The Installation Begins

The past week has been filled with activity....the Nasa exhibit is now down and The Culture of Wine exhibit started installation. The outer walls of the Ansary Gallery were prepped with a layer of cintra board in the areas that would be photo murals the photo murals. Quickly a team of two young ladies from C.C. Creations in College Station began hanging the self-adhesive vinyl 4 foot x 10 foot mural panels. Before long the gallery took on a new feel. Now instead of black walls the gallery had the look of a winery crush pad and rolling vineyard setting. I was very pleased with the look of the murals. They were printed by a small family owned shop in Northwest Houston called 'Sign-Ups and Banners'. I never saw the finished mural panels at the print shop so walking into the gallery and seeing a 'very nice' finished product was great...(and a relief.)

On Thursday, August 20th we moved the big Bucher press into position on the exhibits crush pad. This took some time...a very large truck, about a dozen people, (and of course a little drama.) But then how often do you move a 3800 pound wine press into a Presidential library?

After the press was in place we easily rolled in the 1969 Ford 2000 tractor and valley bin. From there exhibit specialist Jason Hancock and his team began working on wall installation and I started putting in the vineyard corner posts, stakes and trellis wire with the help of some library staff.

After all the work, planning and money spent on the exhibit to this point it was great to see the installation finally begin. It's going to be a busy month....

In the top photo the Bucher wine press is being pushed into the Ansary Gallery in The George Bush Presidential Library. In the photo at the bottom of the page I am tightening a vineyard trellis wire on a corner post.

Creating a Faux Stone Vineyard Wall

When you drive through wine country in many parts of the world you will see vineyards edged by beautiful short stone walls. Originally built hundreds of years ago throughout much of Europe's wine growing regions, stone vineyard walls are frequently seen in Napa Valley and other parts of Northern California as well. You may also think of the term 'Clos' used frequently in Burgundy that refers to an enclosed vineyard.

Stone vineyard walls take on several different methods of construction. The oldest walls were simply stacked stone of various shapes and sizes that were skillfully fitted to create a solid stable wall. Over time however these would fall in spots and need repair to re-stack the rocks. The second method was similar to the loose stacked stones but a mortar was added to strengthen the wall and prevent collapse. And finally a newer more modern method seen more often in California is a flagstone and mortar technique over a cinder block base wall.

For the wine exhibit I wanted to incorporate a little bit of that look into the exhibits vineyard area. For several weeks I contemplated the best way to build the wall and make it look authentic without weighing thousands of pounds because of my need to transport the exhibit pieces from venue to venue. After a lot of research I decided that I would construct the wall out of EPS foam panels...(or styrofoam) laminated to a plywood shell. The style I decided to replicate was the flagstone and mortar look. Fortunately for me two of the major suppliers that I needed to source supplies from are located in Houston. I had custom 2" x 12" x 60" and 2" x 9.75" x 60" foam panels produced at Houston Foam Plastics. From there I went to a company down South of Houston called Industrial Polymers and purchased 4 gallons of a special product called "StyroSpray 1000". This stuff is great! You spray or brush it in multiple coats over the styrofoam panels and it cures to form a hard, durable shell which can be painted with just about any paint. Many people have no idea about construction with foam materials. But actually it is very popular for constructing many faux reproductions in theme parks and museums. For my needs, the greatest asset with the foam technique is that the end product is super light for it's size.

The photo above shows one of the panels just after completion of the faux painting, a technique done with four or five different sponges. The photos below show construction of the wall pieces. The first shows panels being laminated to the plywood framework. The second shows me cutting the stone design into the foam with a 'Dremel' tool. The bottom photo shows a carved panel coated with 'StyroSpray 1000'.

The Art of Cooperage

Early yesterday morning I drove from northern Sonoma County 'over the hill' to the town of Napa. I was due at Demptos Cooperage by 7:30AM. This was my second visit to Demptos, and I was set to do some photography for the wine exhibit. As soon as I arrived Master Cooper Will Jamieson greeted me in the front lobby and quickly escorted me to the 'production' end of the building.

This opportunity was a real treat for me. I've been in the wine business in one capacity or another for over twenty years but this was the first time I had ever been able to photograph in a cooperage facility. As Will told me...they get started working early. I wanted to see the entire process from beginning to end and my 7:30AM arrival was not at all early by their standards. When I arrived everything was already humming along like a well tuned engine. Everywhere I walked there was movement and activity....barrels being rolled from one stage of completion to the next, the constant sound of hammers pounding hoops, fires being stoked for toasting, forklifts replenishing spent stacks of staves, etc. This was some place, it was very impressive to witness the level of skill and the work intensity that was in harmony all around me.

I found myself spending most of my time in the room where the firing of barrels was done first to bend the staves and secondly to toast the insides. This room was somewhat darker than other parts of the facility. Metal 'fire pots' about 12"x14" where lined up on the concrete floors. Scraps of wood were used to keep the fires burning with flames of about 2 to 3 feet in height. The smells in the room were that of sweet oak toasting to perfection. I would describe the feel of the room as strangely romantic in a medieval sort of way. First, barrels with hoops only on one end were lined up in front of the heating fire pots. A worker then sprayed the waiting barrels with a water hose to thoroughly coat the wood. These barrels were then placed over the burning fire pots to heat the staves. Next the heated barrels were moved to a large hydraulic machine that would compress the open end of the heated staves and place temporary 'work hoops' over the end giving it the shape of a wine barrel. From here the barrels were placed again over fire pots...this time to toast the insides.

Toasting the insides of a wine barrel adds to the complexity of flavors passed on to the wine. To a winemaker, barrels are what spices in a spice rack are to a chef. You add unique flavors and characteristics to a wine when it is barrel aged and/or barrel fermented. There are many variables at play...much more than just 'French or American Oak'. Within the term French Oak you have many choices...ie, Allier Oak, Troncais Oak, Nevers Oak, Limousin Oak, Vosges Oak and more! Each of these oaks has it's own unique characteristics, grain structures and most importantly to the winemaker...flavor profiles. Then you have American Oak, and Hungarian Oak...and even combination barrels...get the picture, lot's of choices...just like that spice rack to a chef.

After the barrel toasting is completed the barrels were rolled to a worker in a corner of the same room where the bung hole was drilled and then cauterized with a hot iron device. As Will explained to me the cauterization of the bung seals it and ensures smoothness. After this step, the barrels were rolled out of the firing room and into an adjacent area where the barrels were fitted for heads, sanded smooth and fitted with the final hoops. Next they moved over to a worker that pressure tested them and finally sent to another area where a laser engraver finished each barrel with the logo of Demptos and the winery that would soon become home.

The photograph above shows a worker placing a barrel over a fire pot for toasting. The photos below show barrels be heated for bending (left) and a worker cauterizing a bung (right).

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.)