A local establishment is eager to welcome back regular patrons and new visitors to the eighth annual grape stomp at Alton Farms Estate Winery.
The Plympton-Wyoming winery will hold the family-friendly fundraising event on Saturday, October 7. Festivities will get underway at 12 p.m. but the first stomp will begin at 1 p.m.
Co-owner Anne Kurtz-Alton said groups of six will stomp for 60 seconds at a time.
"Once they're done, they step out of their barrel and we measure off the juice," she said. "We have a board where we keep all of the numbers. In the end, the person who has the highest level of juice - who stops the most … gets their name on our trophy."
Stomping will be done on a first-come basis and will end when there are either no more participants or grapes. Earlier this week, about 50 people had pre-registered as stompers but Kurtz-Alton said most people will sign-up on the day of the event.
Kurtz-Alton said last year's winner was a 74-year-old woman, who actually won the trophy on her birthday.
The stomping fee is $10 per entry and money raised will go to the Bluewater Centre for Raptor Rehabilitation. The non-profit organization is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of birds of prey in Lambton County.
"Raptors scare the smaller birds away from the grapes," said Kurtz-Alton. "As soon as the grapes start to ripen or change colour, the birds are there so [raptors] a good deterrent in the vineyard."
Kurtz-Alton said roughly $1,400 was raised for the centre last year.
The grape stomp has remained a popular and unique event to take place within the county.
"A lot of people say, 'Oh, I've always wanted to do that!' They harken back to Lucille Ball stomping the grapes, that seems to be the most popular meme," she said.
Kurtz-Alton said attendees will also be able to learn more about the wine-making process after the competitive event.
"It's a really good opportunity for people to come and see what happens after you've picked grapes. [After] the stomping, we still put it through our pressure de-stemmer, which is the modern-day version of [crushing them] with your feet," she said. "They'll see the start of the wine-making process. It's really interesting."
Tickets are not required in order to attend the event. Local artisan vendors, live music, food, and of course wine will be on site. Alton Farms Estate Winery is located on Aberarder Line, just off of Forest Road.
