Whether you like wine or grape juice, there is one element that is significant to both — juice extraction.

Remember Lucille Ball’s famous grape stomping scene?

Well that’s not the preferred way anymore.

It is a press.

This photo by Michael Zabrodsky, shows a grape hand press from the late 1800s and early 1900s displayed at Town of Portland museum.

It can be referred to as a grape press, a winepress or maybe a fruit press.

People who make wine as a hobby may use hand presses. It’s doubtful that many companies use hand presses anymore as they probably use automation to mechanically press grapes.

Robert Pawlak, town of Portland Museum curator, said the museum has on display a grape hand press from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“You can’t talk about Brocton and this area without talking about grapes,” Pawlak said.

Pawlak said Elijah Fay was responsible for bringing grapes to the area.

Incorporation of Brocton came almost 83 years after Fay, formerly of Southborough, Mass., purchased all of lot 20 which formed the west portion of the Village of Brocton and built a log cabin. His brother, Hollis, in 1813, cleared three or four acres and built a log cabin on the northwest part of lot 13 which was the east section of Brocton, according to brocton.org

“Many types of fruit, grain and vegetables were grown by residents in the Brocton area, but Brocton became famous for its grapes, thanks again to Elijah Fay who began, in 1818, to establish grapes on his farm. After trying varieties of Fox, Miller’s Borgunda, Sweetwater and Hamburg grapes, in 1824, he tried planting Isabella and Catawba which did very well. Mr. Fay had the only grapes in the area for many years. Mr. Fay also made the first wine known in Western and Central New York from cultivated grapes. In 1830, he produced five to eight gallons and continued each year to increase production. Dr. Taylor noted in his writings that Mr. Fay was still producing at least 300 gallons of wine until his death in 1860,” brocton.org noted.

According to winemonthclub.com, there are five steps in the wine making process — harvesting, crushing and pressing, fermantation, clarification, and aging and bottling.

Harvesting

Harvesting or picking is certainly the first step in the actual wine making process. Without fruit there would be no wine, and no fruit other than grapes can produce annually a reliable amount of sugar to yield sufficient alcohol to preserve the resulting beverage, nor have other fruits the requisite acids, esters and tannins to make natural, stable wine on a consistent basis.

Crushing and Pressing

Crushing the whole clusters of fresh ripe grapes is traditionally the next step in the wine making process. Today, mechanical crushers perform the time-honored tradition of stomping or trodding the grapes into what is commonly referred to as must. For thousands of years, it was men and women who performed the harvest dance in barrels and presses that began grape juice’s magical transformation from concentrated sunlight and water held together in clusters of fruit to the most healthful and mystical of all beverages – wine.

Fermentation

Fermentation is indeed the magic at play in the making of wine. If left to its own devices must or juice will begin fermenting naturally within 6-12 hours with the aid of wild yeasts in the air. In very clean, well-established wineries and vineyards this natural fermentation is a welcome phenomenon.

Clarification

Once fermentation is completed, the clarification process begins. Winemakers have the option of racking or siphoning their wines from one tank or barrel to the next in the hope of leaving the precipitates and solids called pomace in the bottom of the fermenting tank.

Aging and Bottling

The final stage of the wine making process involves the aging and bottling of wine. After clarification, the winemaker has the choice of bottling a wine immediately, or he or she can give a wine additional aging. Further aging can be done in the bottle, stainless steel or ceramic tanks, large wooden ovals, or small barrels, commonly called barriques.