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WINEMAKING TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT 70 WINES&VINES October 2017 some extent and helps reduce the amount of macerated fruit from the transfer process. All of the 47 stainless steel, double-walled tanks at the winery were produced by Canby, Ore.- based JVNW and range in size from 4 to 7 tons. The winery also has 13 portable tanks for small-lot fermen- tations or trials in a room separate from the main fermentation area. Punchdowns or pumpovers The tanks are set along the north- ern and southern walls of the win- ery, and a separate bank of tanks runs down the middle of the win- ery. Each tank is fitted with its own pumpover system. Punchdown devices by Burgstahler Machine Works run on rails above the tanks along the walls and in the center of the winery. Kinsman said the tank sample valves (often the least clean part of any winery) were custom-built with pharmaceuti- cal-grade steel. The tanks them- selves were produced with steel that is nearly pharmaceutical grade, making them easier to clean. "Nothing likes to stick to these like tartrates or anything," Kinsman said, patting the side of a tank. "Even when they do, you can just whack on the tank and they fall off." Araujo concedes the tanks were one of the costlier invest- ments in the winery, but he thinks they were well worth it. Pointing at a pumpover pump, he said, "It just paid off in spades from a qual- ity standpoint, and also the angels' share is lowered because the wine is not going through the evapora- tive process of hoses. It's all in this fully enclosed system." Clients can choose to manage their fermentations with either pumpovers or punchdowns. If they prefer pumpovers, a wine- maker can schedule them based on length of time, frequency or even by amount of wine. In addi- tion to pump and irrigator, each tank's pumpover system also in- cludes flowmeters to record how much wine was moved. "We're here to give the client exactly what they want. This system al- lows us to do it with very little labor," Kinsman said. The pumpover system uses Corcoran vortex pumps that pull wine up through a fixed line to the irrigator. Kinsman said just a small amount of wine contacts the im- peller, leading to reduced shear. Those pumps can also be con- nected to a skid with cleaning solution or sanitizer and be used in a clean-in-place system. "With this closed system, the health of the wine is protected from a microbial standpoint from A Bucher Vaslin JLB basket press is used to press red wines off the skins. JIMMY HAYES