The red grapes (actually some white too) had sat in the vat for 2 weeks to macerate (get the colour out from the skins). Early on a cold sunday morning we pressed them.
The vat had been covered to keep off the fruit flies...
The partly crushed grapes float to the top. Every day the "cap" needs to be pushed down so the oxygen can get at the juice and help it ferment. After 2 weeks the primary fermentation is mostly complete and most of the sugar will have already turned to alcohol.
All the grapes are thrown in the press and the screw is turned. This press is a bit too big for a quantity of only about 100l.
The trick is to turn the screw so it won't easily go further, wait a minute, then it is possible to turn it again... and repeat for the best part of an hour.
When it doesn't seem practical to keep pressing, dismantle the press and remove the cake of grapes. In fact they are still a bit juicy and if there was a large enough quantity it would be worth pressing them again.
The pressed grapes get thrown back onto the soil...
And finally the barrel is (almost) full. About 90l in this case. After racking a few times it might end up about 70l. The first racking will be later in the year.
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