Located in the Heart of the Walla Walla Valley
OVERVIEW
Artifex Wine Company is a custom crush winery located in the budding Walla Walla Valley in Washington State. Whether you are starting a new winery or increasing current production, Artifex offers a centrally-located facility, with state-of-the-art equipment and highly skilled staff to foster your wines.
Artifex prides itself on client-driven winemaking. Clients provide complete winemaking instructions and materials – such as grapes, barrels, and additives – while Artifex offers the equipment, staff, in-house laboratory analysis, and standard operating procedures. We maintain a high level of organization, while allowing the flexibility required for you to produce premium wines.
We understand the complexities and nuances of winemaking. Trust our dedicated team to carry out your vision, allowing you more time to develop and enhance your brand.
SERVICES
Artifex offers complete, inclusive winemaking production services to clients ranging from small boutique wineries to medium-sized brands. Through work order instruction from our client winemakers each wine is truly crafted to the exact specifications and style of the brand. Full service winemaking includes everything from receiving fruit from the vineyard through bottling and packaging the finished wines.
Full service red and white winemaking: grape to bottle, including topping, racking, blending, and chemical additions
Complete fruit processing services: sorting, destemming, crushing, pressing
Barrel aging
Barrel maintenance
Comprehensive laboratory services and quality control monitoring
Complete bottling services
Inventory and production tracking
Alternating Proprietorships
FACILITIES
From the top-notch equipment to the impassioned staff, the Artifex facility is designed with efficient operations in mind.
The winery is set up to deliver superior sanitation and cleanliness, while the staff is structured to provide great customer care and superior cellar management. Artifex offers a range of equipment, affording you options otherwise unavailable to individual small wineries. Please find specifics of our winery spaces, tanks, and notable equipment listed below.
3 temperature and humidity controlled barrel rooms. Ability to heat rooms during malolactic fermentation
55 tanks including variable capacity, open top, and closed top ideal for fermentation, blending, storage, and bottling
350gallon to 2600gallon tank capacity. Fermenters range from 3.7 ton to 8.5 ton capacity. 1 ton bin fermenters also available
All tanks equipped with glycol jackets for both heating and cooling
Two Willmes Presses, capacity up to 7 tons red, 2.3 tons white whole cluster
Full-service laboratory with full-time Lab Manager attending
Admeo Spica Automatic Analyzer
Complete, state-of-the-art Bertalaso mobile bottling line
Positive displacement pumps and diaphragm pumps
Carlsen ozone generator
SWASH Electro Steam (Barrel Steamer)
Aquatool and Gammajet barrel washers
Bulldog racking wands
Filtrox Pad Filter
Hydraulic tank punch down tool
Secure alarm-protected facility with fire-suppression system throughout
Client conference room & tasting area (with winery-wide Wi-Fi access)
SUSTAINABILITY
Artifex Wine Co. is naturally structured through the lens of sustainable practices. As an alternative option to individual production facilities, Artifex dramatically reduces the potential environmental footprint. By executing boutique winemaking with the efficiency of scale, we reduce the electrical, water, and labor usage that standard boutique winemaking requires. Artifex operates with environmentally conscious SOPs, training standards and facility management.
While Environmental sustainability is key, the pillars of social and economic sustainability are paramount when establishing comprehensive sustainability. By establishing a business structure for wineries to build capital, test the market, and establish a brand while enjoying clarity and control over the cost of production, Artifex facilitates an environment for potential economic stability and an accessible growth model. A winery’s choice to establish their production at Artifex is a sustainable choice.
Partners & Founders
Artifex Wine Company was founded by three well-respected wine industry veterans: Rick Middleton, Norm McKibben, and Jean-François Pellet. Their combined experience and philosophies set the tone and guide the team at Artifex.
Jean-François Pellet
A third-generation Swiss grape grower and winemaker, Jean-François trained and worked at wineries in Switzerland, Spain, and Napa Valley before spending four years at Heitz Cellars in St. Helena.
In 1999, Jean-François was recruited to become the creative force behind Pepper Bridge Winery in Walla Walla, focusing their production on ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. He was immediately impressed with the potential of the Walla Walla Valley and its distinctive climate, soils, and terroir. Two years later Jean-François also became the winemaker for Amavi Cellars.
Jean-François champions the development of sustainable practices in vineyards and wineries. He’s one of the founders of VINEA, the valley’s sustainable agriculture organization.
Norm McKibben
Retiring from a successful and rewarding civil engineering career, Norm returned to Walla Walla and quickly became intrigued with agriculture in the Walla Walla Valley.
Initially planting apples, Norm soon realized the area’s potential for producing premium wine grapes. He started planting at Pepper Bridge Vineyard in 1991. In 1994, Norm became the Managing Partner in planting Seven Hills Vineyard and Les Collines Vineyard. They have since grown to be the two largest vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley.
In 1999 Norm founded Pepper Bridge Winery, with the first grapes processed in 2000, focusing on ultra-premium production of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
As a Managing Partner or Consultant to over 600 acres of vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley, Norm has introduced state-of-the-art irrigation and weather and soil monitoring and continues to develop vineyard practices promoting sustainable production.
Rick Middleton
Anderson & Middleton Company is a family owned business founded in Aberdeen, WA in 1898. Currently, Anderson & Middleton is involved in table grapes in California, timberland management in Washington, and wine grapes in the Walla Walla Valley.
GALLERY
CONTACT
Diversity, inclusivity and equity are core values at Artifex. Every employee should feel empowered to bring their whole, authentic selves to work, and we work hard to establish workplaces that represent the communities we serve. Together, we are fostering an inclusive culture that values the various perspectives of all of our employees. It encourages our innovation and brings our company and the communities we serve even closer together.
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1102 Dell Avenue
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Phone: 509-525-2469
Fax: 509-525-1305
Fax: 509-525-1305
M-F 8am – 4:30pm
© 2021 Artifex Wine Company
