WINEMAKING
Concrete, Plastic and Steel
New options in tanks help winemakers customize their cellars
By Alan Goldfarb
F
or the 2003 harvest, Charles Thomas bought a concrete fermentation tank for Rudd Winery. As far as he
can tell, he was the first winemaker in the U.S., and
the first in Napa Valley, to use a concrete vessel in 40
or 50 years.
Five vintages later, small (2- to 5-ton) concrete tanks
are beginning to catch on, and are perhaps the most significant
trend—among other changes—to come along in the growing
field of fermenter manufacturing.
“You can’t call it revolutionary because concrete has been
around for 2,000 years in one form or another, but it’s definitely
a re-discovery …,” acknowledged Thomas, who is now the
winemaker at Quintessa in Rutherford, and is close to purchasing concrete tanks for that winery. “There are a lot of high-end
wineries trying it, and that’s where trends start.”
In addition to Rudd and Quintessa,
Napa Valley wineries such as Screaming Eagle, Viader, Continuum, Araujo, Cliff Lede, Spottswoode, Vineyard
29, Roy, and Grgich Hills, have
begun to use concrete. As too have
• Small, concrete fermenters have become
Washington’s Cayuse and Matthews,
trendy among upscale wineries, in part beas well as Oakland’s JC Cellars and
cause of their natural insulation properties.
Sonoma’s Pax.
Thomas, of course, is right when
• Polyethylene tanks win acceptance
it comes to concrete being used for
for low cost, light weight and micro-ox
fermentation for as long as anyone
abilities.
can remember. He points out that
in California 50 years ago, there
was trend away from concrete; but
• Even larger producers are turning to
that it was different tanks—as large
smaller, portable stainless steel tanks.
as 50,000 gallons and the size of
rooms—that were utilized by large
• Tank adjuncts help keep winemakers in
Central Valley wineries making
close touch with each batch.
inexpensive wines.
Highlights
Not your grandpa’s tanks
Smaller concrete fermenters, like this ovoid example from Mâconnaise’s Nomblot line, are less costly than stainless tanks, and provide
built-in insulation because of their thermal mass.
36 W in e s & V i ne s A P R I L 2 008
But Thomas calls the smaller concrete tanks being made today,
“not your grandfather’s concrete tanks.”
Those who used to employ concrete, “Were surprisingly loyal
to them,” he explained. “As I started looking at small concrete
tanks, I began remembering that.”
In blind tastings since he first fermented Cabernet Sauvignon
in that concrete tank in ’03, Thomas has ascertained a discernible difference between wines fermented in wood, stainless steel
and concrete.
“What I found was a little more intensity with concrete,” he said.
“A little bit more accessibility, a little more open, a little bit sooner.
Stainless steel seemed a little more closed and backward. … I tasted
the wine a year ago and the difference had diminished a little, as
you would expect. But after racking, there was still a difference.”
WINEMAKING
todd hamina
At his Biggio Hamina winery, Todd Hamina filters Pinot Blanc into
Flextank “rockets.”
Other changes
Of course, concrete is not the only evolution happening today
in the world of fermenters. Polyethylene cubes are being tried
in certain applications to replace oak, and the still-preferred
stainless steel is also undergoing changes with an array of shapes,
some of which contain compartments to fractionalize the best
lots. New, more innovative temperature control units and punchdown devices and fermentation tubes—adjuncts to fermentation
holders—are being utilized, too.
Additionally, as oak alternatives become more popular, parts
are being tooled to attach stave assemblies, screens are being
fashioned for wood segments and oak chips placed into tanks.
Concrete, according to Quintessa’s Thomas, is less costly—perhaps as much as 10 to 20%—compared to U.S.-made stainless
of comparable size and features. According to one dealer of concrete tanks—Jérôme Aubin of Artisan Barrels in Oakland, Calif.—the Nomblot concrete tanks from the Mâconnais of France
that he represents, which have conical, tapered, oval (“egg”),
square and round shapes in 1,300 to 2,650 gallon sizes, range in
price from 3,000-10,000 euros (1 euro = US$1.53).
“Concrete helps fruit-driven
wines that express the terroir
and the vineyard.”
