Our surveyor has furnished us with a clean and very detailed topographic map of the proposed site (unfortunately it is too big to scan). As far as I’m able to tell, there is roughly a 5 foot slope which we can use to help aid the design of our gravity flow facility. I’ll leave the exact calculations to the architect, but this is a promising development in that it suggests that we should be able to accommodate the three tier winery I’ve been envisioning without an inordinate amount of digging.
On a related note, during the barrel tasting two weeks ago, me and my winemaking partner Ken met and spoke with Rick Moshin, the owner/winemaker of Moshin Vineyards at his gravity flow facility. It was interesting talking with him about his experiences with the County, in large part because his Use Permit is the one I happened to research when I pulled permits at the county records office. Since I was intimately familiar with the trials and tribulations he faced getting his winery off the ground, we had quite a bit to chat about.
Moshin produces some outstanding small lot pinot (especially his Lot 4 which has an amazing floral nose that makes you want to strap your glass on your face and wear it as a respirator rather than drink from it) and provides winemaking services for others like Merry Edwards. A substantial part of Moshin’s ability to capture and maintain the delicate nuances of Pinot can be traced to the gentle handling a true gravity flow process affords. He was energetic and knowledgeable and invited me back for an in-depth tour that I’m certain I’ll take him up on.
[...] Soon after we turned our attention toward creating our label, and we are currently in the middle of that process. We have a logo designed by the wonderful Dayna, AKA The Calligraphy Lady whose exquisite hand lettering has been featured in magazines such as Martha Stewart, Better Homes and Gardens and Cosmo. She created a couple of great logos for us; so good in fact we couldn’t decide between them. So, being a blogger, I placed them both on the blog and asked for feedback. We received lots, as well as other helpful suggestions that made it quite easy for us to make our final decision. Currenly we are getting the proposed winery site surveyed, and we’re designing our label and our winery floorplans, and pictures of both should be up for comment shortly. [...]