Microsoft word vintage experience report

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WSC7.11 WINE INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE REPORT Jannine Rickards 2001000368 VINTAGE 2010 ATA RANGI The winery crew 2010 ‘The Dream Team’ Clockwise from centre front: Helen Masters (Winemaker), Clive Paton (the man behind Ata Rangi), Pete (chief of all equipment and machinery), Jannine (that’s me, assistant winemaker), Greg (very enthusiastic engineer and problem solver from Oregon), Barb (extremely reliable, hardworking multi-taska from the south), and Alex (just too good to be true Aussie boy that knows his stuff).

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vintage 2010 Ata Rangi

Transcript of Microsoft word vintage experience report

Page 1: Microsoft word   vintage experience report

WSC7.11 WINE INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE REPORT

Jannine Rickards 2001000368

VINTAGE 2010

ATA RANGI

The winery crew 2010 ‘The Dream Team’

Clockwise from centre front: Helen Masters (Winemaker), Clive Paton (the man behind Ata

Rangi), Pete (chief of all equipment and machinery), Jannine (that’s me, assistant winemaker),

Greg (very enthusiastic engineer and problem solver from Oregon), Barb (extremely reliable,

hardworking multi-taska from the south), and Alex (just too good to be true Aussie boy that

knows his stuff).

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Ata Rangi

Puruatanga Road

P O Box 43

Martinborough, 5741

NEW ZEALAND

PHONE: + 64 6 306 9570

FAX: +64 6 306 9523

[email protected]

www.atarangi.co.nz

WINEMAKER and supervisor

Helen Masters [email protected] 06 306 9570 ext 4

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MY INVOLVEMENT

Assistant winemaker My involvement in the winemaking at Ata Rangi covers all processes aside actual bottling which is efficiently completed by the team at Martinborough Winemaking Services. I have been with the company for four and half years and four of those as Assistant Winemaker for Helen Masters the Head Winemaker. The two of us make up the entire winemaking team however we utilise Olly Masters (the previous Winemaker for Ata Rangi and now technical consultant) along with Clive Paton (owner and also previous winemaker for the company) when finalising blends or getting an extra opinion on a lab trial. Below is a list of operations that I am responsible for at Ata Rangi:

• sampling and analysis of blocks • vintage preparation/ cleaning • overseeing processing at harvest • communication with winemaker regarding fruit intake • ordering of dry goods and Liquid Air gas • wine movements • monitoring of fermentations • Lab analysis • setting up lab trials • Wine tasting/ blending session’s organisation and set up • calculations and additions to wines in the cellar • Cellar hygiene • management of vintage staff / training of our procedures in the cellar • Vineyard work when necessary • Assisting with marketing events • Involvement with release tastings • Hosting of visitors • having wine ready for bottling • some of vinsight computer updates • Assisting with ISO14001 updates for audits • Recording of product lot numbers • Recycling projects • Machinery maintenance • First aid officer and keeping first aid kits equipped

Helen Masters (Head Winemaker) and myself

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ATA RANGI VINEYARDS

Aerial map of vineyard locations within Martinborough Terrace

VINEYARD CREW

Left: Gerry Rotman (Vineyard Manager) checking pickers work in the Lismore vineyard. Above: Bill selecting a bunch of Pinot Noir At Ata Rangi enormous effort is put into the vineyards to get the best fruit quality possible, as it is essential to have sound, healthy, ripe fruit to make great wines.

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WINES OF ATA RANGI Below is a description of some of the wines made by Ata Rangi and the processing steps of there production at harvest.

SAUVIGNON BLANC

Ata Rangi Sauvignon Blanc is made in a riper spectrum style from lower cropped vines, depending on the block anywhere from 1.5 - 5.0 tonne/acre. The juice has some skin contact for extraction of phenolics and varietal aromatics and is fermented with a variety of yeasts (10% barrel fermented in old oak) the wine has extended lees contact post fermentation to enhance texture and weight.

