Wine · Terminology

Crushing

Breaking the grape skins to release the juice, usually right after destemming.

Crushing is breaking the skins of the grapes so the juice runs free. A crusher passes the fruit between rollers set wide enough to split the berries but not to break the pips, which would release harsh, bitter tannins. It usually happens immediately after destemming, and the resulting soupy mix of juice, skins, pulp and pips is the must.

Crushing is not pressing. Crushing splits the berries; pressing squeezes the solids to extract what is left. In red winemaking they sit on either side of fermentation.

In practice

  • Roller gap and speed control how gently the fruit is handled; the fine setting matters more with thin-skinned varieties.
  • The free-run juice released by crushing is the highest-quality fraction.
  • Whole-bunch and whole-berry fermentation deliberately skip crushing, to get carbonic or semi-carbonic character and softer tannins.
  • For white wine, grapes are often pressed whole-cluster without crushing, to limit skin contact and phenolic pickup.

Where you'll meet it

  • The red winemaking and white winemaking guides.
  • "Crush" as the American name for the whole harvest season.
  • Beaujolais, where whole uncrushed bunches are the entire point.

Where crushing sits in the sequence

Red White
1 Destem, crush (Often) destem
2 Ferment on skins — maceration Press immediately
3 Press the fermented solids Ferment the clear juice
4 Maturation Maturation

The order is the difference between the two styles: reds ferment with their skins, whites ferment without them. Rosé is the deliberate middle case — brief skin contact, then press.

Decisions at the crusher

  • Destem or not. Whole stems add tannin, structure and a peppery lift; unripe stems add green bitterness. A Northern Rhône Syrah may use 30–100% whole bunch by choice.
  • Crush or leave whole. Whole berries ferment intracellularly at first, giving brighter fruit and softer tannin.
  • Sulfur at the crusher. A small SO₂ addition here protects against oxidation and wild microbes.

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