Frequently Asked Questions
Answers organized by module, covering what each part of Amphora does and how it fits together.
Getting Started
What is Amphora?
Amphora is a production and management application for wineries, breweries, meaderies, and cideries. It works as a process log with database storage, management, and reporting built in, and can track winery operations from the vineyard all the way to the bottle.
How does Amphora organize winemaking data?
Amphora divides winemaking into two broad areas: processes and events. A process occurs over a span of time, such as a fermentation. An event is a single point-in-time action, such as a measurement, addition, or tasting.
Where is Amphora used?
Amphora is installed in more than 500 commercial wineries, vineyards, breweries, and cideries in more than 30 countries around the world.
Batch Management
What can I track with Batch Management?
The entire process from crush to bottle, including additions, transfers, and measurements. Every event is linked to the batch it belongs to and to the modules around it.
How does batch traceability work?
Linking a batch to its fruit source connects it back to the originating vineyard block, and forward to the final bottled product, providing full traceability in both directions.
What kinds of batch events can be recorded?
Events such as additions, amelioration, bottling, cap management, chaptalization, filtering, measurements, pressing, racking, blending, tasting, and topping up.
Can I export batch data?
Yes. The batch log view consolidates all data for a batch onto a single screen, and can be exported to Excel, PDF, or HTML.
Container Management
How do I set up containers in Amphora?
Container templates let you create large numbers of containers, such as barrels, in a single operation rather than entering them one at a time.
Do I need to manually update container status?
No. Container status updates automatically as batch events are recorded, so it always reflects what's actually happening in the cellar.
Can I see my containers visually?
Yes. Interactive container maps show containers visually, and database entries can be made directly from the map, in addition to the normal interface.
Vineyard Management
What vineyard data can I track?
Vineyards and blocks, vineyard events, harvest samples such as sugar, TA, and pH, vineyard growth stages like fruit set and veraison, spray records, and vineyard weather.
How are vineyard activities linked to the final wine?
Recorded vineyard activity is linked to the batch that fruit becomes, connecting what happened in the block to what ends up in the bottle.
Can I create maps of my vineyard blocks?
Yes. Data-aware, customizable visual maps of vineyards and blocks are built in, linked to the same records as the rest of the system.
Inventory Management
What's the difference between general and packaged inventory?
General inventory covers cellar supplies and other non-wine stock, while packaged inventory covers bottled wine. Both are tracked side by side.
Can Amphora generate purchase orders and invoices?
Yes. Purchase orders and sales invoices can be generated automatically in PDF form as inventory moves in and out.
What happens when inventory runs low?
Items can be flagged once they fall below a set reorder level, so low stock doesn't go unnoticed.
Task Management
How does Task Management work?
Schedule and track tasks across the winery and vineyard. Task entries and work orders can be created directly from the calendar.
Can work orders be generated automatically?
Yes. In addition to creating them manually from the calendar, work orders can be generated automatically through process and event entries.
Winery Management
What does Winery Management show?
It combines data across multiple modules into integrated summary reports for the entire operation, rather than requiring you to piece it together module by module.
Can I see costs across my whole operation?
Yes. Winery Management shows active processes, events, bulk and bottled wine inventory, production, and costs across the entire winery.