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38 W i n e s & V i n e s J U n e 2 0 1 4 I n planning the new Law Estate Wines winery in Paso Robles, Calif., veteran winemaker Scott Hawley took a somewhat novel approach to envisioning the winemaking process. Instead of focusing on how he could equip the crush pad and cellar, he sought to eliminate steps and machinery to simplify the process. "I sort of wanted to go backward and take out equip- ment.…Let's see how easy we can make this," he said. Hawley said the finished winery fea- tures stunning architecture and design, yet the building facilitates a rather simple and straightforward winemaking process. Sev- eral other winemakers with experience in building and planning wineries offered similar thoughts in discussing the keys of good winery design and construction: Simpler is usually better, and extra space can come in real handy. Cleaning up gravity flow Hawley has worked in winemaking in the Central Coast for nearly 15 years and helped design several wineries. He said he's worked at places where the goal was a gravity-flow winemaking process, but the system was needlessly complicated with grape elevators, forklifts and hoists. Such processes are vulnerable to equip- ment failure, which can bring harvest to a grinding halt, Hawley contended. The system at Law is based around half-ton stainless steel bins that collect destemmed fruit and can be pushed over to tanks with a pallet jack. The bins fea- ture an airlift mechanism that makes them act a bit like miniature dump trucks. With the push of a button, a worker can activate the lift, prompting the grapes to fall into the tops of tanks that are level with the crush pad. Dumping takes about eight seconds, but the winery has two lift bins, so when one is being emptied or transferred back and forth from the crush pad, the other is being filled. Sonoma Cast Stone built the winery's 22 concrete tanks that feature 55-inch- wide openings at the top to make grape Highlights • Space and flexibility are keys to good winery design. • Different winemaking styles require different winery designs. • Most new wineries are embracing a modern aesthetic. Space and Flow Winery design focuses on efficient winemaking, unique experience By Andrew Adams Doug Dun/bar architectS While visitors to the new Law Estate Wines winery in Paso Robles, Calif., enjoy sweeping views, the ridgetop winery is largely screened from view. The concrete tanks in the cellar at Law Estate can be filled quickly and cleanly from stainless steel bins. W I N E M A K I N G W I N E M A K I N G