Ata Rangi Sauvignon Blanc 2008 - 94 Points

Helen Masters' ideal Sauvignon is neither herbaceous nor tropical, but strikes a balance in

between. She has perfectly nailed this style in 2008, with its concentrated citrus, gooseberry

and asparagus flavours, excellent minerality and persistent chalky finish. It's a very classy

expression of the variety. Tyson Stelzer, Australia's WBM 100, April 09

Sauvignon vines behind the winery, 1st grapes of the 2010 harvest

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Hand harvested ↓

Destemmed and crushed to press • Press filled with CO2 gas

• Additions of 30mg/L SO2 and 2g/L Lafazym Extract for aromatic extraction from the skins

Sauvignon ready to be weighed and processed ↓

Skin contact time varies • depends on time taken to harvest and process

↓ Pressed and pumped to chilled tank

• Via heat exchange unit depending on temperature of fruit at harvest • Tank filled with inert gas for protection from oxidation

↓ Settled for 2days

↓ Racked to clean tank and barrels

• depends on volume and block if barrel ferment to occur ↓

Warmed to 14/15 degrees Celsius and inoculated • some of the yeasts used VIN7, QA23, VL3, FermiCru 4F9, CKS102 with dynastart at 10-

20g/hL depending on block (most of the vineyards no fermentation nutrient was added because YAN results and vineyards show sufficient health)

↓ Fermentation monitored for temperature and brix movements daily

↓ Post fermentation lees contact (stirred with pump)

• wine and lees tasted to check no reduction developing

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↓ Racked off heavy lees

• Addition of 50mg/L SO2 ↓

Blending

Inside the press destemmed and crushed Sauvignon Blanc grapes on skin contact

PINOT GRIS The Ata Rangi pinot Gris is in the richer and riper more weighty style of pinot Gris. Its residual sugar is generally between 8- 14 g/L depending on the season. For texture and richness some (~10%) is fermented in older oak barrels. The aim is to make a wine that will age well, which it does refer to tasting notes on vertical of Pinot Gris tasted pre harvest.

Hand harvest • Generally picked later in the season as older blocks have clones planted that are reasonably

large berried big bunches and flavour accumulation is slower compared with the newer Berrysmith clone which ripens slightly earlier due to its smaller berry size.

↓ Whole bunch pressed

• however some blocks were Destemmed and crushed this year to extract more phenolics and flavour

• in 2009 one block was destemmed, crushed and left in the chiller overnight, this dramatically increased the colour extraction so in 2010 crushed fruit was pressed the same day

• 30mg/L SO2 at the press tray ↓

Pumped to chilled tank for 2 days settling

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• in 2010 we put some Pgris juice straight to barrel from the press tray with high solids to see how that looked ↓

Clean rack to another tank for fermentation ↓

Inoculated with a variety of yeasts • CKS102, Oneferm Freddo or Interdry

↓ Fermentation monitored daily for brix and temperature

↓ Racked off yeast lees

• Addition of 60mg/L SO2 ↓

Blending

ROSÉ

Ata Rangi Rosé is generally a vibrant dry wine (<2g/L R/S) with a juicy fresh acid driven palate structure. In previous years the wine has been made with Hawkes Bay merlot, this fruit is brought from a grower and processed in the Bay as follows

Hand harvested ↓

Destemmed and crushed • addition of 50mg/L SO2

↓ Cold soaked on skins for 24hours at cold temperature

↓ Pressed to chilled tank

↓ Settled and racked to tanker

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Transported to Ata Rangi However in 2010 we used fruit from our own vineyards and others within the Martinborough terrace

Hand harvested ↓

Destemmed and crushed to press • addition of 50mg/L SO2

↓ Soaked overnight with CO2 gas cover

↓ Pressed to chilled tank

↓ Settled 2 days

↓ Racked – very clean juice, no lees

↓ Inoculated at 15 degrees Celsius

• yeasts used CKS102 with dynastart or Oneferm Rose yeast ↓

Racked off yeast lees • addition of 40mg/L SO2

↓ Blending and finishing

PINOT NOIR Ata Rangi produces two Pinot noirs the ‘Ata Rangi’ and ‘Crimson’. The ‘Ata Rangi’ Pinot is the flagship wine for which Ata Rangi is known for. Receiving accolades in the early 90’s and having been known to consistently produce wine of exceptional quality each year, despite seasonal variations. The ‘Crimson’ Pinot is also well reputed as a serious wine although it is a younger vine version and tends to have less palate depth when compared to the ‘Ata Rangi’.

