Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/670981
TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING May 2016 WINES&VINES 73 is situated on the north side of the building, and a 25-hectoliter Revinsa basket press is located on the southern side. The new facility is 10,000 square feet and provides much needed tank space. "When we had few fermentors it was a matter of logistics," Sullivan told Wines & Vines. Harvest dates had to be balanced with cellar space. "Now we can harvest any varietal on any given day without limitations, and that's exciting." In 2015, Sullivan said the winery processed about 120 tons of fruit, and current case produc- tion is around 7,000 cases. In addition to building the new winery, Benovia's owners also converted the existing ranch house into a new tasting room. The winery sells about 60% of its entire produc- tion direct to consumer with the rest distributed among 15 major markets. Nearly 70% of all production is Pinot Noir, with Chardonnay accounting for the remainder. Zin- fandel and Grenache production is quite limited and almost entirely sold through the tasting room. From the roots up Sullivan works closely with Benovia's vineyard manager Chris Kangas, who is a Sonoma County native and worked with DeLoach for nearly 30 years. The estate vineyards are planted at high density with 5-foot rows. "What we like is we're able to reduce our vine yield and still achieve commercial per acreage tonnage," Sullivan said. The tighter rows, however, are too narrow for standard half-ton bins, so the winery uses modified MacroBins that hold a quarter-ton (500 pounds). These bins can be pulled behind the winery's nar- row tractors during harvest, which is conducted before dawn and by hand. The winery works with Bowland Vineyard Management for vineyard labor during harvest and the rest of the year. "We double sort," Sullivan said. "We do a cluster sort and then we destem and berry sort, so we have two different tables." The harvested grape clusters are dumped onto an inclined sorter table by P&L Specialties that leads to an Arm- bruster Rotovib destemmer from Scott Labora- tories. Destemmed berries then undergo another round of manual sorting on a second P&L table before they're collected into small portable tanks or bins that get dumped into the open-top tanks. Westec Tank & Equipment supplied the dozen 6-ton open-top and two closed-top tanks at the new winery. A system from Refrigeration Technology Inc. provides individual tempera- ture control for each tank. The Westec tanks are also fitted with dimpled jackets on the bottom interior surface and separately controlled panels on the outside to prevent tanks from getting too warm. "With this type of system we can heat the floor, which is the coldest part. Usually Our Red Star range is evolving. New names, the same tradition. PREMIER CUVEE • PREMIER BLANC • PREMIER COTE DES BLANCS • PREMIER CLASSIQUE • PREMIER ROUGE Authorized distributor in USA atpgroup A Fermentis brand TTB LABEL APPROVALS Low per-label costs Gov't. Liaison Negotiations or Footwork Reasonable Hourly Rates TRADEMARK SEARCHES As Low as $185 Your trade names or designs are searched at the U.S. Patent Office to help establish valuable ownership or avoid costly legal liability. Over 100 years' total staff experience handling every government liaison need for industry. Phone or write for details. 200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 321 Arlington, Virginia 22203 Phone: (703) 524-8200 Fax: 525-8451 TOLL-FREE 1-800-642-6564 Major Credit Cards Accepted www.trademarkinfo.com Since 1957 GovtLiaison_Dir08 11/29/07 2:00 PM Pag A 25-hectoliter basket press from Revinsa is one of two presses used during harvest at the new Benovia Winery facility. —continued from page 69