Check out our brand new website!

 

www.vinovessel.com

 

Vino Vessel Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Vino Vessel, Inc., celebrates 10 year anniversary by revamping their logo!

The only Concrete Tank Manufacturer to offer "Custom Tanks"

Did you know that Vino Vessel, Inc. is the only Concrete Wine Tank Manufacturer to offer

Custom Tanks? You can design them from shape to size. Put your creative skills to the drawing board. Below are 9 custom tanks hand crafted by Epoch Estates in Paso Robles, Ca.

 

Contact us today for pre-harvest sale incentives up to 10%. Sale for the month of February only.

805-238-2676

www.vinovessel.com

micah@vinovessel.com

Concrete Post Press

From the Blog Site of Stolpman Vineyards, October 2015, Written by: Pete Stolpman                  

Throughout California, low yields defined the 2015 vintage. Vines concentrated ripening energy on a few small clusters each. Intense wines will surely result. Tiny grapes translate to higher skin-to-juice ratio, more tannin.


In short, 2015 presents the opportunity to create blockbuster wines, but to do so, the juice must be handled delicately. With potential for such strength, the wines’ profile might be dominated by robust, simplistic primary fruit flavors. When young, many wines will pack boxy, rough finishes.

In order to adapt, we are trying a new technique in the winery to make sure the wines hit the potential the 2015 vintage presents.
This year, instead of immediately putting red wine into barrels, we allowed the wine to rest in unsealed concrete fermenters for two weeks after pressing. The pores of the concrete and the air exposure allow the wine to oxidize for this brief period.
These two weeks give the wine a chance to unfurl rather than show tightness. With a little bit of air, the naturally reductive Syrahs should be approachable upon release.

This added stage prior to barreling also grants the team a chance to rack the wine, leaving particles that settle to the bottom of the concrete tanks behind. Only finer lees will be left in the wine to settle out over the next 18 months until bottling.
I’m excited to see how our efforts to tame the 2015 monster will pay off in bottle.

See you at the IQ Conference at Charles Krug Winery - March 4, 2015

 

We look forward to seeing you at the first Innovation + Quality Conference. (IQ) 2015 is a new forum for ultra-premium wineries focused on cutting-edge innovations that advance wine quality. This day-long event will take place March 4, 2015 at Charles Krug Winery in the Napa Valley. We will be located in booth 227 and will have our award winning vessel "the hippo" on display.

 

Sessions will be held in the Carriage House and in the newly restored Redwood Cellar Tasting Room and Hospitality Center. A tented area between these two historic buildings will feature product and technology demonstrations and exhibitors showcasing the latest innovations in ultra-premium winemaking, grape growing, packaging and direct-to-consumer sales.

 

This event is produced by Wine Business Monthly. For tickets and more info please visit: http://winebusinessiq.com/agenda/#tickets

 

 

It is not often that we have tanks on the floor for sale- ready for IMMEDIATE delivery and set up! However, we have two 560 gallon Cylinders (with legs) $9425! usd plus tax



 

The Hippo is known for being the most versatile

vessel in our line of concrete tanks!

One 270 gallon HIPPO for sale
$6550! usd plus tax

To have your new tank installed today, please contact
805-238-2676
www.vinovessel.com
micah@vinovessel.com

 

Concrete revolution happening at Villa San-Juliette Winery

Concrete revolution happening at Villa San-Juliette Winery
Written by Scott Brennan, Paso Robles Daily News

According to Matt Ortman, not all fermenting vessels are created equal. In just his second year as winemaker at Villa San-Juliette Vineyard & Winery, he had already purchased four concrete tanks because he believes that, for some wines, they’re ideal.

“Concrete accentuates a wine’s minerality, which we already have plenty of from our soils,” Ortman said. “It allows for a different texture than stainless steel or neutral oak – a softer acid profile, and, in red wines, fine-grained tannins.”

Villa San-Juliette is home to four concrete tanks: two cube-shaped tanks for red wines and two cone-shaped tanks for whites. Made locally by Vino Vessel, the only company of its kind in the United States, VSJ’s concrete tanks are not unique to the Central Coast, California, or the rest of the winemaking world.

