I've made a few red wines now and have been frustrated by pressing too
early. I punch the cap a couple of times a day. When the cap gets a
little slow I panic and press. I would like to leave it on the skins
longer with the help of CO2 or N2 or something.

The way I press is by ladeling the fermented wine into a bladder
press, juice and skins alike. I can't help but think that this would
be risky when the wine has been left on the skins for an extended
time. Lots of oxidation and exposure.

I was thinking of putting a spigot on my plastic primary fermenter and
draining off the free run before pressing. Then I can press the skins
alone. I bought a couple of add on spigots. They have a gasket and
threaded connections along with a tap that you lift to open the
spigot.

A couple of questions. Does this sound like a good idea? And do
these add on spigots make a good seal or would they leak. If they
leak, I can see that that would be a real problem during the
fermentation.

Any experience with these?

I would like to improve my wine and I think this is a simple method to
add some body and structure to the wine, as long as I don't dump it on
the floor.

TIA

Dan