Punchdown

Drowning the cap, by hand

As red wine ferments, the skins float into a thick cap on top. The juice under it can't extract color or tannin — so we push the cap down, three times a day.

The routine

frequency   three times daily
method      by hand, with a paddle
duration    10–20 minutes per tank
days        two to three weeks

Why by hand

Machines punch on a timer. A person reads the cap — how it smells, how it resists — and adjusts. Extraction is a conversation, not a setting.