In fact, concrete has been used to ferment wine in the Old World for centuries, and continues to hold wines as legendary as Bordeaux’s Chateau Petrus, year after year. But it wasn’t until Vino Vessel came along that American producers could buy concrete tanks without paying exorbitant overseas shipping rates. Today, concrete tanks are increasingly common in wineries across the state and the nation.
The appeal of concrete as a fermenter is two-fold: the beneficial characteristics imparted to wine when it spends time against unsealed concrete, and the way high thermal mass promotes slow temperature change and stabilization.

“These tanks have really thick walls,” said Ortman, “which means excellent temperature control. The early stage of the ferment takes a long time, and as the yeast builds in population, the strongest ones finish last and the ferment cools, but the heat left in the concrete helps keep the yeast happy. Nothing happens too quickly in concrete, which is good for stabilizing the wine.”

Factors that influence a finished wine include the tank’s shape (Ortman uses cones and cubes) and its porousness. With slight aeration from tiny air sacs in the concrete, wines are able to breathe and soften as they do in oak, without taking on any of an oak barrel’s qualities. And, though these hefty vessels also come with a hefty price tag, concrete is, in fact, more affordable per gallon than new oak barrels as it’s more labor-and space-efficient, and more durable.

In the midst of this year’s harvest, the tanks are holding plenty of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, but for their first vintage in 2013, Ortman designated VSJ’s new concrete tanks for Albariño, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, and Petite Verdot, whose tannins, he said, were complemented by concrete fermentation. “There is an appealing chalkiness to the Petite Verdot’s tannins, a wet rock gravely-ness that comes from time in the concrete. Again, it’s taking something already present in the wines – our wines show dry tannins due to weak soils – and refining them to be more fine-grained through the use of concrete.”

The ten-year-old Paso Robles wine producer begins to breathe life into the historic York Mountain

Ten years, seven vintages, and two estate vineyard plantings later, Epoch Estate Wines will take on the 2014 harvest in their new winery atop the historic York Mountain. This much anticipated milestone continues the stewardship of Bill and Liz Armstrong for York Mountain and their Paderewski Vineyard, both located in the west Paso Robles wine country. For the first time in 80 years, fruit from the historic land, first planted by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, will once again make its way to York Mountain for crush.

Located twelve miles from the Pacific Ocean and nestled into the oak-covered hills of York Mountain, the 17,000-square-foot state-of-the-art winery slips seamlessly into its natural landscape. Designed by Lake|Flato Architects of San Antonio, Texas, the winery boasts rustic elegance of times gone by complemented by clean lines of modern architecture. In an effort to preserve the innate, natural beauty of York Mountain, most of the winery is tucked beneath the earth, utilizing a cut-and-cover method. This design allows the winery to blend into the surroundings, and in turn provides the custom barrel room with natural temperature control.

“This is a pretty big moment for us,” says Bill Armstrong. “When setting out on our wine quest in 2004, we did not have our sights set on any particular wine region. We did, however, have our love of Rhône varieties, and being geologists, we understood the importance that terroir plays in the making of world-class wines. Now we are so fortunate, as we have some of the most amazing land in Paso Robles that not only cranks out amazing fruit but also carries so much invaluable California wine history.”

In the 1930s, pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski harvested his west Paso Robles wine grapes and brought them to York Mountain Winery, where his wine was made. Sitting fallow for nearly 80 years, this land, now appropriately named Paderewski Vineyard, has once again been producing fruit since 2007, under the watchful eye of Epoch Estate Wines. “When we saw these steep and rolling hills in 2004, we knew we had something special in the soils and history of the land,” says Liz Armstrong. “To be the ones to bring this vineyard back to life and to crush this fruit in our new winery atop York Mountain as Paderewski once did is just awesome!”
        
Outfitted with the essentials that make up a winemaker’s dream, Epoch’s new winery is comprised of multiple outbuildings assembled under one steel-framed roof. This facility was designed with both simplicity and flexibility in mind. “Over the years, we’ve taken the time to study our estate vineyards, so that we could deliberately design a winery to fit our winemaking style,” says Jordan Fiorentini, winemaker at Epoch Estate Wines. A gathering of buildings contains Epoch’s crush pad, fermentation room, production offices, and laboratory, which Fiorentini fondly refers to as “the heart of the winery.”

