On top of the world

Ciaran doing pump-over with Louis giving support

Sitting on top of a tank spraying fermenting grape juice onto the cap (the hard top formed by the grape skins) for lengthy periods of time, is not the greatest job in the world by far.  Many producers have devices that do this automatically with the push of a button.  Ultimately it does however impact on the quality of the wine.  Not only does the winemaker (literally) get into contact with the wine on a regular basis, he can also supervise the way in which the cap is broken, thereby ensuring the best possible contact between juice and skins.  At the same time he can smell the fermentation, feel the heat of the juice and monitor the condition of the skins coming through the pipe – all of the things that a machine would not be able to do.  This is just one of the reasons why handcrafted wines are so much better than industrially made ones.