Stomping grapes was once a common method used to produce wine. At Sunday’s Italian Festival in downtown Reno, the grape stomping was done in a more competitive fashion.
At the Italian Festival, there were 11 rounds of grape stomping action. In each barrel, the staff would place 25 lbs. of grapes amongst 10 barrels, meaning overall they go through nearly 3,000 lbs. of grapes in one festival.
Mike Mackay was a member of the staff at this year’s event and says set up each day would take about an hour and a half, but the clean-up and turn around between rounds only takes about 20 minutes.
“We have to lay down Visqueen, we have to weigh out grapes, we have to calibrate a scale," says Mackay.
Sunday’s first round, showcased the stomping talents of the Reno local media.
Landon Miller, Angela Schilling and about a dozen others took to the buckets looking to earn some bragging rights.
“I haven't done it before, I'm kind of nervous about it but I'm competitive, I'm getting excited,” says Schilling.
Mackay says in order to win; it takes teamwork and a proper technique.
“The key is the person who is the mucker, if they don't keep that screen clean, the juice is not going to flow into the barrel,” says Mackay.
In the end, the team with the best technique squeezed out 3.7 lbs. of grape juice.