Upon entering the modern-meets-rustic winery, the crush pad boasts a basket and bladder press. Each sits atop a six-foot, cast-in-place, concrete platform, allowing gravity to be the force once fruit is pressed. Walking through the handcrafted, reclaimed redwood doors, the two-part fermentation room is equipped with an assortment of vessels, including sixteen custom designed concrete and stainless steel tanks.

Weighing in at 14,000 pounds each, ten handcrafted, board-formed concrete tanks rest atop a cast-in-place, concrete ledge within the sleek fermentation room. Designed for function with visual appeal, Fiorentini and local tank manufacturer, Micah Utter of Vino Vessel, created the tanks’ conical shape, both inside and out, which allows greater cap compression for fermenting fruit. Each of the handcrafted tanks is fitted with glycol tubes running through the five-inch thick walls, providing Fiorentini with flexibility for fermenting or aging wines.

Six stainless steel tanks were also specifically designed for Epoch Estate Wines. These tanks give the winemaking team the ability to ferment, age, and to use as blending tanks prior to bottling. So not to obstruct the elegance of the sixteen custom tanks, the winery strategically placed the catwalk and railings behind the vessels and installed a safety harness fall protection system to preserve the beauty of these one-of-a-kind tanks.

The barrel room will be naturally cooled by the mass of earth surrounding the unique cast-in-place, board-formed concrete that makes up the ceiling, walls, and floors. Two oculi skylights are strategically placed to allow the natural daylight to filter into the room. This area is not only a place to store aging wine, it also lends Fiorentini a warming/cooling room to jumpstart wines that may need a little help from a temperature change.

The entire winery has been integrated with night cooling to stay in line with the winery’s sustainable strategies. In addition, a photovoltaic system will provide 95% of the facility’s energy. These deliberate and desired elements continue to give the team the flexibility necessary to continue crafting the Rhône-styled blends, zinfandel, and tempranillo wines for which Epoch is known.

The Armstrongs’ wine epoch officially began in 2004 with the purchase of the Paderewski Vineyard and the founding of Epoch Estate Wines. Their admiration for Paso Robles fruit led to their acquisition of their Catapult Vineyard in 2008, followed by the purchase of the historic York Mountain Winery in 2010. The next phase of restoration has begun with a full reconstruction of the 130-year-old York Mountain Winery into Epoch’s new tasting room. Once complete, the new space will showcase and celebrate the meticulously preserved timber, masonry, and original winemaking equipment found within the historic 130-year-old California winery.

“We are beyond thrilled that we are able to be the stewards of both York Mountain and Paderewski Vineyard,” says Bill Armstrong. “Now it is our turn to add our own twist to these historic lands as the past meets the future atop York Mountain.”

Heritage Barrels inks sales deal with concrete tank maker Vino Vessel

“The value of concrete as a fermentation and storage vessel has been evident for centuries,” said John Schilter, managing partner of Heritage Barrels. “The concrete tanks from Vino Vessel allow us to offer another superior tool to our wine producing clients that complements the wood and stainless steel products they already use.”

NAPA — Napa-based Heritage Barrels, LLC, is representing Paso Robles-based Vino Vessel, Inc.’s complete line of concrete tanks in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, except for San Luis Obispo County.
Heritage Barrels sells high-end oak barrels and vats and said it has seen demand for concrete vessels grow throughout North America.
“We’re already working with some of the top winemakers in the Central Coast, and our partnership with Heritage Barrels allows us to showcase our concrete vessels to an expanded network of winemaking clients throughout North America,” said Micah Utter, president and chief executive officer of Vino Vessel.
Since 2007 Vino Vessel has been making concrete fermentation and storage tanks for red and white wines, ranging in size from 70 to 1,300 gallons. They have been used in production of many top-rated wines, including Booker, Chronic Cellars, Linne Calodo, Peachy Canyon and Stolpman Vineyards.

Copyright © 1988–2014 North Bay Business Journal

Vino Vessel featured in WINE SPECTATOR

       

Concrete Evidence

More California producers are trying concrete fermentors and tanks

MaryAnn Worobiec
Posted: March 6, 2014

Saxum's Justin Smith likes his dirt. His James Berry Vineyard on the west side of Paso Robles was once an ocean floor, with fossils of whale vertebrae and distinctive limestone that help his grapes retain acidity as they ripen. When Smith visited Bordeaux and found out Château Pontet-Canet incorporated some of their vineyard earth into their concrete tanks, he knew he wanted to do the same.

