Does this antique wine grape press look like it would work?

[Steve Wargo]

How many times did you have to clean out the press to start another round? I'm asking as it's a trade off. The smaller press is more labor intensive in that regard.

OTOH, it's a lot more affordable, it's a lot lighter and easier to manipulate, it's a lot less bulky to store, and it's applicable for small batches such as the skins from a kit's skin pack. In @Khristyjeff's situation, it's probably a better choice.

I've posted the Amazon press in the previous post. I press all of my ferments in maybe a couple of hours. I'm testing the wine at the same time as I press. . lol.. I don't use the straining bag that came with the press. The slats are tight enough. (Maybe that's why I don't have to constantly clean it out (except removing the cake from the basket between presses, tossing it into a nearby bucket). I learned the hard way not to overload the press-basket with Grapeskins and must. Then the cake is firm and releases easily. I press about 12 gallons of wine into the 2ndary when I'm done, in a run. When pressing is complete. I rinse the equipment very well with a hose/sprayer and wipe dry (best I can), and place the equipment in my boiler furnace room for additional drying. Now If I harvested/crushed 500 - 1000 lb or more of grapes at one time and had all that in the primary vats fermenting, Oh heck yea I would want a larger press and some help, and start earlier in the day.

 

[MiBor]

How many times did you have to clean out the press to start another round? I'm asking as it's a trade off. The smaller press is more labor intensive in that regard.

We pressed 500 lbs. of red grapes, after fermentation. We loaded the press 5 times. The straining bag helps retain the skins from smaller grapes that would otherwise be squeezed out between slats. It also helps to remove the cake easily and in one piece. The whole pressing process took about 2 hours with 2 people working on it, including cleanup.
This is a very basic press, and I don't recommend it for a larger batch. It is inexpensive, easy to store and works well for its intended purpose, but to process more than 500 lbs. of grapes a larger press would save time and effort. I used it because that's what was available at that location. The wine making space was an 8'x10' room where everything was stored and all the processing took place. A larger press would have been hard to use in such a small space.