Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/63937
WINEMAKING RIPKEN VINEYARDS & WINERY 2472 W. Sargent Road, Lodi, Calif. 95242 (209) 367-WINE • ripkenwine.com OWNERS Ripken Family WINEMAKER Susan Ripken WINERY AVA Lodi BONDED YEAR 2003 VINEYARD ACREAGE 675 DTC SALES 98% THE CHALLENGE Richard Ripken didn't want to have another Lodi winery serving old vine Zinfandel. He had been experimenting with making wine from unique grape varieties for several years and the hobby grew to become the family winery that now boasts the motto: "No boring wines." Ripken produces a wide variety of wines from small lots of vines scattered throughout the family's vast holdings of 675 vineyard acres. The winery is located in a farm building that at one time served as housing for migrant workers. MAKING THE WINE FERMENTATION • Grapes arrive in MacroBins • Processed with Zambelli destemmer/ crusher from Napa Fermentation Supply, napafermentation.com • Following cold soak, the must is inocu- lated for primary fermentation • Red wines ferment in MacroBins and receive manual punchowns two or three times per day • White grapes are pressed and the juice is fermented in a stainless-steel tank PRESSING • Free-run wine is pumped to barrels with an Ebara centrifugal pump • A 1-ton Rossi-Idropress from Prospero, prosperocorp.biz. is used for fermented fruit BARRELS • Almost exclusively neutral, French oak • Cooperages include: Tonnellerie Radoux, radouxcooperage.com; Tonnellerie Cadus, tonnelleriecadus.com; and Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage, seguinmoreaunapa.com LABORATORY SERVICES Lodi Winery Laboratory, lodiwinerylaboratory.com 64 Wines & Vines MAY 2012 Warehouse Storage Outside Sales Tasting Room MOVING THE WINE BOTTLING Filtration Filler Corker Foil and Label Machines PACKAGING Bottles Corks Marchisio pad filter, fratellimarchisio.com/en/ The Ripkens use an eight- spout GAI filler that is fed with gravity. Presque Isle Wine Cellars, piwine.com MEP, St. Patrick's of Texas, stpats.com Cirio Germano & C., St. Pat- rick's of Texas, stpats.com Encore Glass, encorglass.com Ganau America Inc., ganauamerica.com Capsules Ramondin USA Inc., ramondin.com Labels Original label design by 6 West Design, 6westdesign.com; new label uses artwork by Carlos Lopez, who also painted the winery's main doors SALES & DISTRIBUTION McCormack-Williamson Co., dancingcoyotewines.com Limited distribution to regional restaurants and retail Wine Club Shipments to 75 members, managed in-house Open noon-4 p.m., Friday, Sat- urday and Sunday or by appt. TECHNICAL REVIEW Winery Case Production RIPKEN VINEYARDS & WINERY SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY AVERAGE CALIFORNIA AVERAGE U.S. AVERAGE 1,000 922,000 44,000 80,000 0 500,000 1,000,000 Winery Average Bottle Price $20 RIPKEN VINEYARDS & WINERY SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA U.S. $4 $8 $9 $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 Source: WinesVinesDATA HELP FROM FRIENDS The Ripkens lucked out when producers with the DIY Network show "Indoors Out" chose their winery for a show about build- ing an outdoor patio and tasting area at a California winery. The episode will appear at 9 p.m. on May 3 on the DIY Network. 50 VARIETIES AURERROIS BARBERA BASTARDO BLACK MALVOISE/ CINSAULT CABERNET FRANC CABERNET SAUVIGNON CARMINE CARIGNANE CHARDONNAY CHENIN BLANC COUNOISE DOLCETTO FREISA GRACIANO GRENACHE GRENACHA BLANC GRIGNOLINO MALBEC MARSANNE MATARO MAXINE ROUGE MERLOT MONTEPUL- CIANO MORRESTELL MOUVEDRE PETITE SIRAH PETIT VERDOT PINOT GRIS/ PINOT GRIGIO PINOT NOIR PRIMITIVO REFOSCO Rich Ripkens farms at least 50 different grapes, listed below alphabetically: ROUSSANNE SANGIOVESE SAUVIGNON BLANC SOUZAO SYMPHONY SYRAH TANNAT TEMPRANILLO TINTA DE TORO TINTA BARROCA TINTA RORIZ TINTO CAO TOURIGA FRANCA TOURIGA NACIONAL VERDELHO VIOGNIER ZINFANDEL FAY TRIPLETT HYBRIDS