TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Name: Clare Halloran

Job: Head winemaker

Where: TarraWarra Estate

Why is it important?

Winemakers use a pump to move wine around the winery, in and out of barrels, or when we are pressing or draining. We use the pump for all wine movements: we have to pump it from tanks when we press it and then into a barrel. When it's finished its maturation, we pump it from the barrel back into the tank.

Some winemakers use pumps called mono - but they have quite a beating effect on the wine and the wine gets mucked around by them.

Bella is called a load pump and it's very gentle on the wine. It has a variable speed operation so you can slow it down and be really gentle on the wines. We make mostly chardonnay and pinot noir: Bella is perfect for the pinot. It's such a fragile variety and is more prone to getting knocked around by pumping than any other variety.

What do your colleagues think?

There's no trick to using it, but when we're all working at the same time we all fight over it.

Unusual moment?

Bella is an Italian model. When we first got it and turned it on, a message came up saying "Ciao".

How much does it cost?

$16,000.