—Jérôme Aubin, Artisan Barrels
But “that’s a less important” reason to use concrete, Thomas
said. “For certain applications, they have some advantages over
stainless, in the smaller capacities (1,000 gallon). For high-end
winemaking, where you’re looking for post-fermentation and
maceration, where you’re going to look for warmer temperatures,
it’s easier to keep the pomace in concrete tanks at warmer temperatures, because concrete is an insulator, where stainless is a conductor. There’s a certain thermal mass that comes with concrete.”
Win es & Vin es A PRI L 20 0 8 37
WINEMAKING
Additionally, unlined (food-grade) concrete has a certain porosity compared to
stainless steel, which aids in oxygenation.
Aubin adds, “Concrete helps fruit-driven
wines that express the terroir and the
vineyard.” Also, he said, “Fermentation is
gentler than in stainless.”
Plastic tanks
Plastic tanks have begun to take hold
as well. Flextank of Athens, Ga., introduced a 300-gallon O2-permeable cube
last November that is meant to replace
wooden fermenters. Since then the tank,
which was principally designed for reds
but is becoming popular for short-term
whites, has sold “in the hundreds all over
country” with “lots of sales in small to
medium-sized wineries in California,” according to Flextank’s John Smeaton.
The thicker-walled, inert polyethylene
tank, which “simulates an older barrel,”
has a surface area that allows oxygen to
pass through that is similar to a secondyear barrel. According to Smeaton, his
tank allows a “gentle form of microoxygenation, and there’s no topping-up
needed. It also retains a majority of
volatile flavor compounds. The result is a
more complex wine with more aromas.”
Smeaton insists that the tank has “no issue with plastic-y flavors.”
One customer who is sold on the
Flextank’s 50- to 600-gallon fermenters,
which cost $250-$2,400, is Todd Hamina
of Biggio Hamina Cellars in Yamhill
County, Ore. He fermented Pinot Blanc,
Chardonnay and Melon de Bourgogne, all
from this most recent vintage, in 10 of the
plastic cubes.
“I’m sold. You get a
result similar to
stainless steel, but
you are not running
into some of the
reduction issues.”
—Todd Hamina, Biggio Hamina Cellars
“To use Flextanks to pretend that it’s a
new barrel,” is wrong, Hamina said. “It’s
neutral storage.”
But because his is a new winery, the idea
of purchasing Flextanks instead of 40 new
oak barrels or buying stainless, “seemed
like a sensible decision in terms of cost,
flavor profile, and oxygen transfer rate.
“I’m sold. You get a result similar to
stainless steel, but you are not running
into some of the reduction issues.”
He explained that the Flextank “may
protect the wine too much,” as regards
flavors, in that they retain primary fruit
flavor profiles, but with very low volatile acidity.
As for the oxygen transfer, Hamina
claimed the plastic fermenters have the
“same rate as once-used barrels…. I fermented everything on heavy lees and got
no stink. That’s because the tank breathes.”
Stainless steel
Square, portable, stackable stainless
tanks are getting a lot of play these
days. With high real estate costs, these
tanks, according to product manager
Nikki Holden of Custom Metalcraft,
Springfield, Mo., take up 27% less space,
compared to similar height and diameter
stationary vessels.
The 350- to 550-gallon tanks run about
$2,400 to $3,100; can be moved and emptied directly into a press; and can be stacked
three-high.
Try that with
a typical,12:25
3,000-PM Page 1
ReCoop_Jan07
12/12/06
gallon stationary tank, Holden suggested.
TRUE BARREL REFURBISHING
It’s good for your barrel,
It’s great for your wine!!!
At ReCoop we take great care of your
barrels, your wishes and your bottom
line. With our expertise, technology
and high standards for quality control
we restore your barrel’s capabilities to
produce great wine. Our proprietary
technology returns your five-year-old
barrel to like-new, rejuvenating your
oak, color stabilization and oxygenation
benefits without the high expense of
barrel replacement.
ReCoop:
Enologically smooth,
Economically smart,
Environmentally sound.
Call now to find out more.
707/829-7103
38 W in es & V i ne s A P RI L 2 008
WINEMAKING
A proponent of the Custom Metalcraft
tanks is winemaker Eric Baugher at Ridge
Vineyards in Cupertino, Calif. Ridge had
22 small-capacity fermenters built to
be carried by a crane system to deliver
fermented skins directly to the press.
Baugher, who makes wine for Ridge’s
Montebello facility, likes the portable’s
time-saving abilities.
