Rick Moshin on Gravity Flow Winemaking and Pinot Noir

by Rick Moshin

While far from a new practice, gravity flow winemaking seems to have experienced a resurgence over the last decade or so in the United States. Before pumps and power, the most efficient way to move wine from vessel to vessel was to use the natural force of gravity and a nice slope. You could say that it’s an old world technique that is discovering a renaissance in the new world of winemaking. The question is “why?”

Pinot Noir

A handful of winemakers are utilizing gravity flow to move their wines, believing that this gentle method will help preserve the delicate flavors and aromas that may otherwise be lost by the use of abrasive pumps. Not all grape varietals will respond in the same way to this technique.  Not surprisingly, the most responsive varietal to this gentle handling is sensitive Pinot Noir.  When produced with a reverence for what Pinot Noir can achieve, this wine can deliver some of the most subtle, mysterious, and enchanting characteristics in the aromas and flavors.

To capture those ethereal qualities in the bottle is the lifelong goal of the Pinot Noir winemaker. I am a proponent of this gravity flow technique: I’m a former math instructor-turned full-time winemaker. My four-tier gravity flow winemaking facility opened in 2005 and is the result of 20 years of winemaking and farming the “heartbreak” Pinot Noir grape. Designing and building a facility that would do this finicky grape justice was a dream that I’ve had for many years. While building our Russian River Valley facility in Sonoma County, we discovered that to construct a multi-tiered facility is significantly more costly than creating a single level winery. Such dedication to producing a certain type of varietal may seem over the top, but all one has to do is taste the resulting product and then it all comes clear.

The four-tier gravity flow winemaking system

• Crush Pad: Harvested grapes are brought up to the top tier at the rear of the winery. A forklift empties the bins directly into a destemmer set above the fermentation tanks into which the destemmed grapes fall. After sorting and destemming, grapes fall into the fermentation tanks below on the press pad.
• Press Pad for Fermentation: Fermentation begins here. Activities on this tier include cold soaking, punching down, fermentation, and pressing. All juice from this level including free run and press wine drains into settling tanks on the cellar level.
• Cellar: Juice flows into settling tanks or directly into barrels for storage and aging in the cellar.
• Bottling Level: Once this gently-handled wine has matured and is ready for bottling, it is pushed with nitrogen back into the settling tanks for blending or cold stabilization and a hose is run from the tank down to the bottling level to flow the wine into the bottling line system.

Four tiers of a gravity flow system (image courtesy of Language Artisans)

Sustainability for the Love of the Grape

Intern David McDowell helps Pinot Noir into a tank at the top of the hill at Moshin Vineyards

Another benefit of the gravity flow method is the savings in energy usage. Combined with the generation of electricity from the solar system installed in 2008, a gravity flow system contributes to the movement toward sustainability at Moshin Vineyards. In 2009, Moshin also installed an in-house nitrogen-producing generator, alleviating the need for multiple deliveries of heavy tanks that often leaked nitrogen. Other sustainable practices include the biodynamic farming of our newest vineyards: all grape waste is composted and we use the diatomaceous earth and cotton filter pads in the vineyard for weed control.

For large public events at Moshin, compostable plates and utensils are utilized: the overall “greening” of the winery is a continual work in progress. Does this extra care for the grape handling and sustainability make a difference? Does your homegrown, nurtured tomato taste better than the one from the supermarket that was bred for shelf-life rather than enjoyment?

Wineries using gravity flow systems in California

Wineries using gravity flow systems in Oregon

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[Rick Moshin grows grapes and makes wine at Moshin Vineyards in the Russian River Valley region of Sonoma County.]

– photos by Amber Moshin