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    Crushing and pressing

    Breaking the skin and separating the juice: the first and fastest decision in the cellar.

    Crushing and destemming

    The OIV defines crushing as breaking the berry skins to release the must. It should happen as soon as the grapes reach the winery, without crushing seeds or stems.1 Destemming reduces the loss of colour and alcohol in red wines and makes them less tannic and less astringent.2

    Pressing

    Pressing extracts the liquid from grapes or marc; the OIV recommends doing it as soon as possible after harvest, slowly and progressively.3 Free-run juice is typically 550 to 650 litres per tonne; the press fractions bring more phenolics and minerals, less acidity and a higher pH.4

    Champagne

    In Champagne whole clusters are pressed in 4,000-kilogram loads called marcs, in two fractions: the cuvée, the first juice, and the taille.5 The rules cap extraction at 102 litres of settled must per 160 kilograms of grapes.6

    Regions

    Sources

    1. International Code of Oenological Practices, II.1.2 Crushing. OIV. level 2 · checked 2026-10-13
    2. International Code of Oenological Practices, II.1.3 Removing stems. OIV. level 2 · checked 2026-10-13
    3. International Code of Oenological Practices, II.1.5 Pressing. OIV. level 2 · checked 2026-10-13
    4. Phenolic assessment of white musts: Varietal differences in free-run juices and pressings (Somers & Pocock, Vitis 30:189-201). Vitis, 1991. level 3 · checked 2026-10-13
    5. Pressing. Comité Champagne. level 4 · checked 2026-10-13
    6. Modifications du cahier des charges de l'AOP « Champagne » (draft approved by INAO national committee, 11 Sept 2024). INAO, 2024. level 1 · checked 2026-10-13