Winery

Equipment and Tools for Wineries, Vineyards, and Crush Pads

Since 2009, Winemakers Depot has been providing the best equipment available for wineries, vineyards, and crush pads of all sizes. We’ve partnered with some of the most innovative and highly-regarded manufacturers in the world; such as Zambelli, CEP, Gomark, and others to offer everything from tried-and-true traditional presses, to cutting-edge destemming and crushing technology.


Equipment and Tools for Wineries, Vineyards, and Crush Pads

The two most crucial steps in the winemaking process are for wineries and crush pads of all sizes are Destemming [& Crushing] and Pressing, which is why it’s important to understand the benefits, drawbacks, and intended usage of equipment, so as to make sure that you purchase equipment that best fits your goals, not just your size. Reception and Sorting equipment, while an absolute imperative for mid-size operations and larger, is typically done by hand or with tractors and forklifts in small and boutique wineries.

 Destemming and Crushing
 Destemming and Crushing are often viewed as a single step within the winemaking process, as they are typically done at the same stage, using the same machine.
Destemming removes stems, leaves, jacks, etc. that contain harsh, astringent tannins and vegetal compounds, reducing bitter/green notes, and producing smoother, more approachable wines. Crushing breaks berry skins enabling color, tannin, and aroma extraction during maceration, and allows the sugar and nutrients in the juice to access the yeast, facilitating fermentation.
There are three primary types of machines that perform destemming and crushing: Crusher Destemmers, Destemmers with Must Pumps, and Destemmer Crushers.

 Pressing
 Pressing usually takes place anywhere from immediately after destemming and crushing (white wines), to a few hours after (rosés), to days or weeks down the road (red wines). There is a myriad of different kinds of presses that can be used to make wine, each having aspects or features that make it better suited for certain applications; however, the two types of presses that are the most widely used are Basket ("Traditional" and “Vertical Hydraulic”) and Membrane ("Bladder" and "Horizontal Pneumatic").
Though these two styles of presses couldn’t be more different in their approach to pressing, both produce high quality white, rosé, and red wine due to their versatility.

 Reception and Sorting
 Though much of the reception, sorting, and moving product around is done by hand at small wineries; as operations scale up, so does the importance of having efficient and well-planned equipment to move product through each stage of the winemaking process. Some items, like Bin Tippers and Must Hoppers, have standard configurations and/or are used across multiple industries and applications; though most Sorting and Receiving equipment should be custom-built based on how and where they will be used.