"Tom S" wrote:

The "special methods" aren't all that complicated. It's just a matter of
keeping air away from the wine and stirring the must to keep it from going
reductive (H2S). I spritz the top of the must and then smooth a trash bag
down against the surface of the must. Laying a few pieces of wood down on
the plastic to keep it in contact with the wine helps. That keeps air
away
pretty well.

Rather than "spritzing", why not just push the cap down below "water level"?
But how do you stir the must during an extended maceration without exposing
it to air? Or is the small amount of exposure during stirring
insignificant?

That's not necessarily true. Pressing at zero Brix will tend to yield a
wine with harsher tannins than pressing a couple of weeks beyond dryness.
The extended maceration encourages polymerization of harsh tannins into
big,
soft tannins. Also, the color tends to be reabsorbed by the pulp during
extended maceration.

I didn't know about the tannins. I had heard about the colour lightening
somewhat during extended maceration, but hadn't heard the reason. Thank you.

How long do you extend the maceration? Do you just let it continue until it
"tastes right"?

Not true! The low rate of CO2 production may lure you into a false sense
of
security, but if the CO2 gassing is not _considerable_, the surface of the
must is a good breeding ground for all the spoilage organisms. They only
need a _little_ bit of air to survive and then thrive.

Isn't that taken care of by pushing the cap down, and stirring the must? If
not, at what stage does the must require "special methods" of protection
from air?

I tend to agree, but I always press a good deal harder than _gently_.
There's a lot of good stuff in the heavy press fraction. It might be
advisable to keep the heavy press fraction separate for awhile - possibly
for a different fining regimen than the free run and light press wine -
but
I usually end up incorporating it into the main lot.

Yeah, I also try to get that last "little" bit out, especially since it
isn't so little. It usually comes out well-filtered and almost clear (since
it has had to pass through all the compacted pulp). But I figured this
hard-pressing was "not recommended".