Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/331901
40 W i n e s & V i n e s J U ly 2 0 1 4 A t the start of 2013, winemaker Matt Ortman's crush pad was an unfinished dirt lot, and the winery's fermentation tanks were rest- ing on the ground. He quickly went from being a new hire at Villa San-Juliette Vineyard & Winery to overseeing the first phase of a large expansion to the winery's production capac- ity. "Mission one was to get processing on site," he said. The winery had been making most of its wine at a custom-crush facility, but Ortman, who had done some consulting for the winery, was hired to start estate production while maintaining quality. One of Ortman's key decisions was to install a Pulsair System to manage fermentation in each of the winery's larger tanks. "While there was some stress with getting the winery online before the grapes came in," Ortman said, "I think exciting is a better word for it." Some of the excitement included "MacGyver-ing" a hopper for whole-cluster pressing Pinot Gris when the purchased hopper was stuck in a shipping crate on a load- ing dock somewhere. "We were a brand new team working in a brand new win- ery with fruit that none of us had worked with before. The learning curve was massive," Ortman said, "but our pro- duction family was so solid and enthusiastic that when surprises came up they were met with excitement and a 'let's get it done right' attitude." Ortman said he had to schedule grape delivery around when construction crews would be bringing tanks online. He and his team had to learn how to operate new equipment right after it arrived at the winery. The experience wasn't easy, but Ortman said it provided a great trial by fire experience Villa San-Juliette Expands Estate Production Winery in Paso Robles, Calif., adds new crush pad and compressed air system for fermentation management By Andrew Adams Cellar worker Drew Nenow fills barrels with a RapidFil Cellar-Mate. The new crush pad was still being finished during the harvest of 2013. G R A P E G R O W I N G W I N E M A K I N G TECHNICAL REVIEW