Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/66137
WINEMAKING also restricted in size due to the limitations of the rubber bladder's elasticity. Tank presses were a simple next step, replacing the bladder with an inelastic plastic membrane (essentially a tarp) and eliminating the central spindle. Their low pressures permitted minimal tannin ex- traction, and their open design was rapidly cleanable, permitting rapid cycling. Tank presses could be built at any scale and could be fully enclosed, eliminating oxygen pickup. The open design permitted relatively easy cleaning if you were coura- geous enough to enter the enclosed space of the inverted press and didn't mind get- ting wet. Clean-in-place (CIP) systems fi- nally automated this unpleasant task, and the industrial wine press seemed as per- fected as it was going to be. Tanks but no thanks Today's problems are actually the solu- tions we found to the problems we had yesterday. The new presses gave rise to a host of problems never before seen. Hard to load, they made whole-cluster pressing extremely laborious and time consuming. Their multiple motors, computer pro- grams, axial feed designs and CIP systems turned pressing into a high-ticket affair APPROVALS TTB LABEL Low per-label costs Gov't. Liaison Negotiations or Footwork Reasonable Hourly Rates TRADEMARK SEARCHES As Low as $185 Your trade names or designs are searched at the U.S. Patent Office to help establish valuable ownership Over 100 years' total staff experience handling every government liaison need for industry. or avoid costly legal liability. Phone or write for details. Phone: (703) 524-8200 Fax: 525-8451 TOLL-FREE 1-800-642-6564 Major Credit Cards Accepted www.trademarkinfo.com Since 1957 200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 321 Arlington, Virginia 22203 56 Wines & Vines JULY 2011 For your nearest dealer, contact: • Tough – holds vines & branches securely to 12, 12-1/2 & 13 gauge wire. • Long-lasting – UV stabilized for resistance to sunlight deterioration. • Reusable. • Available in 2 lengths – 2-1/2" & 3-3/4". • Packaged in lots of 1000. The 5-ton Marzolla basket press used at Opus One is equipped with a draining floor. better adapted to large sizes. With com- plexity came proneness to breakdown, doubling budgets to accommodate redun- dant systems. For ultra-premium artisanal produc- tion, the main difficulties with tank press- es are the impracticality of pressing small, individual lots and the turbidity of press wine. Through initial static draining, tank presses can give free-run juice with low- to-moderate suspended solids, but their rotating action throughout multiple press cycles yields press fractions high in sus- pended solids. Their fully enclosed architecture allows complete exclusion of oxygen. But that is not such a good thing. "A basket press gives great aeration at GovtLiaison_Dir08 11/29/07 2:00 PM Pag the moment when reds are at their most re- ductive," reports Michael Silacci of 25,000- training of trellised vines and trees. Lateral tying and BRANCHLOK™ Agfast_Feb08 1/8/08 2:58 PM Page 1 case Opus One in Oakville, Calif. "A basket press puts you in much closer contact with the wine you're making. Compared to the rotation and mixing of a tank press, its con- tinuous static pressure produces press wine more consistently high in quality and with a low solids content that makes it easier to taste what you've got. It's also cleaner and simpler to operate and unload, and it gives you a nice, neat press cake you can forklift rather than an augered mess." "I love my basket press," says Rob Davis of 90,000-case Jordan Vineyard & Winery. "It's so much more fun to work with. You get your hands on the material, up close and personal, so you know what's going on. The pomace isn't as beaten up as with rotary designs, so you get less bitter tan- nins. Sure, you have lower yields, but you can use everything you get. There really isn't any true hard-press wine." Traditional juicing of white musts results in at least one saturation of oxygen, a min- imum essential for yeast alcohol tolerance to prevent stuck fermentations. With tank presses, oxygenation is a separate, coun- terintuitive step foreign to standard cellar procedure and thus often overlooked. We can thank tank-press technology HoytShepston_Monthly09 10/31/08 4:44 PM for revealing another enological problem Toll-Free: 877.552-4828 909.451.2299 • Fax: 909.593-8309