Milling is a process that seeks to extract juices from various products of the earth such as cereals, sugar cane or grapes. It also refers to the spraying and dispersion of solid material, whether food grains (cereal, grape, olive, coffee), stones or any other solid material. Grape milling in wine making
In the grinding of the grape, it is intended to produce the least skin lesion, without reaching the center of the grain, since the seeds have very astringent tannins that negatively affect the taste of the wine.
The direct pressing of the bunch does not work in the case of red grapes, since it needs to remove the woody remains from the bunch, but the skin must accompany the liquid throughout the process until fermentation. An alternative is to accompany the grapes processed with whole grains that were not reached by the milling, which fall together into the pond where the fermentation takes place. The whole grapes preserve the aromas better. Also the chemical reactions of that berry before they break are different from the others, giving it a different sensory profile to wine.
Instead of grinding it is better to talk about squeezing the grapes. "With the word milling it could be thought that the grape is taken, it gets into a kind of juicer and it is ground, breaking completely and it is not like that". On the contrary, this squeezing should be pursued with the least injury to the skin of the berry, as if it were pressed by the fingers, so that the must or liquid is overturned. In a good grinding, it is sought to produce a draining of the pulp because the cells closest to the skin are those that contain the highest aromatic and color concentration. Said "squeeze" should not reach the center of the grape, since the seeds or seeds have very astringent tannins to the mouth that negatively affect the wine. Recommended for red and white grapes, milling follows different processes according to the characteristics of the grain and the type of wine that is to be achieved. The first stage, however, is the same: in the grape harvesting wells, the grape is received, which passes through a selection belt where the leaves and vegetable residues are removed, leaving only the purest and most complete bunches possible. Then the grapes fall into the destemming and grinding machine, where the grain passes through a cylindrical drum with holes, leaving the stalk inside. The speed at which this drum rotates offers a series of regulations depending on the grape: if it is easy to shatter, the speed will be lower in order not to cause stalk damage, with the consequent passage of green vegetable remains towards grinding itself. p>
Under the cylindrical drum where the descobajado is produced there are two rubber cylinders that join together like gear and perform the grinding proper, that is, they produce a tightening of the grains that are passing to a pump that sends the marc with seed and juice towards the ponds in the case of reds or towards presses in whites.
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