Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/83237
WineEast knotted twine and weighs 45-60 pounds. The bale walls are held in place by bamboo rods driven vertically into the straw bales and by bamboo poles on the exterior of the straw bales, which are tied with twine inserted through the bale and attached to a post on the other side to hold them in place. The major challenge in using straw bale construction is to prevent infiltration by water. When the bales are used as infill, the frame- work of wood or metal in the building can allow the roof to be put in place before the walls are built. In the case of the Black Ankle barrel room, the roof was partially in place and the 650 bales for the exterior walls were stored inside the future building for easy access during construction. When Wine East observed the first day of construction, a gentle rain was falling intermittently. Because the roof was not solid, some water was leaking in through gaps in the roof, and each bale had to be carefully inspected before it was put in place on the slowly rising wall. EasternWineLab_Mar09.qxp 1/22/09 9:47 AM Page 1 EASTERN WINE LABS Serving the Analytical needs of East Coast Wineries WWW.EASTERNWINELABS.COM Ph 609-859-4302 Cell 609-668-2854 chemist@easternwinelabs.com AOAC Member Finishing the walls Once the walls are in place, they are coated with water-resistant but breathable finishes. At Black Ankle Vineyards, the exterior walls are cov- ered with three coats of lime plaster, an anti-microbial material that can handle Mid-Atlantic humidity. Boyce has constructed a long trench, or pit, to "slake the lime," a process in which the lime is kept underwater for at least a month before being used. The sides of the trench were built with straw bales and then covered with a liner that originally was a large plastic billboard. Lime and water were added to the trench about six months before the building project was actually launched. To make the lime plaster, a shovelful of lime is mixed with three shovels of sand. Construction According to O'Herron, the sides of the bales are relatively impervious to water. It is only when water drips onto the top of the bales that it can seep in and create a problem. "You could turn a fire hose on a straw bale wall," O'Herron stated, "and the water would not penetrate the straw." OneStepAd_01-09-12_Layout 1 1/9/12 10:14 PM Page 1 TERROIR: Good For Grapes, Not For Glass Every winemaker knows that the best wine starts with the cleanest equipment and bottles. Straight-A and One Step are ecologically formulated to provide the best and safest cleaning results. Taste the Wine not the Grime One Step for easy, single-step cleansing Straight-A for heavy-duty cleaning Clearly Perfect www.ecologiccleansers.com 62 WINES & VINES OCTOBER 2012