Submerged Cap

Submerged caps are a technique of cap management in which a physical barrier is placed directly into the fermenting wine to keep the cap submerged beneath the surface while allowing gas to escape. This technique provides constant contact between the cap and the juice, so a continuous extraction can occur without the harsh tannins sometimes found using punch downs. Because submerged caps allow very little oxygen for the fermentation, they are often used in conjunction with pump overs to prevent hydrogen sulfide odors from developing.