{"id":1412,"date":"2016-09-25T14:55:34","date_gmt":"2016-09-25T19:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daytripper28.com\/?p=1412"},"modified":"2023-07-29T20:09:09","modified_gmt":"2023-07-30T01:09:09","slug":"big-feet-not-needed-at-the-grape-stomp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daytripper28.com\/big-feet-not-needed-at-the-grape-stomp\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Feet Not Needed at this Minnesota Grape Stomp + Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ever since Lucille Ball was seen stomping grapes on an episode of I Love Lucy, Americans have fallen in love with the idea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then grape stomp competitions have shown up at harvest time all over the country. Minnesota is no exception. I give you all the dirt on how to be an award winning Grape Stomper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practice of stomping grapes or ‘Viticulture’ dates back to 200 BC when the ancient Romans were looking for an effective way to get to the juice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, thanks to mechanical ingenuity, we no longer have to do that. It is actually outlawed in the states to create drinks this way. This is no reason to ruin the fun, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minnesota Grape Stomp<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Hutchinson Minnesota, at the Crow River Winery<\/a>, I got to participate in one of these festivals. Partnered teams competed in different heats to try and collect the most juice possible in 6 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was able to convince my mom that this would be a great idea. She had no idea what she was getting herself into.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"11<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Grape Stomp<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are two roles needed in order to collect the juice. The first person is known as the stomper. Their job is to frantically squeeze every last grape in the barrel in order to extract the juice from each one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second person is the most important person. They are the mucker. The mucker is responsible for ensuring that all the juice from the barrel is gotten into the container. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mom volunteered for what she thought would be the cleaner of the two jobs. We soon found out how wrong we were when we were staged up to start our heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They provided us with some baby oil to cover any bits that would get juice on it. This would prevent the grapes from staining the skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winners from the previous round had juice up to her armpits and their face was covered.\u00a0It was at this point that my mom frantically decided that she didn’t put enough of the baby oil they provided on enough of her body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See Related:<\/strong> Minnesota Grape Stomping Locations<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Minnesota<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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\"juicecollecting\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Let’s Get Dirty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As we took our assumed positions, we were still going over our strategy notes. Once they called\u00a0“GO”, we all frantically started to stomp all the grapes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mom was doing her best to funnel grapes into the drain. After about a couple minutes all the grapes were squished, and it was just a matter of trying to direct the precious juice down the drain without getting in the way of the mucker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole time, there was really no way of knowing how well we’re doing. All the buckets looked the same and the amount left in the bin looked similar.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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\"Grape<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Taking Second Place<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it was done, we were shocked to find out that we came in second place<\/strong> in our heat. We didn’t medal or advance to finals, but it didn’t matter to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were just thrilled to have actually been competition. After\u00a0our heat, we watched last year’s winner and got took a few notes\u00a0for next year. It’s in our blood now, we have to try and get into the finals next year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will be back next year at this Minnesota Grape Stomp. We hope to see you too.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Amount<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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\"Trophies<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Grape Stomping Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few tips if you’re thinking of having as much fun as we did and participating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n