Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/513570
36 WINES&VINES June 2015 WINERY & VINEYARD EQUIPMENT 36 WINES&VINES June 2015 of harvest, we always had prob- lems getting ML completed, so I changed strains and use the heat of the fermentation to get the ML through." The crush pad features two presses: a second-hand De- franceschi and a new Puelo F-70 that Holman said is his preferred press because of its digital controls that allow him to program his own press cycles or use one of the machine's pre-set cycles. In addition to the extra space, Holman says he also likes that the new winery is equipped with the wine- making software VINx2, which re- placed the pens and notebooks he used before. The software allows him to upload data from a desk- top or mobile device as well as access data whenever or wher- ever he needs it. "That's been a pretty good efficiency," Holman tells Wines & Vines. A VinWizard system con- trols tank temperatures. Les Bourgeois has 53 tanks that range from 130 gallons to 12,000 gallons. Holman pur- chased most of them from Mueller in Springfield, Mo., and Spokane Industries in Spokane, Wash. —Andrew Adams T he owners of Oak Farm Vine- yards finished construction on the new winery just in time for the 2014 harvest. In designing the crush pad, winemaker Chad Joseph and managing partner Dan Panella wanted to minimize labor while also ensuring the grape re- ceiving and sorting process was smooth and efficient. All the grapes are delivered in half-ton MacroBins, and after being unloaded with a forklift equipped with a Cascade bin dumper, they are tipped into a hopper that empties on a shaking sorter table. St. Helena, Calif.- based Burgstahler Machine Works built the shaker table and several other pieces of equipment on the Oak Farm crush pad. Joseph says the table is quiet, and its motion coaxes a steady stream of grapes out of the hop- per. "You don't have to physically do anything," he says of working the sorting post. "Just select out MOG or subpar grapes." Sorted clusters fall into a Di- emme Kappa 15 destemmer and crusher that ejects processed berries into MacroBins or a Franc- esca F05 must pump that pushes the fruit along a 3-inch must line to the top hatches of tanks. ColloPack Solutions of Napa, Calif., provided the destemmer, must pump and membrane press. Bins of white grapes are dumped into a separate hopper (also built by Burgs- tahler) that dumps into a Diemme Tecnova 40 membrane press. Jo- seph says the 40-hec- toliter press will handle 3 tons of whole-cluster whites and about 10 tons of fermented red must. The winery is equipped with 16 Albrigi tanks that range in size from 500 to 2,600 gallons. —Andrew Adams Oak Farm Vineyards Lodi, Calif. Annual production: 5,000 Average bottle price: $24 This Defranceschi press is one of two at Les Bourgeois Vineyards. A custom-built hopper and vibratory sorting table directs grapes to a Diemme Kappa 15 destemmer that empties into MacroBins. The crush pad at Oak Farm was designed and equipped so that grapes could be processed with minimal labor.