Wine press

Wine press is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during wine making. The process of wine pressing has evolved over centuries from manual labor to modern mechanized methods.

History

The wine press is a crucial component in the history of wine. The earliest wine press was probably the human foot or hand, crushing and squeezing grapes into a bag or container where the juice would run into a container for fermenting. The Ancient Greeks and the Roman Empire later developed large scale wine pressing methods based on screw presses and lever systems.

Types of Wine Presses

There are two main types of wine presses, the basket press and the bladder press.

Basket Press

The basket press consists of a large basket filled with the crushed grapes. Pressure is applied through a plate that is forced down onto the fruit. The juice flows through openings in the basket. The basket style wine press was the first type of mechanized press to be developed, and its basic design has not changed in nearly 1000 years.

Bladder Press

A bladder press consists of a large cylinder, closed at each end, into which the fruit is loaded. To press the grapes, a large bladder expands and pushes the grapes against the sides. The juice then flows out through small openings in the side of the cylinder.

Modern Wine Presses

Modern wine presses are large, expensive, complex machines that are usually computer-controlled, which allows for a very precise control over how the grapes are pressed.

Importance in Wine Making

The wine press is very important in the wine making process because the quality of the juice directly affects the quality of the wine. The type of press and its pressing methods will determine the quality of the wine.

See Also

• Wine
• Wine making
• History of wine