After we picked our wonderful Pinot Noir the fermentation process begins.  First you place whole clusters to the bottom of your fermentation vessel.  Next you dump the picking lugs full of grapes into a distemmer and sort out any leaves or stems.  Fun but messy!

Since Pinot Noir has thin skin, you need to cold soak the grapes for 4-6 days and keep the must below 50F to prevent fermentation from starting.  This will allow the colors to be released from the skin.  With most other grapes this is not necessary.