Willmes Sphera: Membrane Pressing meets Basket Pressing Sphera is a round press with no corners or edges, designed for gentle pressing of small lots with minimal need for rocking or rotating. The patented 360-degree membrane inflates equally from all directions, resulting in higher yields at lower pressures and 70% less lees than traditional basket presses. LEARN MORE Large Filling Door A two-foot filling door allows for quick filling via hopper or conveyor. Sphera does not need to be rotated or rocked to make room for additional fruit. Dual Purpose Juice Tray and Emptying Bin The juice tray also functions as an emptying bin and can be removed directly from the press via forklift. Single Juice Outlet The Sphera has a single juice outlet, allowing minimal oxygen ingress during the pressing cycle. The juice valve can be closed for skin contact and maceration. Easy to Clean The unique shape means there are no dead spots inside the press, and the clean-in-place (CIP) system makes cl

We will be on-hand at Unified, booth A1 to discuss your winery & crush pad plans for harvest 2023 and beyond. We will showcase the Sraml Membrane Press, Mori Basket Press, Ragazzini Peristaltic Pump, and our semi-automatic bottling line, among other things. Representatives from many of our trusted manufacturing partners will be in our booth to answer your questions as well. You can talk to folks from Graver (Membrane Filtration), Sandpiper (Air Diaphragm Pumps), Mori (Presses & Crush Pad Equipment), and Ragazzini (Peristaltic Pumps).

In Part One of our guide to building a crush pad we looked at receiving and processing grapes for fermentation or pressing. Let's now take a look at presses. The question of basket vs. membrane press comes up frequently, so let's address it upfront. Basket vs. Pneumatic Membrane Presses Since we're focusing on crush pads processing anywhere from 3 to 20+ tons per hour of grapes, we'll look at the two most popular options for crush pads of this size: basket and pneumatic membrane presses. Basket Presses For a deeper dive you can check out our Guide to Basket Presses. But as a general overview, basket presses have a "platen" (large flat plate) that is connected to one or more hydraulic pistons. The pistons push the platen down slowly until it reaches the grapes held in a cylindrical basket. These hydraulic pistons are capable of generating tens of thousands of pounds of force. As this force reaches the grapes and is distributed over the surface of the