How to Find the Best Wine Bottle Filler Machine

With the right machinery, filling wine bottles can transform from a slow, finnicky process to an efficient, cost-effective production line that meets your expanding winemaking needs.

Wine bottle filler machines provide you with a faster, more flexible, and smoother way to fill wine bottles. Whether you want to fill a single case of wine or expand an existing production line, wine bottle fillers can give you more control over the bottle-filling process from start to finish—and, at the same time, allow room for future growth.

If you’re ready to explore options for wine bottle filler machines, look no further than the experts at E-Pak Machinery. We can help you get started.

Types of Wine Bottle Filler Machines

There are a wide variety of wine bottle filler machines on the market today, from small tabletop fillers to fully automatic and custom-built bottle filling machines. Although most have similar functions, there no standard solutions—because every winemaker has different priorities.

Generally, wine bottle filler machines can be categorized by automation level and/or filling type.

Automation Level

Wine bottle fillers are available in three varied levels of automation:

• Manual machines (filling 100‒200 bottles per hour) require human intervention to operate.
• Semi-automatic machines (filling 200‒500 bottles per hour) need some degree of manual operation but have some automated parts.
• Automatic machines (varying levels of maximum capacity) are fully operational without manual intervention and are intended for large production lines.

Many winemakers start with manual machines when their production lines are small, upgrade to a semi-automatic bottle filler when they start filling around 5,000 bottles per year, and then consider full automation when production levels exceed 9,000 to 10,000 bottles filled annually.

Filling Type

The most common filling options for wine bottles are an overflow filler or a gravity filler.

Overflow fillers, also called liquid-level fillers, are set to fill the bottle to a predetermined level. Even if a bottle has slight imperfections that mean it holds a different volume of liquid at that level, it will look consistent with its neighboring bottles. Overflow filler machines are especially useful if you are filling transparent bottles and want them all to look the same.

Gravity fillers, or volumetric fillers, fill each wine bottle with the same amount of wine. Usually using a timer-based system, each container will receive a specified volume of liquid. A bottle may look like it has more or less product than the surrounding containers due to minor discrepancies in the container itself, but they will all hold the same amount of wine.

How to Choose the Best Wine Bottle Filler

Wine is a unique product, and wine bottle filler machines need to be researched carefully and selected with the taste and quality of the finished product in mind. There are options at every automation level, machines with different types of filling methods, and bottle fillers made to work well with wine corks or caps.

With so many wine bottle fillers to choose from, consider these tips before moving forward with your selection.

Determine Your Production Line Goals

What is your total annual production? What are your projected goals for the next several years? What does a normal day look like on the production line? What is your budget? What is your ultimate vision for your product?

The answers to these questions are a large part of determining which wine bottle filler machine is right for your business. If, for example, you are only filling a few wine bottles a minute, there’s likely no need to dedicate the space and budget for a fully automated, industrial-sized wine bottle filler machine.

Talk to Other Winemakers

What wine bottle filler machines are other winemakers using? Ask your peers what machine they are using, what they like, what they dislike, and how their experience with the wine bottle manufacturing company has been. Recommendations from your fellow businessowners are invaluable.

Check Equipment Reviews

Like any other product, equipment reviews are an excellent way to narrow down your list of options. While making note of which wine bottle filling machines meet your production needs, don’t forget to take a peek at the reviews other customers have left. If possible, follow up on some of those references to ask any questions you have about the product you are considering.

Get Machine Recommendations from Experts

You may have a general idea of the type, size, and speed requirements you want out of a wine bottle filler, but it’s also important to ask the experts for more ideas. Find a liquid filling manufacturer in your region with a good reputation that can provide you with expert feedback and help you find the best wine bottle filler for your needs.

Contact E-PAK Machinery to Find the Best Wine Bottle Filler Machine for Your Production Line

E-PAK Machinery is a leader in the wine bottle filler machine industry. We offer a variety of liquid filling, capping, and packaging machinery—from portable tabletop machines to fully automatic, industrial-sized liquid packaging systems. Whatever your wine bottle filler needs, the professionals at E-PAK Machinery are here to guide you through the process.

We are ready to help you determine the best wine bottle filler for your production line and offer you 24/7 support before, during, and after installation. Contact us today for a free consultation.