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5 6 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J u l y - A u g 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m 6,000-gallon tanks for fermentation and cold stabilization. The winery also ordered six smaller cubic fer- menters from La Garde, ranging in size from 750 gallons to 1,250 gal- lons, which will be used to process small lots of grapes for 300- to 500- case wine-club offerings. The tanks are being installed in an older 11,500 square-foot ware- house at Rodney Strong, which is being remodeled and upgraded as a dedicated winemaking facility spe- cifically for this new project. The winery needed 1,000 tons of new fermentation capacity, with the ability to ferment small, high-qual- ity lots. Based on available space, Seidenfeld estimated the building could only house 40 traditionally- shaped stainless steel cylinder tanks with a total capacity of 800 tons. The square-sided La Garde tanks allow closer tank spacing with more efficient use of space to enable the winery to process 22% efficient pumpovers and a reduc- tion in temperature stratification within the tank to provide more even fermentations. The tanks are made from 304 stainless steel, and the highly pol- ished welds make the tanks appear seamless. Highly polished inte- rior surfaces reduce friction and increase resistance to corrosion, abrasion and the growth of microor- ganisms, Seidenfeld noted. Although Rodney Strong could have purchased cylindrical tanks at about half the cost, Seidenfeld said the long-term quality and cost ben- efits of the La Garde tanks will jus- tify the higher price. Ted Rieger, CSW, is a writer and photographer based in Sacramento, Calif., and has been a contributing editor for V&WM since 1990. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. more product in the same space compared with cylinder tanks. "We can produce all tanks 'sur mesure,' meaning they are tailor- made to use every inch of the win- ery space you'd like to occupy," Lamontagne explained. "We can adapt the height, width and depth of the tank to provide the exact amount of needed wine volume." Each tank is designed with six refrigeration jackets, useable for both chilling and heating. "These tanks were designed with flexibility to ferment smaller, various-size lots of as little as 5 tons, or up to full capacity of 20-plus tons," Seiden- feld said. The energy efficiency of the tanks' temperature control allowed the refrigeration system to be sized with reduced cooling load, providing cost savings at installa- tion. He added that the cube design will also provide a better skin-to- juice ratio with a thinner cap for better extraction, and enable more