What’s in a Tank?
 

In the Winery: What’s in a Tank?

As much as wine is full of art and magic, science and technology help us achieve the next level of quality. With so much riding on the fermentation, our tank farm is carefully planned to make the best of the grapes we’ve so carefully farmed all season.

We’ve outfitted the ROAR Winery with 15 five-ton and two three-ton temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks which provide enough room to handle all the grapes we pick. The tanks are low and wide to give us a high skin- to-juice ratio that helps extract color and flavor from the grapes and a thermal mass which regulates the fermentation temperature.

The large, open tops make punch downs easy and efficient with pneumatic tools and help allow a little oxygen into the fermentation to keep microbes functioning and the yeast population healthy. Oxygen also binds with tannins to create that silky mouthfeel we seek. Movable lids lower or raise as needed, reducing headspace to protect the wine from oxygen when we’re blending and ready to bottle.

We also added a new Nomblot concrete tank from France this year to ferment and age Pinot Noir. Concrete’s mass also regulates temperature and its porosity allows for some
oxygen exchange, which adds nuance in texture and mouthfeel to the wines as they age. We expect it to be a nice complement to our barrel-aged lots.