Smith sent some of his calcium carbonate-rich rocks to Sonoma Cast, a Petaluma-based concrete specialist. The rocks were ground into a powder finer than sand, then tested to figure out how much could be mixed with concrete and produce a tank with structural integrity. The customized aging tanks will be put into rotation later this year. Sonoma Cast founder Steve Rosenblatt is excited by the project. “It’s putting terroir into the tank."

But Smith isn’t counting on his wine tasting like dirt. Concrete is thought to be a neutral vessel for wine—not imparting flavors the way a barrel does—and Smith insists his idea is just conceptual. “Does the fact that our vines are going into rocks that were once the ocean floor and in turn have tons of fossils in them make the wine taste better? Not directly,” said Smith. “Does aging the wine that those vines made growing in the fossil-rich rocks make for a better-tasting wine? Not directly. But is it cool as hell? Damn straight it is!”

Smith’s terroir-tank project is unusual, but California winemakers working with concrete is becoming common. Concrete vessels aren’t new--they have been part of winemaking for hundreds of years. While they’ve been used consistently in Europe alongside wood vats and stainless steel tanks, in California they fell out of favor.

Interest in concrete sparked again in recent years, but it took off slowly because the tanks were only produced in France, and shipping a 4-ton container overseas made them cost-prohibitive for most vintners. That changed when California companies added concrete winemaking vessels to their lineup. Since 2007, more than 400 California-produced concrete tanks and fermentors have been produced for the cellars of Staglin, Linne Calodo, Cliff Lede, Continuum, Wind Gap, Sandhi and dozens of other wineries. Many more are on their way.

This was made possible because interested vintners approached two concrete companies, both of them led by wine lovers. Micah Utter is an artisan concrete maker, known for decorative patios and walkways in Paso Robles, who has dabbled in home winemaking. He founded the Vino Vessel branch of his business in 2007. Sonoma Cast’s Rosenblatt owns a vineyard in Sonoma and had a successful business designing and making sleek, modern concrete countertops, sinks and a furniture line sold at Restoration Hardware. Sonoma Cast added winemaking vessels to their lineup in 2010, using a proprietary concrete mix that gives them the flexibility to make concrete in an array of colors and textures.
As far as functionality, concrete lies somewhere between stainless steel and oak barrels in the tool chest of a winemaker. Like stainless steel, they are neutral containers (though some claim they can impart a mineral note into a wine, depending on the type of grape and length of exposure). One of concrete’s biggest selling points is thick walls, effective at stabilizing temperatures, especially useful during fermentation. “I’ve never worried about temperature during fermentation with concrete,” said winemaker Jeff Cohn.

Like a barrel, concrete is also known to soften a wine’s texture, though the reason why is up for debate. “They breathe,” said Rosenblatt. “But the air doesn’t come from the outside.” A tank’s interior surface can feel as smooth as glass, but there are actually microscopic pockets and nooks created by the concrete curing process. When full of wine, these nooks slowly release oxygen. Utter agrees with this concept, but he also suspects that the oxygen makes its way through the porous walls. Winemakers who want to avoid oxygen can have their tanks lined.

Concrete is also customizable. “Winemakers are very particular,” said Utter, who estimates 40 percent of his units are made to order. Modifications include optional ports for racking and cleaning, heating and cooling coils and, of course, size. Utter sells a 70-gallon “tester” barrel for winemakers to experiment with, but most tanks range from 400 to 2,000 gallons, cost from $10,000 to $30,000 and have a 20- to 30-year lifespan. In contrast, a standard barrel is about 60 gallons, the best ones costing upwards of $1,000, and only last a few years before losing their potency.

One of the biggest choices is shape—there are cubes, cones, pyramids or the stout “hippo” shape. One of the most popular forms for a fermentor is an oversize egg, which many believe create a natural vortex. As fermentation gasses are released, they are forced to move from the bottom of the tank to the narrow opening at the top. The movement eliminates or reduces the need for lees stirring and pump-overs. “I can’t tell you if it’s actually moving by looking at it,” said Cohn, “But I can tell you the lees don’t settle out. They stay afloat.”

