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TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING August 2015 WINES&VINES 49 The restoration took three years and re- quired extensive work to the exterior and in- terior of the building, finishing in time for the Derbys to crush grapes there in 2014. The top floor of the tower that once stored almonds is now a private tasting lounge, and the bottom floor is used to store hoses and other cellar equipment. Working within the limits of a renovation Winemaker Tiffinee Vierra has worked at Derby Wine Estates since 2005. She said that fitting a modern winery into a historic renovation project is much different than constructing a new facility. "You're limited in that you can't put anything new on the building," she said. Prior to moving the winery into the historic structure, the Derbys made wine at a custom- crush facility and then leased winery space in 2011. Vierra said the advantage of having worked at a custom-crush location was that she knew exactly what types of equipment she wanted to purchase before the company moved into the leased winery. She also knew that equipment would have to fit into the limited space of the historic building once the renovation was complete. "Our goal is to just maximize the potential of the fruit and make the best quality of wine possible," Vierra said. "One of the important aspects of doing that is your equipment: mak- ing sure it's achieving what you want it to achieve, and obviously you've got to fit it into this footprint." After selling his family's auto parts-manu- facturing company, Ray Derby came to the Central Coast looking to retire. He and his wife purchased their first vineyard in 1998 and dubbed it the Derbyshire Vineyard. They would go on to buy the Laura's Vineyard estate in 2004. That property included a tasting room, which the Derbys operated for a few years before deciding to launch their own wine brand under the name Derby Wine Estates in 2007. In 2006 they purchased their third vineyard and now own about 450 acres planted to more than 20 grape varieties. They sell grapes to about 30 winery clients. Eventually the Derbys decided to move pro- duction and hospitality under one roof, and that led to buying the almond warehouse. Derby Wine Estates produces around 2,500 cases per year, but the winery has space to grow to 10,000 cases. At around 7,000 cases, how- ever, Vierra says they'd probably have to lease room at another location for barrel storage. Shared goal in the cellar and vineyard Tiffinee Vierra's husband Steve Vierra has worked with the Derbys since 2001, and he now oversees all vineyard operations. The two share a similar goal and respect each other's role in the company. "That's the only goal of Steve and I is just to really make things better than they were a year ago," the winemaker said. "I mean it's not all unicorns and butterflies, because we're going to have debates about things, but there's always that respect there. He knows I'm making the wine and he's the vineyard guy." The Derbys check in at the winery almost every day, but Vierra said they still give her and her husband the creative freedom to make changes in the vineyard or cellar to try and improve the wines. "We're seeing our efforts in the vineyard and the winery come around in these past couple of vintages, so it's really kind of exciting," she said. "I think our best wines haven't been released yet." Vierra said the other benefit of in-house vineyard management is she doesn't have to rely on a separate company to find time and staff in its schedule to do the work or make the pick at just the right moment. "Timing is ev- erything in viticulture, and unfortunately that's just how the cookie crumbles: Somebody or more than one person isn't going to have things done at the appropriate time," she said. All of the picking for the Derby wines is done by hand before dawn. Vierra said she is working with small lots of just a few tons that arrive at the winery in half-ton MacroBins. Grapes are unloaded into a hopper feeding an inclined sorting table by P&L Specialties based in Healdsburg, Calif. Vierra said the clus- ters undergo a quick sorting before being de- stemmed with a Pellenc Selectiv' machine. Vierra said she doesn't have to worry too much about the quality of the clusters from the pick, which is another benefit of having the vineyard team as part of the same company. Vierra was one of the first in the Paso Robles area to purchase a Pellenc Selectiv' after seeing one in action at the Unified Wine & Grape The tasting room is partly housed beneath the new structure on the right of the historic building. A room in the top of the tower is reserved for private tastings and wine club members. All red grapes are destemmed and sorted with a Selectiv' Process from Pellenc. Derby was one of the first wineries in the Paso Robles area to purchase such a machine. KEVIN ARCHAMBEAULT