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WINEMAKING TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT 72 WINES&VINES October 2017 terranean barrel rooms, the wash-down space is open and allows noise and steam to escape. Araujo said custom crush typically involves compromises. One may have to delay a pick date because tanks aren't free, or cut an ex- tended maceration short just to use a press and wait on racking a lot of barrels because one's stack is at the back of a barrel room. Those compromises can sometimes require a sacrifice in quality, and he did not want any of Wheeler Farms' clients to have to make that decision. "I wanted to try and walk through those issues and see how many of those we can eliminate to make it as close to having your own winery as possible," he said. Everything may be new at the old Wheeler Farms, but it also fits Araujo's style of respect- ing the origin of a wine. Trying to recreate with the orchard, chickens and gardens a sense of a Napa Valley before it became entirely planted to vineyards is in a way similar to what Araujo wants to do with his family's new brand Accendo. The wine is a blend of vineyard sources, and Araujo is seeking to bring them together with balance and nuance. "The tex- ture of the wine is extremely important; we want very fine-grain tannins," he said. "We have to be very respectful of that fruit and do whatever we can to enhance all the qualities from the vineyard." Balance and nuance also mean lower alco- hol levels for Araujo. He has been tinkering with canopy management—even experiment- ing with a modified California sprawl to slow the ripening process down. Araujo is looking to make classic Napa Cabernet and now has a modern winery in a historic location to do so. A space for winemaking and hospitality One of the companies making wine at Wheeler Farms is Arrow & Branch winery, which was founded in 2007 by Steve and Seanne Contursi after they purchased a vineyard in the Coombsville AVA of Napa Valley. Steve Contursi is a successful vintage coin expert, or numismatist, and the owner of Rare Coin Wholesalers and RCW Financial. Contursi owned one of the first silver dollars to be struck in the United States and sold it in 2010 for $7.85 million. The winery's name relates to the arrows and branches held by the eagle that is found on the "tails" side of most U.S. coins. Earlier this year, Arrow & Branch, which produces around 1,500 cases per year, moved production and hospitality to Wheeler Farms, and the winery's staff said the new location has helped both connect with customers and ensure consistent, quality winemaking. Arrow & Branch wines are produced with grapes from the Contursis' vineyard that is planted to Cabernet Franc and other top sites such as Beckstoffer Vineyards' Dr. Crane Vine- yard. The wines are made by Jennifer Williams, who was an intern at Araujo Estate and the winemaker at Spottswoode for five years. In addition to Arrow & Branch she produces wine with her husband under the Zeitgeist Cellars label. She said she likes that Wheeler Farms is a serious, practical winery where the aesthetics have not trumped the functionality of the facil- ity. "The focus is really on making high-quality wines," she said. Williams said Arrow & Branch wants to produce wines that reflect the vineyards from which they came, so she likes that the winery has a large cold room to keep grapes at ideal temperature and give her the flexibility to react to vintage conditions. She also likes that Arrow & Branch has its own dedicated tanks and that fermentations in those can be managed through punchdowns or pumpovers. Williams described herself as a hands-on winemaker who likes to taste and see a wine progress through fermentation, but said she likes how Wheeler Farms' equipment enables her to retain manual control while keeping automated programs as an option. More control and the crush pad equipment also allow Williams to do as little as possible to the grapes and that, she said, is the best way to ensure a pure expression of the vineyard. "I really like what we're trying to do: make hand- crafted wines that are really representing vine- yard sites," she said. On the hospitality side, general manager Elizabeth Robertis said the winery's hospitality area offers the right mix of openness and pri- vacy that works well for connecting with con- sumers willing to pay the tasting fee of $125 to taste through Arrow & Branch's Sauvignon Blanc, two Cabernet Sauvignons and a Caber- net Franc-based Bordeaux blend. Robertis can set up tastings in several areas including a private room and outside on a patio with a view of the estate vineyards and Mount St. Helena. She said the hospitality area can accommodate two parties at once while still retaining a private feel. Arrow & Branch and the other client wineries at Wheeler Farms use a shared calendar so they don't book conflicting appointments. She added that the winery is also in an ideal location—almost literally in the center of Napa Valley—so visitors can add it to almost any Napa Valley winery visit itinerary. "We're really excited to be part of it," Robertis said of the new winery. Araujo said the tasting area is meant to feel like a home, yet it still offers plenty of areas for private, exclusive experiences that visitors to Napa expect. He added he pur- posely kept it lightly furnished so the hospital- ity staff of the various client wineries and his own team could figure out how best to use the space. The room hosted a large dinner during the Auction Napa Valley weekend, and Araujo was quite happy to see guests walking around, enjoying the patio and making full use of the inviting and open design. Because he secured an existing permit from several years ago, Araujo can host more events than other new wineries in Napa Valley, and he expects to make full use of the commercial kitchen as well as the vegetable garden and orchard on the property to entertain and pro- vide visitors with something more than just a wine tasting. "My idea is that when you taste wine, it will be in conjunction with the bounty of the property, so there will be pairings with what we'll be able to grow here," he said. "What was Napa Valley like back when Wheeler Farms wasn't all vineyards? The new consumer is all about experiences, so we want to try and give them as honest and authentic a type of Napa Valley agricultural experience as we can." Wheeler Farms has multiple locations to conduct meetings, tastings and special events. JIMMY HAYES