Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/112023
WINEMAKING aging, the other for barrel storage and bottling. Case goods are stored off-site in a Terravantowned facility in Santa Maria, Calif., unless clients make their own arrangements. Terravant also sports a tapas and wine bar with a stunning view of the shiny maze of tanks and pipes and catwalks on the winery floor below. The bar features a large number of wines by the glass made on-site and by other Santa Barbara producers. Pionering Santa Barbara The working facility starts County winemaker Ken Brown with a sophisticated, flexible is happy in his new home. reception setup able to handle small loads headed for bins���Brown���s biggest lot is about 5 tons, and most are much smaller���or truckloads of grapes headed for tank. The initial setup, customized by P&L Specialties, includes a sorting table and conveyor feeding into a Diemme destemmer/ crusher, the pace controlled by a single foot pedal. For 2012, Terravant tried an alternative reception wrinkle, adapting Pellenc Selectiv��� head-harvest equipment normally employed in the field for destemming at the winery, and it got rave reviews from several customers for pulling out just berries and juice without enlisting a multi-person sorting table. Bin-scale fermentations like Brown���s get pallet-jacked to one of four temperature- and humidity-controlled rooms, including one chilled down for cold soaks. For larger batches, Terravant makes maximum use of its floor-space footprint by building its tank farm up, not out. Many of the tanks are comparatively tall and slender���not ideal for fermentation because of the aspect ratio, but terrific, says Brown, for settling and fining. There are also several rows of double-decker tanks from JVNW Inc. featuring a top-level fermentor with a good width-to-height ratio for red fermentations, which then feed into a mobile Diemme press, which sends clean wine into a lower-level tank for aging. Free run and press wine can be separated in the process. The tank area floor features one of Brown���s design suggestions: a relative handful of Zurn drains, each in its own gentle swail, instead of hundreds of feet of trench drains. Brown says the systems clog much less often and are much less prone to breakage from the movement of heavy equipment. Red wine is fed from a top-level fermentor into a mobile Diemme press (above), which sends clean wine into a lower-level tank for aging. All of Brown���s wines���several Pinots, a Syrah and a small bit of Chardonnay���end up in barrel for aging. While the wines bide their time, Brown and the other APs have access to a well-equipped lab featuring automated, batch-process alcohol, enzyme and flow-rate analyzers. Volumes of wine, large or small, that need tweaking can go through on-site ���sweet spot��� tasting and de-alcoholization, membrane separation and tartrate stabilization through STARS electrodialysis. For VA removal, a mobile unit from Winesecrets sets up shop at the facility once per year. GrapeParts4Less.com Paying Too Much For Picking Rods? Now You Have A Low Cost Source! Highlights ��� anta Barbara County winemaker Ken Brown has built up two S important labels; now he makes wine in a custom-crush winery, saving himself a lot of work. ��� he Terravant Wine Center in Buellton, Calif., is an ultra-modern, T high-end showpiece, in which Brown practices almost minimalist Pinot Noir winemaking. ��� is biggest problem lately has been too high a proportion of fullH priced, direct-to-consumer sales. GrapeParts4Less.com supplies quality American made picking rods, closures, and parts for all major grape harvester brands. Call 559-277-7382 or visit our website. Mastercard or VISA accepted. Se habla Espa��ol. GrapeParts4Less.com Your Low Cost Source For Quality Harvester Parts Win es & Vines M A RC H 20 13 31