# Pressing Fruit



## CandleWineProject (Feb 3, 2010)

One thing which I have not tried out but had been wondering about it recently is fruit pressing (not grapes or apples). Shallon Winery in Astoria, OR claims not to add any water or sugar to its peach wine, so I was wondering how he might press the peaches. 

I recently stumbled across a library book called _The Secrets of Making Wine from Fruits and Berries_ by Leslie G Slater, written in 1965. It says, “In regards to squeezing, you will find it more difficult to make a good job of hand squeezing fresh fruit pulp than fruit pulp that has been though the preliminary fermentation stage. The fermentation process seams to soften or break down the cells of the fruit making it an easier job to separate the juice from the solids.” I should note that this book goes though a preliminary fermentation if working with fruit, then a primary fermentation (start here if working with juice), and finally a secondary fermentation.

Thing is, Terry Garey in _The Joy of Home Winemaking_ talks about lifting mesh bags full of fruit out of the primary, letting it drip, and then removing it completely (p53). When you get to reading any of the recipes using fruit, the book specifically says not to squeeze the bag when removing it. Example: Furst Raspberry Wine, page 84. 

These two seem to run contrary to each other. Maybe techniques have been updated since 1965? Can anyone comment on the differences?


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## St Allie (Feb 3, 2010)

no idea.. all I can think of is that maybe they use very ripe to overripe fruit?.. You know peaches get very mushy at the ripened stage.. perhaps they are stoned, pressed and pectinase added to further break down the cells.? 

If they are not adding sugar then the brix must be quite high.. or they're evaporating off some of the water content before fermentation. Not squeezing the bag is a common instruction in older books. Probably due to no pectinase being added ( old books don't list it or yeast nutrients in the recipe ingredients).. so squeezing would make the wine more difficult to clear. I squeeze the fruit pulp after straining from the primary to secondary and still have no issues with clarity .. due to pectinase use.

you might have to experiment.. do you have access to a peach tree?

Allie


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## djrockinsteve (Feb 3, 2010)

You get the best juice at first (sweetest). Squeezing the remaining will also add pulp to your must.

I add everything and squeeze the netting. I've always had success.


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## CandleWineProject (Feb 3, 2010)

I guess I see posts where people swear they didn't squeeze the mesh when they took it out of the primary. Why is squeezing bad?

Do I have access to peaches? I live in the Pacific NW where you can find just about anything within a 2 hour radius. Okay, maybe not citrus, but there are peaches, apples, pears, plums, apriocots, berries, more berries, cranberries, hops, and much more.


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## St Allie (Feb 3, 2010)

I meant access to a peach tree, so you can experiment with the ripeness of the fruit. Most supermarket fruit is picked when it's underripe.. The brix will be much higher in tree ripened fruit. I mentioned the not squeezing issue in my earlier post.. it reduces the haze factor, so it clears faster.

( my geography is shocking when it comes to the USA, I'm on a very small island and you have half the planets land mass as your backyard..)

hehehhe

Allie


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## CandleWineProject (Feb 3, 2010)

Supermarkets? Why would you got to a supermaket when the farms here grown that stuff? U-pick and roadside fruit stands are the way to go!


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## St Allie (Feb 3, 2010)

ahh.. we don't have PYO ( pick your own) orchards here.. sometimes you can pick strawberries at the end of the season. I have a home orchard so I get the fruit, tree ripened in season, for winemaking.

Allie


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## Mud (Feb 3, 2010)

The reason usually sited for not squeezing is because you'll get more tannins that way. That's not an issue with peaches, but it would be for something like elderberry. Lots of people separate free run juice from pressed juiced when using grapes because the pressed has more tannins.

They must evaporate that peach juice if they're not adding sugar. Seems like last time I messed with peaches it took sugar get 10% abv. And that's a pretty weak wine. It was tree-ripe. Lots of windfalls, even.


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## B-well4200 (Feb 3, 2010)

Hey, I have a 5 Gal batch of peach wine going now. I had just got my press so I used it on this batch. The peaches were not too overly ripe so I did not get alot of juice. But so far, so good.


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## Wade E (Feb 3, 2010)

Pretty much what everyone has said. I typically press all my fruits to get the max amount of flavor and have never encountered extracting too much tannin out of any of them yet to date. I will say that doing so with many a fruit will leave you with lots of pulp especially with peach or apple and pear.


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## CandleWineProject (Feb 3, 2010)

Let me ask again - when do you press/squeeze juice? I ask because it seems like some people freek out if you squeeze the mesh bag when you remove it from the primary. Why?


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## Wade E (Feb 3, 2010)

I take the fruit out after around 7-10 days depending on the etmps of the wine. If its in the summer then I yank the fruit out after 7 days to make sure it doesnt spoil, if the temps are cooler then I leave them in for 10 days but I also ferment to dry most of the time in primary.


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## CandleWineProject (Feb 3, 2010)

Wade E said:


> I take the fruit out after around 7-10 days depending on the etmps of the wine. If its in the summer then I yank the fruit out after 7 days to make sure it doesnt spoil, if the temps are cooler then I leave them in for 10 days but I also ferment to dry most of the time in primary.



But do you squeeze it or press it when you take it out?


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## Midwest Vintner (Feb 4, 2010)

CandleWineProject said:


> But do you squeeze it or press it when you take it out?



we don't squeeze, but we do hold it over the primary for a minute to let it drip. it also depends on the fruit. for example, strawberries leave very little in the form of fruit, so we just let it drip. we did apples in chunks (juicing was taking too long for the amount we had) and we did squeeze them some. 

so IMO, maybe squeeze if there is actual chunks that can hold juice, but if it's mostly mashed with anything that's not so good left (skins, seeds, etc) just let the juice drip.


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## Woodbee (Feb 4, 2010)

I always squeeze. Good to the last drop kinda thing.


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