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WINEMAKING describes the MEP cork machine as his one "high-tech" piece of equipment because it's a vacuum corker. Filled and sealed bottles are handed off to another worker run- ning the foil machine, who then passes to someone else working the label machine. Each stage of the bottling process is done by hand, and Susan Ripken said they fill about 25 cases per hour, and on a big day they might bottle about 300 cases. the family Susan Ripken, 30, attended California Polytechnic State University, but ultimately graduated from Columbia University with a degree in business. She said she studied viticulture and wine at Cal Poly and was always interested in winemaking, so it made sense for her to return to the winery in 2006. She began assisting her sister, Madelyn Kolber Ripken, 37, with winemaking and took over those duties as Madelyn wanted to spend more time with her children. Susan Ripken also worked in the lab at Corbett Canyon Vineyards and spent harvest 2008 at Kim Crawford Wines in New Zealand Madelyn and Susan's brother Ryan, 33, helps out on the technical side, such as researching how to make a glycol chiller. Another example of his ingenuity is evident in a framed aerial photo of the winery hanging in the tasting room. Ryan Ripken shot the photo by rigging a small camera to a kite and then float- ing it up above the building. Susan Ripken uses her business acumen while running day-to- day winery operations. Her duties include managing the part-time tasting room staff, compliance and managing all the shipments and customer service for the winery's 75 wine club members. The Ripkens received a big boost for the hospitality side of their operations when the DIY Network television show "Inside TECHNICAL REVIEW ripken vineyards & Winery co-owner nancy ripken fills bottles with an eight-spout filler used for all bottling at the winery. the ripkens bottle, label and cork all of their wine. Out" picked Ripken for an episode about building an exterior tasting area at a winery. Susan Ripken said it was quite a surprise that the show's producers chose Ripken Vineyards & Winery for the project. The Ripkens had to pay for most of the work, although the show did chip in a nominal donation. The show's designers also coordinated the blitz of activity that resulted in an expansive patio being constructed over the course of three days in March 2011. The outdoor tasting bar is the center of the stone Beyond the Box "Go Bold" with Longview. Let us take your packaging to the next level with our high-graphics expertise. Tell your glass house you want the best; ask for Longview. For more information email wine@longfibre.com or call 707.816.1335. Wine Shippers Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging, Inc. longviewfibre.com 68 Wines & Vines MAY 2012 Corrugated Containers Solid Fibre Slip Sheets High Graphics