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WINEMAKING CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA Ripken Vineyards & Winery San Pacific Ocean Francisco Sacramento Lodi Stockton Madera Modesto NV Winemaker susan ripken shows the crusher-destemmer that the ripkens use to process grapes at their winery. both white and red grapes are pressed in this basket press that employs an air bladder. most of the sorting happens in the field. Susan Ripken said that because the fruit arrives at the winery clean, she often can process directly from the picking bin. After the fruit arrives, she said she uses a forklift to raise a MacroBin above a small Zambelli crusher-destemmer situ- ated on top of another MacroBin. She said she'll angle the forks of the lift truck so the bin is tipped at a slight angle above the destemmer. The fruit is then raked from the bin into the destemmer. Any large debris or MOG is picked out of the bin. Processed fruit is collected in the bin beneath the destemmer, and waste is spat out into another bin. The must then goes through a cold soak of a few days inside the winery. Susan Ripken said she doesn't apply dry ice, but she does dose each bin with about 50ppm of sulfur dioxide. After cold soak, she inoculates with yeast and manages fermentation with manual punch downs Search Online for SUPPLIERS General Suppliers ONLINE SEARCH Associations Facilities Finance IT Solutions Publications Safety WWW.WINESANDVINESBUYERSGUIDE.COM Sales & Marketing Handcrafted & Authentic Contact: Yannick Rousseau Tel: (707) 332 4524 • Fax: (707) 224 8734 Email: yannickrousseau@sbcglobal.net Website: www.tonnellerie-de-jarnac-16.com Wines & Vines MAY 2012 63 TonnellerieDeJarnac_Dir10 11/11/09 3:40 PM Page 1 two to three times per day. All the must ferments in MacroBins. The Ripkens use some mainstay yeasts such as D254 as well as specialized Rhone yeasts types. "I like to inoculate to know what's going on with fermentation," she said. Once fermentation is complete, Susan Ripken said she uses a tube screen or "snorkel" by St. Pat's to pump the free-run wine into the winery's one stainless steel tank made by Quality Stainless Steel. The rest of the fruit is carried to the press with buckets. Ripken has a Rossi-Idropress basket press that employs an air bladder, which usually presses at about 50 psi. Press