Opportunities do exist to get in on the fun. There are a few festivals in Ontario and B.C. that involve wine-stomping and there are wine tours throughout Europe that allow wine lovers to join
in on the foot- stomping fun.
W
inemakers make many
machines may be efficient, some winemakers are adamant that nothing crushes berries the way the foot does. It’s all about the pressure — not enough pressure will leave too much juice in the berries, while too much will crush the stems and seeds, thereby adding too much tannin into the juice and introducing more bitterness than desired. The foot is gentle enough so this doesn’t happen. Some organic and biodynamic producers feel that this method is also more natural than using a machine. The less you manipulate the grape, the better result you will have in the wine. Foot-stomping provides the perfect balance between these two extremes — something that cannot be imitated by a machine. That being said, foot-treading grapes can be time-consuming and tiring, so many producers worldwide are moving towards
For wine lovers, there’s no doubt that treading the grapes is one way to get directly involved in the process and learn more about their beloved beverage. Opportunities do exist to get in on the excitement. There are a few festivals in Ontario and B.C. that involve wine-stomping and there are wine tours throughout Europe that allow wine lovers to join in on the foot-stomping fun. Those interested in participating will need to do some research and plan ahead since the tours fill up fast — and they should be prepared for some hard work!
decisions when considering the style of wine that
they want to achieve. Multiple factors affect the style of the wine, including vineyard location, use of pesticides in the vineyard, when to pick the grapes, selection of an aging vessel and much more — including the method used to extract juice from the grapes. While there are machines that can effectively crush the grapes for you, extracting the juice that is then fermented into wine, there are still benefits to relying on the traditional foot-stomping method. First is a sense of tradition. Stop in along one of Portugal’s Port houses during harvest and you may see the old concrete troughs called lagars, which have been in use since ancient times to crush grapes underfoot. While technology has slowly started to replace the lagars, many Port houses still hold on to the traditional method.
machine crushers and destemmers. Some of the better ones are
actually made to resemble a human foot!
Another major reason is accuracy. While crushing
SAVOUR MANITOBA | SPRING/SUMMER 25 17
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