🍷 Pomace cap
The layer of skins that floats to the top as red wine ferments.
The pomace cap, also called the cap, is the layer of skins that rises to the top during the fermentation of red wine. The mash is crushed grapes: juice together with skins and seeds. During fermentation yeast releases carbon dioxide. Gas bubbles lift the skins and gather them into a solid cap on the surface of the juice.
The cap matters. The skins hold colouring matter, tannins and aromas. To pass into the wine, the cap must be mixed with the juice. If left dry in the air, it can spoil and turn sour.
The winemaker uses two methods. The first is punching down, pigeage: the cap is periodically pushed down with a paddle or by foot. The second is pumping over, remontage: juice from below is pumped up and poured over the cap. Both are done several times a day during active fermentation.
These actions affect the colour and taste of the wine. More frequent mixing gives a darker, more tannic wine, less frequent a softer one. It is part of the alcoholic fermentation of red wines.
What it includes
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Pomace cap → kind of → 🍷 Alcoholic fermentation → gives → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Next step
- 🍷 Punch-down (pigeage), 🍷 Pump-over (remontage)
- Part of
- 🍷 Alcoholic fermentation
Frequently asked questions
What is the pomace cap?
The layer of skins that rises to the top during red wine fermentation.
Why is the cap mixed in?
So colour, tannins and aromas pass from the skins into the wine, and so it does not spoil.
What are pigeage and remontage?
Pigeage is pushing the cap down; remontage is pouring juice from below over it.
What to read next
- 🍷 Punch-down (pigeage) — Pushing the cap of skins down into the must with a paddle or feet.
- 🍷 Pump-over (remontage) — Pumping must from the bottom of the vat and pouring it over the cap on top.