hey everyone as you know im very new to this and i was wondering if
you have to have a press to make wine from whole fruit and if so whats
a good kind to get. thanks for any help you offer

Al,
I make between 50-150 gallons a year typically and I don't have a
(working) wine press. When making wine from fruit you generally need to
break it up somehow and remove the pits (stones) from those varieties of
fruit. As an example- with plum wine I take my knife and make a cut around
the circumference and then cut it into wedges such as an orange. I then peel
this off the pit and discard the pit. The fruit then goes into a nylon bag
in a bucket and add everything else I plan on adding to make adjustments. A
daily mashing gets the job done as you give it a stir everyday for about a
week give or take. For Blueberry wine I just put the berries in the bag
whole and mash them up by hand everyday to break them down and extract the
juices,color etc. strawberries same method essentially. Also the addition of
Pectin enzyme once the must is cooled down (if you add hot water that is)
also further helps break down the fruit, aid extraction and prevent future
pectin hazes.
With the grape wine I typically buy juice from a press house or winery
already pressed,settled and clarified. You can buy reds this way too and ask
for the skins which you can add in to extract tannins and color. This method
is lacking for getting a serious red wine to develop I would say, but it
will do. You can destem and hand press smaller batches of the red wines, but
it is a pain.Everyone should try it once to learn the value of a press- lol
HTH
John Dixon

"Al Davis" > wrote in message
om...
> hey everyone as you know im very new to this and i was wondering if
> you have to have a press to make wine from whole fruit and if so whats
> a good kind to get. thanks for any help you offer

Al,
I make between 50-150 gallons a year typically and I don't have a
(working) wine press. When making wine from fruit you generally need to
break it up somehow and remove the pits (stones) from those varieties of
fruit. As an example- with plum wine I take my knife and make a cut around
the circumference and then cut it into wedges such as an orange. I then peel
this off the pit and discard the pit. The fruit then goes into a nylon bag
in a bucket and add everything else I plan on adding to make adjustments. A
daily mashing gets the job done as you give it a stir everyday for about a
week give or take. For Blueberry wine I just put the berries in the bag
whole and mash them up by hand everyday to break them down and extract the
juices,color etc. strawberries same method essentially. Also the addition of
Pectin enzyme once the must is cooled down (if you add hot water that is)
also further helps break down the fruit, aid extraction and prevent future
pectin hazes.
With the grape wine I typically buy juice from a press house or winery
already pressed,settled and clarified. You can buy reds this way too and ask
for the skins which you can add in to extract tannins and color. This method
is lacking for getting a serious red wine to develop I would say, but it
will do. You can destem and hand press smaller batches of the red wines, but
it is a pain.Everyone should try it once to learn the value of a press- lol
HTH
John Dixon

"Al Davis" > wrote in message
om...
> hey everyone as you know im very new to this and i was wondering if
> you have to have a press to make wine from whole fruit and if so whats
> a good kind to get. thanks for any help you offer