White Winemaking: Pressing

Question 1

What are the general principles of pressing the grapes for white wines?

Answer 1

• grapes are pressed before fermentation
• pressing will be gentle, to avoid extraction of unwanted compounds

Question 2

What effect does whole bunch pressing have for white wines?

Answer 2

• reduces chance of oxidation
• creates juice that is low in solids, tannins, and color
• stems help break up mass of skins, providing channels for juice to run down

Question 3

Are there any negatives for whole bunch pressing?

Answer 3

• whole bunches take up more room in the press
• bunches must be hand harvested
• pressing takes longer
• not an option for large volumes of inexpensive wine, where grapes need to be pressed quickly

Question 4

What qualities does free run juice after destemming and crushing have?

Answer 4

The juice can be drained off as soon as grapes are crushed. It is:

• lowest in solids, tannins, and color
• lowest in pH
• highest in acidity

Question 5

What are the positives and negatives of making wine from free run juice?

Answer 5

Pros: good for making light-bodied wine with minimal color or tannin

Cons: reduces total volume of wine that can be produced

Question 6

What is the difference between the early pressed juice and late pressed juice?

Answer 6

early: similar to free-run juice

late: higher solids, tannins, color, and lower acidity

Question 7

Why are the last press fractions rarely used?

Answer 7

Too astringent and bitter due to tannins from the skins, seeds, and stems