Are Mobile Canning Lines Right For You?

Purchasing a canning line is an expensive commitment, especially if a winery isn’t sure it will make canned products a permanent fixture.

Some companies are making it easier for businesses to access alternative packaging, however, offering mobile canning line services that are utilized by custom crush facilities and wineries alike.

Napa Wine Company in Oakville, California is a custom-crush facility that works with its clients to crush, ferment and package their wines, but it also makes wine from its own fruit under the Ghost Block, Oakville Winery and Elizabeth Rose labels.

For some clients who use Napa Wine Company’s custom crush services, NWC brings in a mobile can van as needed.

“As a brand owner, the most important thing is finding the right partner who can get it canned at a reasonable price,” General Manager Russell Joy told Vintner Magazine.

Clients who want to make canned wine simply reserve use of the van through NWC.

“If the client desires a sparkling product, that becomes a challenge if the operation doesn’t have the right equipment to keep the CO2 at the desired levels,” Joy said. “ We have to rent a special tank for that.”

After mulling the idea for some time, Suhru Wines in Cutchogue, New York took the plunge in 2020, canning their Pinot Grigio and Rosé. A year later, they plan to continue doing it, said Sales and Marketing Director Shelby Hearn. 

Suhru worked with a canning company to get the new product moving and said the process was simple.

“At the moment we work with a mobile canning company that comes to us once a year with all of the technology and allows us to easily and conveniently can our wines.”

When canning, using quality materials is key, Hearn warns. 

“The cans we use at Suhru are specifically designed to hold wine. Because wine is such an acidic liquid, you cannot use the same product that you would for soda or beer,” she explained. “Wine cans and the liners they contain are specially designed to hold wine. Every wine that we can is sampled and tested in the product to ensure that cans are able to correctly hold and preserve the quality of the wine.”