Pinot Noir on the vine

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CRIMSON

• generally made from younger vines <15years of age • with a higher percentage of Dijon clones (more recent plantings) • generally has more front palate fruit sweetness and less length and tannin then the ‘Ata

Rangi’ ATA RANGI

• older blocks of original plantings nearing 30years of age • more of these blocks are Abel, Clone 5/ Pommard and 10/5 with a smaller percentage of

Dijon • a more structured and savoury complex wine with seriously fine but powerful tannin

During harvest at Ata Rangi the pinot noir is generally all processed and fermented in a similar fashion. Differences will come down to specific vineyard, fruit quality factors and tank space logistics in the larger vintages.

Hand harvested • sorted by picking staff in the vineyard for various quality factors

*e.g. botrytis or mealy bug and leaf roller caterpillar damage or bird peck damage • picked into buckets and brought to winery in 300kg bins

↓ Tipped onto sorting table –double checks quality of pick

↓ Destemmed

↓ Crushed in must pump

↓ Pumped to 5T fermenter (filled with CO2 and cooling on)

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5 tonne fermenters with sloping floor ↓

Chilled via must pump to 10/11 degrees Celsius ↓

Cold soak 5 – 8 days

Juice rotating via pump through heat exchanger to cool for cold soaks

Tasting off post cooling of must Monitored daily for temperature and fermenter checked for signs fermentation

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↓ Warmed and natural fermentation kicks in

• Inoculated fermentation may happen if fruit quality was compromised due to bird peck or botrytis ↓

Daily monitoring of fermentation temperature, Brix movements and pH shifts • Adjustments made as necessary to temperature and pH

• Manual punch downs 2-3 times daily depending on temperature and stage of ferment

Always lots of strong men around for punch downs

• ferments tasted daily

Post ferment maceration • wines tasted daily for tannin development

↓ Pressed to settling tank for 2days

• press fractions tasted at each increase of pressure during the press cycle, press cuts made go to separate barrels

↓ Racked to barrels

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• filled with CO2 • 25% new oak

• 30% spring malolactic (separate part of winery) *part of the Pinot Noir goes through malolactic fermentation in the spring while the rest is inoculated

and warmed to finish malolactic by September – November with Chr Hansen Oenococcus oeni

The barrel room at Ata Rangi ↓

Regular topping and monitoring of malolactic fermentation with Erbshol enzymatic test kit and analysis from Pacific Rim Oenology Services Marlborough

↓ Addition of 50mg/L SO2 at end of malolactic

↓ Each barrel tasted several times before final decisions made on whether the barrel makes Crimson or

Ata Rangi. ↓

Racked to tank ↓

Blending/ fining trials/ bottling *the Ata Rangi blend spends 4 months in tank and older oak as a blend before being bottled in July

and is unfiltered *the Crimson wine is filtered and bottled before harvest

Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir 2008, 97/100 Complete and comforting from the very outset, Ata Rangi has delivered another benchmark pinot noir full of all the gently woven complexity and allure that sets the variety apart from most others. Like a tiny piece of Vosne-Romanee came to Martinborough; light, fragrant notes, fresh rose petals, a dusting of sweet spices and super-pure cherry fruits waft around the glass in regal formation. The palate is deliciously capricious at this young stage, for the first impression is of lightness and sheer elegance; it falls on the palate with feather-like impact then builds and builds and builds. It layers fine pastry-like sheets of tannin and arrives at a fine crescendo of flavour and pure pinot noir,

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leaving a comet-like trail in its wake. This is impeccably crafted; fine, powerful and truly worthy of Grand Cru status. Nick Stock, Penguin Australia Good Wine Guide 201

CÉLÈBRE The Célèbre is a blend of varieties that Ata Rangi has been making since 1986. Its composition varies depending on the year; this revolves around fruit set generally in the hands of the weather gods. However in the 2010 season the poor summer (cool and wet conditions) was more of a problem and optimum ripeness for the cabernet and some blocks of merlot were not reached. The varieties in the blend are syrah, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. They are fermented separately and aged in barrel in separate batches also. The wine is blended prior to the following harvest and put back to older neutral oak for an extra nine months of ageing pre bottling. The tannin structure of Martinborough with these varieties is generally less intense then a Hawkes Bay and we accommodate for that in the winemaking process. The pump over regime is less intense then other regions I have experienced (Napa, Hawkes Bay, South Africa) and in 2010 we punched down manually as opposed to any pump over’s.