Smith’s vineyard-customized concrete will look like an inverted egg, or amphora shape—its narrowing base ideal for collecting sediment. It’s going to be years before wines aged in Smith’s containers can be tasted to see if they have any effect, but in the meantime, Smith is happy to see his idea come to light. With more California winemakers experimenting with these containers, more innovation is bound to happen. Rosenblatt has a suggestion. “Concrete bottles are next,” he said with a grin.

Heritage Barrels Now Representing Vino Vessel's Line Of Concrete Tanks In The U.S

Heritage Barrels Now Representing Vino Vessel's Line Of Concrete Tanks In The U.S., Canada And Mexico

 

Napa-based Heritage Barrels, LLC announced today that it is representing Paso Robles based Vino Vessel, Inc.’s complete line of concrete tanks for the United States, Canada and Mexico (with the exception of San Luis Obispo County). Heritage Barrels offers high-end oak cooperage and vats, and has seen demand for concrete vessels grow throughout the North American market.
Vino Vessel’s state-of-the-art fermentation and storage vessels are made in the heart of Paso Robles wine country, and have developed a loyal following in the Central Coast region of California. Vino Vessel’s concrete tanks have been used in the production of many top rated wines, including those from Booker, Chronic Cellars, Linne Calodo, Peachy Canyon and Stolpman Vineyards, among others. The company has been building quality vessels for both red and white wines, ranging from 70 to 1,300 gallons since 2007. Combining the beneficial oxygenation qualities of oak with the efficiency and durability of stainless steel, Vino Vessel’s concrete units offer a distinct cost-effective solution for the fermentation and aging of fine wines.
“We’re already working with some of the top winemakers in the Central Coast, and our partnership with Heritage Barrels allows us to showcase our concrete vessels to an expanded network of winemaking clients throughout North America,” said Micah Utter, President and CEO of Vino Vessel.
“The value of concrete as a fermentation and storage vessel has been evident for centuries,” said John Schilter, Managing Partner of Heritage Barrels. The concrete tanks from Vino Vessel allow us to offer another superior tool to our wine producing clients that complements the wood and stainless steel products they already use.”
About Heritage Barrels, LLC
Heritage Barrels is a manufacturer and distributor of some of the world’s most premium wine barrels. It offers the finest in oak and concrete vessels, perfectly matched to the needs of the most respected winemakers. In addition to its own American and Hungarian oak wine barrels, the company offers traditionally crafted French oak barrels from Tonnellerie Vallaurine (Rhône Valley) and Giraud (Cognac). Heritage Barrels is also the exclusive distributor for Oenotan Sélection, the only water-soluble oak extract available for the wine and spirits industry. The company was founded in 2009 by four wine industry veterans: John Schilter, Eric Mercier, Rich Davis and Jeff Jaeger.

www.heritagebarrels.com.

About Vino Vessel
The United States’ original domestic concrete vessel manufacturer, Vino Vessel was established in the Paso Robles wine country, by concrete artisan Micah Utter and his wife Lacey, who were driven to address numerous winemaking needs expressed by local winemakers. The result is an innovative new line of concrete tanks for the production of both white and red wines. Tanks produced by Vino Vessel range in size from 70 gallons to over 1,300 gallons, with the possibility to design and produce larger size tanks. Their proprietary methods allow the company more flexibility to produce custom size containers at reasonable and competitive prices.

 www.vinovessel.com
 

We are pleased to anounce....

Heritage Barrels is now representing Vino Vessel, Inc. in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

www.heritagebarrels.com

 (707) 696-7695  

john@heritagebarrels.com

2180 Oak Knoll Avenue, Napa CA 94558

A little more about Heritage Barrels and John Schilter!

John Schilter has been in the wine industry for over 20 years. He graduated from U.C. Davis in 1988 with a B.S. in Fermentation Science and in 2002 with an MBA in Finance & Marketing.
Upon graduation from Davis in 1988, John worked in Europe for 1 ½ years, including a harvest in the Médoc, before returning to California to work as a winemaker.
In 1995, he joined Seguin Moreau where he worked for ten years, beginning in sales and working his way up to Vice President of Production and President/CEO. Most recently, John was President of Vinquiry, Inc. before establishing Heritage Barrels LLC with his partners.
John keeps making wine under his own small label. He lives in Napa with his wife and four children.

 

www.vinovessel.com

Paso Robles. Not just a beautiful place to live.

