# grape presses



## Russ Stewart (Jan 17, 2009)

Hello,
Last fall, after I picked my grapes and put them through a primary fermentation, I pressed them and then put the juice into secondary glass carboys. The grapes were a mixture of catawba, concord, and niagara - I do not have enough of just one variety to make separate batches. I used pectic enzyme in the primary. My concern is the press that I used. I only had access to a metal fruit press made out of galvanized tin on the basket and cast iron for the press mechanism. My wine, after about 4 months of aging and 3 rackings still has a slight haze to it. And, I have read that metal will pass on a haze to the wine. Does anyone have any experience with this? Has anyone else used a metal fruit press and had any similar results with it. The wine tastes fine and I believe it will eventually clear up - just don't know if I want to use this press again this year. Thanks alot for any comments.
Russ


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## Wade E (Jan 17, 2009)

Never heard of this metal haze myself. Did you use powder or liquid enzymes and if liquid how old was it and do you keep it refridgerated as liquid does need to be kept coll so as not to spoil. Another thing is did you add the pectic enzyme at the same time as the k-meta as sulfites will hinder the pectic enzyme and that is why you shild always wait 12 hours after adding met to a must before adding ant enzymes. You may want to try adding more pectic enzyme or a fining agent such as SuperKleer to rid it of that haze if the pectic enzyme doent work.


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## Manimal (Jan 17, 2009)

The haze you're talking about could be ferric casse, which is a condition that results from excess aeration of high iron content wines. This high level of iron can be the result of coming in contact with metals other than stainless steel. I know that gum arabic and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can both be used to prevent this condition, but I'm not sure about how to treat wines that are already hazy.


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## Russ Stewart (Jan 19, 2009)

Thanks Wade, Manimal,
I used power pectic enzyme, and I did add it to the must at the same time I added my K-met. I'll have to remember to add it 12 hours later as you suggested. Another thing that I can do to decrease the haze is to de-gas it. The carboys have been sitting in my basement which is about 48 degrees right now. I'll warm them up a bit, degas them, and hit them with a little more pectice enzyme and I hope this clears things up. Thanks for your help! 
Russ


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## Wade E (Jan 19, 2009)

You are going to have to warm that up a lot to degas as it really should be done around 75* but you should have no where near as much gas in there as a kit wine due to pressing after fermentation, this process does most of the degassing and that is why most grape wine makers dont understand why we need to degas our wines.


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