2020 Best Tanks Supplier: Santa Rosa Stainless Steel

In 1968, a winery owner asked Fred Ferronato and his partner, Charlie Levell, to build a couple of stainless steel wine tanks. Ferronato, who was working at a metal shop, said he thought they could handle the job.

The winery owner was Barney Fetzer of Fetzer Vineyards in Mendocino County, Calif., and those tanks are still being used more than 50 years later. That they’ve lasted so long speaks to the success that the Ferronato family has had with Santa Rosa Stainless Steel since then. The family’s second generation, son Mark and daughter Michele Cotta, oversees a thriving company in Santa Rosa, Calif. that makes tanks, parts and supplies, custom equipment, and does tank design.

“We take great pride in our products, and we strive to give our customers the best experience and the finest quality products possible,” says Santa Rosa Stainless’ Cassandra Cape. “We have wonderful employees who always go the extra mile to make sure our product is exactly what the customer desires. That lets us make sure each stainless steel tank is finely crafted and passes through a rigid series of quality control checkpoints before shipment.”

The client list demonstrates that, with Joseph Phelps and Rombauer among them. The key, says Cape, is that, “rather than succumb to changes in the wine industry and society, Santa Rosa Stainless Steel has grown and evolved and thrived with the changes. That’s why we’re one of the world’s premier designers and manufacturers of stainless steel tanks.”