The Wine Press and the Cellar: A Manual for the Wine-Maker and the Cellar-Man

by Emmet H. Rixford

Fig. 6.

Wine Presses.

Wine Presses.—Wine presses are constructed in several different forms, and the force is applied by means of a simple lever, consisting of a long timber weighted at the end and rigged with a rope and pulley to raise and lower it, or by means of a large screw. Hydraulic presses are also used in large establishments. It is not necessary here to give a detailed description of a press of either kind, for the prospective wine maker will examine the different ones and see them in action, and choose according to his means and necessities. [Fig. 6] represents screw presses. A very simple one, however, and which can be made by any carpenter, consists of a box two or three feet square, and a foot or more high. This box, however, is made up of sections, each of which is five or six inches high; and they should be constructed of strong two-inch timber, well mortised together, and perforated with small holes through which the wine may ooze out. The height, and consequently the capacity of the box or receptacle will depend upon the number of sections used. A broad board constitutes the bottom of the press and should be larger than the receptacle itself, and be provided with a rim open in the middle of the lower side, and having a shallow spout for the wine to run through. This bottom is firmly placed so as to incline slightly forward, the sections are placed on it, one on the other, till the box is of the desired height, then the marc from the vat is filled in and a head or follower fitted to the inside of the box is placed on the marc, and pressure is applied with a lever. This lever is a strong piece of timber with its fulcrum end placed in a mortise in a large tree, or adjusted in any other suitable manner, allowing free play to the other end to which is attached the rope and pulley to facilitate its movement.

Pressing and Press Wine.—In the manufacture of all but fine wines, it is the usual practice to mix the press wine with the wine from the vat. And as the wine remaining in the pomace is about one-fourth of the whole, it will be equally distributed among all the casks by filling with it the vacancy left in them. If a light pressure is first applied, the wine of the first pressing will differ but little from the vat wine. After this, however, the marc should be spaded and stirred and pressure applied again, and the process repeated till the wine no longer flows. During the last pressing it is necessary to apply so much force that a great amount of coloring matter is pressed from the skins, and tannin from the seeds, and also from the stems when not removed, and the advantage of color may be more than counterbalanced by the excess of tannin. There may be danger of giving the wine too much astringency by mixing the last pressings.

Special Practice for Fine Wines.—Mr. Boireau indicates the practice in making common wines, as follows, as a warning to those who can make fine wines. He says that the wine which the marc contains is removed by pressing it almost to dryness, and that the wine thus obtained is very muddy, very harsh, and sometimes sour, particularly when the upper part of the crust has not been removed, where open vats are used and the marc not submerged. The greater part of the proprietors of the ordinary growths have the deplorable habit of mixing the press wine, without clearing it, with the limpid part drawn from the vat. He says that it should be kept separate, or otherwise the better part of the wine will be made muddy and difficult to clear.

TREATMENT OF RED WINE.

Insensible Fermentation.—After the wine has undergone its active fermentation, has been drawn from the vat and been filled into casks, the latter should be at once stored in a suitable place above ground of even, moderate temperature, or in an underground cellar whose temperature is not much below 60° F. The new wine still contains some sugar, and a slow fermentation goes on, bubbles of gas are given off, and sediment falls to the bottom. This is called the secondary or insensible fermentation, and when this is finished and no more gas arises, the wine has become clear. A good deal of the carbonic acid that rises in bubbles is not produced by the insensible fermentation, but has become dissolved in the wine during the active fermentation, and is gradually given off with the new gas produced. While the gas is produced in the cask, it must not be closely bunged, but the bung-holes should be loosely covered with a vine leaf, a block, an inverted bung, or a bag of sand, so that the gas may escape. Various patent bungs have been devised with the same object.

The wine should be tasted at each filling of the cask during this period to ascertain whether the insensible fermentation has entirely ceased, which may be known from the fact that it has lost the peculiar pungent flavor of the carbonic acid. As soon as this fermentation is ended, the casks should be tightly bunged with conical bungs, which can be easily removed during the period when it is necessary to fill up frequently.