Crush

Fruit to must in a morning

Crush is the shortest and most decisive day of the year. The grapes arrive cold, get sorted, and go to tank before the sun is up.

The sequence

sort     by hand, two people, no stems overripe
destem   whole-cluster kept for 30%
crush    gentle, skins intact
tank     filled cold, ready to sit

Why it's gentle

We want the juice, not the violence. Rough crushing tears the seeds, and torn seeds taste bitter. Gentle fruit, gentle wine.