Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/62409
MANA GEMENT Perhaps the ultimate form of sustainability—not to forget comfortable surroundings—is reusing old buildings. Frank Borges Jr. Construction of St. Helena, Calif., is working with two old wineries there. Not many areas have the "ghost" wineries of Napa and Sonoma valleys, but they're so desired that many structures— like that of winemaker Luc Morlet—are being converted from residences back to their original use. Morlet's winery north of St. Helena is a small, two-story stone structure permitted for up to 5,000 cases. Borges has completed seismic upgrading, hiding the steel frame, and built a crush pad. Architect Paul Kelly also has drawn up plans for a cave system. Borges also is working on the old stone winery that was hidden inside the former Napa Valley Cooperative Winery, a large metal building at Hall Wines, south of St. Helena. His firm installed a seismic frame in the 1885 winery even before Silverado Construction completed the massive demolition of the metal building. The architects are Juan Carlos Fernandez and Jarrod M. Denton from Signum Architects QualityStainless_Apr05 3/9/05 of St. Helena. The duo formerly worked with Lail Design Group. "There's no architectural design" being used in today's warehouse wineries, "just functional space and lots of neighbors to share equipment." —Joe Chauncey, architect A quest for quality 11:12 AM The other trend in winery design is for quality and efficiency, with an increasing emphasis on small-lot production. "We see a big trend to small-lot fermentation," says James of Ledcor. "It gives more flex- ibility, but it takes more space," he says. This extends to single-high barrel stacking, which provides convenience but requires greater space. Page 1 Quality - Value - Experience Quality Stainless Tanks • Professionally crafted • Perfomance guaranteed • Custom designs & features • Quick & competitive pricing • Repairs & modifications • Special application tanks • Stainless winery equipment • Tanks in stock for immediate shipping from 500 to 10,000 gallon capacity Quality Stainless Tanks 510 Caletti Avenue • Windsor, CA 95492 Phone: 707.837.2721 • Fax: 707.837.2733 Toll-Free: 877.598.0672 www.qualitystainless.com winetanks@aol.com QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #916 70 Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2012 2 Barrel Washers • 4 Barrel Washers Barrel Processing Lines • 1/2 Ton Bin Washing Systems 35 lb. Picking Lug Washers • Custom Cellar Equipment Tom Beard Company 1650 Almar Parkway, Santa Rosa, CA 95403 P. 707-573-3150 www.tombeard.com F. 707-573-3140 Fabricated Stainless Cooperage Custom Another move to improve quality, of course, is to banish wood (except barrels) from wineries. At CADE and many other wineries, the barrel rails are concrete, and the trim that looks like wood is a man-made material designed for decks. In another approach to improving quality, Ledcor's James sees a desire to provide more constant temperature and humidity in caves, which can be challenging with a long or complex design. Lail suggests covered, cooled areas for receiving grapes, particularly in custom- crush wineries where there may be a delay before processing. Perhaps the biggest trend in gentle handling of grapes is an old one: gravity flow. For wineries on hillsides, this can be straightforward, but at Opus One, a mezzanine was created to allow dumping grapes into tanks using gravity. Ovid is on a hill, but it uses a trapdoor, accessible from outside, which opens over each tank in the cellar. Lange Twins in Lodi, Calif., built a highway-like overpass to provide gravity flow, but for wineries without hills and ramps, the solutions can be as simple as a forklift or as complex E. jmendoza@tombeard.com QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #739 QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #612g