Drains, Drains, Drains!

Today’s ‘View from the Cellar’ is starting with a look from the very bottom: our drains. While they may not be picturesque, at least not in a classical way, they are crucial to our day to day work. Keeping them clean and flowing is important for the wines in the cellar, as well as our own olfactory health.

Designed with the ‘best’ of 1970s winery architecture, the drains in our old cellar unfortunately don’t always… drain well. Quite the problem, given their name. In reality, between their pit construction and too-gentle exit slope, we sometimes joke that they have more in common with the trash compactor on the Death Star. Overly dramatic? Perhaps. But in cleaning them, James would normally wear a safety harness lest a tentacle grab his leg.