Ambar Estate

There’s a distinct energy in the cellar during harvest. The air is filled with the earthy, yeasty aromas of fermenting fruit as our winemaking team begins the process of turning grapes into wine.

Our Pinot Noir is now well into fermentation, and with it comes an important part of the winemaking process: extraction.

Extraction is the process of drawing color, tannin, flavor, and aromatic compounds from the grape skins out and into the fermenting red wine. To do this, our winemaking team uses two techniques: pump overs and punch downs.

During a pump over, fermenting wine is drawn from the bottom of the tank and gently poured over the red cap, keeping the skins saturated.

During a punch down, the cap is manually pushed back down into the wine, bringing the skins and juice back together.

For our team, red cap management is all observing how fermentation is progressing and adjusting our approach as the fruit tells us what it needs.