Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/66137
WINEMAKING logical meandering in the name of progress. The entire history of wine press evolution in the second half of the 20th century can be seen as stepwise attempts to modernize the basket press. At each step, problems arose that led to the next generation and eventually back where we started. In the 1950s, French manufacturer Vas- After decades of banishment from commercial cellars, basket presses are making a comeback. A vintage version sits on display at Arrowood (left) while Opus One uses a hydraulic model. lips reported that every winemaker he questioned cited press wine quality as his or her primary criterion for opting into a modern basket press. Phillips' description of traditional press design reads: "The design tends to be inefficient for press yields and cycle time.…The juice or wine is expelled out the sides of the basket in a direction perpendicular to the force applied to the press cake. The pressure of the ram on the pomace press cake tends to close off the channels that allow the juice to be expelled from the press." Although few winemakers would dis- agree, this description is completely incor- rect. In its simple misconception lies the seed of a half-century of pointless techno- VINTNERS ADVANTAGE 866-647-3757 software. hardware. integration... WWW.VINTNERSADVANTAGE.COM "You don't have to be a Big Winery to Harvest all of the Rewards... We've Got You Covered." WINERY OPERATIONS GROWER CONTRACTS BULK WINE SALES CONTRACTS DRY GOODS BOTTLING CASEGOODS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TASTING ROOM COMPLETE WINERY SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION Wines & Vines JULY 2011 55 lin was the first to apply electricity to the suddenly dysfunctional traditional device. The basket was flipped on its side and mo- torized so the heads (first just one, later both) moved into the center. This didn't work very well, because the resulting cake was thick and compact. When chains were added to break up and redistribute the cake, a series of pressing cycles could pro- duce good yields—but only at the cost of high solids and high phenols. Then, in 1955, Willmes introduced the bladder press, a modification of the Vas- lin that also employed a horizontal basket, but in place of movable heads it employed an inflatable rubber bladder that pushed the cake away from the central spindle and against the drain surface of the cylinder. This thin pomace cake reduced press pres- sures, resulting in lower tannins and solids. It would have been ideal except that it was a nightmare to clean. Bladder presses were