North Carolina Grape Festival sees a packed venue

ELIZABETHTOWN – It was a day to feature your feet at Lu Mil’s stomping-good time – from stomping grapes to walking the miracle mile of vendors to tapping your feet to the music to dancing in the grass.

The day kicked off early with a pancake breakfast hosted by Emereau Bladen Charter School which was held at Lu Mil Vineyard’s general store and for $10 there was a big plate of pancakes and sausage. According to Emereau marketing director Aleigh King, over $1,000 was raised with all proceeds going toward the Emereau Bladen Charter School’s new athletic/performing arts center which is still in the planning phase. All total, there were 125 breakfasts served.

“We got them to set up their booth,” Kayla Bridgers, event organizer said. “My sister, Aleigh King does the marketing at Emereau so that’s kind of where the connection came. I told her that I thought it would be a great way for them to raise money. They had parents and volunteers to do the cooking.”

According to Lu-Mil co-owner, Denise Bridgers, the vineyard is providing the venue and the people for this very worthwhile event.

The event came on a type of weekend jamboree that we lovingly call “The Trifecta” in Elizabethtown as almost 1,000 Cyclists from Cycle North Carolina Mountains to Coast tour hits town, Friday and the annual Pink-Out with live band, The Pink Slips played in downtown Elizabethtown.

The Grape Festival was Saturday and then out at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery, the first annual Elizabethtown Smithfield Cup barbecue competition took place. While Columbus discovered America on that weekend so long ago, people came to discover all that the grape-rich areas of North Carolina has to offer.

According to Bridgers, there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 vendors this year.

“When I talk about the vendors, that is craft vendors, business vendors, nonprofits, schools and boutiques,” Kayla Bridgers said. “There are a lot of local vendors that set up for the day. We got a little bit for everybody. We had face painting, gem mining for kids to bounce houses to decorative art yard creations. We had the live band and the wine tasting for adults, so whatever your tastes, you found it here. I also had 20 food vendors.”

One of the new food vendors appearing at this year’s festival called “Chocolate and S’more” from Winnabow, North Carolina. Their business features any kind of s’more that you could imagine and so much s’more. Other food vendors include Italian food, returning favorite “Wild Sunflower and Pizza,” “Yummy Hibachi,” “Still Smokin’ barbecue,” kettle corn, brisket, Mexican cuisine, ice cream specialties along with regular fair food such as funnel cakes, hot dogs, hamburgers and foods on sticks.

One of the more popular activities of the day was the “Grape Stomp.”

“Our annual grape stomp is what brings everybody, besides the food and the wine,” she said. “People take their shoes off and the competition has an adult category and a child’s category and they stomp grapes. They have a certain amount of time when the music plays and they stomp the grapes as fast as they can. We weigh how much juice comes out and whoever has the most, they have first and second place cash prize awards. It started at 11 a.m. and registration began at 10 a.m.”

After the competitors stomped, there were hoses and clean-off stations. They actually do not use the juice that is stomped in our production although many were teasing about how it could be called the “toe-jam vintage.”

It took approximately an hour to get all the stompers who participated done with their rounds, and when the juice settled, there was a tie in the adult division and they had a “stomp off”

They were all timed for their individual stomps while the music is played while they stomp. Kind of like a twist on musical chairs, the DJ coordinates with the MC. It was one of the most popular entertainments for the day.

The runner-up for the 18^th Annual 2024 Grape Stomp was Jordan Allen who stomped out 5.6 ounces of juice. The winner for the adults was Catina Locklear who produced 6.6 ounces of muscadine juice.

In the youth division, Graylon Tatum was the second-place stomper with 4.6 ounces of grape juice and the winner with 4.9 ounces of the winning juice was Koen Mullins.

According to Wine & Spirit Education Trust, “The image of winemakers stomping grapes with their bare feet might seem like a charming relic of the past. However, foot treading, an ancient technique dating back thousands of years, still holds a special place in the hearts (and practices) of some of the world’s most discerning winemakers. But why do they continue to embrace this traditional method? At the core of winemaking is the process of crushing grapes, a critical step that releases the juice needed for fermentation. This process requires just the right amount of pressure—enough to break the skins without crushing the seeds, which can introduce unwanted bitterness. In regions like the Douro Valley of Portugal, foot treading has always been the gold standard in the production of premium Port wines. Historically, large teams of workers would tread grapes in shallow granite troughs called lagares, a practice that could last for hours. While modern methods have largely taken over, some high-end Port producers continue to use foot treading for their top-quality offerings. This continued use in such a prestigious wine category underscores the enduring value of the technique. 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.”

“At 12 we had live music,” Kayla Bridgers said. “North Tower Band from Raleigh played in our outdoor natural amphitheater. There was continual music for the entire three hours and an area for dancing was available in front of the stage.”

North Tower, according to their website “is celebrating 40 years of entertaining throughout the southeast. North Tower has been one of the south’s great party bands for over 40 years, providing the best in Top 40, beach, funk and oldies. Sizzling brass, super vocals and a wide-ranging repertoire all contribute to making your event a night to remember.”

The band kicked out the jams and it didn’t take long for country line dancers and swing dancers to come to dance in the grass.

The fishing ponds were also be open for the festival. It was the last day of fishing for the season. Typically, you do have to pay to fish, but the fishing was free for the day.

The gift shop and wine tasting room were open during the festival and in addition there was an outside wine tasting booth that was open. There were slushies (either wine or regular). This booth was set up near where the food trucks are located and in close proximity to the band.

The road out front of the vineyard was lined on both sides with traffic and the parking lots were packed. A group of bikers came and also attended so the bike parking lot was also filled in the vineyard. Since the event was free and not ticketed, the crowds could only be approximated, but all total with people coming and going all day, it was estimated that several thousand people came and became a part of the festivities.