CHARDONNAY Two of my favourite wines to be involved with at Ata Rangi are the Chardonnays; Petrie and Craighall. They are two very different styles of chardonnay, both which I enjoy, and through these wines I have come to see how site, clone and vine age contribute to consistency of final product.

PETRIE

The Petrie chardonnay comes from a contract grower John Petrie, the vines are located further up the Wairarapa at East Taratahi near to Masterton. The site has a similar gravel terrace profile as the vineyards in Martinborough but a slightly thicker top soil/ silt layer is present. The site also at a slightly higher elevation and the fruit ripens later in the season compared to the Craighall. The clones are 15 and 6, vine age approx 15 years. The wine is generally very vibrant and fresh with citrus and floral notes dominating the nose and a chalky, mineral palate.

Hand picked

↓ Transported by tractor 5T at a time in 400kg bins

↓ Whole bunch pressed

• addition of 30mg/L SO2 at press tray • CO2 gas blanket on press tray

↓ Pumped to tank

• no cooling for overnight settling only ↓

Pumped to barrels 100% bbl fermented • filled with CO2 prior to filling

• ~20-25% new oak ↓

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Inoculated with a variety of yeasts along with a portion that goes through natural fermentation • inoculated bbls usually get dynastart yeast support

• Yeasts used vary but FermiCru, Cepage get used each year ↓

Monitoring of fermentation • occurs when possible

↓ Post fermentation

• Inoculated for malolactic with CHR Hansen C35 Oneococcus oeni at <2g/L R/S • typically 30-40% will go through full malolactic

↓ Barrel stirring/ battonage and topping weekly/ fortnightly later on

• Each vintage depends on the season, fruit quality and wine structure as to how much malolactic goes through, some malic is always retained for stylistic reasons.

• each barrel is tasted frequently for quality, some barrels will be left with higher malic and SO2 added early others will wait and get stirred regularly until diacetyl aromas have

dissipated ↓

Once SO2 added no battonage only topping fortnightly until tasting and blending happens later in the year ↓

Clean rack for blending to tank • Yeast lees kept separate –used in compost for vineyard

↓ Stabilisation and fining trails

↓ Filtering and bottling

CRAIGHALL

The Craighall block is located across from the winery on free draining terrace, the vines are own rooted (no rootstock) 26 years old and of the Mendoza clone. Mendoza typically has smaller clusters then other chardonnay clones and is prone to hen and chicken (millerandage). The vineyard is very low cropping, typically at 1.3 tonne to the acre. It is very sheltered from the winds but prone to frost. The craighall fruit is usually some of the first fruit to be harvested and has great intensity and concentration due to its small clusters and low cropping rate.

Mendoza chardonnay from the Craighall block

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Helen and Clive can rely on the Craighall vineyard to produce a reliable and consistent high quality of fruit. Ata Rangi has been making chardonnay from this block for 25 years and the vine age it has definitely assists with quality of the fruit. After tasting through a 10 year vertical of Craighall last year and seeing/ tasting the fruit and wine from this block for the last 5 vintages myself, it is clearly visible to see that good vineyard management and careful monitoring in the wine production side can give amazing expression of site or ‘terroir’.

Hand harvested

↓ Whole bunch pressed

• addition of 30mg/L SO2 at press tray with CO2 gas blanket

Press being loaded with whole clusters of chardonnay ↓

Pumped straight to barrel from press tray with high solid content • 20-25% new oak mixture of 225L barriques and 300L hogsheads

Chardonnay barrels being filled straight from the press tray

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↓ Indigenous yeast fermentation kicks in

↓ At <2g/L R/S inoculated with CHR Hansen Oenococcus oeni for malolactic fermentation (mlf)

↓ Barrel stirring /Battonage weekly then fortnightly towards end of mlf

• similar as the Petrie, each bbl tasted separately and treated accordingly • Addition of SO2 at 50mg/L

