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July 2015 WINES&VINES 53 TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING Inglenook and now at McLeod's consulting company Wine X Ray. (Inglenook and Inglewood are not related, but were founded in the same era.) The winery also has automated pumpover systems that allow the winemaker to program short pumpovers five or six times per day for best extraction and to keep the cap wet. "In the past," Biagi admits, "many winemakers pushed wine- making too far. You can go too far in the vineyard and end up with raisin flavors. Now we can get a much better look at the grapes, not just sugar, acid and pH." He added, "We'll never get away from alcohols of 14% to 15%, but we won't see that in the 15%s or 16%s." Biagi follows the Bordeaux model of concentrating on a few coopers and likes medium-toast houses. He concentrates on Syl- vain, Orion, Taransaud, Nadalie and Darnajou. He also compliments his boss. "David (Sinegal) wants to do the right thing. It's very different working with a proprietor who lives on the property. If I have a question, I can just go knock on the door. Sinegal, 50, has taken courses in viticulture and winemaking, and he is deeply involved in both processes. In fact, he has compiled a list of 1,403 steps taken or deci- sions made during the whole winemaking process. "He stopped at 1,403 because it was getting unwieldy," Biagi noted. The son of James Sinegal, co- founder of Costco, David Sinegal supervised the beverage alcohol operation at the company. Since leaving Costco, he has consulted with consumer products compa- nies. The winery is his major focus now. Results so far Three 2013 wines from the win- ery's first vintage received ratings higher than 95 on wine critic Rob- ert Parker's 100-point scale. The bottles cost between $90 and $195. "The '14s are even better," Sinegal claims. The winery is now updating its tasting facilities and completing its caves to welcome visitors, which Sinegal hopes will start in October. It will be able to host up to 21 visitors per day by appoint- ment as well as a few larger events. David Sinegal admits that it's been an adjustment to move from Seattle (Costco headquarters are in nearby Issaquah, Wash.) to the rural environment of his new wine venture. But, he said, "I love it. We're committed to the commu- nity and life here." Sinegal's wife Shelley Sinegal has franchised a Pure Barre dance studio in Napa. The Sinegals live in the main home, a 19th-century restored Victorian of approximately 6,000 square feet. The property also in- cluded a large two-bedroom guest house, pool, tennis court, sports field, a carriage house that had been turned into an exercise stu- dio, an olive orchard, culinary and ornamental gardens, the stone Tony Biagi Craig Williams