2013 Wine Region of the Year: Paso Robles

This California region has reinvigorated itself with new blood, creativity and rapidly improving wines.

By Steve Heimoff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The purpose of Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Region of the Year award is to recognize not only excellence in wine quality, but also innovation and excitement. 

 

Wine regions far more famous than Paso Robles produce great wines, but few places exhibit the spirit and can-do positivity of this Central Coast appellation. It’s not easy for a wine region to reinvent itself, but Paso is doing it with flair. 

 

Put another way, it’s the region to watch.

 

Its vinous beginnings are similar to other Californian regions. Grapes were planted in the 18th century by Franciscan padres for altar wine when the state was Mexican territory. By the 1880s, Paso had a thriving commercial wine industry. 

 

Historians debate when Paso’s modern era began. Certainly, Gary Eberle’s arrival in 1973 (he later started Estrella River) was a milestone. 

 

By the 1980s, the boutique winery movement had arrived, symbolized by the 1981 arrivals of Jerry Lohr and Ken Volk. The decade also saw the proliferation of Syrah, which would have a huge local impact.

 

But it has been in the 2000s that Paso Robles has turned the corner on its past reputation. 

 

In part, that reputation—for excessive heat—was valid, especially in the appellation’s eastern and northern corners. But it was also never completely justified—there simply had been few vintners willing or able to exploit Paso’s varied terroirs. 

 

The regrettable tendency for wine writers to repeat conventional wisdoms not necessarily grounded in truth didn’t help matters.

 

What caused that to change is a bit of a chicken-and-egg conundrum, but the issue was described well by ONX winemaker Brian Brown, who told Wine Enthusiast: “As there’s more interest in Paso wines from the public, that brings capital in, so folks want to invest, and [winemaking] talent follows the money.”

 

In particular, young winemakers want to work there, because they can pursue their visions outside the constraints of convention. 

 

“In Paso, we don’t care about boundaries or traditions,” says Matt Villard, the owner/winemaker at MCV Wines. “We’re just out to make the best wines we can.” 

 

Whether the varieties are Spanish, French, Italian, or, as with Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, historically Californian, Paso vintners can tinker with blends and styles that would be unfeasible in other regions more bound by tradition and consumer expectations. 

 

The infusion of youthful passion has had a galvanizing effect throughout the appellation. 

Jerry Lohr, at J. Lohr, while crediting Paso’s climate and soils, praises “the new energy we have here. We don’t rest on our laurels. We’re always willing to learn.”

 

It’s that happy willingness to forge forward, to press relentlessly into the future and craft its own identity for the 21st century that makes Paso Robles Wine Enthusiast’s 2013 Wine Region of the Year. 

Check out this blog written by Ken Faux:

Through the Grapevine

The CA Central Coast lifestyle -focused on wine, food ad travel.

"A CONCRETE SOLUTION TO WINEMAKING"

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

CONCRETE SOLUTION TO WINEMAKING ©

It has been several weeks since Micah Utter was gracious enough to spend some time with me. I should apologize for taking so long to getting this posted on "Vinewright" but I've been off the grid doing some travel. All I have to say about that is, if you plan to fly - pack a big lunch for all those delayed and cancelled flights.

I recently read about a revival of the use of concrete wine making vessels by some very toney Italian small lot producers. Well, it turns out they aren't the only makers of excellent wines who are riding this wave. Pun intended, since Micah is a surfer who also happens to know a lot about custom shaping of concrete. I heard about him and his Vino Vessel, Inc. (www.vinovessel.com) operation, located on the south side of Paso Robles, during the WiVi trade event that was described here a few articles back.

So, Through the Grapevine sent its intrepid reporter (moi) to get an exclusive on this cutting edge idea. Little did I know that several equally edgy and innovative winemakers have embraced the concept. Small batches of some very nice wines are sleeping peacefully here on the Central Coast and other growing areas, wrapped up like Jimmy Hoffa!

Currently, Vino Vessel has designed and produced forms for eleven various fermenting and storage tanks as an alternative to wood barrels. While not inexpensive (they require extensive design and engineering input), the better oak versions of barrels topped $1,000 each a few years back. Stainless steel storage vats, and certification for fabrication techniques also makes for a serious outlay of capital. You may know that many smaller producers actually rent tank space for storage for larger wineries with excess volume, rather than purchasing those high ticket items. It has been reported that wineries plan to put a large part of winery improvements into increasing that aspect of their facilities in 2013. There are even some tank farms that simply offer a place to keep the juice as a sideline of the wine industry.

