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52 WINES&VINES April 2016 A mong the new crush equipment at Comstock Wines in Dry Creek Valley sits an old, well-used basket press. It's the press that Sandy Comstock used to make wines with grapes from the family vineyard near Geyserville, Calif. The homemade wines did well at local harvest fairs, and Comstock and her husband Bob often discussed building a winery and turning the home-wine- making operation commercial. Their plans for a small winery, however, turned into a 21,000-square-foot facility that is permitted to produce 35,000 cases per year and will house several custom-crush clients—and that's just the first phase of the winery devel- opment. The second phase, expected to begin this year, will mean more tanks and nearly doubling the production of Comstock-branded wines. The Comstocks planted their 20-acre vineyard around 2000 and purchased the property for the winery in 2012. After bringing Chris Russi on as winemaker, the Comstocks made wine at nearby Mauritson Wines during the design and construction of the new winery. Completed just in time for the 2015 harvest, the new winery features a large tank room, multiple barrel areas, a lab, cold room, covered crush pad and well-appointed hospitality areas. Bob and Sandy's daughter, Kelly Comstock Ferris, is the winery's general manager, who sees the humor in how the winery grew much larger than her parents origi- nally envisioned. "They decided they wanted to do a small little winery," she said. "As they started talking to friends, the whole concept grew in to what we have here. I think they still walk through the door and say, 'So this is our small little winery. OK.'" Comstock Wines New winery in Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley offers flexible winemaking By Andrew Adams TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT