Wine Making at Sculpterra

About The Sculpterra Wine Making Process

Please Contact Paul Frankel for bulk grape and juice sales.
We work with small, independent winemakers.

Sculpterra Red Wine Making:

Sculpterra’s harvest begins in early September and typically will last into the late October. Grapes are hand picked and delivered to the winery’s crush pad in half ton picking bins. Crushing/desteming follows as grapes are lightly shoveled into the crusher. The crushed grapes (the must) are transferred to one-ton fermentation vessels. For most varietals a twenty-four to thirty-six hour cold soak is implemented before the inoculation of a specific chosen yeast. Fermentation takes place with the presence of the skins for six to twelve days dependant on varietal and temperature. Hand punch-downs are implemented three times a day to aerate the fermenting juice, know as “the cap.” Punch-downs are a crucial part of winemaking allowing for optimum skin contact with the juice as well as speeding up the rate of fermentation. The juice is pressed shortly there after the yeast has finished consuming the sugar present in the crushed must. The free run juice is extracted and the remaining skins and berries are put through an old-world French style basket press. The wine is allowed to settle for one day before being racked down into barrels. Secondary fermentation (Malo-Lactic fermentation) is achieved while the wine slowly ages in barrel bringing forth a soft/creamy mouth feel. Wines age in a variety of barrels, such as New French, Hungarian and American barrels. Sculpterra currently sources barrels from seven different coopers. Puncheon barrels are also used as well as once and twice used barrels. Barrels are topped and evaluated every six weeks. The wine ages for ten to twenty four months in barrel, all dependant on the varietal and program. Bottling, corking, foiling, and labeling is achieved with the use of a mobile bottling line used on site. Wine typically remains in the bottle for three months before being released to the public.

Sculpterra White Wine Making:

Sculpterra’s white wine grapes are usually harvested in the early fall, somewhere between the beginning and middle of September. The clusters are hand harvested and picked into half-ton bins. The fruit is then delivered to the winery where the grapes get whole clusters pressed. The skins are not used during the fermentation process. The juice is fermented in a combination of small stainless steel tanks and oak barrels allowing for different flavor characteristics to be developed. The fermenting juice is kept cold to ensure a long and stable fermentation. Sculpterra ferments with a variety of yeast strains to enable enriched bouquets to be captured in the wine. The wine is racked once post-primary fermentation. The wine is kept cold during the aging, therefore preventing the wine from secondary fermentation leaving the wines crisp, tart and refreshing. Sculpterra’s white wines are bottled young, four to seven months after the crush. Bottling occurs in the spring and the wines are released in the summer.

Sculpterra Winery & Sculpure Garden
5015 Linne Rd, Paso Robles
Click Here For Directions

Visitor Hours
10am - 5pm
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Appointments Welcome
For Groups & Private Events
(805) 226-8881