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TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING July 2018 WINES&VINES 31 "This is a kind of a mélange or mix of a whole series of Palladian buildings." The front of the winery is faced with local stone, giving the Pal- ladian effect even though the en- tire structure was built from pre-fab sections of thermal-insu- lated aluminum exterior panels on a steel framework by Metallic Building Co. The panels were manufactured off site before an eight-week construction period supervised by general contractor Cary Associates during which the walls and sloping shed roof took shape. Outside stairs lead up to a second-story balcony that opens into a mezzanine level tasting area inside. Just beneath, the ground- floor doors lead into the central room, where grape processing and fermentation takes place. A right turn from the central room leads to the east cellar, where Sauvignon Blanc ferments and ages in a combination of oak bar- rels, 70-gallon steel barrels by Mueller and concrete ovoid tanks by Oeuf de Beaune, Mark Nom- blot's new French company. Starr soon will have a half-dozen "eggs" when the current four are supple- mented by two new ones that come with bases that can be moved more easily on pallet forks. To the left is the west cellar, de- voted to red wines maturing in barrels by Bossuet, Darnajou, Orion, Taransaud and Sylvain. The two barrel rooms have cooling and ventilation built in and are sealed off from the outside and the other rooms by insulated slide- up doors, 10 feet wide for the in- terior ones and 12 feet for the exterior doors. A Smart Fog system provides humidity control. Starr takes advantage of these condi- tions to use one or the other barrel room for cold soaking, to ferment Sauvignon Blanc at 50°F or to warm barrels to encourage malo- lactic fermentation. An unanticipated advantage of WINE COMPLIANCE ALLIANCE COMPREHENSION THROUGH TRAINING AND SERVICES 833 Franklin Street #7, Napa CA 94559 www.winecompliancealliance.com (707) 266-1946 Over 20 years experience developing and managing winery compliance systems • TTB permit applications & amendments • TTB reporting: 5120.17, Excise tax & label approvals • Staff training & consulting • Consulting & training specific to the new tax laws! Visit us on An exterior stone facade mimics the Palladian buildings of Veneto.