Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/112023
CALIFORNIA WINEMAKING The bottling line is a sophisticated Bertolaso monoblock, and Terravant is especially proud of its ability to control pickup of dissolved oxygen during bottling. Pace even claims that on some runs, DO is reduced at bottling. to drop. This attention to detail makes perfect sense, since Brown has access to many of Santa Barbara���s prime Pinot NV vineyards��� Cargasacchi, Garey, RanPaso Robles cho La Vi��a, Clos Pepe���and to Santa San Luis Obispo Barbara���s first modern commercial Paci���c Ocean vineyard, Nielson, planted in 1964, for Brown���s way his Chardonnay. Santa Maria Ken Brown Wines at Ken Brown started the Byron label in Once his fruit gets to Terravant, is Terravant Wine Co. Santa Barbara 1984, sold it to the Robert Mondavi gets another round of cleanup and then family in 1990 and stayed on as winegoes through whole-berry destemming, maker until 2005. He started the Ken not really crushing. Bins get hit with Brown label in 2003, moved from Byron SO2 and dry ice and head into the cold room for two to four days of cold soak at 45��-50��F, then into a to a shared warehouse facility in Lompoc in 2005, and then to warmer room for fermentation, at about 70��-75��F. The fermentaTerravant in 2008, drawn both by the thought of shedding a lot tion rooms, though smallish, also have good CO2 evacuation. of muscle work and by some of the options the new facility ofEven with all this automated, computerized control, Brown fered for high-end Pinot production. notes that you have to watch what���s going on. A roomful of Although Brown appreciates the precise control of certain fermenting bins sends off a lot of heat, which means worrying winemaking variables that Terravant provides���temperature and about where the sensors are placed. In the first year of operation, humidity control, precision pressing and bulletproof bottling the sensors were too high up, making the room seem cooler than among them���most of his methods could have been employed it was. ���There���s always a learning curve,��� Brown says. in a rural barn 100 years ago. Despite all of Terravant���s sophisWhile the Nielson Chardonnay relies on natural yeast fermenticated tools for MOG removal, Brown is a firm believer in field tation, for his Pinots (many of them vineyard designates), Brown sorting using a mobile sorting table. ���I���ll make sure it���s as perfect uses standard commercial yeast strains for inoculation���RC212, as can be in the vineyard,��� he says, ���because that���s the best place D 254, Assmanshausen and so on. And the reason is to preserve to get it. If you���ve got a lot of stuff coming into the winery, it���s the signature of the vineyard. Natural fermentations roll the dice, impossible, forget it.��� he says, welcoming critters that can add near-threshold elements The vineyard remains the one place where Brown is still very of things like VA; the result may be more complex, but less true hands-on, briefing crews and supervisors each picking morning to the vineyard. Brown thinks natural fermentations might be a about exactly how the harvest should go, what to keep and what CA L I F O RNIA QUALITY STAINLESS TANKS QST offers its clients������. Professionally fabricated stainless tanks 35 years of tank fabrication experience Performance & reliability guarantees Custom designs & modern features Quick & competitive tank project pricing On site tank repairs & modifications Special application tanks of all sizes ���In stock tanks��� from 500 to 10,000 gallons 510 Caletti Ave. Windsor, Ca. 95492 Phone 707-837-2721 or Toll-Free 877-598-0672 www.qualitystainless.com Company Website winetanks@aol.com email contact/sales info Custom Fabricated Tanks for the perfect size & fit��� or Ready to Ship ���Stock Tanks��� Either way QST is ready to assist our clients! Call QST today for information or pricing! Win es & Vines M A RC H 20 13 33