point. With real-time visibility and cleaner coordination across vineyard partners, facilities, operations, and finance, harvest ran more smoothly and predictably than at any point in Plata’s history. Jason Strobbe, President at Plata, shared, “2025 harvest was the smoothest we’ve ever had. That feedback came from every department.”
Key improvements included:
- Eliminated bottlenecks during the busiest weeks
- Real-time inventory tracking across all facilities
- Clear, accurate visibility into every tank and blend
- Faster decision-making during fruit intake, transfers, and lots splitting
With InnoVint, the entire operation ran faster, cleaner, and more confidently.
Dramatic Reduction in Manual Work – Saving over $250,000 Per Year
InnoVint removed layers of duplicate entry, manual blend tracking, and end-of-month cleanup work. The result is meaningful productivity savings across the organization, equating to over $250,000 in savings.
- 1–2 FTEs (Full Time Employees) of productivity gained through automation and streamlined workflows
- 10+ hours saved every week by eliminating the massive blend spreadsheet
- 70% reduction in outside consulting needs to manage wine allocations
Work that once required days of manual updates now happens in minutes… or automatically.
100% Costing Accuracy
Costing was one of Plata’s biggest pain points. It was also one of the greatest areas of transformation.
With complete visibility into fruit, materials, labor, overhead, and packaging, Plata can now cost projects with total precision. This level of accuracy equates to margin points saved, especially on large and complex production runs.
InnoVint gives the Plata team:
- Monthly fruit, material, overhead, and additions costs
- Accurate ownership percentages at the ranch and block level
- Cost per 750ml
- Real-time allocation across programs
- Full costing reports after bottling
But the biggest shift is how costing and program management now work together. With real-time costing tied directly to program allocations, Plata’s operations team can immediately understand the financial impact of moving volume between programs, facilities, or tanks. Every transfer, blend, or reallocation is reflected instantly, allowing them to make smart, margin-protective decisions instead of relying on delayed or estimated data.
We understand our entire costing model better than anyone in the industry. Predictive costing is worth the price of admission alone.
-Alison Crowe, VP of Winemaking
Real-Time, Enterprise-Wide Visibility
Plata now has real-time, enterprise-wide visibility across its entire production footprint. Winemakers, operations teams, facilities, and finance can instantly see:
- Tank state and capacity planning
- Blend possibilities by client, program, and cost
- Actual volume allocations per program
- Material usage and packaging depletion
- Daily updates from every facility
With unified data across the entire production footprint, the organization operates with greater alignment, clearer communication, and sharper decision-making.
Conclusion: Company-Wide Efficiency Gains
By upgrading to a modern winery operating system with InnoVint, Plata transformed their business operations. They gained real-time visibility, reliable data, and a platform designed for modern winemaking teams.
For President Jason Strobbe, the impact was clear: “InnoVint has made us incredibly efficient, saved at least a headcount, and cut our consulting needs by 70% during harvest. We now have immediate visibility to tank blends and costing enterprise-wide — and have saved margin points by costing projects with 100% accuracy.”
Save Time, Save Money
Level up your productivity with a single source of truth for everything happening at your winery.
Take InnoVint with you everywhere and anywhere to gut-check your decision-making. Vineyard, cellar, lab, on vacation… it’s there for you.