I’m getting everything ready for this year’s crush. I did some work on the old press. The old press pan and basket were in sad shape, so I replaced them. I bought a new basket off e-bay and made a press pan out of a 3″ deep stainless steel pan that I took to a local restaraunt supply store so they could add a spout. This turned out well and I tested the whole thing out last night with the 1/2 gallon of Barbera I got this year from my vines. The press worked fine. The 6-ton jack might be a bit weak, but I don’t have to worry about breaking anything :-).

I’ll post some pictures a little later.

I bought a new crusher/destemmer from St. Pats and am looking forward to using it. It’s all stainless and is supposed to be able to crush 1.5 tons per hour. I’m a little concerned about the large, 1″ diameter holes in the destemmer section, as clusters I get tend to have small berries. I will just have to try it and see how it works.