WINEMA k ING ARTIFEX WINE CO.
1102 Dell Ave., Walla Walla, Wash. 99362 (509) 525-2469 • artifexwineco.com
TECHNICAL REVIEW Winery Case Production OWNERS
Norm McKibben, Rick Middleton Jean-Francois Pellet
WINERY AVA Walla Walla
ARTiFEX WiNE cO. AVERAgE cLiENT PRODUcTiON WALLA WALLA cOUNTY AVERAgE WAsHiNgTON AVERAgE U.s. AVERAgE
4,500 12,000 17,000 44,000 0 25,000 50,000
Winery Average Bottle Price $30
OPENED YEAR 2007 OF cLiENTs NUMBER 18
PROcEssiNg FEE
$32 per case
THE CHALLENGE custom crush isn't about aesthetics, it's about efficiency and providing flexibility for different winemaking styles. Artifex Wine co. was the first winery wholly dedicated to custom crush in the Walla Walla, Wash., area, and the owners wanted to offer clients a full range of services from crush to bottling. Artifex is a "building within a building" located in a former cannery.
BUILDING THE WINERY CONTRACTORS
General contractor
Plumbing Refrigeration Electrical
Ketelsen construction, Allen Ketelsen, (509) 525-6038
chris Johnson Plumbing, chrisjohnsonplumbing.com
Thermalwise, Jeff Harshman, (509) 520-1015
Doyle Electric, doyleelectric.com
MAKING THE WINE PROCESSING
Destemmer Puleo Vega 10, carlsen & Associates, carlsenassociates.com
Press Pump Tanks
2 Willmes 3500 Merlin, scott Laboratories, scottlab.com
carlsen air pump and Waukesha 130, carlsen & Associates, carlsenassociates.com
50 variable-capacity tanks, com- bination of Tersainox, tersainox. com, and AAA Metal Fabrica- tion, aaametal.com
LABORATORY SERVICES
in-house lab as well as ETs Laboratories, etslabs.com
BARRELS coopers selected by clients
AVERAgE cLiENT PRicE WALLA WALLA cOUNTY AVERAgE WAsHiNgTON AVERAgE U.s. AVERAgE
$25 $9 $0 $5 $15 $25 $35 Source: WinesVinesDATA
Most of the clients at Artifex operate under alternating proprietorships and have their own winemakers.
MOVING THE WINE BOTTLING
Filtration Plate and frame, when needed
Bottling line
Truck equipped with Bertolaso line with a maximum speed of 50 bottles per minute. Has screwcap capacity. collopack solutions, collopack.com
PACKAGING client specifies
case goods: No storage available; wine has to be moved out after bottling.
SERVICES Computer programs
Inventory management
Bank
Wine Management systems (WMs), winemanagementsys- tems.com
Wine Management systems (WMs), winemanagementsys- tems.com
Baker Boyer Bank, bakerboyer.com
$31 40,000
42 Wines & Vines JULY 2012
