Commento su 'Avodah Zarah 4:8
לוֹקְחִין גַּת בְּעוּטָה מִן הַגּוֹי אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהוּא נוֹטֵל בְּיָדוֹ וְנוֹתֵן לַתַּפּוּחַ. וְאֵינוֹ נַעֲשֶׂה יֵין נֶסֶךְ, עַד שֶׁיֵּרֵד לַבּוֹר. יָרַד לַבּוֹר, מַה שֶּׁבַּבּוֹר אָסוּר, וְהַשְּׁאָר מֻתָּר:
È consentito acquistare un winepress calpestato da un gentile, [che ha calpestato l'uva], anche se lui (il gentile) prende in mano [l'uva dal vino] e lo mette sul tapuach [il luogo (a forma di tumulo) dove vengono raccolte le uve. La nostra tanna sostiene che non diventa vino proibito (yayin nesech) fino a quando non scende nella cisterna. (Questa è una Mishnah precedente e non è l'halachah, ma una volta che il vino inizia a calare è yayin nesech)]. Non è yayin nesech fino a quando non scende nella cisterna. Una volta che scende alla cisterna [— quindi, se un gentile lo tocca], ciò che è nella cisterna è proibito e il resto è permesso.
Bartenura on Mishnah Avodah Zarah
English Explanation of Mishnah Avodah Zarah
When it has descended into the vat, what is in the vat is prohibited; But the remainder is permitted.
In chapter two, mishnah three, we learned that Jews may not drink wine touched by non-Jews, lest they had used the wine as a libation. The remainder of tractate Avodah Zarah will deal with the prohibition of non-Jewish wine. Our mishnah defines at what point in the process of wine-pressing do the grapes and grape juice begin to be considered wine.
Section one: A Jew may buy a winepress and all of the grapes that are being trodden in it from a non-Jew, even though the non-Jew has lifted up the trodden grapes and moved them into a different heap. At this point in their processing the grapes are not yet considered wine, and therefore their being handled by a non-Jew does not make them “yen nesek”, which is forbidden to Jews. In other words, while we might suspect that non-Jews offer up libations with wine, they will not do so with grapes that are not yet fully pressed, nor will they do so with grape juice. Only when the juice has descended into the vat where it will ferment into wine is it considered yen nesek.
When the wine does descend from the winepress into the vat, the wine which is in the vat is prohibited. However, that which remains above in the winepress is still permitted, even though it has been handled by a non-Jew.