Wines & Vines

May 2014 Packaging Issue

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64 W i n e s & V i n e s M AY 2 0 1 4 Phone (805) 239- 4989 Fax (805) 239- 4988 www.MichaelDusiTrucking.com FOR ALL YOUR TRANSPORTATION NEEDS TANKERS • REEFERS • VANS FLATBEDS • LOWBEDS MichaelDusi_Dir10 11/18/09 12:40 PM Page 1 • VELCORIN DOSING NOW AVAILABLE! • Bottle cleaning, sparging & gravity filling • Vacuum corking & multiple head corkers • All types of capsules including SCREW CAP • Single or dual web PS labeling • NEW – 187ml bottling • 20 years of hands-on bottling experience • Supported by a winery • Experienced bottling line technicians • Technical support for bottling prep & packaging • Competitive prices Castoro_Nov08 10/8/08 1:54 PM Page 1 He fermented some of the same fruit in steel and concrete but said the clay lot exhibited the most expressive fruit flavors and aromatics. He said he thought the clay also gave the wine a unique earth quality "somewhat reminiscent of iron, kinda ferrous, kind of blood-like." Beckham came to making wine amphoras in a bit of roundabout manner. He's a ceramics teacher at a high school in Beaverton, Ore., and several years ago he and his wife purchased a rural property for a clay studio. In 2005 they decided to clear the property and plant vines. A few years after that, they began making their own wine. Beckham and his wife Annedria now own Beckham Estate Vineyard in Sherwood, Ore. A few years ago, Annedria Beckham happened upon an article about wine- makers using clay amphoras and brought it to Andrew's attention. "I looked at that article and said, 'I can do that,'" he told Wines & Vines. Soon after his initial efforts garnered some publicity, Beckham said several win- eries were eager to order the vessels, yet he decided to hold off on selling them. Beckham said he wants to find just the right process for making amphoras for wine so winemakers don't produce a disappointing wine with something with his name on it. His vision is to get the right firing and glazing protocols in place to offer winemakers a set of options like coopers can provide barrels with varying toasts and wood types to fit specific winemaking styles. He said he's also developing a steel cage so the amphoras can be lifted and moved with a forklift as well as drained. Currently the vessels need to be filled and emptied by hand. Beckham is also work- ing on a terracotta egg-shaped fermentor with a drain valve. In addition to Beckham's work, sculptor Bill Ray Mangham is working with wine- making experts Brent Trela and Tom Vincent on the Qvevri Project based in San Marcos, Texas. The group is develop- ing a clay wine fermentation vessel similar to the traditional qvevri used to ferment wine in Georgia. Beckham also said he perceives an earthy tone and mentioned the texture. "I think the wines are more cohesive com- ing out of the amphora early on," he said. Beckham plans to have amphoras ready for sale soon and said he expects they will be in the range of 60-86 gallons in capacity and cost between $2,000 and $2,500. He admits it's been a bit of a "magical ride" from ceramics teacher to winemaking supplier. "The wines are so interesting. It's just super fun to be venturing into ground that's lesser known," he said. "I'm excited about where this is going." Clay artist and winemaker Andrew Beckham of Beaverton, Ore., is developing just the right glazes and firing temperatures to produce amphoras for winemaking. W I N E M A K I N G

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