Pressing (wine) red wine production the timing of when to press is one of the most important decisions in the wine making process since that will be the moment that maceration and phenolic extraction ceases. Some winemakers use the decreasing sugar level (such as brix measurement) scale and press once the wine has reached complete dryness. Often winemakers will use taste to determine if the wine has extracted enough tannins to produce a balanced wine and may press before complete dryness (such as at 3-8 brix). Though removing the skins by pressing often removes some solids that the wine yeast need to
Wine in religious communities of the Middle East drinks such as "tilā’" and "naqir" as inebriating and thus forbade the pressing of grapes and the drinking of pressed grape juice. As the early Muslim armies conquered more territory, though, increasing populations of non-Muslims were brought under Muslim rule, necessitating the development of a body of law regulating the interaction between Muslims and non-Muslim dhimmis. A document used for guiding Muslim pacts with dhimmi communities known as the "Shuruṭ ‘Umar" forbids dhimmis from selling forbidden products – pork, wine, carrion – to Muslims. The Egyptian Jewish communities of the medieval period used wine sacramentally in feasts, prayers, and at