The Press

It's looking like I found my press.

When it comes to home winemaking, there are really 4 kinds of presses.

First: your hands and a mesh bag. I've actually done this, and it's messy, but good for small (1-2 gallon) batches.

Second: Tabletop presses. These are small presses, usually about 1-2 gallons in size, and great for making jellies, and small batches of wine. They're sometimes called screw-presses because you're just turning a handle to lower the block the presses the fruit.

Third: Ratchet Presses. These are kinda like a reverse car jack, a handle on top, attached to a ratchet that pushes down wooden plates, forcing the juice from the fruit. The ratchet mechanism means you can generate a lot more pressure on the grapes.

Fourth: Bladder Presses. These are hydraulic presses that have a bladder inside that fills with water, applying pressure to the grapes, and out comes the juice. These are supposed to be the most gentle on the grapes, while still getting a lot of liquid.

I'm taking option 3. 1 and 2 aren't reasonable, and bladder presses start around $900. So that means I have to determine the size of the ratchet press I want. They come in a variety of sizes. If you look at the pictures on this site, the press in them is a #45. I was looking at a #25 or #30, but am finding that the price difference is usually only 50-100 dollars.

I plan on buying one press to last me the rest of my home winemaking life. The #45 will hold enough grapes to press out one demijohn, but I only make on demi per year, and like to experiment. I don't see me needing something that big. Plus, Tony has the #45, and there's no way I'll miss 'Pressing Day' at his house.

So I settled on the 40. It's a bit more than I need right now, but show me a winemaker who ever got 'smaller' over the years. Holy crap do the prices vary wildly! I got prices from $400 up to $800 for the press, and the more reasonable the price, the more unreasonable the shipping! I lucked out, and it looks like I'll be able to get it locally for a great price.

If I get it from this place, I'll be posting a link to their site and asking you to do business with them.

So, one item is about to be checked off my list for the fall.

Two weeks. I have a busy first two weeks of August, but once the 15th arrives, I really have to get things in gear.

Just sipping some of 2007's Zin. Lot of acid, should have done a malolactic fermentation. Won't make THAT mistake again.

Till then...

Sean