Next Steps for our Red Wines: Pressing and Malolactic Fermentation

On November 6, I wrote about the Details of Our Red Grape Fermentation, beginning with harvest on October 21 and ending on November 4 with the hydrometer reading which indicated that our wines had fermented to dryness.
The three varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Barbera spent the next few days, until November 8 in the half ton bin for the next step which was pressing the juice from the grapes.
Unlike making white wines where the grapes are pressed and the juice is fermented, the red wines are fermented with the berries intact in order to extract the color from the skins. It is a bit tricky getting out the juice and berries from a half ton bin, but the crew at Jonathan Edwards have this down to a science. Initially, the juice is removed from the half ton bin, leaving only the skins in the bin.

Then the skins are put into the press where the wine was then pressed and put into totes.

The wine spent from November 8 to November 16 in the totes. On November 16, Zak, whom you see in the above photos cleaned some oak barrels for us and the wines were transferred into the barrels.
When all was said and done, we have one barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon, one barrel of Cabernet Franc and a barrel of a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (25 gallons), Cabernet Franc (20 gallons), and Barbera (14 gallons). On November 17, we inoculated the barrels with our bacteria, VP41 using the MBR method. Each barrel received 2.5 grams of VP41 hydrated in 15 mL of water at 68 degrees F.
Now it is another waiting period, while the VP41 transforms malic acid into the mellower lactic acid.