Cellar Craft Pressing grape pack

[terroirdejeroir]

For my first foray into making wine with fresh grapes I built a three-bucket press with a wood frame and a scissor jack that worked very nicely. I just started a CC Showcase Yakima Syrah and I was wondering if there would be any downside to running the the grape pack through the press near the end of primary fermentation?

I have previously been a daily hand squeezer, but I must admit I don't really enjoy the process - and I am not really sure it is that effective. If it would work just as well to skip the hand squeezing and just press at the end then that is what I would prefer to do. Thoughts?

 

[bkisel]

Yes, I believe that would work just fine. Reason I say is because of the RJS WS instructions that I've used...

In primary instructions say... "NOTE: Using a sanitized spoon, gently stir the “Grape Skin” down daily
during primary fermentation stage."

Going into secondary... "2. Gently siphon wine from Primary Fermenter into Carboy. Be careful not to disturb the sediment on the bottom
of the Primary Fermenter. Discard sediment. Squeeze out grape skins to maximize colour
and tannin extraction."

So for RJS squeezing is just done once like you're intending to do.

 

[terroirdejeroir]

I generally stir twice a day and use the spoon to press the bag against the side/bottom and then hand squeeze at the end. That has been working very well for me so far, just thought I would take the hand squeezing to the next level.

 

[ErikM]

I use a sparging bag. i get a big one, fits in a 6 gallon fermenting bucket. Then I rack the wine to the bucket with the bag. I siphon rack as much as I can simply to avoid aerating the wine. When i can't siphon any more, I slowly poor the rest into the bucket. Then slowly pull out the sparging bag. I twist the bag as i go, slowly squeezing the wine out.
Don't be shy about gettinging your hands in there. (clean your hands thoroughly first). Purple hands are the mark of a winemaker who is "hands on."

 

[ErikM]

PS- I stirred 3times a day.