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W i n e s & V i n e s O C T O B e R 2 0 1 4 51 Modern gravity flow Like many new, modern wineries, the sophisticated design of Presqu'ile belies a relatively simple approach to winemak- ing. Architects with the San Francisco, Calif.-based Taylor Lombardo firm designed the winery, which is built into a hill to provide a gradient to facilitate the gravity-flow approach. Visitors walk into a spacious tasting area separated from the entrance of the barrel cave by two heavy glass doors. At the back of the cave, a large central shaft houses an elevator and flight of stairs leading to the next level, where the fermentation tanks and wine lab is located. The crush pad and more storage areas are one floor higher, at the top of the hill. From the main parking lot, the tasting room appears separate from a building of similar design at the top of a hill, when in fact they are connected by the cave and elevator shaft. Cronje said gravity protects the wine from picking up heat during pumping as well as exposure to oxygen. He said using gravity is also a key principle of low- intervention winemaking. "I think a lot of people believe in the philosophy of being sort of more natural when it comes to making the product itself," he said. "I like to select the people's products that I enjoy—including the philosophy that they use behind it, which I think is very impor- tant to us." Presqu'ile is located on the site of a for- mer gladiola farm, and the characteristics of the property further convinced Murphy that gravity was the way to go. "Gravity- flow was always something we were interested in trying to do, and once we found the land we knew right away— even before the architect came out—that this was where the winery should go and this is where the cave and tasting room should go," Murphy said. "It just seemed like it was the right site for these things." Whole-cluster free fall to tanks Grapes arrive at the winery in half-ton MacroBins and can be stored in a cool room right next to the crush pad, giving the winemaking team more flexibility with pick dates and processing grapes. The crush pad and cold room are located at the top of the winery. Cronje can walk directly from the crush pad to a large area that's level with the top of the red fermentation tanks. It's here that the sorting and destemming equip- ment is placed. Workers dump the bins onto a sorting table and clean; whole Grape processing and fermentation take place at higher levels of the gravity-flow winery. The roofline of these levels can be seen to the left of the winery's main entrance and tasting room, pictured in the center. A large tasting bar greets visitors to the hospitality area. The circular entrance to the barrel cave can be seen in the rear. G R A P E G R O W I N G W I N E M A K I N G