Wines & Vines

July 2016 Technology Issue

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TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING July 2016 WINES&VINES 25 more successful, he kept his mane of frizzy, shoulder-length hair and uniform of a black T-shirt and jeans. As the company grew, Smith hired addi- tional winemaking talent to ensure quality. Brennon Leighton who worked at Ste. Mi- chelle Wine Estates and Efeste teamed up with Smith in 2012. By 2013, Leighton (who recently gave Wines & Vines a tour of the new winery) said the company had outgrown three separate production facilities. The first plan was to build a new winery on land owned by Smith in Walla Walla, but because the company was also planning a tasting room in Seattle, the two goals came together as one: an urban winery with a hospitality area. Leighton said they found the empty industrial space, which in the 1970s had been a soda bottling plant, and it fit all their needs. "It just sort of worked together that the space was for sale and that Charles would have a winery and tasting room in one place," Leighton said. The new tasting room in Seattle is the pub- lic face of a 32,000-square-foot winery that is fully equipped for producing premium red and white wines. Called Jet City, the winery is lo- cated across the street from Boeing Field (or King County International Airport), which is used by private jets, cargo carriers, the U.S. military and aerospace manufacturer Boeing for maintenance and trial flights. Bringing Jet City to life Completed for the 2015 harvest, the Jet City winery and tasting room helped Smith estab- lish a base in Seattle while also providing much-needed crush capacity. Smith hired Tom Kundig, owner and prin- cipal of Olson Kundig, to design the new win- ery. Kundig had designed the Charles Smith tasting room in Walla Walla, and for the new project he sought to preserve the building's "hard-won industrial patina" while also open- ing it up, creating views of the nearby airport and Mt. Rainer, ensuring plenty of space for all winemaking operations. The building is fronted by huge 19- by 20-foot windows that stretch almost across the entire building's façade. From both the walk-in tasting area on the first floor and more private tasting space on the second level, visi- tors can watch jets take off and land at Boeing Field and see the snow-capped peak of Mt. Rainer in the distance. Concrete floors, exposed beams and a large, reclaimed-wood tasting bar evoke an industrial feel in the first-floor tasting room. The second-floor area is accessed by a large steel staircase and is furnished with low- slung couches and minimalist tables that surround a Lexan-topped tasting bar. Used for private tastings and events, the second floor has the atmosphere of a posh airport lounge in the 1960s. Large windows on the interior of the building provide visitors in both the second and first floor tasting rooms with a full view of any winery work that may be occurring during their visit. Leighton said the company started moving into the new building in July 2015, held a grand-opening party in August and received their first grapes during the first week of Sep- tember. During that same period, the new win- ery also hosted two music concerts. "It was insane," Leighton recalled. "We received wine in barrel from Eastern Washington, got them ready for bottling and at the same time were doing concerts." The production staff made it through that hectic opening, and Leighton said everything went smoothly at the winery he designed with Smith. Like most other Washington wineries, the grapes arrive by refrigerated truck from vine- yards in the eastern half of the state. Leighton said he uses quarter-ton MacroBins because the smaller volume of grapes results in less crushed fruit from compression. He said he can typically haul 18 tons of grapes per truck load. After the bins arrive at the winery, Leighton said he puts them in the winery's cold room (set at 35° F), where they sit overnight. "We like to have grapes really cold so we get sort of a cold soak out of it." The bins of chilled grapes are then dumped into the hopper and conveyor (built by J&M Specialty Welding in Mabton, Wash.) that car- ries the whole clusters to Bucher Vaslin sorting table, which dumps to either a Pellenc Winery Selectiv' or Bucher Vaslin crusher and destem- mer. Sorted and destemmed grapes fall into either small, open-top steel tanks or an ele- vated conveyer from Euro-Machines that dumps to open-top fermentation tanks. Leighton will fill the winery with nearly 150 of the steel bins that he uses as small, open-top fermentors. The bins are built by Rule Steel in Caldwell, Idaho, and were originally designed for use by alfalfa seed growers. Some of the first vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley were planted near alfalfa fields, and those pioneer- ing winemakers used the steel bins to ferment grapes. The practice caught on and is used by several wineries in the state. KEY POINTS The winery in Seattle's Georgetown district produces several of K Vintners' brands. Oak, concrete and small stainless bins provide a variety of fermentation options. Four large, climate-controlled barrel rooms can house 850 barrels each. Situated on the main floor, this tasting area provides a more casual experience. Custom-built metal stairs lead to the second-floor tasting room that is also used for private events. The interior of the second-floor tasting room is in- tended to evoke an airport lounge from the 1960s. The tasting room features wines from all of K Vintners' eight brands.

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