John, I’ve always been quick to press as well. This year I really didn’t have a choice, so it sat. The cap held up, so I was happy about that, because I feel the cap provides a layer of protection from the O2. The wine is also full of CO2 as well, which protects it. One thing I did notice is that I seemed to get really good color extraction. Not sure if it is tied to sitting on the skins as long as it did, but I figure the alcohol acts like a solvent to extract the pigment, so the longer it sits, the darker the color I would expect.
I also had confidence in the must, because the grapes were in really good shape and they were crushed immediately after being picked. I don’t think I’ll really know until the wine has cleared and finished mlf, to know if it has signs of oxidation or if it is overly tannic.