Labo VinCrushing or foulage
Crushing ("foulage" for grapes) consists in breaking the fruits, in tearing the cells, so as to extract the juice. This crushing is generally done by means of a mechanical crusher (fouloir for grapes). (Be careful not to break the stones, which could give the wine a bad taste.)
Failing which, an excellent method consists in freezing the fruits. The ice crystals will tear the fruits tissues and cells. By thawing, the fruits will be "ice crushed". The only drawback is the limited capacity of a deep freezer if a great amount of fruits has to be processed. Do not forget to cool the freezer beforehand.
As in the past, the fruits can be crushed with the feet in a big bowl (disinfected boots); you can also, in a bucket, use an electric drill provided with a helix (not too fast).
Before crushing, the fruits must be selected, ruthlessly discarding rotted, not ripe or much bruised ones.
If the fruits are dirty or mucked, they will be water cleaned and disinfected. All the material will be thoroughly clean and disinfected.