Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The world has gone crazy for Concrete! Blog from Stolpman Vineyards

Concrete Waffles – Not Eggs: Focus on Authentic, Natural wines

The wine world has gone crazy for Concrete!
It seems modern winemaking has finally cycled through a complete rotation, and it only took forty years! Wineries went from rooms crammed with shining stainless steel tanks and stacks of pristine new barrels to building the same Concrete tanks that were used in Europe for a millennia.
To take advantage of the wonders of modern winemaking, every year Californian wineries bought New French Oak barrels and picked up the newest, fanciest filters and de-stemmers. This mentality drove the success of winery suppliers that encourage producers to buy more cool stuff to make “better” wines. Sounds a bit like modern healthcare or even the Military Industrial Complex, eh?
Stolpman has been backing off of New French Oak percentages for four vintages now and we’re more focused than ever on making authentic wines. We define authentic as pure, natural wine. Stolpman wines are left largely free and un-manipulated in the vineyard through organic dry farming, minimal green harvesting, and cultivation by hand. We natively ferment our wines, manually punching down the skin caps, relying on gravity to transfer wines to minimize the use of pumps, and we shun additives or filtration. This year, we won’t add sulfur to any of the fruit lots arriving at the winery!

This year also marks the first use of our 6 new Concrete Fermentors. We installed them last week complete with a catwalk on top so we can stand above to circulate the chambers by hand. The tanks are elevated by giant concrete legs and the floors are curved so that all of the skins will flow into a bin once we open the bottom hatch. The juice can drain directly into neutral oak barrels, and the bins of skins and seeds can be lifted by forklift for a gentle pressing.

While it will still be another month before we put Syrah into the new Concrete, we’ve already put some of Rajat Parr’s Sandhi Pinot Noir picked from Rita’s Crown vineyard into one of them.
Because Rajat Parr tastes more international wine than anyone else I know, I asked him to articulate the differences he tastes in wines fermented in Concrete versus Stainless Steel or Oak. On the white side, he says “The best thing is that Concrete adds an extra layer of minerality and freshness to the wine that is clean without woody flavors. It allows high acid wines to stay nervy.” For red wines, Rajat says that Concrete is beneficial because “it keeps fermentation at a naturally stable temperature where the ferment won’t get too hot or cold”.

Sashi was inspired to design these concrete tanks on a trip he took to Patagonia with Rajat. They traveled to Bodega Noemia and saw concrete tanks designed for the same type of natural, pump-free winemaking that Sashi practices. Winemaker Hans Vinding-Diers and his partner Countess Noemi Marone Cinzano both raved about the ease of use and the subsequent quality of their unfiltered old-vine Malbec.


While some of the best European Chateaus and the most Prestigious wineries in Northern California have dropped hundreds of thousands on concrete eggs, we decided to take a more conventional route, and make waffles. After all, we want to make the best wine possible while keeping our price-points below the stratosphere. Concrete eggs are much smaller, extremely expensive tanks rounded into an oval with a wider base and gentle nose to promote the flow of wine that is found in a natural egg. By creating a tank in this shape, one is “incubating” the wine. We like our waffle design because the open-top squares (like a Belgian waffle) allow us to regulate the oxygen to naturally reductive Syrah, and we can easily punch the cap down to make sure the juice absorbs all of the Syrah’s beautiful color and skin tannin.

Sashi worked with Micah Utter, CEO of Vino Vessel in Paso Robles to make sure the tanks were exactly what he wanted for Stolpman. We’re looking forward to the arrival of two more concrete fermentors before Syrah harvest begins.
As great as the vineyard looks right now and with Sashi’s focus on new tools, 2012 is shaping up to once again redefine how great our wines can be!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Get your 70 Gallon Concrete Eco-Barrel today!



For the rest of the month of July we are extending a special online special

featuring our 70 Gallon Concrete Eco-Barrel at a 10% discount!

Several available now!

We gladly accept mastercard/visa

www.vinovessel.com

805-238-2676

Tuesday, May 29, 2012



Vino Vessel, Inc.

Annual Open House and Tasting

Wednesday June 13th

&

Thursday June 14th, 2012

From Noon-5:00pm

Come experience the distinct differences of concrete fermentation and storage. With our warehouse open, bottle and barrel sample tasting and unlimited information.

3850 Ramada Drive, Suite C2

Paso Robles, Ca  805-238-2676


Thursday, May 10, 2012

"Concrete and Wine Are Simpatico" PRESS RELEASE written by Steve Lay
About a year ago I wrote a story about Delia Viader of Viader Wines in Napa. I was drawn to her story because of her passion for wine, the fact that she started from scratch and she was very innovative. It did not hurt that she is a very successful winemaker. One of her innovations was the use of concrete fermentation tanks that she brought to Napa from Europe. To this day she is a big fan of concrete tanks. But, now high quality tanks are made in the U.S.
Recently I had a meeting with some winemakers and overheard a conversation about concrete fermentation tanks and recalled the prior conversation with Delia and her experiences with concrete. Now my interest is piqued anew about concrete in winemaking. Concrete can be interesting, so let me tell you about Micah Utter who was the first in the country to make concrete tanks for wine. Nice, energetic guy who loves wine and concrete.

In the U.S., Micah Utter is the leader in designing and building concrete fermentation tanks for the wine industry. At 34 years old, born and raised in Central Coast Wine Country, he could be called the grandfather of concrete vessels for winemaking in the U.S. “Concrete has been around since Roman times and it has been used in the wine industry in Europe for several hundred years; but you are only seeing renewed interest in concrete in the U.S. wine industry within the last 10 years,” says Micah Utter – President of Vino Vessel, Inc. The serious popularity of concrete with Napa, Sonoma and Central Coast wineries has just hit its stride within the past 5 years. This in part is due to the VP-Marketing who happens to be Lacey Utter, Micah’s wife. “We have been making concrete wine tanks for about 6 years, the first in the U.S., and in 2011 we will see a 100% increase in sales,” said Utter. That equates to about 50 tanks being sold in 2011.

