Bottling Perfection
In May of 2014, Mari Vineyards unveiled plans for a new winery on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City. Sticking to the Italian roots of the founder Marty Lagina, the massive facility would feature the old traditions of winemaking in caverns, while also incorporating state-of-the-art equipment and a beautiful tasting room with a panoramic view of East Bay for wine enthusiasts enjoy the signature wines.
The Challenge
The 31,215 square foot building – on more than 20 acres of land – was a puzzle of a project requiring the coordination of multiple contractors and schedules. Windemuller was ready to tackle this once-in-a-lifetime challenge. To ensure the winemaking process never experienced interruption, Windemuller also installed a 100Kw backup generator to supply emergency power during an outage.
The Solution
Windemuller started with a complete design-build of the electrical systems – power distribution, lighting, wired and wireless networks, card access and video security for all six levels of the building. This comprehensive planning process:
- Allows for a fast track construction process
- Lowers overall cost
- Results in a quality building that specifically meets the owner’s needs.
Windemuller brought power to the new winery by installing a main 800 amp electrical service on-site and running conduit into the building. The team started way below ground… with the caverns that would eventually be 10 feet beneath ground level Because the caverns maintain a constant temperature between 55 and 60 degrees, this unique feature allows the wine to age in a traditional manner and also acts as a natural chiller and storage area for the wine.
Once the caverns were completed, conduit was run through the remaining underground levels which would house the new wine processing facility and conference room. Power was run to the panoramic wine tasting room, business level and bell tower. To support the massive structure, 24-inch concrete walls were installed throughout. Good for stability, but a real challenge when installing conduit and wiring! Because runs could only be below the floor or overhead, Windemuller worked closely with other trades like plumbing and HVAC to avoid conflict.
After the power was distributed throughout the building, Windemuller:
- Installed all-new intricate light fixtures throughout the facility, which are controlled by an elaborate, yet simple to use, lighting control system
- Secured the building with eleven Speco Technologies IP cameras at key points to monitor traffic and activity throughout the building and five Open Option card access keypads to ensure that only authorized personnel had access to private areas of the facility
- Set up a secured network for everyday business use, accessible only by staff
- Installed a Ubiquiti WiFi solution so Mari guests can connect to a public network when visiting the facility
All told, more than 10 Windemuller technicians worked on the site during the 24 month project, completing their tasks on time and under budget. Mari Vineyards is now a showplace – ready to bottle the finest wines and wow guests from across the country!
