Most people are totally confused by this topic and most wineries don't or won't address it. So, let's head into the Wine Cave and 'press out' the truth!
To help put this into perspective, we will explain how 'We' press our grapes, then, to show the contrast, we'll explain how many modern factory type wineries handle their pressings.
At Bunker Hill Vineyard and Winery, after our grapes are finished fermenting (usually 10 to 14 days), we siphon off our 'young' wine from their fermenting bucket into a glass carboy. Remaining in the bottom of the fermenting bucket is an organic material called 'Must'. It is comprised of mostly grape skins and dead yeast cells. We take this 'Must' to our ratchet press and press out the remaing wine.
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| Manual Ratchet Press |
At many factory type wineries, this 'Must' material takes an entirely different path.
Instead of pressing the 'Must' once and sending it to be composted, it is diluted with water and pressed again. In some cases, it may have water added, again and pressed for the Third time. Then, their wine is "Filtered", flavors added (think Notes and Hints), bottled and sent to market. There is no requirement that you be told about these multiple pressings. Your best bet is to drop them a note and ask them how many times that their wine was pressed. Depending on their response, you can make an informed decision on whether to buy their wines.
So, now you know what is meant by 'Multiple Pressings'.
In our opinion, wines created through the use of Multiple Pressings are inferior and designed to inhance the wineries profits.
It is our heartfelt belief that world class wines are only pressed once and are 'never filtered'!
"Salute and Happy Days"!
