During the 6 ½ years we have been in our current location (which occupies about 1/3 of an insulated, refrigerated metal building) we have increased production to the point where there was often little airspace left inside. Every year I seemed to find another way to wedge in an additional fermenter, store another bit of equipment outside under a tarp, or rustle up storage space for things elsewhere. The costs were significant: additional expenses, inconvenience, time and mind space devoted to logistics, and working most weekends in order to make up for time spent loading and trucking things between locations.
This summer, we were offered a lease on the rest of the building. We are currently preparing the additional space and moving in. Hopefully, we will be well-situated by the open house. Besides more room, sinks with real drains (goodbye bucket), there are even proper bathrooms inside. However, this doesn’t mean a continued increase in production. The past years’ increases have met my physical limit at this point. Instead, it means barrels will be stacked closer to the ground and I can think more about winemaking, less about shuffling. The new entrance should be well marked by August.
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