↓ Topped fortnightly until racking in January • approximately 9months on yeast solids/lees

↓ Racked to tank

↓ Stabilisation and fining trials

↓ Filtering and bottling

Ata Rangi Petrie Chardonnay 2008

Showcasing the cool, minerally fruit of this higher Wairarapa vineyard, this is a pretty wine of

vibrancy, structure and tension. It's a fresh, tight style with a wild honey and peach blossom lift

to its grapefruit zest and white peach flesh. Judicious use of oak contributes subtle almond

kernel and vanilla notes. 93 Points

Tyson Stelzer, Australia's WBM 100, April 09

Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay 2008 - 95/100

Benchmark Martinborough Chardonnay from one of the region's long standing vineyards. Soft,

restrained and refined vanilla pod, fig, peach and white nectarine flavours are held together by

fine, lingering minerality on a creamy but streamlined finish. 95 points.

Tyson Stelzer, WBM 100 March 2010

Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay 2007 - 5 stars

Like a chrysanthemum unfolding 100 perfect petals, the wine opens up a whole new world for

your tastebuds as it oozes ripe grapefruit, toasty oak and concentrated mealy, peachy flavours.

Craighall cements itself as one of New Zealand's Super Classics.

Yvonne Lorkin, Times Age, 24 Jan 09

WINERY OPERATIONS In the four years I have been at Ata Rangi as Assistant Winemaker, I have gained the necessary skills required to complete all winemaking operations that a smaller scale operation requires. (See above list) However, below are details on three cellar operations, pressing of reds, barrelling down and winery equipment sanitation that I am responsible for during the harvest period.

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PRESSING REDS The pressing of red wine ferments is a critical process. Most important is decision of when to press. Tasting the ferments daily and observing and discussing the development of the tannins with the winemaker is the most interesting part to the process. Having a familiarity with the various blocks in the vineyard, by having seen the wines for five harvests now definitely helps in understanding what each block is capable of. Usually it depends on vine age and clone but seasonal conditions will have an impact on the post ferment maceration and tannin extraction. 2006 – great harvest following a brilliant summer, good fruit quality and ripeness - classic year for Ata Rangi. Ripe tannins, reasonably long macerations post fermentation. Very little press cuts made 2007 – major frost in November 06 and poor flowering in December left the vineyard with a seriously small crop on most blocks. Uneven ripening was an issue even though summer was warm and settled. Smaller lot fermentations and not long post ferment macerations due to quite skinsy/ smoky tannins. Press cycle cut earlier then normal so not to over extract these dark overt tannins. 2008 – great summer, reasonable crop, even ripening in the vineyard. Very little press cuts made long post ferment macerations. 2009 – really hot summer, reasonable crop, solid tannin in wines long post ferment macerations not necessary but a couple of old vine ferments had extended post fermentation maceration. 2010 - very cool and wet summer, great conditions at harvest but more fragile tannin concentration, far less post ferment maceration time on skins and earlier and more press cuts made to avoid green snotty tannin extraction.

Ferments for tasting after daily analysis in the morning

• Draining of wine off skins via pump and 1 inch lines to a settling tank in the barrel room (filled with CO2)

• Careful dumping of skins into movable stainless bin

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• Tipped into press with forklift *approximately 3 bins to empty a 5 tonne fermenter

• Monitoring of the press cycle, once the press is loaded and the red press cycle has started it is

important that the draining of the press tray is consistent as myself or Helen need to taste the press tray at each increase of pressure, particularly from 0.6bar as this is when harder and greener tannins can be detected. At some stage one of us will make a decision on a press cut and pump the rest of the wine to a separate press barrel.

My role in dropping and pressing of red ferments was to oversee and perform the pumping of wine off the skins, to ensure the safety of staff during the process of digging the tank out, loading of the press and monitoring of the press cycle.

Volunteer Jo digging out her first 5 tonne fermenter while I oversee the process

SAFETY Pressing of reds is a hazardous process, mostly during the digging out of the fermenter, which requires somebody to be in the tank manually shovelling the skins into the bin. Excessive CO2 can render someone unconscious in seconds. At Ata Rangi it is imperative that two people complete the process and that nobody opens the tank door or is left in a fermenter without a safety back up person outside the tank at all times. Most of our tanks have a 10% sloping floor which helps with the dropping of skins into the bin, however the initial opening of the door can be dangerous if the tank has not been drained of wine properly, it also makes for a slippery slope for the person digging the tank out.