The transfer of skins and juice to the
press, he explained, was previously “a job
done by hand-shoveling by three guys,
which would take 45 minutes.” With
the portable tanks, that chore has been
reduced to 15 minutes.
Holden said she’s seen “a significant
increase in business in the last seven
years,” over which period her company,
she claimed, has gained 50% of market
share of portables. She attributed that to
the notion that “Wineries are going to
smaller lots, where they don’t want to
make 100,000 gallons of one wine.”
Also at Ridge, compartmentalized
stainless tanks have been custom-designed
to capture fractions of wine, using a
membrane press. Two tanks, each with
six compartments, capture five separate
press fractions, each of which then can be
returned to the free run or to barrel.
Eric Baugher, winemaker at Ridge vineyards, uses a variety of square, portable stainless steel
tanks from Custom Metalcraft to streamline processes and minimize labor within the winery.
Win es & Vin es A PRI L 20 0 8 39
WINEMAKING
Back in the Napa Valley, Joseph Phelps
recently purchased eight 9-ton, doublewalled stainless tanks from Santa Rosa
(Calif.) Stainless Steel.
Four tanks are tapered, simulating a
wood tank shape, and four have straight
vertical walls. The tapered tanks’ sloping sides improve the skin-to-juice ratio
during fermentation and facilitate a better
rack and return. As the wine is racked, the
cap falls and loosens.
Phelps’ associate winemaker Ashley
Hepworth used the new tanks for the
2007 harvest. She said fruit was split
between the tapered and straight tanks to
see if there was a difference in the wine.
“We found out that we liked both. It
was hard to assess,” she said. “Neither
one was superior to the other.
“To see a bigger difference, we would
have had to do our pitch a little more
(more of a triangle shape, and the sides
would be more inverted to help to increase skin concentration and push the
cap inside the juice), and we would have
had more extraction.”
These tanks cost about $40,000 each.
nologies of Sonoma, Calif., has developed a web-enabled temperature
control system that monitors the
ambient atmosphere of tanks for small
to mid-sized wineries. Called TankNet,
this system features no network wires
or web-based servers, and no software
to install. It operates off a cellar’s electrical grid.
“Wineries are
going to smaller
lots, where they
don’t want to make
100,000 gallons of
one wine.”
—Nikki Holden, Custom Metalcraft
The system, in conjunction with a
tank’s thermostat, also allows winemakers to monitor fermentation graphs via a
browser from any computer in the winery.
The system can also notify the winemaker
Adjuncts
via Page
cell phone
should temperatures exceed
QualityStainless_Apr05 3/9/05 11:12 AM
1
Among tank adjuncts, Acrolon Techspecified limits.
Quality - Value - Experience
Quality
Stainless
Tanks
Custom
Fabricated
Stainless
Cooperage
• Professionally crafted
• Perfomance guaranteed
• Custom designs & features
• Quick & competitive pricing
• Repairs & modifications
• Special application tanks
• Stainless winery equipment
• Tanks in stock for immediate
shipping from 500 to 10,000
gallon capacity
Quality Stainless Tanks
510 Caletti Avenue • Windsor, CA 95492
Phone: 707.837.2721 • Fax: 707.837.2733
Toll-Free: 877.598.0672
www.qualitystainless.com
40 W in e s & V i ne s A P R I L 2 008
[email protected]
Acrolon, which claims more than 200
clients and said its business has quadrupled in the last eight years, charges $395
for the system.
Another tank adjunct is the fermentation tube or juice extraction tube. Such
tubes are manufactured by Carlsen & Assoc. of Healdsburg, Calif. These 1.5-inch
tubes are placed in tanks to pull off juice,
so as not to run juice and pomace back
into the press. The tubes cost $375.
John Johnson, sales manager for
Carlsen, said there’s a trend for medium
to larger facilities to move to pumps dedicated to each tank; as well as to automated control of pump-overs. His company,
he said, has sold 100 of these dedicated
pump-overs and controls in the last year
at a cost of from $3,000-5,000.
Whether it’s concrete, stainless or wood,
and whatever the accessories, it’s clear
that fermentation tanks are another part
of the cellar that is garnering closer scrutiny, interest and experimentation.
Alan Goldfarb is a correspondent for appellationamerica.com, and was previously wine
editor for the Napa Valley’s St. Helena Star
and a contributing writer for Decanter magazine. To comment on this article, e-mail edit@
winesandvines.com.