Winery Management Software

Who it's for

Wineries with DOC/DOCG designation producing 20,000-200,000 bottles/year Compliance with denomination specifications requires precise batch traceability: which vineyard, which variety, which vintage, which oenological practices. The ICQRF can request complete supply chain reconstruction for any batch in commerce. Doing this with paper records or Excel exposes to non-compliance risks during inspection. An integrated management system links field information with cellar and bottling data.

Certified organic and biodynamic producers Organic certifications (EU Reg. 848/2018) require traceability of inputs (sulfites, processing aids, phytosanitary products) for each batch, with specific quantity limits. Annual audits by certification bodies require precise documentation of cellar practices. A digital system simplifies preparation for these audits and reduces non-compliance risk.

Wineries with structured direct sales (wine shop, events, wine club) You manage multiple sales channels — on-site wine shop, sales to restaurateurs, wine club with monthly shipments, online e-commerce — each with different price lists, terms, and payment methods. Without an integrated system, each channel is managed with separate tools and warehouse inventory is never aligned.

Wine cooperatives with member grape contributions You collect grapes from 30-100 contributing members, each with different areas, varieties, and agronomic practices. You need to track quality by contribution, calculate contribution value based on quality parameters, and report production data to members. A contribution module integrated with the cellar management system eliminates double data entry.

Agritourism with winery and tastings Beyond production, you manage tasting bookings, on-site bottle sales, and hospitality. You need a system that links online bookings with warehouse inventory and allows direct sales at the counter during visits.

Problems it solves

Digital cellar register not compiled correctly Since 2015, Italian law requires keeping loading and unloading records in digital format, with periodic transmission to Agea via SIAN. Compilation errors or missed transmissions result in administrative penalties. A management system that automatically compiles the register from recorded production eliminates this risk.

Incomplete batch traceability for ICQRF inspections In case of product recall or spot check, the ICQRF can request complete batch reconstruction: from the starting grapes to cellar practices to bottling and distribution. With records fragmented across multiple media, this reconstruction can take days — during which the product remains blocked.

Non-compliant wine e-commerce Online wine sales in Italy require: retail alcoholic beverage license, REC registration, specific VAT obligations for intra-community shipments (OSS), and mandatory e-labels with nutritional information since December 2023 (EU Reg. 2021/2117). A generic e-commerce site doesn't handle these specificities — a system developed for wineries does.

Non-profitable wine club due to high management costs Wine clubs are a valuable recurring revenue source, but manual management — bottle selection, member communication, payment collection, box preparation, shipping label printing — requires 2-3 days of work per monthly shipment. Automating these steps makes the wine club economically sustainable even with 50-100 members.

Wine warehouse inventory not aligned with sales When sales happen across multiple channels (physical wine shop, e-commerce, wine club, restaurateurs), actual availability of each label is never certain. You risk selling unavailable bottles, or discovering you have less stock than needed for the month's wine club shipment. A wine warehouse integrated with all sales channels updates availability in real time.

Key features

Vineyard and contribution management Complete registry of each vineyard with variety, area, exposure, training system, and certifications (organic, SQNPI). Vintage recording by vineyard: date, quantity, quality parameters (Brix, acidity, pH, sanitary status). For cooperatives, contribution module with automatic value calculation per member based on configurable parameters.

Digital cellar register (SIAN/Agea compliant) Automatic compilation of the loading and unloading register from operations recorded in the system (pressing, fermentation, racking, bottling, sales). Export in XML format compatible with the SIAN/Agea portal for mandatory periodic transmission. Automatic alerts for transmission deadlines.

Complete batch traceability (from vineyard to bottle) Each product batch has a card tracking: source grapes by vineyard and harvest date, oenological practices applied with dates and additive quantities, fermentation tank and monitored parameters, bottling date, batch number, and batch destination (sales channel, customer). Complete batch reconstruction is available in one click.

Fermentation management with parameter monitoring Daily recording of fermentation parameters per tank: temperature, density, volatile acidity, free and total SO2. Trend charts for comparing tank by tank or vintage by vintage. Configurable alerts for out-of-range parameters. Option to integrate with IoT sensors for automatic temperature monitoring.

Oenological analyses and transport documents (MVV) Archiving of laboratory analysis reports for each batch, with comparison against specification limits. Automatic generation of Wine Transport Documents (MVV) for fiscal movements of bulk or bottled product, compliant with EU Reg. 273/2008.

Wine warehouse with label and batch management Inventory of bottled wines by label, format, vintage, and batch. Outflow management by channel (wine shop, e-commerce, wine club, horeca). Reorder alerts for labels below minimum threshold. Batch warehouse valuation with configurable FIFO or LIFO method.

Wine e-commerce with integrated regulatory management Online store for direct sales with: label catalog with technical sheets and tasting notes, real-time availability linked to warehouse, mandatory e-labels with nutritional information, wine VAT management, integration with specialized wine transport couriers, shipment tracking with automatic customer communication.

Wine club management with automatic shipments Configuration of wine club packages with automatic bottle selection according to configurable rules. Subscription management with recurring Stripe payments. Automatic generation of packing lists, shipping labels, and delivery documents. Automatic email to members with the story of selected bottles and tasting notes.

Customer CRM (private, restaurateurs, wine bars) Complete registry of each customer with purchase history, label preferences, average spend, preferred channel. Segmentation by type (private, horeca, wine shop, large retail). Management of personalized offers and private tastings.

