Traditional grape press made of wood in a round shape. It consists of a permeable wooden casing (basket) and a metal spindle connected to the press cover. Newer models are completely made of metal. Such presses are usually operated by hand. By slowly increasing the pressing pressure, the grapes can be gently pressed out. Today they are used very specifically, especially for special wines such as high-quality red wines, noble sweet wines and ice wines. The disadvantage is the relatively small filling quantity, but above all the strong oxidation and the big problems or effort in keeping them clean.
The advantage, however, is the relatively low, gentle pressing pressure. In the Champagne region, special basket presses are therefore traditionally still obligatory in some houses for the production of the best Champagne qualities. Large producers, such as Mondavi (California), also use such presses. Another traditional press is the Torggel or the very similar tree press, which works by means of leverage. The process of grape pressing and other variants of these devices see under the keyword pressing.
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Markus J. Eser
Weinakademiker und Herausgeber „Der Weinkalender“