Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/718029
20 WINES&VINES September 2016 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS Contact us today! 575 ird St. Bldg. A Napa CA 94559 707-255-6372 | napafermentation@aol.com www.napafermentation.com LOTUS: Breakthrough Pump Over Technology Lotus gently and uniformly distributes juice over the cap in tanks of any size without excessive bruising or misting. Lotus is compact, continuously adjustable, has few moving parts and is easy to install and clean. Three sizes available. Prices start at $650 The next generation of pump over technology is here. S an Rafael, Calif.—It started with vintage corkscrews, but soon antiques dealer Jim McCormick was buying lab equipment from the 19th century, cast-iron grape crushers from some of California's oldest wineries and copper smudge pots from another era. McCormick, who lives in Petaluma, Calif., is an art and antiques dealer who found a niche matching high-end, rare corkscrews with wealthy collectors. While scouting for cork- screws, he came across a variety of old wine- making equipment, and for nearly 30 years he's been collecting it all. "Along the way, I found the other stuff so intriguing," he said. Today, McCormick's collection is comprised of more than 4,000 individual pieces stored in four warehouses. The complete collection can be found at californiawinemuseum.com, and interested parties can contact McCormick di- rectly with offers. That, however, wasn't his original plan. McCormick told Wines & Vines that he has worked with four different nonprofit groups on using the entire collection as the basis of a museum dedicated to California's wine indus- try. The most recent museum partnership of- fered an excellent location in downtown Santa Rosa. In 2013, the backers of what was then called the California Wine Discovery Museum announced they would open a museum that would feature McCormick's collection. McCormick said his collection was in a five- month escrow agreement that ended up stretch- ing for more than two years. The extended contract expired in June 2015, and he'd been hoping that the backers of the museum could raise the $5.5 million to purchase the collection and build out the museum. But it didn't happen, and now McCormick says he's just selling the lot. "It's hard for me to being doing this, breaking up the collection, but it's what I have to do." Lindsay Austin, board president of what's now being called the Wineseum, The Califor- nia Wine Museum, said the group opted to go in a different direction for its museum and venue that is still in the works for downtown Santa Rosa. "Our nonprofit is planning on an even larger and more impactful venue in the planning stage on the square in Santa Rosa pending permits and a special ABC license," Austin wrote in an email to Wines & Vines. He said the Wineseum will still have historical artifacts but the plan is to have far fewer tools. —Andrew Adams Antique Wine Equipment to be Sold A wine grape harvesting wagon from the 19th cen- tury is part of Jim McCormick's collection.