SWEET TOE JAMS
DUBLIN – It’s almost time to take your shoes off and get to work as it’s “Grape Stomping” season throughout the world and also here in Southeastern North Carolina.
Lu Mil Vineyard is about to hold its 19th annual North Carolina Grape Festival in Elizabethtown Oct. 11. The event will start at 10 a.m. and run until 3 p.m.
The day kicks off with a pancake breakfast hosted by Emereau Bladen Charter School which will be held at Lu Mil Vineyard’s general store and for $10 you can get a plate of cakes and sausage. They are working on a cash only basis. The proceeds will go toward the Emereau Bladen Charter School’s new athletic/performing arts center.
From breakfast you can tour the grounds and vendors who will be setting up for the event or you can pick up a bucket and pick a bucket of grapes in Lu Mil’s “Muscadine Grapes U-Pick.” You can check in at the gift shop for a bucket. It will cost $1 per person and $1 a pound for your harvest. This is the last day for U-pick for the 2024 season.
“Two years ago they set up a 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 are going to have parents volunteer 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 vendors will begin setting up for the Grape Festival at 8 a.m. According to Bridgers, there should be 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. There will be wine tasting, food trucks, Bounce Houses, fishing, craft & yard sale vendors and live music.”
One of the more popular activities of the day is 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 stomp, there are 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 takes approximately an hour to get all the stompers who participated done with their rounds, and when the juice settled, and in case of a tie they will hold a “stomp off.”
All will be 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.
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.”
The band will be kicking out the jams and it won’t take long for country line dancers and swing dancers to come to dance in the grass.
The fishing ponds will also be open for the festival. It will be the last day of fishing for the season. Typically, you do have to pay to fish, but the fishing is free for the day.
The gift shop and wine tasting room will be open during the festival and in addition there will be an outside wine tasting booth that will be open. There will be slushies (either wine or regular). This booth will be set up near where the food trucks are located and in close proximity to the band.