The problem: training takes time nobody has during harvest
During harvest, everyone is busy with real work: picking, receiving grapes, monitoring tanks. Pulling someone out of that chain to "teach them" competes directly with production. The traditional way to train — having the new hire shadow a winemaker while real-time decisions get made on a real tank — is slow, and any mistake that person makes doesn't stay in a notebook: it ends up in an actual batch of wine.
What someone needs to know before touching a real tank
They don't need to master all of enology, but they do need the basics that decide whether a batch gets ruined: reading a hydrometer correctly, understanding what temperature does to must, knowing when to correct acidity or add nutrients, and telling an ongoing alcoholic fermentation apart from a malolactic one. These are decisions made fast, with little room for error, in a real winery.
Separating practice from real production
The safest way to learn this is by making mistakes, over and over — which is exactly what you can't allow on a real tank. The traditional options were either sacrificing a small batch for training (expensive) or skipping practice and learning on the fly (risky). A simulator solves this by separating practice from real inventory: someone can add too much acid, ferment at the wrong temperature, or forget the nutrients, without it costing a single liter of actual wine.
It doesn't replace the winery — it prepares people for it: the goal isn't to learn enology in the abstract, but to arrive at the real tank having already made those first mistakes somewhere they don't matter.
How LagarLab handles this
The Institutional Plan is built exactly for this: one payment covers the whole team, up to 30 people, and each member practices from their own account with a shared code — no per-seat billing. The chemistry engine follows real regulations (OIV/INV), so what someone learns there transfers directly to the real tank — it's not a simplified game version.
Want to train your team before the next harvest?
One payment covers the whole winery team — no per-seat billing.
Enter the laboratoryFrequently asked questions
How many people can one plan train?
Up to 30, with a single payment. You get a code to share, and each team member redeems it from their own account.
Does it work for someone who's never used a simulator?
Yes. The free account already lets you try the full cycle with 2 estates before adding the whole team to the Institutional Plan.
Does the simulator replace real practice at the winery?
No, it complements it: it lets someone make as many mistakes as it takes before touching a real tank, without risking an actual batch of wine.
How much does it cost to train the whole team?
450 USD per semester or 720 USD per year, for up to 30 people — no per-seat billing.