October 2015 WINES&VINES 53
TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING
done a délestage on the concrete
tanks, the cap appears to have
been compressed by the truncated
shape of the fermentors. "You get
the feeling that it's compressing
the cap into the wine more than
if you had straight sides," she said.
The 10 open-top stainless steel
tanks are by Transtore. Six large
stainless steel tanks from JVNW in
Canby, Ore., are used for blending,
but the smallest (which can hold
12,000 gallons) are used for the
winery's largest fermentations.
A Hypac basket press is set on
a raised platform near the crush
pad, and the winery has space for
a second press, if needed. All of
the fermentation tanks are posi-
tioned on a platform a few feet
above the floor so that workers
can shovel pomace directly into
the press basket. A forklift opera-
tor then lifts the basket into the
press, and the free-run and press-
run wine flow by gravity to either
barrels or a portable tank.
The winery has two under-
ground rooms for barrel storage.
One is located closer to the fer-
mentation area and has space for
barrels as well as concrete vessels
for aging from the Italian com-
pany Nico Velo, concrete eggs by
Nomblot and dozens of pun-
cheons. "We really liked that. Part
of the reason for the new expan-
sion was to have the aging ability
for concrete," Fiorentini said.
"Concrete-aged wines that I've
done seem to retain more fresh-
ness than the barrel components
Your success is our prioritY
The winery uses a variety
of concrete fermentors and
aging tanks including eggs
(top) and Tulipes.
ANDREW
ADAMS
