Presses, Crushers and
Wine History
Vintage Grape Presses
The pressing of grapes is the process where juice is extracted from the grapes with the aid of a wine press. Earliest wine presses came with ancient cultures. However, the “basket press” still used today was developed in the Middle Ages. Although labor intensive, the process and use of this style press can, when properly used, more gently press the grapes. However, it is slow and often exposes the “must” to oxygen. In California, the basket press with a “ratchet” style head on a worm was the predominant type of grape press from the 1870’s until Prohibition. It is still used today by home winemakers and wineries. Most of the grape presses in this collection are of this style. They date from the 1870’s to the 1930's.
Vintage Grape Crushers
A crusher is a mechanical device used by the winemaker to gently separate the “rachis“ (the stems which hold the grapes), bugs and other unwanted matter from the pulp and juice of the grapes. The newly picked grapes would be put into the crusher “hopper“. Grape crushing is that step in winemaking before pressing the grapes and after harvest.
Historical Wine History