The 'trusty ole press' in all its midnight glory
John speaking to the press nicely
Myself, enjoying a nice midnight "crush"
Nectar of the gods
I was covered in grape juice, sticky, wet, it was zero degrees out, midnight and I knew that we were still at least two hours away from finishing our last press and John hollers at me, "romantic, isn't it?". Sure is John, I respond as I drip with scathing sarcasm. We both laugh it off. Truth is, we love it. Ok, yes, we would rather be in the house, warm and drinking a beer, but its terribly (and I mean terribly) rewarding. We have spent our days cleaning equipment and hand picking grapes and our nights crushing and pressing. Our trusty old press is a pneumatic bladder press with an approx. 1 ton capacity. It gently presses the grapes, maxing out at barely 10 PSI, which means we only extract the best juice. But the press is small and likes to take its sweet time, each load taking 1 to 2 hours. As impatient as we may get, we don't forget to talk to the old press nicely. It's been good to us. The juice this year tastes delicious. This will all soon be forgotten when one day we break open these amazing 2011 vintage wines!
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