Palmaz Vineyards

Location: Napa, California
Sector: Winery

Project Description:

The Cave
Palmaz Vineyards' winemaking and aging takes place within the living rock of Mount George, in a flawlessly engineered maze of tunnels and lofty domes. The depth of the wine cave is equivalent to an 18-story building, providing the vertical range needed for true gravity-flow winemaking. Thus, the wine is never subjected to the violent agitation of pumping, which can change the wine’s intra-molecular structure. This gentle treatment allows the finest nuances of flavor to develop naturally – the result is a complex, elegant wine.

Cave Facts
The fermentation dome is the world’s largest underground reinforced structure. It is 72’ in diameter and 54’ high.
Temperature stays constant at 60 degrees and humidity at 75%, the perfect atmosphere for aging wine.
The cave houses its own water treatment plant built to comply with strict conservation guidelines.
Fermentation tanks rotate on a custom-designed carousel

MK2 Engineers’ scope of work consisted of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and cave fire protection for this project.