· By Clara Venn · 1 min read
Punching down the syrah
Three times a day for two weeks, a wooden plunger and a vat of fermenting syrah: the oldest, slowest job in the cellar.
As syrah ferments, the skins float up and form a thick cap on top of the juice. All the colour and most of the flavour is in those skins, so three times a day we push the cap back down with a wooden plunger.
Why by hand
A pump would be faster. But by hand we can feel the wine change: stiff and cold on the first day, warm and alive by the fourth, soft by the tenth. We do it more often early on and less as it goes, so the tannins stay fine.
When it’s done
After about two weeks the sugar is gone. We let it sit on its skins a few more days, then press it gently and send it down to barrel for the winter.