Barbera Punch Down

You know it's October and I've been busy with Real Harvest because I haven't posted here in several weeks.  Real Harvest is the one I get paid for, this is an expensive hobby.  These pictures were taken in September when we were doing twice daily punch downs.  Every morning at 6am Todd would come over and punch down the Barbera tank.  Then he would come back after work and do the same around 4pm. 

Here you can see all the grape skins when you open the tanks.  At this point it looks more like dried cranberries than grapes.  The carbon dioxide released by the yeast during fermentation helps to carry the skins and seeds up to the top.  The phenolic components we want to extract are in the skins, so we need to mix the skins back into the juice/wine mixture.  The alcohol in the juice/wine mixture is what extracts the good stuff from the skins.

Todd is better built for punchdowns because his height lends lots of leverage to the task.  The goal is to use the metal tool (punchdown device) to break up the cap of skins and seeds that float to the top of the tank and submerge it with the fermenting juice at the bottom of the tank. 

Home winemaking - sometimes a dining room chair works better than a step ladder.

Before the fermentation begins or when it's jut started, this is a miserable task.  In the beginning the grapes are really firm and there is not much movement.  You're punching the fruit mass but only giving yourself a good work out.  After fermentation really begins, the alcohol helps to break down the cell walls in the grape skins and the whole thing gets soft and soupy and you can really mix it up. Mmmm wine soup.

Todd's punchdown skills are superior to mine.  And my chronicling skills are superior to his.  If anyone wants to make their own wine, first, I would recommend a partner (or a really good custom crush facility), second I suggest you chose a partner that is very different from you.  This may seem obvious but it's made our project really successful.  Todd and I are very antithetical.  We infrequently need to divide up tasks because we naturally gravitate toward what we know and do well and usually those are opposite things, so everything gets done.  Eventually.

I'm done with the extended break.  The pictures are piling up on my computer.  I'll be back shortly.

-Lucia