Pressing Grapes

[ckassotis]

Hey, so this is my first year on fresh grapes. I have some Chardonel which has finished fermenting and some St. Vincent now in the process of it. So the pressing will be needed for the St. Vincent, and I'm trying to make plans for that.

I do have access to someone (or two) with a small ratchet press, if needed. I guess I'm wondering what that gains me. Some work? Here's what I was thinking. How about just pouring my must into a new primary (after fermentation) that is lined with a pressing bag? Then I would squeeze the heck out of it, much like I did with my blackberry. It seems that we don't want cracked seeds, which a press might get you, and this surely wouldn't. You might not get the volume you would from a press, but am I missing something here? Is there a reason not to go this route for at least this year?

 

[Julie]

you are right you will not get the volume, actually trying to press grapes by hand, you will lose a lot of volume. And I have never had a problem with cracked seeds when pressing my grapes.

 

[Rocky]

What volume of wine are you making? If it is substantial, I would borrow the press for sure.

 

[JohnT]

The hand squeezing will not get you the yield that is your potential. With pressing, the best way to go is to press under light pressure for a long period of time. Do not try to press every last drop out of the grapes and you will be fine.

Also, Hand squezzing is OK for small batches, but how much volume are you dealing with here? could be tough if you have a larger batch.

 

[ckassotis]

I've got about 4-5 gallons in one primary and about 10-12 in the other. Should be about 16-17 total. That's with the grape skins.

 

[spaniel]

A bag cannot take any significant amount of pressure. You will lost a significant amount of volume for sure. As long as you don't mind that, perhaps a press is not worth the cost to you.

A typical small home press would have to be worked very, VERY hard to crack seeds open. I have used two presses in my time...a very small and antique wood cider press, and a fully iron yet still antique geared press of ~2gal in volume. The latter can put several fold the pressure of the wood press, yet I've never seen it crack a seed. My grandmother picked it up for me a decade ago at an antique show. If you crank it down too tight the fruit starts squeezing through the holes in the bottom plate, which are bigger than grape seeds.

You are best to use a press and simply use moderate pressure. This year I let my 5 yr old daughter help and turn the crank, I let her go until she could not do it anymore then went 1 more rotation! If the new ones are too expensive search antique shows and flea markets, I've seen several for sale very reasonably.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I agree - do a light press for a long time.

You will get a better yield that way...

 

[ckassotis]

I probably wasn't entirely clear. A press is certainly on my wish list, but I was just hoping to get away with not getting one this year. I do have access to one or perhaps two, but it will be a bit of trouble coordinating, etc. I'll just suck it up and do it though, rather than shoot myself in the foot. Thanks for the input!

 

[ffemt128]

IMHO, I think it would be well worth borrowing the press even if small for that quantity of wine.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I agree - it might be a hassle for a short period of time. But I think in the long run it will be worth it..

 

[ckassotis]

Absolutely. Well, I made my arrangements, and should be borrowing a press over the weekend. I very likely would have been disappointed with the result, so thanks for the input, all! I'll have to work on getting a press before this time next year.

 

[JohnT]

I agree also.

here is a case inpoint....

Some folks I know wanted to try and make the best quality of wine possible. To that end they decided to hand press all of there wine. By hand pressing, I mean that they took a 5 gallon bucket, drilled a series of holes in to to (essentially) turn it into a 5 gallon strainer.

They then took a punchdown tool (a hand plunger) to give a gentle squeeze.

The remaining skins were then given away. Found out later that the person who took the skins, put them into a press and ended up with almost 2 demijohns of wine (around 100 liters).

You need to press low and slow. Get the most out of your grapes.

johnT.