WINEMAKING
TECHNICAL REVIEW STEVEN KENT WINERY, LA ROCHELLE WINERY 5443 Tesla Road, Livermore, CA 94550 • (925) 243-6440 • stevenkent.com; lrwine.com
Year Bonded (in current form): 2005 • Winery AVA: Livermore Valley • Winemakers: Claude Bobba, Tom Stutz Owners: Steven Kent Mirassou and the Ghielmetti family, alternating proprietors at the Wente Small-Lot Winery
Varietals
Vineyard Sources
DtC Sales
Primarily Cabernet Sauvignon for Steven Kent, Pinot Noir for La Rochelle, and many others
Estate vineyards in Livermore; purchase fruit from Monterey, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Santa Cruz counties
75%-80%
Tasting Room Each label has a public tasting room at 5443 Special Events Release parties, wine club events
Tesla Road What
Destemmer- Crusher
Fermentation Bins
Details & Supplier
Puleo Vega 10, Carlsen & Associates, carlsenassociates.com
1.5- to 1.7-ton plastic-lined plywood cubes, Kings Canyon Wood Products, kingscanyonwood.com
What
Steven Kent Tasting Room
La Rochelle Tasting Room
What Bottles
Fermentation bin
Press Barrels Barrel storage Inside of bin
Bucher RPL52, Bucher Vaslin North America, bvnorthamerica.com
For Pinot Noir: Billon, Cadus, Damy from Bouchard Cooperages, bouchardcooperages.com; François Frères from Mel Knox Barrel Broker, knoxbarrels. com; Nadalié, nadalie.com; Radoux, tonnelleriera- doux.com; Tonnellerie Remond, (707) 935-2176
For Cabernet Sauvignon and other reds: Taransaud, Mel Knox Barrel Broker, knoxbarrels.com; François Frères from Mel Knox Barrel Broker, knoxbarrels. com; Le Grand, mlegrand.com/en; Canton Cooper- age, cantoncooperage.com; Trust/Demptos (Hungar- ian oak), Demptos Napa Cooperage, demptosusa. com, Trust International Corp., barrelmakers.com
Filtration Almost never used
Bottling Line Wente in-house designed equipment, with the addition of a Bertolaso VB40 for Stelvin capping, Collopack Solutions, collopack.com
Wente in-house designed equipment, with the addi- tion of a Bertolaso Alpha 110 Single Head Capper for Stelvin closures, collopack.com
Yeast Oak Products
Malolactic Bacteria
Nutrients Enzymes Fining Agents
Lallemand, lallemand.com; Laffort, laffort.com; Chr. Hansen, chr-hansen.com
Innerstave, innerstave.com (for fermentation)
Chr. Hansen, chr-hansen.com
Rarely used, DAP in a pinch
Not used Not used
50 Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2012
Portable tank
Inventory Management
Label Design
Label Printing Closures
Capsules Vineyard
Steven Kent Mirassou
Steven Kent Winery vs. Other Wineries Average
$ $ $ Bottle Price
Steven Kent LLC $20-$125 Alameda County $28 California
United States
$37 $27
Average
12,000 79,000 43,000
Bottle prices averaged across categories, based on one price per winery. WinesVinesDATA
Details & Supplier
Winery Facility Wente Small-Lot Winery, converted by Wente staff from existing space in 2002
Built in 1888, remodeled 1996-98, local contrac- tor Winnie Construction
Modular construction in 1996 for Ivan Tamas, taken over by La Rochelle 2003, repeated upgrades
Details & Supplier
Encore Glass, encoreglass.com; Saverglass, saverglass.com
The Agency Orange, theagencyorange.com
Landmark Label, landmarklabel.com
Natural cork from Ganau America, ganauamerica.com; Stelvin screwcaps, Amcor Flexibles American Canyon, amcor.com
Ramondin, ramondin.com Management
Crushing, Pressing, Bottling,
Cellar Routines
Laboratory Services
Web Design Compliance Banking Public
Relations Wine Club Shipping
Case Goods Storage
Distribution Wente Vineyards lab
The Agency Orange, theagencyorange.com Colleen O'Neal
Wells Fargo, wellsfargo.com Done in-house
Handled by staff
California Wine Transport, San Jose, californiawinetransport.com
Some at Wente warehouse; some at Pacific Wine Distributors, pacificwinedistributors.com
Direct distribution in California by staff; Ohio, Superior Beverage Group, superiorbeferagegroup. com; Illinois, Vine-O Distributors; Florida, Republic National Distributing Co., rndc-usa.com
AMS software, ams-software.com
Wente vineyard management (for Livermore estate vineyards)
Wente Small-Lot Winery staff
Press
Case Production 9,000
Winemaking Products
Winery Equipment
Winery Services
Packaging
Facilities
