Min/Max time between crush and press?

[pete1325]

Quick question.......what's the min/max time from crush to press? 5-10 day range?

 

[Rocky]

Pete, I would say with white varieties, press immediately after crushing. With red varieties, it does not depend on a calendar. It depends on chemistry so trust your hydrometer. We did not use one at the time I made wine from grapes, rather watched the "activity" of the ferment to see when it was slowing down enough to move the wine from the primary fermenters to the secondary fermenters. If we had a hydrometer at the time, I imagine we would have found the SG was in the 1.010 to 1.020 range. Time wise, this usually worked out to be between 10-14 days but there are many factors that affect this and that is why I feel a calendar is not the way to go.

What grapes are you using? How much are you making?

 

[stickman]

That's actually a loaded question. I think your 5 to 10 day range is typical as I assume you are referring to a red wine, but truthfully the long end of the range extends out to 60 days or more. Much depends on the quality of the grapes and where they are grown, as well as what kind of wine you are trying to make. I know a winemaker that routinely makes Cabernet and leaves the wine on the skins all the way through malolactic completion. I know this is an extreme example and I'm not recommending this practice, certainly not for beginners, but just wanted to point out how much variation is possible.

 

[Johny99]

That's actually a loaded question. I think your 5 to 10 day range is typical as I assume you are referring to a red wine, but truthfully the long end of the range extends out to 60 days or more. Much depends on the quality of the grapes and where they are grown, as well as what kind of wine you are trying to make. I know a winemaker that routinely makes Cabernet and leaves the wine on the skins all the way through malolactic completion. I know this is an extreme example and I'm not recommending this practice, certainly not for beginners, but just wanted to point out how much variation is possible.

Absolutely. Also for whites, leaving them on the skins is also done for a different style. This year I left my Sauvignon blanc on the skins for ~18 hours and today, left the Chardonnay on skins for ~5 hours. Not for light aromatic whites.

 

[sdelli]

I try to make the process 14 days... Mainly because it is more convenient.
So we crush on a Saturday.... The must is usually around 50 degrees. I add enzymes and take 2 or 3 days to warm it up for the ferment. The ferment takes about 7 or 8 days. Then let it sit on skins for 2 or 3 more days to press. Cover and gas the must. This takes me back to another Saturday to press.... 2 weeks later.