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BARRELLING DOWN OF RED WINE The barrelling down of pressed reds is important at Ata Rangi. This is because we have a rather difficult barrel room to work in. It is essential that the barrels are stacked in a way that makes them easily accessible for racking with our equipment later in the year. We tend to leave the wine on gross lees in barrel and not rack unless there is a need to do so. The right amount of new oak for each batch and detecting ‘healthy’ barrels for filling is also of high importance. *volatile acidity in oak left to long empty can be an issue so myself or Helen need to check each barrel prior to preparation by smelling the barrel for any ethyl acetate aromas.

• Barrels chosen for filling

• prepared with a warm water rinse ensuring no residual sulphur sticks are in the barrel (this could lead to reduction issues with the wine by the development of H2S)

• secured into place

• gassed with CO2

• wine checked for pH (usually day before and any adjustments made then)

• wine racked off gross lees into barrels (new oak first)

• gross lees put on compost pile for vineyard

• barrels labelled with batch name

CLEANING OF TANKS AND EQUIPMENT

Operational Control of General Sanitising

1. Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to describe the basic requirements for the sanitising of; a) plant; b) tanks; c) transfer lines.

2. Related documents:

a) Chemical data/ information sheets.

3. General records from sanitising

For environmental management purposes it is important that the following data is collected. a) The total volume of H2O used. (can be obtained on water metre which records

volume of inflow)

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b) The amount of each different type of sanitise used (calculated from annual stock purchases)

c) Any additions of NaOH or Na2CO3 or citric to the wet stock (that used for circulating during cleaning/sanitising).

Note: It is difficult to state exact amounts of chemical to use when sanitising equipment. It will

vary largely during the year; common sense of winery staff is thus required.

General Wash Instructions Guide

Item Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Set 4 Buckets, bungs, jugs etc Ensure all

product is rinsed off

Scrub with a Peroxycarb. Solution 1/3 cup to a 20 litre bucket of warm water

Rinse with water and then rinse with a weak citric solution to neutralise

Rinse with water and allow to drain

Lines and Pumps -Always clean if peroxycarb if it has been more then 3 days since they were last used. -If you have pumped wine then want to pump juice - if moving wine that has been filtered - if for any reason pumps/lines have been used on a defective product (taint, micro issue -rinse only, if moving from Juice to wine

Connect lines to pump

Flush through a warm Peroxycarb soln 1/3 cup to a 20 litre bucket of warm water recirculate for 5 mins

Flush lines with water and then flush with a weak citric solution to neutralise

Flush lines with water

Tanks

If the following steps do not remove stubborn tartrate only then may caustic be used, followed by a citric flush ENSURE STAFF ARE AWARE OF THE

HAZARDOUS NATURE OF CAUSTIC AND ARE PROVIDED WITH THE APPROPRIATE SAFTY GEAR!!

Remove all solids such as lees – check with winemaker where these should be dumped

Water blast to remove any solids and tartrate. Set up spray ball and pump and spray tank with a peroxycarb soln. (1/3 cup to 20 litres or stronger if required) Recirculate for 5-10 mins

Flush with water and then flush with a weak citric solution to neutralise

Flush with water

Other equipment such as press,

destemmer

See individual instructions section 5 and 6 of this manual

These are the cleaning guidelines I wrote for updating the ISO14001 manual last year.

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Most of the cleaning is done with sodium percarbonate also known as ‘peroxcarb’ which is much less damaging to the environment then caustic and doesn’t have the same hazards to staff. i.e. doesn’t cause severe burns to the skin. Scrubbing with green kitchen scrub pads or using the pressure washer on hot 90degree usually removes stubborn mess. It is my responsibility to ensure vintage staff be familiar with our cleaning processes and to check that cleaning is performed to our specifications Generally I feel that the above procedures are effective and do not need improvement. However when I worked in California I did observe much more strict regulations regarding digging out of tanks for pressing reds. It was essential there that I sign an agreement before entering every tank stating that I did so at my own risk and that I was aware that excess CO2 could kill me and that the winery was not liable for any costs relating to my possible death (only in America right!) However then when I worked a harvest in Burgundy I was exposed to the other end of the spectrum where very casual old school mentality still holds place and in fact an intern down the road from where I worked did die in a fermenter from the CO2! So I definitely think that stricter regulations can be of serious benefit in the wine industry here. Perhaps just the fans above large fermenters to blow out CO2 or the CO2 meters that were used in the Sates could be introduced. However common sense needs to prevail and measures such as these might only be useful in larger facilities that have higher numbers of staff working and the ratio of supervisors to staff is more stretched.

