Designed Around How a Harvest Actually Fills

Fruit never arrives in round numbers. A tank filled to two-thirds leaves oxygen sitting on the wine and a surface for acetobacter to work on. The floating lid — a stainless plate with an inflatable gasket — is pumped with air until it seals against the wall, so headspace stays at a few centimeters whether the tank holds 4,000 L or 12,000 L. That single detail is why cellars keep these vessels around.

Construction details that matter later

Shell and bottom are 2 mm and 3 mm AISI 304 sheet as standard, with 316L specified for cellars using aggressive chlorinated or high-sulfite cleaning programs, and for coastal sites with airborne chloride. Seams are butt-welded, ground flush on the product side, then pickled and passivated. Internal finish runs Ra ≤ 0.8 µm, tightened to 0.4 µm where lees contact and tartrate work are part of the routine. We cut a 60° cone when the tank also handles lees compaction, and a shallow 15° slope when it mostly stores finished wine.

Cooling and fittings

Dimple jackets sit on the shell, split into two or three zones above 5,000 L so you can cool a partial fill without freezing the top layer. For cold stabilization at -4 °C, budget roughly 1.0–1.5 m² of jacket per 1,000 L. Standard connections: 450 mm top manway, racking arm with butterfly valve, sample valve, 1.5 in. tri-clamp ports for CIP and inert gas, and a spray ball matched to tank diameter. This is not a pressure vessel — an inflatable bung with pressure and vacuum relief holds it inside ±0.2 bar.

Common questions from buyers

Can I ferment in it, not just store? Yes. Push the lid up and ferment open-top, punching down through the manway; drop the lid for the post-fermentation period.

Do I really need 316L? Only if your cleaning chemistry, water quality or site location demands it. Most inland wineries run 304 for decades.

How is it cleaned? CIP spray ball with caustic and acid cycles. Pull the lid gasket, soak it separately, and check the bladder valve seat — that is where residue hides.

Which size for a 20-ton harvest? Roughly 15,000 L of total capacity across three or four vessels, so you keep lot separation and topping flexibility.

Small producers usually want fewer, smaller tanks with wide manways for manual punchdown. Commercial cellars order taller tanks with three jacket zones, larger racking arms and room for automated temperature control. Tell us your lot size, wine style, number of tanks, and the height your cellar can take. We will size the volume, cooling area and port layout to fit it.