WINEMAKING TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT
34 WINES&VINES July 2017
vice from R.S. Randall and Co.
set on rails above the tanks.
While large enough to break up
the cap of a 19-ton fermentation,
the device glides along the rails
easily with just a light push. Mul-
tiple fixed, stainless steel wine
lines make it easy to transfer
must from the crush pad or wine
and juice from tank to tank. A
mechanical hoist between two
large bays of closed-top tanks
also eliminates the need to haul
up any additions by hand.
B a r r e l s a r e s t o r e d i n a
50,000-square-foot room adja-
cent to the fermentation cellar.
The room is kept at the right hu-
midity with a SmartFogg system,
and temperature is monitored
through the TankNet system. Bar-
rels are washed with a Tom Beard
unit and treated with an Electro-
Steam Generator and Carlsen &
Associates ozone generator.
The temperature in the bar-
rel room and cellar are con-
trolled through a night cooling
system that takes advantage of
the cold Paso Robles nights. Just
as the large diurnal shift makes
for good grapegrowing condi-
tions, it can also be used as free
air conditioning.
Riboli said when the barrel
room is set to 50° to 55° F, the
system will suck in cold air at
night to maintain that tempera-
ture through the day. When out-
side temperatures begin to rise
past that set point, the system
shuts off and temperatures are
maintained with HVAC powered
by non-evaporative coolers. With
the night cooling and non-evapo-
rative chillers, Riboli said tem-
perature control is maintained by
using less water and energy.
On-site wastewater
treatment
A solar array by REC Solar will
be installed this year, and another
key element of sustainable design
is a Cloacina bio-reactor system
for treating the winery's process
wastewater. The membrane bio-
reactor produces water that is
clean enough for reuse. "We store
water for landscaping irrigation
Your success is our prioritY
A pneumatic punchdown device is used to manage caps in the open-top tanks.