Micah's available containers are sized from 70 gallons up to 1,305, coming in an interesting mix of shapes and concepts. The company has the ability to design custom enclosures for nearly any idea with which a winemaker might wish to experiment. But it is hard to imagine a shape or size that isn't available other than bigger versions for larger producers. Examples include a pyramid and the "hippo" model, one of two oval styles, which maximizes the surface area that comes in contact with the wine. Specifically, that relates to skin contact, the more juice surface that is exposed to the cap - primarily grape skins that form a layer when forced to the top of a tank by CO₂ during fermentation - the better the extraction of tannin and color. Ideally, if impractical, a large flat shallow pool would work very well.

The hippo idea was the first style built and beta tested by Peachy Canyon and Chronic Cellars in 2007. It required some special engineering, a special formula for the concrete mix and curing process and, inclusion of reinforcing mesh. The result led to new design ideas and sales that have grown to include local wineries such as Linne Calodo, Epoch and Stolpman.

The Vino Vessel allows micro-oxygenation, a neutral (no extraction) flavor component that helps in the expression of the fruit and are easy to clean and sanitize. "There is no food in concrete", Micah quotes one user. Thus, the tanks are not prone to aid unwanted critters making a home in them. Concrete also has excellent thermal retention, avoids hot spots found in some upright styles, offers a slow rise in temperatures and needs no temperature controls such as those on jacketed stainless tanks.

While not in widespread use, use of concrete as a winemaking option is on the rise and works well for small operations and those liking to try new concepts and experiments. If you have the opportunity, try a wine made in a Vino Vessel and see what you think. In Paso Robles one easily found example is the 2011 Viognier at the Peachy Canyon tasting room at W46 and Bethel Rd. You may also inquire at Chronic Cellars if they have a current sample done in a Vino Vessel.

Upgrading to concrete forces sale of used Trans Store Stainless Tanks

One of our customers is upgrading to concrete tanks and selling their used stainless tanks:

 

The Trans Store tank specs are the following:

 

Capacity: 2T destemmed, 1.5T whole-cluster

Glycol jacketed and plummed on 1 side

Side manway (door)

2'' Bottom and mid-tank ferrules

Pallet jack friendly

Stackable

Good shape. Normal signs of use. No rust or dents.

 

Asking $4800 and have 13 to sell, and are willing to offer a price break for the lot of them.

 

 

 

For more info regarding purchasing of these tanks, contact John Faulkner:

johnnyfaulkner@gmail.com

SO WHAT’S UP WITH CONCRETE?

 I know you are going to ask, so I might as well speak up. It makes me think of the movie “Back to the Future” where technology is awesome but relationships, family, and good characters prevail. Concrete is kind of like an old friend that you never realized was so cool, that is until they were gone for a while from your life. In no way is it a pure vessel, like stainless, but instead the concrete is like a cast iron skillet. Absorbing the flavors of everything that touches the surface and enhancing the flavors of the wines that will grace its walls. While winemaking became squeaky clean in the 80′s, 90′s and 00′s, we may have lost the essence of life. These tanks are alive, slowly maturing the wine. I will not say that they are without flaws, I myself am not perfect and I do not expect it of the wine I craft. I want the circumstances to tell a story and if wine is like a book, then each story should be different.

- Matt Trevisan, January 2013

                                                                                                                      Linne Calodo Winery

Vino Vessel's new YOUTUBE account

We are starting to provide our customers with help videos, see below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GGDEDeC7YM

Winter Savings!

For the upcoming months there is savings to be had on Vino Vessel's innovative concrete wine tanks!

 

For the month of January we are offering a 5% discount on the tank of your choice

 

February the featured tank is the 348 gallon Cone - discounted $350.00

 

March the featured tank is our most versatile and popular tank the 270 gallon Hippo - discounted $325.00

 

Please contact our office for more information 805-238-2676 or visit www.vinovessel.com

or email vinovessel@hotmail.com

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

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

September 5, 2012 By Pete

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!

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!

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www.vinovessel.com

805-238-2676