THIS VINEYARD USES SUBMARINE TECHNOLOGY TO FERMENT ITS WINE

Food and wine 1.15.16 | BY MIKE POMRANZ | PHOTO BY NICOLA MAJOCCHI | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

DESPITE THE IMPORTANCE of terroir and technique, at its core, winemaking is a relatively simple process. Take the juice of grapes and let it sit until it ferments. In its most basic form, alcohol production can involve doing nothing at all (I know all the people who spend their lives making spontaneously fermented beverages will probably quibble with the notion that they don’t do anything, which is not the point—I’m just saying you can get booze by letting nature do a lot of the heavy lifting). But if you want to make good wine, that’s when more advanced methods come into play, and though some winemakers stand by traditional methods, others constantly look for the latest technology to make each vintage perfect.

Napa’s Fermenting Your Wine With Submarine Technology

WIRED MAGAZINE 9.16.16 | BY LARISSA ZIMBEROFF | PHOTO BY CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

IN A TRADITIONAL wine fermentation tank, if the yeasts start acting weird, it might be days before anyone smells or tastes the damage. But at Palmaz Vineyards in Napa, California, staff can detect risk factors before they develop into wine-spoiling problems. That’s thanks to the Fermentation Intelligence Logic Control System, a Minority Report–style setup that tracks the vino at a molecular level, giving the winemaker the information needed to adjust temperatures in different parts of the tank with incredible precision (control over heat = control over yeast). The system is based on a submarine-­industry technology called sono-­densitometry: A tuning-fork-like probe inside each tank measures vibrations 10 times per second, yielding millions of data points about the density of the liquid. That tells you the sugar and alcohol levels, and thus the rate at which fermentation is occurring. Then software slurps up this cloud of data to show, say, temperature variations. That’s projected on the dome of Palmaz’s fermentation cave—a curved display of charts and graphs showing an ancient process in far-out detail. A geotagging system means that the tanks even “know” exactly which person is standing in front of which tank, so the projections a particular winemaker is working on follow them around. It’s like Big Brother for big cabs.

WINE BUSINESS MONTHLY featured Palmaz Vineyards this month in a fascinating article regarding the complex art of cap management during fermentation.  Christian Palmaz explains how the winery’s unique thermographic system allows winemakers to understand temperature distribution inside of a fermenter.  This research has led to new understandings as to why and when certain aromas and favors extract into wine.  The full article can be seen by clicking here.

From the Palmaz Family, we wish everyone a wonderful holiday and new year!  Cheers!

USA TODAY has made a list and checked it twice — and regardless of whether you’ve been naughty or nice, Palmaz Vineyards 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon is the must-have stocking stuffer for the oenophile in your life.

ENTERTAINING GUESTS at Palmaz Vineyards is an intrinsic, cherished part of who we are — so we’re always looking for new ways to extend our hospitality and, whenever possible, infuse it with the family’s Argentine roots.

AS PART OF the Palmaz Family’s unceasing dedication to historical and archaeological research and preservation of the Cedar Knoll estate, we recently came across an unpublished academic manuscript from 1965, A History of the Napa Viticultural District, by Ernest P. Peninou.

The tires of the Boeing triple seven hit the tarmac at Hong Kong International Airport. Mad/Dash Press publisher Aaron Sigmond and creative director Liliana Guia, weary after a 16-hour flight from JFK Airport in New York, climb into a taxi and cruise along the left side of the road to their hotel. A noodle dinner and coma-like sleep soon followed. A book project that had begun with an exotic journey was now concluding in much the same manner — which, in turn, will lead to your wine cellar, kitchen and coffee table.

“Recipes from Napa” is a monthly column by Florencia Palmaz about food, wine, cooking and entertaining.

MY FAMILY HAS BEEN blessed to live and work together on an estate that produces one of the world’s most joyful and magical elixirs. Life on a family vineyard has innumerable charms, and I could surely effuse to the point of reader nausea with smug Suzy Homemaker drivel about my latest fresh-from-the-garden creations. Don’t worry! This monthly column, “Recipes from Napa,” won’t be that kind of discourse — promise! You may hold onto your lunch, because I intend to tell you the straight truth about what goes on in my kitchen — the fresh, the frozen, the failures and everything in between.

“The Science of Wine” is a monthly column by Christian Gastón Palmaz about the pursuit (and achievement) of the seamless fusion of technology, art and tradition in winemaking. 

PAY A VISIT TO Palmaz Vineyards and you’ll encounter a dazzling array of technology, but don’t be fooled — all that swanky, futuristic stuff is not what makes the wine. Like so many other technical art forms, winemaking at its core remains qualitative, creative and intimately human. At Palmaz, the art of wine still occurs in the glass, and magic happens in those quiet moments when the winemaker’s mind is open to perceiving, appreciating and harnessing what Mother Nature has given to a particular vintage.

Beginning with my time in school, I’ve been struck by the way some technology actually impinges on the ability to be creative. Learning how to code in various programming languages and toiling on spreadsheets made my brain ache. Database technologies are powerful tools, but I fell victim to spending countless hours crunching data and not enough time outside with dirt under my boots.