# My First Press Day



## rhoffart (Nov 8, 2011)

Well, press day 2011 is in the books. For my very first press ever I think everything went well. The location was my garage and it served as a perfect place to press. I didn’t have to worry about being messy.

The press itself worked flawlessly it pressed the skins well and I could not imagine pressing without the strainer bags.

We started cleaning and sanitizing everything at 9:00am and completed cleaning everything including the floor at 1:30pm.
Actually the whole process was easy and went exactly as I played it out in my head. 

The results; 
1 full carboy and about 7/8 of a gallon out of each Cabernet Sauvignon bucket 
1 full carboy, 1 full gallon and 4 full 750ml bottles from the Merlot bucket

Recapping … the preparation was key, 4 strainer bags were a big plus and of course the vacuum … well everyone should have one. My only disappointment is I didn’t take enough still pictures. 

Sorry about the video ... still need to work on this 

[ame]http://youtu.be/HbRYFa9D4P4[/ame]

A few pic's


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## Racer (Nov 8, 2011)

Nice pictures of your first pressing! Hope the wine continues thru primary and mlf (if your planning it) and turns into one of your best efforts for you.


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## Flem (Nov 8, 2011)

Nice job. Looks great. Hopefully, I'll be doing that next year.


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## rhoffart (Nov 8, 2011)

Racer said:


> Nice pictures of your first pressing! Hope the wine continues thru primary and mlf (if your planning it) and turns into one of your best efforts for you.



Yes on the MLF, racking off the gross lees tomorrow


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## rhoffart (Nov 8, 2011)

Flem said:


> Nice job. Looks great. Hopefully, I'll be doing that next year.



Thanks ... it is a lot different then kits for sure


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## AlFulchino (Nov 8, 2011)

i am curious about something from your pictures....did you use that bag inside the press? if so did it clog up on you?


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## Rocky (Nov 8, 2011)

Okay, Rick. Just what are you trying to pull here? That area is entirely too neat and clean to be a wine making facility! I've done this and I know that it only works if there is crap all over the floor and I am tripping over everything, against a backdrop of various "technical terms" that I utter from time to time. 

Seriously, very nice operation, great pictures and video. It was also nice to see your daughter helping you with the press.


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## rhoffart (Nov 8, 2011)

AlFulchino said:


> i am curious about something from your pictures....did you use that bag inside the press? if so did it clog up on you?



Yes i put the strainer bag in the press, tied it off with a rubber band. Not it didn't clog or break.


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## rhoffart (Nov 8, 2011)

Rocky said:


> Okay, Rick. Just what are you trying to pull here? That area is entirely too neat and clean to be a wine making facility! I've done this and I know that it only works if there is crap all over the floor and I am tripping over everything, against a backdrop of various "technical terms" that I utter from time to time.
> 
> Seriously, very nice operation, great pictures and video. It was also nice to see your daughter helping you with the press.



I'll just told my wife that you called her my daughter. She is one year older then me ... she like you


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## ibglowin (Nov 8, 2011)

Looking good Rick. How many gallons of must did you start with on each do you think?


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## rhoffart (Nov 8, 2011)

ibglowin said:


> Looking good Rick. How many gallons of must did you start with on each do you think?



I would say 10, 10 and 12-13 on the Merlot


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## rhoffart (Nov 8, 2011)

Now 10 hours have gone by and I'm suppressed on how few Gross Lees there are in the carboys. It's about 1/2" to 3/4". I have seen pictures here where it looks like 2" of Gross Lees. Do you think this could be a result of the strainer bags?


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## ibglowin (Nov 8, 2011)

I would doubt, their pretty porous. Give it another day, more may settle out.


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## JohnT (Nov 11, 2011)

A couple of questions.. 

Why do you use the strainer bag? It looks like your press-basket is tightly spaces. Is it to keep the seeds out? 

What is the vacume for? It it just to clean the floor?

johnT.


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## rhoffart (Nov 11, 2011)

JohnT said:


> A couple of questions..
> 
> Why do you use the strainer bag? It looks like your press-basket is tightly spaces. Is it to keep the seeds out?
> 
> ...



Well, I use the strainer bag because of mess control. It pressed out very nicely and after it was very easy to pick up the bag and dump out the cake.

The vacuum is for racking. All my wine is move from point a to point b with the vacuum pump.


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