Jackson Family Wines (JFW) wanted to expand its successful Kendall-Jackson Winery in the Monterey County city of Fulton, Calif. With two other buildings already on the property for grape processing and wine fermentation, a wine-storage facility would allow much-needed growth capabilities for JFW operations.

Ideally, a wine storage building shouldn’t allow fluctuations of temperature or humidity. For this reason, the cladding specified to form the building’s envelope was an essential component. When designing the Kendall-Jackson wine storage facility, the choice was made to use Kingspan insulated metal panels.

Fundamentals of Wine Care

A wine storage building must be more than just a basic warehouse. Wine has to be stored in a structure that can maintain a temperature range from 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit, and humidity levels should remain between 60-80 percent. This slows the aging process and helps wine develop properly. Fluctuation in these figures can cause wine to expand and contract, producing oxidation that could ruin its flavor. Humidity below 60 percent can cause evaporation, while exceeding 80 percent can encourage mold. Finally, excessive light exposure causes wine proteins to become “hazy” and can create unwanted aromas and flavors. The building envelope must allow for a stable internal environment that keeps the temperature, humidity and light exposure within the desired ranges to ensure the highest quality wine production. 

Kingspan’s 900 High Rib Roof and 300 Azteco Wall panels were selected to form the building envelope because they help reduce thermal bridging and prevent unwanted fluctuations in the internal environment throughout the entirety of the winemaking process. Now, with this facility completed, JFW now has storage space for 35,000 barrels (875,000 cases) of wine, a new barrel cleaning line and additional wine tanks.

Built To International Codes

CBC Steel Buildings, based in Lathrop, Calif., was commissioned to design and construct the new 100,000-square-foot barrel storage building, with office space, for the Kendall-Jackson Winery.

According to Ron Munoz, sales service manager for CBC Steel Buildings, the owner required the building to have International Code Council (ICC) certification. The ICC offers a certification program for contractors and construction-industry professionals. “CBC Steel Buildings is certified by the ICC, an organization that develops codes and standards for the construction industry,” said Munoz. “These codes are a set of comprehensive building-safety and fire-prevention codes that set minimum standards for the safe construction of residential and commercial buildings.”

CBC Steel Buildings also has extensive experience installing Kingspan products, which are also certified by the ICC. “That was an important factor in this particular project because ICC certification was also mandated by Monterey County,” Munoz said.

Covered in Color

The selected product for the roof, which met all requirements, was Kingspan’s 900 High Rib Roof panel system. For the desired aesthetics, the facility a roof system that was available in a multitude of colors. In total, almost 100,000 square feet of Kingspan’s 900 Series High Rib roof panel system was installed in Copper Penny and Sandstone to match the design specifications for the roof of the new Kendall-Jackson Winery storage facility.

The roof panel system provides the thermal performance and air tightness necessary to maintain the proper storage conditions in a wine-storage building. Kingspan’s 900 High Rib roof panel system reduces the overall demand for energy, but also adds to a building's curb appeal, which was key for this project, as JFW wanted to take advantage of the scenic views surrounding this new facility.

There were other benefits of specifying Kingspan insulated metal panels. “Speed of build was a critical challenge,” said Matt Stanzione, regional sales manager for Kingspan. “Specifying a Kingspan single-component insulated metal panel, as opposed to a more complicated multi-part cladding method, really minimizes construction delays.”

Kingspan’s expert staff members were called on to assist CBC with some unique design features on this project. Certain design features on the wine-storage building included arched areas with recessed panels. “Kingspan custom made curved trims for these arched areas,” said Munoz. “The building also had parapets that were six feet wide with the top of each parapet having a Kingspan 300 Azteco panel.”

More than 53,000 square feet of Kingspan 300 Azteco panels were used to form the facility’s exterior walls. Kingspan’s 300 Azteco wall panels were perfectly suited for the Kendall-Jackson Winery storage building.

Proper Storage for Years to Come

Remember that for the best wine-storage conditions, a barrel storage facility must have a very controlled interior environment. One of the biggest sources of heat loss, or gain, in a building is air leakage. Kingspan's 900 Series High Rib roof and 300 Azteco wall panels provide thermal performance of high R-value, superior airtightness and help reduce thermal bridging. These issues were very big concerns for the construction of a building such as the Kendall-Jackson Winery storage facility.

CBC Steel Buildings has a very long history of successful construction projects. “We have found there are many benefits to specifying Kingspan insulated metal panels,” noted Munoz. “This project was completed on time and with no back charges from the erector to CBC or Kingspan.”

For more information, visit www.kingspanpanels.com.