Press wine
Press wine is the part of a wine that does not run off the must by itself, but is obtained only by pressing the skins and solids. It contains more tannin, more colour and more extract than the free-run wine – and therefore more structure, but also more risk of bitterness.
Whether and how much of it goes into the finished cuvée is a deliberate decision. Usually it is only a few percent.
With red wine, after fermentation the juice that runs off without pressure is separated first – the free-run wine. What remains in the skins, seeds and solids is then pressed. This press wine has had longer and more intensive contact with the solid components and therefore carries more phenolics: more tannin, more pigment, often a higher pH and more dissolved minerals.
Why press wine behaves differently
The free-run wine is usually softer, rounder and more approachable. Press wine is more angular and powerful, but can give a wine backbone, length and grip. The higher the pressing pressure, the more tannin and colour are extracted – and the greater at the same time the danger that bitterness and hardness prevail. Press wine does not fundamentally change a wine; it amplifies what is already laid out in its structure and texture.
Pressing happens in stages
It matters that pressing is not a uniform process. Early press fractions, obtained at low pressure, are still close to the free-run wine and can often sensibly be added back. Later fractions, under high pressure, contain considerably more bitter compounds and are frequently kept separate or excluded altogether. Many estates keep free-run and press fractions apart until after ageing and only decide at the blending how much comes back.
A question of measure
How much press wine goes into the cuvée depends on vintage, grape variety and target profile; often it is only a few percent. It is not a corrective: if a wine lacks ripeness, concentration or balance, press wine cannot replace them – in a fragile wine it tends to sharpen weaknesses. As long as it integrates, it stays invisible and supports; as soon as it emerges as a hard note of its own, it dominates.
How much that is varies greatly. Some houses return only a small single-digit percentage, others – above all with small-berried varieties with thicker skins – considerably more. Press wine is tasted mainly on the palate: a firmer, slightly drying pull in the tannin and a somewhat more austere, longer finish. Well integrated, this impression disappears into the whole and shows only as additional grip; if it stands out in isolation, the wine tastes angular and can dry out on the finish.
How we understand it
For us, press wine is therefore not a means of making a wine seem bigger, but a way of adding structure where something is missing from the overall picture. We read the fractions individually and decide plot by plot and lot by lot – knowing that forgoing maximum yield is often the more precise decision here.