“It’s a great press,” says Brett Weis, Associate Winemaker at Eleven Eleven Winery, clearly impressed after using their new Diemme Press for the massive 2018 harvest. “A seven ton Vermentino pick came in at thirteen to fifteen, and that happened multiple times. Seven tons would take about three and a half press cycles on our old press, with the Diemme it is one press cycle.”
While the press can handle up to 9.2 tons there is no minimum load, and it was not just the added capacity, but the efficiency of the press that made the difference for Weis, “We got to yield in about an hour; on our other press it took about an hour and a half to two hours to get to your winemaker yield at a 150 gallons per ton. I calculated it, and the press cut down our labor by an intern and a half over the harvest.”
The press also features a clean in place system. Once a press cycle is finished and the pomace removed, the clean in place cycle pushes high pressure water through the channels and the press interior. “The ability to have it clean in place saved a ton of time on cleaning,” says Weis, “it does a great job of doing most of the heavy work, and it saved a large amount of water as well.”
Eleven Eleven crushed over 500 tons in 2018 with about 80% of it being for custom crush clients, and the Diemme press’ advanced controls made it easy for them to be in control of their press cycles. Amy Aiken, Technical Sales Representative for ColloPack Solutions who represents Diemme in the U.S. worked with some of the winemakers to program their custom press cycles onto a USB drive, which can be plugged directly into the press control panel and uploaded.
“There’s a bunch of standard programs already in the press, cycles that you can pick and choose from, but most of the clients like the capability to create their own press programs,” says Weis, “and it’s easier for us. When we are pressing a client’s grapes, we know the program is already in the panel, and there’s no question.”
A color touch screen allows the winemaker to adjust the program in real-time without stopping the press. If the press is getting a lot of juice at the current pressure; instead of ramping up to the next pressure level, the winemaker can override the program and keep going at the lower pressure and protect the quality of the juice.
“The less pressure you’re putting on the grapes, the less phenolics you’re going to extract, the less seeds you’re going to break, and with white wines possibly less color as well, so it’s a light gentle squeeze,” says Weis. “We’ve also noticed more floral characters out of a wine at lower press pressures; the harder you press the more harsh flavors you get in white wines.”
ColloPack Solutions matches the superior Italian craftsmanship of the Diemme press with equally excellent customer service. When the press was delivered to Eleven Eleven Winery in August and everyone was in the middle of harvest preparations, ColloPack was onsite to lead the assembly of the press and train the team on its use.
“That’s the nice thing about working with Diemme,” says Weis, “the customer service is the best I’ve experienced with any press I’ve used; extremely knowledgeable, excellent sales reps. Amy being here to put the press together was a huge help.”
“ColloPack’s support continues 24/7 through harvest,” says Aiken, “so Brett would give me a call and say ‘I’ve got a program glitch,’ and I’d be there in 10 minutes, and we’d work it out, or if I didn’t have the answer, I’d call a Technician. That’s just how we do it, we have to get people up and running, there’s no question.”
ColloPack Solutions is known in the industry for its strong technical service, after sales support, and the largest spare parts inventory in the wine industry. For more information about the Diemme press, a technical consultation, or a package deal email info@collopack.com, or visit Collopack.com.
