Cap Management!

Today, let's talk about punchdowns and pumpovers—woo-hoo! If you have ever spent any time around a winery, I am sure you have heard these terms used. At SOFH we employ both techniques in our winemaking. Punchdowns are as simple as it sounds...during fermentation, CO2 is created as a byproduct of the yeast converting the sugar into alcohol. This CO2 pushes the must cap (grape skins and pulp) to the top of the fermentation bin or tank. Because the color and many flavor compounds are in the skins, as well as tannins, we want to incorporate the must back into the juice to extract these flavor and color compounds. We use a device called a punchdown tool (see picture below) to push the skins back into the juice. At Sleight of Hand, we use 1.5 ton stainless steel fermentation bins for many of our grape fermentations. It takes about 3-5 minutes to punch down one bin, longer when the fermentation is first getting started (less juice and a ton of CO2 being produced), and once the fermentation nears completion and there is less CO2 being produced, the punchdowns become much easier and shorter in duration. Punchdowns are fairly gentle on the grapes, and we do this twice a day, on average, for most of our lots. Some bins may see more, and some less. It depends on the variety, and it definitely depends on the tannin level. We taste the lots every morning to make our decisions on cap management.

The other cap management tool that we employ is pumpovers. Typically, we use pumpovers in our larger tanks, where punching down the skins is virtually impossible. Pumpovers is a term that gets its name from pumping the juice back over the skins in the tank (see photo below). Instead of submerging the skins into the juice using a punchdown tool, we attach a hose to the racking valve of the tank, and pump the juice back to the top of the tank and splashing it over the top of the skins. This allows the skins and juice to stay in contact with each other, getting the extraction of color and flavor and tannin compounds that we are looking for in our wines. Using this method also introduces oxygen into the fermentation, keeping the yeast happy and healthy. We also use the pumpover method on some of our smaller bins, especially if we are using any whole cluster during the fermentation (which makes for a VERY difficult punchdown) or if we want to introduce more oxygen to the fermentation (punchdowns are not as effective in introducing oxygen to the ferment as pumpovers). When we have bins that start to get reductive (a term we will revisit on this blog soon) we will often use pumpovers to clean those up and blow off any sulfur compounds that go hand in hand with reduction.

Both tools are utilized at SOFH with effectiveness, and if you are visiting Walla Walla during harvest in the future, pop by the cellar and we’ll show you first-hand how it’s done!

Because punchdowns take a TON of energy and muscle power to execute, the music that we listen to is VERY important. High energy music is what works best, so let us recommend a few songs to get you through a 20 bin punchdown routine. Here are a few of Taylor and Keith’s favorites.