Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/437909
Technical spoTlighT winemaking January 2015 Wines&Vines 75 The winery's water source is groundwater that is pumped to a man-made reservoir and pumped out as needed. Panella said so far the wells have withstood the drought satisfactorily. One piece of energy-efficient equipment is a hot-water system that essentially uses the same "tank-less" technology being in- stalled in most new homes. The system doesn't use a boiler or hot- water tank, but it still delivers 185º F water instantly. "We empty a tank and go up top with 185º water, and it washes 99% of the debris away," Joseph said. Taking a chance with a tank supplier Those tanks are a key part of Oak Farm's new operation. Panella said when he was shopping around for tank suppliers, he quickly discov- ered most have waiting lists, re- quired too much work or just weren't available. He eventually got in touch with Albrigi, an Ital- ian company that has built tanks with German steel for the phar- maceutical industry but is looking to expand its wine and beer busi- ness—especially in the United States. Panella said Albrigi was eager to work with him, and he believes his winery is one of only a few on the West Coast with Albrigi tanks. "They were really easy to work with," he said. "They were genu- inely fine with basically a custom tank for no extra cost." Oak Farm was able to specify slightly bigger hatches, taller legs to accommodate MacroBins to col- lect pomace and other tweaks. The winery is equipped with eight 2,600-gallon tanks, two 1,600-gal- lon tanks, two 500-gallon tanks, four 1,100-tanks, two 1,300-tanks and a few smaller portable tanks. Joseph said the setup is designed so he can easily rack or break down from a larger tank into a smaller tank. "You can press to that tank there and almost fill this tank up," he said. "Or if you're fermenting whites here, you can rack to fill this tank up." Joseph said he'd never worked with the supplier before, so he was a bit nervous about how the tanks Cellar worker Randy "Ziggy" Ziegler racks 2014 vintage wine from a tank into Tonnellerie Radoux barrels.