Wine press or extractor

[kardak]

Hello,

I'm preparing to make my second batch of wine this fall. I made a wine press with the help of a hydraulic car jack. Now as i'm researching about the process, it seems like, press is ok for white wine but, red wine is different, grapes should be extracted first. Shall i make an extract machine or tool for that? I can't find any diy grape extractor photos or ideas.

What if i use the press for red wine also?

 

[TonyR]

I ferment my red grapes with the skin on in a 30 gal brute container. i punch down the cap that forms over the must several times a day keeping the lid on loose just to keep the bugs out. When fermentation is almost done I use my press. You might think about lining your press with cheese cloth or a big strainer bag, just to catch all the big nasties

 

[salcoco]

red grapes must have there skin broken and there stems removed before fermentation.
if a small batch this can be done by hand, removing grapes from stems first and then crushing the grapes using the small end of a 2x4. the crushed grapes and then fermented. there are plans on the internet for a "crusher /destemmer" I believe Wine Magazine had a article depicting a home made unit.

 

[TonyR]

Or you can play like the old I Love Lucy show and put them in a container and jump in with clean feet.

 

[Johnd]

You can use your press for both red and white wines, just use it at a different time during the winemaking process.

For a white wine, you press your grapes to get the juice out of them, and make your white wine from the juice. Some folks will let it settle a day or two, leave the solids behind, and use the clearer juice for white wine. Your call.

For a red wine, the grape bunches are destemmed and crushed (different than pressing, removes the berries from the stems and pops them without smashing the daylights out of them. As mentioned, you could make a crusher/destemmer), then you make wine from the resulting mixture of grape juice and popped grapes. "Extraction" is probably referring to the process of alcoholic fermentation extracting the tannins, color, polysaccharides, etc. from the grapes and skins as they ferment, it doesn't require another machine. Near the end of alcoholic fermentation, the solids are separated from the liquid, and the solids are pressed to get all of the juice out of them, and the AF is generally completed in a different container, like a carboy. Some folks separate the free run juice from the pressed juice for different batches, that's your call.

 

[Arne]

For a small batch a potato masher will work to crush the grapes. Arne.