Inglenook Unveils Spectacular 22,000 Sq.-Foot Vineyard Cave, That includes 120 Remotely Managed Fermentation Tanks That Are Aligned with Every Organically Farmed Winery Block

The Particulars

Taking a cue from winemaking services from centuries in the past, Inglenook’s new vineyard is eco-friendly and doesn’t require heating and cooling, as caves naturally keep cooler temperatures all year long. Novel in its method and tucked beneath a knoll on the south facet of the property, the cave can be secure from the occasional risk of wildfire. No flammable components have been used, and the whole cave is protected by sprinklers.

As a result of vineyard caves aren’t often geared up for manufacturing, adapting Inglenook’s new winemaking facility to a cave surroundings was an intricate engineering problem that finally centralized winemaking operations to optimize manufacturing movement. Some of the notable options is the addition of 120 model new insulated, remotely-controlled stainless-steel fermentation tanks – every assigned to a special nuanced block in Inglenook’s 235-acre organically farmed winery. It’s exceptional for a vineyard that produces fewer than 30,000 circumstances of wine per yr to have 120 devoted tanks, and whereas maybe extra frequent in Bordeaux, that is a unprecedented feat in Napa Valley. Thirty miles {of electrical} and communications wiring run by means of six miles of conduit within the new cave, beneath greater than 1,000 cubic yards of low CO2 concrete.

Every fermentation tank is provided with a devoted pump for pump-overs and thermal regulation {hardware}. Slicing-edge software program permits the winemaking staff to remotely monitor delicate fluctuations in fermentation dynamics because the grapes ferment within the tanks simply after being harvested. For instance, the winemaking staff will likely be notified instantly if a fermentation stalls in the course of the night time, they usually can remotely and immediately improve the temperature throughout the tank, making certain the standard of the wine at a essential time within the winemaking course of. The tanks vary in dimension from one-half ton to 27 tons, and are proportionately tall and slender in diameter. Inglenook’s Director of Winemaking, Philippe Bascaules, favors tanks for crimson wine fermentation which can be considerably taller and narrower in diameter, which ends up in a smaller extraction floor relative to the juice quantity. This provides Phlippe and the winemaking staff better management over the extraction, finally resulting in extra elegant, nuanced wines. Elevating the bar on high quality winemaking even additional, Inglenook has a separate temperature-controlled room devoted solely to the making of Inglenook’s white wines, that are fermented in barrels and stainless-steel drums.

“To have every tank allotted to at least one particular winery block is extraordinary, and this stage of customization in our winemaking is a crucial benefit that enhances our capacity to make the world-renowned wines for which Inglenook is understood. We now have infinite potentialities, which can result in much more complicated wines,” mentioned Philippe Bascaules, Inglenook’s director of winemaking. “I’m very happy with all the pieces the Inglenook staff and our companions have achieved in designing this new vineyard cave.”

The Inglenook staff broke floor on the brand new vineyard on the finish of 2018. The cave was excavated below a hillside winery close to the property’s majestic chateau, which was in-built 1887. For structural integrity, a diamond-shaped cave was excavated round a strong, central mass – making it just like a baseball diamond. The “pitcher’s mound” is the strong central assist, surrounded by a diamond-shaped tunnel that extends from “residence plate” on the cave’s jap entrance, north to “first base,” west to “second base,” south to “third base,” and again to residence plate, the cave’s portal. The portal’s look was impressed by the design of the doorway to the caves at Château Lafite Rothschild. Throughout harvest, Inglenook’s organically farmed fruit will likely be rigorously sorted by hand within the portal and bottling will happen in that very same space later within the yr.

An elaborate panel that controls the entire electrical energy, utilities, Wi-Fi, and customised controls for every tank, extends alongside the wall close to “first base,” within the northern nook of the diamond-shaped tunnel. That is additionally the place Inglenook’s new cave connects with the vineyard’s pre-existing 16,000 square-foot cave, which was excavated in 2003 to accommodate the wines as they age in barrel beneath the property’s chateau. A mild two-foot slope from the again of the vineyard to the entrance, plus trench drains all through, be certain that run-off from the vineyard and its crush pad is not going to movement into the property’s storm drains.

The challenge started with excavation of the cave by Nordby Wine Caves and work progressed with Nordby Building Firm as Common Contractor for the challenge.

