Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/987926
TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING June 2018 WINES&VINES 45 When the red-wine production facility opened, Ferrari-Carano also moved a bottling line from the original winery to the new one. That MBF Synchrofill line was bottling Merlot at a rate of around 70 bottles per minute when Wines & Vines visited the winery, and Deike pointed to a new Parker Hannifin nitrogen gen- erator used to provide gas for dosing on the line and support other winemaking operations. Opposite the older winery are the entrances for a cave system that was dug into the hillside when the winery was built. The caves are an intersecting grid of tunnels that provide 46,000 square feet of barrel storage, When completed, the expansion project will double the amount of available storage. All regular barrel work such as topping and sulfur-dioxide additions are made in the caves. Cellar workers use custom-built ladders on wheels that roll along the barrel rows. The ladders loop over the top of the rows so two workers can access both sides of a row. When wines need to be racked, the barrels are moved to a large covered area between the winery and cave entrances where the crush pad for the older facility is located. Depending on vintage, vineyard, price and variety, Deike said she uses up to 50% new oak. Almost all of that is French, complemented by a small portion of Eastern European. Deike draws from "a whole bunch of different coo- pers" and said that with each vintage she's evaluating toasting, stave thickness and other barrel options. While it's perched on the top of a hill be- tween vistas of Alexander Valley and the rug- ged Mayacamas Mountains separating Sonoma and Lake counties, the mountaintop winery is not a visitors' attraction. Wholly dedicated to production, it houses no admin- istrative or sales offices, or tasting room nor is it permitted to host events. "We don't even get mail delivered here," Deike said. "We have to go down to the estate winery every day to get our mail." The views might go unappreciated by visit- ing tourists, but Deike and the winemaking team appreciate more space, new equipment and multiple crush pads to handle small and large grape lots. 707-765-6666 • www.scottlab.com A simple solution to inoculate your barrels Selected Wine Bacteria in Tablet Form Tested and approved for its efficiency, Malotabs™ is available for white and red wines and complements fresh and fruit driven wines with balanced mouthfeel. + 1 tablet 1 barrel Easy to add for complete dispersion of bacteria throughout the barrel A simple solution to inoculate your barrels Winemaker Rebecka Deike with the winery's new VitiSort optical sorting machine.