Open fermenters are still risky, but not as dangerous to dig out as the closed lid tanks

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HEALTH AND SAFETY Eleanor Dodd is largely responsible for keeping Ata Rangi in compliance with OSH and our Health

and Safety regulations. She organises our regular OSH meetings every few months to address any issues within the business and holds all relating paperwork in her office, including the Accident

Register Book. Gerry Rotman (the vineyard manager) and I are the certified First Aid Officers for the business and ensure that first aid kits are well equipped to deal with any medical emergencies that may arise. It is also our responsibility to ensure that temporary staff members within our areas are familiar with the appropriate protocol relating to there work environments. For example emergency exist procedures and chemical spill procedure. We also need to go through basic training and make staff members aware of hazards relating to there work environment, like the locations of cleaning chemicals or sprays and where the appropriate protective gear is located. Here is a list of things that I will go through with staff in the winery pre harvest: • Location of protective gloves, eyewear, and gas masks for when sulphuring empty barrels • Location of spare steel cap boots and wet weather gear • Beware hazard signs for wet and slippery floors • Location of hoses and wash down areas for spills • Location of first aid kits and location of medical centre and phones • Training in use of winery equipment, forklifts, tractors • Ensuring they are aware of there surroundings and the possible dangers that could exist

RECORD KEEPING ISO14001

This standard assists us in implementing, maintaining and improving our environmental management systems by ensuring we comply with environmental laws and regulations. The ISO14001 is a very important part of our record keeping and the folders have information on all of our procedures relating to winemaking; including cleaning protocol, staff training, waste water systems, product data sheets, corrective action sheet data for any issues we might encounter.

Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand

SWNZ is a system set up to ensure that vineyards and wineries within NZ comply with a set framework. This is to assist the NZ wine industry in having a sustainable impact on the clean and green environment that is NZ. Wineries apart of SWNZ are required to met certain criteria and need to be constantly accessing there procedures and finding ways to lessen the impact they have on the environment. To assist us with both ISO 14001 and SWNZ at Ata Rangi we have a Project Folder

for environmental improvement which contains data and research on various environmental issues that we want to improve. The most recent two projects include looking at lighter weight glass packaging and recycling of our own glass back into the vineyard.

New Zealand Winegrowers Wine standards Management plan

Part of complying with the new wine standards management plan is to complete a pre vintage checklist which is my responsibility. It includes updating material safety data sheets on all non-food cleaning products and recording all winemaking additives by sourcing certificates of analysis and data sheets. Lot numbers of all products are recorded for traceability so that if an issue were to occur we can trace the product back to its original source and locate the problem. The Code of Practise allows Ata Rangi to show that they comply with all legal requirements regarding to wine production in NZ.

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Carbon Neutral

Ata Rangi is currently working towards becoming carbon neutral accredited, we have set ourselves two years to complete the required information and gain this status. Ata Rangi purchased 300acres of native bush, scrub and farmland bordering the Aorangi Forest Park in the Haurangi Ranges in 2001. Now known as the Ata Rangi ‘bush block’ located out towards the south coast of the Wairarapa. There Clive Paton and staff, family and friends have been involved in the re-establishing of the native forest, in particular the native Rata, which is where Crimson Pinot Noir stems from and sales from the wine also contribute towards Project Crimson.

Project Crimson a nationwide project focused on the protection and reestablishment of native Pohutakawa and Rata within NZ.

Environmental Policy

A copy of our Environmental Policy can be found at the website below http://www.atarangi.co.nz/users/Image/PDFs/2008/AtaRAngiEnvironmentPolicyJune2010.pdf