When Doug ran Lake Missoula Cellars, he gave a tour to a small group of people, showing his operations beyond the tasting room. In the production area, there were large bins of grapes fermenting and many barrel of wine aging. A couple of people commented on vast number of fruit flies in the facility. Doug mention they were a problem and had come with the last grape shipment. Upon viewing the grapes and juice fermenting in the bins, one could see many dead flies, bees and other insects floating on the surface of the juice and grape skins. A little research by one of the guests after the tour uncovered the real problem, an unclean production facility will promote the reproduction of these flies. These small flies use the drains and other dark and moist areas to reproduce. Doug's facility had wine spilled on the floor, slopped on the barrels and trails of dried wine running into the floor drain, all areas for reproduction.
Another observation was a container of powdered Drano sitting on a shelf next to wine glasses and other additives used in the winemaking industry. One could only imagine what could happen if the white powder of Drano was accidently mixed with the winemaking additives.
Finally, one could not help noticing the clutter in the production area and in Doug's "office" the place was filthy. There was dirty plates with dried up food, dirty wine glasses and dirty glassware used in the winemaking process.
Back in the tasting room, fruit flies were again abundant. There were so many, it distracted anyone from enjoying the tasting of the wines. How could any facility be kept clean with so many flies?
After telling this story to several people, one person recalled another incident they witnessed at the winery. Doug would have music on the weekends and sold food and wine to the customers. He also would let his two dogs roam the freely around the facility where the customers would sit and eat while listening to music. On this particular evening, one of the dogs was so hungry, he walked up and stole the food from the customer's plate while they were sitting at the table. The customer was so appalled, he went to complain to Doug and his staff. After finding Doug in the kitchen area of the winery, he found a second dog was sitting on the floor. This is where Doug was preparing the food for his customers. There was dog hair on the floor and open containers of food on the counters. Needless to say, the customer never went back. Doug often complained about losing customers but, was blind to the fact he drove most of them away.
So, will his new winery, Prodigy Wines be any cleaner?
