Winepress

Byzantine-period winepress from Shivta (Sobota), Israel, with treading floor and collection vats
16th-century winepress

A winepress is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during winemaking. There are a number of different styles of presses that are used by wine makers but their overall functionality is the same. Each style of press exerts controlled pressure in order to free the juice from the fruit (most often grapes). The pressure must be controlled, especially with grapes, in order to avoid crushing the seeds and releasing a great deal of undesirable tannins into the wine.[1] Wine was being made at least as long ago as 4000 BC; in 2011, a winepress was unearthed in Armenia with red wine dated 6,000 years old.[2]

  1. ^ Professional Friends of Wine website - Wine 101.
  2. ^ "Archaeologists Unearth the World's Oldest Wine Press". TIME. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.