De-Stemmer and press??

[LCW]

Is there an affordable destemmer and press made for a small home wine maker? If so where would I look?LCW

 

[spaniel]

Define affordable. New small presses run in the $200-300 range. Destemmers, IIRC $250-300, and crusher/destemmers $350-$600 depending on if you want painted or stainless.

I've seen used units of all on Craigslist for a considerable discount, but you need to keep your eyes open. Personally I use an antique press my grandmother picked up years ago for me for $30.

 

[Norske]

There are quite a few vendors out there. You may want to google it. We have used winemakers depot and morewine. Also there are wine equipment/supplies vendors here, just click on the tab "forums" then select vendors list.

 

[JohnT]

Is there an affordable destemmer and press made for a small home wine maker? If so where would I look?LCW

LCW,

If you don't mind me asking, how muck wine do you plan to make a year? In other words, what are your requirements?

 

[GreginND]

For smaller quantities, a milk crate does a nice job of destemming. Just rub the grapes across the bottom and the grapes will fall through. I've seen some pictures of people who make a screen mesh with holes the size of the grapes to do the same thing by hand.

You can crush them in a bucket with a 4x4 piece of wood. Or use your feet.

For a press, as others have said, you can use two buckets with holes drilled in one to let the juice escape. I've used one of those commercial yellow mop buckets with a mop ringer to do some pressing. You don't get a ton of pressure on it but it works ok. Put the grapes in a 5 gallon paint strainer bag in the wringer and press.

 

[LCW]

First of all thanks everone I generally do about 20-25 gallons a yr.LCW

 

[jswordy]

Loving Greg's idea. I also hear that if you freeze the grapes on the stems, they are easier to remove. Combining the two might be worth pursuing.

I have also heard you can freeze grapes and run them through a crusher set loose and the grapes will come off the stems. Then you pluck the stems out. Never have done either, but looking for a faster way than hand picking.

Used wine equipment never comes up on CL or classifieds here. Maybe a carboy or two, but even those are priced near new. A new manual crusher destemmer is $400 plus shipping.

For 25 gallons a year, it not worth the cost IMHO. I make way more than that and I still do it all by hand.

BTW, if you use wood to crush, be sure it is not treated lumber.

 

[LCW]

Thanks Jim you're probably right.How is everything in Fayetteville we reside in the Crossville area.LCW

 

[jswordy]

Thanks Jim you're probably right.How is everything in Fayetteville we reside in the Crossville area.LCW

It's just as corrupt as ever! The sheriff busted a still operation last week, and our recently forced-out county water superintendent was arrested by TBI for theft of $60,000. Just another week in paradise!