Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/331901
W i n e s & V i n e s J U ly 2 0 1 4 43 plans are in place to tear out a Merlot vineyard planted in the 1980s and replant with Petite Sirah, which he said does quite well in the area. In addition to the Bordeaux varieties, the estate is also planted to Zinfandel, red and white Rhone varieties and a small portion of Alicante Bouschet. Some of the estate grapes are bottled under the winery's second label, Fat Monk, which also uses grapes from area vineyards. Ortman said the winery's total production in 2013 was around 60,000 cases, and Villa San-Juliette accounted for about 25,000 cases. At the estate winery, Ortman said he processed 500 tons in 2013. All the grapes are hand-harvested and delivered to the winery in half-ton Mac- roBins. The winery's production staff includes cellar hand Drew Nenow, cellar- master Dan Smith and enologist Lauren Hruska. Ortman said that during the 2013 harvest he pulled in some tasting room staff members to sort, but he didn't need any other temporary harvest help. The crush pad is equipped mainly with machines from The Vintner's Vault in Paso Robles. Workers dump bins into an Imma hopper and elevator that raises grapes to an Imma destemmer. A Mono 70 must pump sends processed fruit to tanks via the bottom valve. White grapes are dumped into a Diemme hopper with an elevator that lifts them into an EnoVeneta press. Almost all of the Villa San-Juliette's fermentation tanks are set up outside the winery's barrel-storage rooms. Ortman said when he started at the winery there were plans to fill one of the barrel rooms with 14 tanks. He said while the tanks would have fit, the room would have been too cramped, hindering operations. "I just knew they wanted the brand to grow larger than where it was, and to fill this with tanks would have made it dif- ficult to grow," he said. In addition to the outside tanks, the winery also has four stainless steel tanks PROVIDING SOLUTIONS TO THE WINE INDUSTRY To order your copy: Ph: + 618 8369 9509 E: orders@winetitles.com.au Visit: www.winebiz.com.au Australia & New Zealand Leading Industry Directory PLUS + Statistics + 2014 Overview + Calendar of events + Wineshows + Courses + Organisations • 7,000 Industry listings • 9,000 Personnel • 3,100 Wineries • 4,800 Wine brands • 1,500 Grapegrowers • 2,200 Buyers' guide listings • 280 Distributors & retailers • 180 Writers & media IN PRINT & ONLINE NEW 2014! & account listings The RapidFil Cellar-Mate semi-automated wine transfer system. Two of the four Vino Vessel concrete fermentation tanks at the winery. 707-938-1300 info@acrolon.com ® G R A P E G R O W I N G W I N E M A K I N G