Stomping grapes marks another item checked off the bucket list for Kae. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Grape stomping is a bit more of a cardio workout than I had anticipated—at least if you don’t want to take forever to get all that juice crushed out of the skins.

Good thing this activity at Gables Wine Country Inn in Santa Rosa was not a competition, though. It was all in good fun, with each person having a half wine barrel with grapes to stomp.

This is one of those activities I have wanted to do seemingly forever. Maybe it was seeing the I Love Lucy episode or clips from it or just reading about others stomping grapes.

Someone at this event last month said it feels a bit like a foot massage. “Not exactly” would be my assessment to that statement. It was definitely soothing on the bottom of my feet. Maybe it’s that I don’t want to have to work for my foot massages.

The stems and any other debris that may have been in the barrel were no big deal—as in, I didn’t feel anything but the grapes.

I had been told that instead of actually stomping my feet it’s more effective to extract the juice by twisting the ball of my foot on the grapes. That did seem to get the juice out faster.

“Crushing grapes with feet is hardly a new trend. There is ample evidence that humans have stepped on grapes in vats, tubs and lagars to make wine for at least 8,000 years,” Wine Enthusiast says on its website. “In 2017, scientists discovered earthenware jars with wine residue and decorated with images of grapes and a man dancing in Tbilisi, Georgia.”

Pressing grapes is still required to get the juice of the grape skins. Most wineries use a mechanical press to release the juice to start the fermentation process. Still, that has to be a precise process so the seed is not crushed as well. If that happens, it can cause the end product to be bitter.

While technology has made it so feet are not required, some wineries still stomp grapes the old-fashioned way.

“Boutique wineries around the world also embrace foot treading, particularly those focused on small-batch production. These producers see foot treading as a way of enhancing the quality of their wines, allowing for gentle extraction and more nuanced control over the fermentation process,” according to Wine & Spirit Education Trust. “For them, it’s not just about maintaining a tradition; it’s about making the best wine possible through methods that connect them closely with their craft.”

Sources say not to worry about dirty feet that crush the grapes because the alcohol content will kill the pathogens.

The grapes we were stomping weren’t actually being turned into wine. It was going into the compost pile at the bed and breakfast. We were just tourists having fun; not workers doing something productive.