Catonian wine press

18th century
wood, iron and stone

The monumental Catonian wine press and the two “Plinian” (relating to Pliny the Elder) presses housed in the same space were the two styles of wine press most widely used in Umbria. Archaeological remains of both types of press have been found at Cosa (Ansedonia) in the Vesuvius area. The Catonian wine press (So-called because Cato the Elder was the first to describe it in the 2nd century B.C.) was operated by two men.

Rotating the large screw on the lower part of the structure first raised the 12-metre oak beam; once raised, the screw was also used to control the beam’s descent (its weight being applied via round wooden wedges to the grapes filling the slatted container) crushing the grapes and pressing the juice out to be collected into vats for fermentation. This press comes from the Canonica winery in Gubbio and was last used in 1973.