Events and tastings management Event calendar with online booking for guided tastings, wine tours, participatory harvests. Participant management with online advance payment. Warehouse integration for deducting bottles used in events.

Financial reporting by channel Detailed sales report by label, channel, period, geographic area. Margin analysis by label and distribution channel. Vintage comparison for the same labels. Accounting software export.

Certification and compliance management Tracking of certifications by label (DOC, DOCG, IGT, Organic, SQNPI) with deadlines and renewals. Management of production notifications for denomination approval. Documentation of oenological practices permitted by each denomination's specification.

Typical workflow

Harvest period (September–October) In the cellar, the winemaker opens the management system and records the first load of Sangiovese from the Poggio Alto vineyard: 32 quintals, Brix 22.5, pH 3.4, excellent sanitary status. The system automatically updates the digital loading register and assigns the batch to the received load. Same operation for each subsequent load. At the end of harvest, you have a complete picture of grapes received by vineyard, variety, and quality — without having written anything on paper.

Fermentation and monitoring Each morning, the winemaker records parameters for tank F-07 (Sangiovese in maceration): temperature 26°C, density 1.065, volatile acidity 0.18 g/L. The system plots the trend and compares with last year's same variety batch. When temperature exceeds 28°C, an automatic SMS alert goes to the winemaker. The day's sulfiting is recorded with quantity in mg/L — mandatory data for the digital register.

Bottling and batch assignment When the 2021 Brunello is ready for bottling, you record in the system: date, source tank, quantity in bottles, batch number, batch destination (50% wine shop, 30% wine club, 20% horeca). The system generates the delivery document for any movement to an external warehouse and updates inventory.

Wine club monthly shipment It's the 25th of the month. The system has already prepared the list of 87 wine club members with their configured packages. You review the month's selections (the system has automatically selected 2024 Vermentino and 2024 Rosato IGT for the base package), approve, and launch automatic generation: shipping labels, delivery documents for each member, automatic charges to saved payment methods, member emails with bottle stories. In two hours, the monthly shipment is planned.

ICQRF inspection preparation An ICQRF inspection notice arrives. Open the traceability section, select the 2021 Brunello batch under inspection, and print the complete report: source grapes (vineyard, date, quantity, parameters), oenological practices with dates and quantities, laboratory analyses, bottling date, batch destination. The document is ready in 5 minutes.

End-of-campaign analysis In December, open the annual report: average yield per vineyard, production cost per liter by label, commercial performance by channel (wine shop +12% vs previous year, e-commerce +34%, wine club stable). Compare margin on Rosso vs Rosato — the Rosato has 18% higher margin per bottle and sells better online. This data guides production decisions for the next vintage.

Integrations

SIAN/Agea (National Agricultural Information System) — Export of digital loading and unloading register in XML format for mandatory periodic transmission. Automatic alerts for transmission deadlines.

Specialized wine transport couriers (GLS Wine, BRT, DHL) — Integration with leading courier APIs for automatic generation of shipping labels, parcel tracking, and automatic customer communication with tracking link.

Stripe and PayPal — Online payments for e-commerce and wine club, with monthly or bimonthly recurring subscription management and automatic failed payment recovery.

Accounting software (Fatture in Cloud, Zucchetti, TeamSystem) — Synchronization of issued invoices and credit notes with accounting software. Accounting record export for the accountant.

Oenological analysis laboratories — Automatic import of analysis reports from leading laboratories in PDF or CSV format, with archiving in the batch file and comparison against specification limits.

IoT sensors for fermentation — For cellars equipped with tank temperature probes, integration for automatic acquisition of fermentation data without manual entry.

Tasting booking platforms (Bokun, Checkfront) — Synchronization of tasting bookings with the management system event calendar and tasting sample inventory.

B2B horeca platforms (Soplaya, Tannico Trade) — Export of updated catalog to B2B sales platforms frequented by horeca buyers, with real-time availability synchronization.

Custom software vs off-the-shelf

Timeline, budget and process

Phase 1 — Requirements analysis and regulatory mapping (2-3 weeks) We meet with the cellar director, commercial manager, and oenological consultant to map production, sales, and compliance processes. We analyze the managed denominations, mandatory registers, active sales channels, and necessary integrations.

Phase 2 — Functional design and prototype (2-3 weeks) We design the management interface with focus on cellar usability (tablet-friendly layouts, simplified fields for quick data entry during operations). The navigable prototype is tested by the winemaker and commercial manager.

Phase 3 — Incremental development (12-20 weeks) Development with releases every 2 weeks. Priority: digital register and traceability (needed from the start), then warehouse and sales, then e-commerce and wine club.

Phase 4 — Data migration and training (2-3 weeks) Migration of historical data (vineyards, past batches, customers, orders). Staff training with practical sessions in the cellar.

Phase 5 — Go-live and ongoing support System in production. Priority support for the first 6 weeks. Maintenance contract for regulatory updates, bug fixes, and functional evolution.

Indicative investment range: Systems for small wineries (up to 50,000 bottles/year), basic traceability and direct sales: €12,000-20,000. Complete systems for medium wineries (50,000-300,000 bottles) with e-commerce, wine club, cooperatives, and advanced integrations: €25,000-50,000.