Restoring the Nicolini Wine Pumps

Some aspects of the production of this exhibit are not necessarily rewarding...just time spent working on a task. Other aspects have been very rewarding. The restoration of the Nicolini pumps have been just that. Chris Corley, the winemaker at Monticello Vineyards in Napa Valley gave me these two old pumps last year. They had been sitting out behind the winery for quite a while. I remember having to get some help from one of the cellar workers to kill all the yellow jacket nests that had taken up residence in the pumps. They were rusty and old, the wiring was patched and taped together and the wheels needed grease. But to me they were beautiful. Several years ago I saw a photograph in a wine book of a cellar in Bordeaux that had one of these pumps transferring juice...shining in red & chrome.

The pumps were moved to my exhibit storage room in Cloverdale, California and readied for transport to Texas. I started working on "Nicolini #1" toward the end of May. I completed restoration on it June 15th. I'm currently working on "Nicolini #2" now. It is very similar to the first pump but a slightly different model. This work has been hard and dirty, but I've really enjoyed it. The pumps are being stripped down to about 200 pieces. All paint is removed down to bare metal. The parts are then dipped in an etching solution to help the new primers adhesion...primed, repainted and rebuilt.

The photo above shows a restored "Nicolini #1" complete with new wiring, tri-clover fittings and hose.

The photo below shows the condition the pumps were in when work began.

(The is of "Nicolini #2 before starting to take it apart.)

Exhibit Wall Mural Photography

The past three days have been hot in Northern California...you don't expect to feel 100+ degree heat in Napa Valley but it happens. The past three days have also been the days that I had slated in to do all the vineyard and crush pad wall mural photography. The good news is that the high pressure system (no, the heat is not due to 'global warming') sitting over Northern California kept the conditions very consistent. Lot's of clear blue skies and dry heat everyday. The bad news is that there were lot's of clear blue skies everyday... Why, because as a landscape photographer there is nothing I want to see more than clouds. Not heavy overcast gray rainy skies, but the beautiful summer cloud types that add so much interest to a plain old clear blue sky. That said, I'm happy with the photography taken the past few days.... the blue skies will look nice on the exhibit walls, but even a few clouds would have added more depth and some extra interest to the walls.

The photograph above is an unfinished composite of three images taken from the crush pad at Monticello Vineyards. This image will be the rear wall of the exhibit space. It will be 10 feet x 45 feet in size. The truck is another original piece of Napa Valley culture.... It's been transporting grapes, barrels and winery equipment for thirty years.

Thomas Jefferson's Point of View

As you enter "The Culture of Wine" exhibit you will quickly find yourself in two rooms that are a tribute and informational representation of Thomas Jefferson's dining room and wine cellar at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. Here you will see the replica dining room fireplace and other Jefferson replica artifacts. In his wine cellar recreation you will see how Jefferson stored his valued wines and how the bottles were loaded into his famous dumbwaiter that would carry them to the fireplace upstairs in his dining room.

The photo shown here was taken during the construction of a corner niche that will hold Jefferson's bust in his dining room area. As you can see the construction is not complete at this point. Once finished, the bust will sit on a hardwood riser lighted from above, overseeing the room.

Shipping The 'Bucher' Grape Press

The main event of the second shipment to Texas was loading the big 'Bucher' bladder press at Monticello winery. This press was one of the first two presses to operate at Monticello Vineyards in Napa Valley. I am thrilled to have it now as a focal point of the exhibit's crush pad area. This press is about 6.5 feet tall by 6.5 feet wide by 13 feet long. It has pressed more tons of grapes than I can begin to estimate. It was operational at Monticello from 1982 until 2005.

The photos show the press being loaded onto a special truck for shipment to San Jose, California where it will be loaded into the trailer that will take it to Texas. Once in Texas I will begin cleaning it and prepping it for painting. I want to restore it as close as possible to it's original colors and markings.