Micah started in the concrete business 14 years ago, right in the middle of California’s Central Coast wine region. He became interested in creating unique designs using concrete at his first job. Within 2 years he started his own business. That is when a surfing buddy, who had just started a winery, came to Micah with the idea of building wine fermentation tanks from concrete. After a lot of research with wineries in Europe and assessing how winemakers were utilizing concrete tanks in California, it seemed that there was a market for his new concrete tanks. “But, it proved to be a difficult start because we had to educate ourselves and our potential clients, i.e. wineries, on the benefits of concrete relative to their wines,” said Utter.

By the way, concrete is not called cement by the informed. I was told politely that cement is used to make concrete which is much stronger than cement by itself.

There are about 17 wineries in Napa and Sonoma that are currently using concrete fermentation tanks. Concrete tanks have been around Napa for more than 50 years. But until about 5 years ago modern tanks came from France. Some big name winemakers and winery owners have stepped forward in the last 8 years to really promote the benefits of concrete tanks. People like Tim Mondavi, Delia Viader, Charles Thomas, and a few more. Now Vino Vessel, Inc. is the premier provider. An environmentally friendly product made in the USA. Today they have sold tanks in Georgia, Washington,Oregon and New York and internationally they have customers in New Zealand. There are approximately 40 wineries in the US using concrete tanks. Recently, Saxum Wines received a 98 point award for one of their wines fermented using concrete tanks. Others using concrete tanks include William Seylem, Kosta Browne, Flora Spring, Mark Herold Wines, JC Cellars, Edmund St. John.

Micah has recently delivered 2 concrete fermentation tanks to a winery in Napa; each weigh 13,500 pounds and hold 1,500 gallons each. Cost of tanks are hard to define, however, as a rule of thumb, you can expect to pay $1,500 to $10,000 for a new tank with hardware. However, there is nothing standard about concrete fermentation tanks, each one is made to order. Vino Vessel features 7 styles or rather shapes and they can be built in almost any capacity/size. In 2012 they expect to deliver 70 tanks for wine making; some outside of the U.S. Most interestingly is the fact that 2011 saw a 100% increase in units sold over 2010. That means 2011was a 50 tank year.

“If concrete tanks weren’t worthwhile you can bet I would not be around,” said Utter. “But the results are documented and even include some blind tastings of wines fermented in concrete, stainless steel, wood vats and oak.” If a winemaker wants the nose and texture of oak then oak is obvious. On the other hand concrete, when done properly, is made of clean, natural materials that are controlled throughout the process. One thing oak and concrete have in common is that both allow oxygenation of the wine; both materials are porous.

Cement doesn’t add or take away or mask the soil. It lets everything show. I would like to get James Laube’s comments some day on concrete. Now that would be interesting.

The process of making a tank entails 8 steps. The first step being to determine the desired capacity and shape, then commit that to a computer model that will calculate dimensions, weight and pressures. Next, step is to select accessories such as leg support styles, front or top ‘manways’, coils for heating and cooling, valve placements and do you want an open top or closed. Third step is to hand-build the mold per computer design specs. At this point (step four), specially formulated concrete is mixed and laid-up by hand onto the mold. After this process is completed it takes approximately 3 days for the concrete to cure. In the fifth step the mold is disassembled from the inside. Finishing and slurry coating the inside and outside of the vessel is next, followed by step seven which is adding the hardware accessories. The last step, number eight, is the quality testing and preparing the tank for shipment anywhere in the world. From start to finish these processes results in a tank, ready for shipping, in 4 to 6 weeks. And the advantages are affordable wine storage units, easy to clean tanks and a long lasting product.

One added feature I should mention: to ensure the terroir is imparted to the wine, Micah ask that aggregate from the vineyards be provided to him. This aggregate/stone will be crushed and used in making the concrete for the clients’ custom made tanks. Who knows how much it adds to the character of the wine, but at the least the tank is part of the terroir and the terroir is part of the tank…sort of a communing effect I would imagine. The mix of the concrete is a special proprietary mix designed by some true professionals and is free of any chemical additives.

Who would have thought that concrete was important to winemaking and a premier concrete designer, who is also a proud home winemaker, would be a Central Coast native?
Proudly announcing the new Central Coast Sales Rep, Colin Baker.

 

Colin has worked locally in the Wine Industry since 2005. Doing just about anything from Asst. Winemaker to Facilities Manager. With a extensive background in maintenance we thought he would be a great addition to our team. As a Vino Vessel, Inc., salesperson it is good to know every aspect about the functionality and construction of concrete vessels.

 

If you have ever considered purchasing Concrete fermentation and storage vessels, give Colin a call.

805-391-3286 cell

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The first and only concrete barrel is available!



The very first concrete barrel is available for immediate purchase.
We currently have several in the warehouse ready for delivery.

This 70 gallon vessel is a great starting vessel for the winemaker who has been curious about concrete fermentation and aging.
Email today for your quote!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Add an affordable concrete fermentation and aging tank to your 2012 Budget!!


When one thinks of adding a Concrete Vessel to their line of equipment, they don't exactly think of it a small price tag! Well, think again!
Vino Vessel, Inc. is the American Manufacturer of fine concrete vessels. Saving you shipping costs, and having more shapes and sizes than other manufacturers. From 70 gallons to 1500 you will find one to suit your needs.
Don't hesitate when adding a new concrete tank to you 2012 budget!!!
Discover what concrete can do for you!