Recently, a group of people who like to drink delicious beverages in beautiful places gathered in the handsomely lit Campbell Apartment tucked in a corner of Grand Central Terminal to taste the wines of Palmaz Vineyards, from Napa, California.
The vineyard’s Chief Marketing Officer, Florencia Palmaz, explained to those in attendance, how their proprietary gravity-flow method was used throughout the vineyard’s heart of operations, The Cave winery, to transit the harvested grapes through 18 stories of underground tunnels, storage tanks, and barrels. Ushered by gravity, instead of forced by pumps, the liquid which will eventually become wine, is exposed to less turbulence leaving the molecules less disturbed. When drinking great wine, gravity is not normally an ally, but two generations of Palmazes have turned that thinking on its head.
The highly advanced Fermentation Dome sounded like a winemaker’s vision of a utopian future, where statistical readouts provide for more time tasting the grape to know when it’s ready for next steps. The sensors can even display thermal readings inside each tank. All information is projected on the Dome’s curved ceiling above head.
The wine continued through pressing and barreling stages, all the while traveling to deeper levels of the tunneled mountain. The subterranean depths also helped control the maturing wines’ temperatures with the rock’s natural coolness. French Oak barrels are used in favor of the depth of flavor the wood imparts in each vintage. Gravity-finishing takes place in The Cave’s lowest level leading to the wine being bottled for consumption.
Chardonnays, Rieslings, Cabernet Sauvignons, and Malbecs are some of the wines this innovative and intriguing vineyard has created. We’re exciting to pair them with some of our favorite meals in the very near future.
Words by Taj Greenlee for Gents Among Men