A lot of tanks are getting pressed off. Pressing is done in cycles of 90-120 minutes which is very slow. The pressing is done slow so that the bad tannins are not released and the seeds are not crushed. Almost all of the tanks do not have doors on the bottom. This means that they must be scooped out with a bucket. First the tank is drained overnight so that there isn’t much juice in the tank. Then it is scooped into a press the get the remaining juice out.

A bladder press is loaded with grapes. A bladder press works by basically having a huge balloon in it that squishes the grapes.

Almost done digging out a tank! Very tiring work.

After the lees and seeds are dug out. They are not put into the press as it does not taste good.

I left this week. It was quite sad leaving but I am ready to go. I really enjoyed working with everyone a lot and they were fantastic people. I thought it was a great experience and I would love to come back some day. Now time to work at my families winery which is called Saxum.