Page 10 - Grapevine July-Aug 2020

In The Winery

The barrel room in the cave. Christian Palmaz is designing an artificial
intelligence system that will monitor wines as they age in barrels.

Palmaz Vineyards:

The Winery of the Future

By: Nan McCreary
I f you want to envision the winery of the harmonious use of tradition and technology to craft

future—a winery that leverages cutting-edge
great vintages. That vision led them, along with
their children Florencia and Christian Gastón (and
technology with the ancient art of winemak-
ing—look no further than Palmaz Vineyards, hidden Christian’s wife, Jessica Louise), to an abandoned
within the forested ridges of Napa Valley’s Mount property in Napa Valley, the former Cedar Knoll
George. Here, the Palmaz family is applying inno- Vineyard and Winery, founded in 1881 by German
vative, if not futuristic, tools to enhance the artistic immigrant and wine pioneer Henry Hagen. Hagen’s
elements of wine. early success, the cool climate and stony soils—as
well as the mountain’s potential for housing a mul-
Winery founder, Julio Palmaz, a physician and tilevel gravity winery—inspired the Palmaz family
inventor of the Palmaz Coronary Stent, a device to purchased the property in 1997, and spend the
that revolutionized medicine, is clearly a man next three years restoring the house and develop-
ahead of his time. From the beginning, he and his ing the new winery and vineyard.
wife, Amalia, set out to create a winery that made

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