Innovation, Experimentation, and Conservation at Inglenook

Inglenook has a wealthy historical past of management within the wine trade. A lot of founder Gustave Niebaum’s improvements at Inglenook within the 1800’s grew to become trade requirements: Inglenook instituted the primary sterile bottling course of in Napa; it was the primary to separate discipline particles from grapes; Inglenook planted Napa’s first Merlot in 1882; and Inglenook constructed its iconic chateau – the primary gravity-flow vineyard – in 1887. On the time, it was thought-about one of many best vineyard constructions within the Western Hemisphere. Extra lately…

• Organically farmed for the reason that 1970’s, Inglenook was one of many first estates in Napa Valley to be licensed natural in 1994. Additional supporting Inglenook’s dedication to conservation and environmental stewardship, Inglenook has earned a LandSmart® certification and has initiated Napa Inexperienced certification.
  • Solely natural merchandise are used to regulate fungi and pests within the winery.
  • The discharge of pure insect predators and the usage of natural compost are each frequent practices at Inglenook to protect the property’s ecosystem.
• In 1995 – along side the Napa County Land Belief – Inglenook granted a conservation easement for 394 undeveloped acres for the preservation and safety of land in its pure situation.
• In 2011 Inglenook amassed a fleet of electrical vehicles to move workers and visitors across the property, and in 2012 added bigger electrical “individuals movers.” In 2018 electrical vans have been added to the gathering. Inglenook workers are additionally inspired to journey bicycles on the property. Lately, Inglenook acquired a number of new Ford F-150® Lightning™ All-Electrical vans.
• The brand new vineyard cave makes use of 480-volt electrical energy as an alternative of 240-volt electrical energy, which will increase power effectivity.
• Excessive-temperature steam is used to sanitize barrels, saving a big quantity of water that will historically be used to wash every barrel, and vineyard wastewater is recycled for winery irrigation.
• The winemaking staff at Inglenook experiments continuously with cover administration, barrel trials, and trellis designs to boost the standard of Inglenook’s wines and refine administration of the property’s pure sources.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Necessary Position in Inglenook’s Historical past

Inglenook’s founder, Gustave Niebaum, received accolades in Paris and Australia and swiftly garnered worldwide popularity of Inglenook’s wines in 1889, simply ten years after he based the celebrated Napa Valley property. That success was continued by his nephew, John Daniel, Jr. Most notably, Daniel’s 1941 Cabernet Sauvignon continues to be broadly regarded by wine critics as the most effective wines of the 20^th century. Sadly, Daniel bought Inglenook to an organization in 1964 and for 11 years the individuals working Inglenook dismantled the unique property and strayed from its earlier leaders’ dedication to excellence.

In 1975, Francis Ford Coppola and his spouse, Eleanor, have been trying to find a modest trip cottage and as an alternative ended up buying Gustave Niebaum’s residence and a portion of the unique Inglenook property. The Coppolas quickly found the inherent treasure in what they’d acquired and vowed to reunite the vineyards of the unique property and restore Inglenook’s esteemed status. Over the following 47 years the Coppola household produced their first classic of Rubicon, Inglenook’s premier wine (1978); bought the property’s iconic chateau (1995); reunited the entire contiguous vineyards of the unique Inglenook property (1995); and acquired again Inglenook’s identify and trademark (2011).

Inglenook is best-known globally for its critically acclaimed Rubicon, Cabernet Sauvignon, RC Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, and a particular Marsanne-Roussanne-Viognier mix known as Blancaneaux. Inglenook’s wines are crafted in restricted portions and accessible throughout the nation and world wide in choose outlets and eating places, and at auctions.

About Inglenook

Based in 1879 by Gustave Niebaum as Napa’s first property vineyard, Inglenook boasts an illustrious heritage, a famend legacy of innovation and an excellent portfolio of award-winning wines which have outlined and established Napa as a world-class wine area. From Gustave Niebaum to John Daniel, Jr. to Francis Ford Coppola, Inglenook’s three principal stewards have shared a powerful sense of imaginative and prescient and an unwavering ardour to create a wine property that hearkens again to the European custom, producing authentic, distinctly Napa wines that rival one of the best in Europe.  It stays the most important contiguous property on the famed Rutherford Bench, Napa Valley’s best space for producing spectacular Cabernet Sauvignon. Inglenook was additionally among the many first Napa Valley wineries to have its vineyards licensed natural greater than 25 years in the past.

The enduring Inglenook chateau was first constructed in 1887, and faithfully restored in 1997.  Befitting the grandeur of the Inglenook property, the chateau welcomes visitors for seated tastings and particular occasions. Experiences embrace excursions of the chateau, the Infinity caves, the vineyards, barrel tastings and culinary choices below the path of Vineyard Chef Alex Lovick who expertly pairs the wines with the seasonal, natural bounty of the expansive property farm and orchards. Tastings happen within the property’s lately redesigned Athenaeum, or open air within the expansive courtyard.

Inglenook is positioned at 1991 St. Helena Freeway in Rutherford (Napa Valley), and may be discovered on social media @inglenook1879, and on-line at www.inglenook.com. The property is open to visitors Thursday – Monday by appointment solely and reservations may be made by contacting [email protected].

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