Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/83237
WINEMAKING Both emphasize minimal-intervention winemaking with lots of natural yeast fermentations, very little filtration and so on. The major difference between the two operations is probably that Ampelos has to worry about the estate vineyards that are the core of its production, while Dragonette has to worry about a dozen vineyards it buys from and does not entirely control. Once the grapes arrive, the two teams seem to work well together, sharing major pieces of equipment—a Diemme destem- mer-crusher, a press from Europress, tanks from Transtore and Santa Rosa Stainless Steel—and dancing around each other's schedules at crush time. Dragonette's Sparks-Gillis observes, "We're morning people. We do early picking by lamplight, and Peter and Rebecca pick later in the morning, which makes for a good rhythm. We get to the winery and start processing at 8 a.m.; Peter picks later and is still sorting in the vineyard." This out-of-the-way spot has a lot going for it as a winemaking facility—reasonable cost, a cooperative landlord, a wine-friendly city government, natural temperature control—but it's hardly a magnet for wine lovers. Both labels tried putting up a table outside the winery door to taste and sell wines on weekends but eventually gave it up. Ampelos opted instead for a tasting room in one of the boxes in the nearby wine ghetto; Dragonette chose to show the flag in the more heavily tourist-trafficked Los Olivos, where a couple dozen wineries hold forth daily. The two brands may be joined at the hip in production, but they go their separate ways for sales and distribution. Winemaking process The crush area at the Ampelos/Dragonette facility is tiny (a few hundred square feet), made compact to focus all the messy parts Destemming takes place on the indoor 'crush pad.' WINES & VINES OCTOBER 2012 45