Apparently a lot has changed in the wine industry since I Love Lucy aired the stomping of the grapes episode.
I arrived at Simmons Winery in northern Bartholomew County fully anticipating sticky feet, but to my disappointment I learned that wine makers don’t stomp grapes anymore.
Today there is a machine that crushes the juice out of grapes.
But you still have to pick the grapes by hand. So owner David Simmons led me out to one of his fields and demonstrated the proper grape-picking technique: grab a grape bunch and then cut the vine with hand pruners just above the first grape.
This is a dicey job because the pruners are sharp and with all of the foliage, you can’t really see where your fingers are in relation to the blades. But I was able to fill a 5-gallon bucket without hurting myself or the grapes. I luckily only had to fill one bucket, most pickers fill buckets all day. Next step — crushing the grapes.
Even though I had already had my spirits crushed and knew that I wouldn’t use my feet, I walked up to the machine with bare feet and my pants rolled up. David laughed and generously put some grapes in a bucket and let me stomp around. It was actually good because it showed me just how inefficient it is to stomp grapes with your feet. Enough fooling around — we had 700 pounds of grapes to crush. One 5-gallon bucket at a time we carried grapes from a giant tub to the crusher. This machine was amazing. It removed the grapes from the stems and split them open to release the juice. The juice was sucked into a tank and the split grapes were spit out into a tub.
Because there is juice in the grape skin the split grapes were poured into a pressing machine which smooshes out all of the remaining juice.
David let me taste the grape juice, fresh out of the grapes. I thought it would be bitter, but it was really sweet.
When the grape juice tanks are full they are moved into a refrigerator to ferment and then made into wine.
Simmons
Simmons Winery, on East Road 450N, opened in 2000 and now boasts 12.5 acres and eight varieties of grapes. Grape varieties include Chardonel, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles, Cayuga White, Chambourcin, Marechal Foch, St. Vincent and Steuben. The winery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. through December. January through March the winery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Below is a list of some of the wines offered at Simmons.
Simmons wines
RED/DRY
Merlot (2004), $16.95
Cabernet Sauvignon, $19.95
Red/semi-dry
Marechal Foch (2005), $11.95
RED/SEMI-SWEET
St. Vincent (2004), $10.95
Autumn Rose (2004), $11.95
RED/SWEET
Autumn Sweet Red, $10.45
Indiana Ruby Red (2006), $19.95
WHITE/DRY
Chardonel (2004), $12.95
WHITE/SEMI-DRY
Seyval Blanc (2005), $12.95
Vignoles (2006), $12.95
WHITE/SEMI-SWEET
Riesling (2004), $12.95
WHITE/SWEET
Nortonburg White (2004), $10.95
Autumn Late Harvest (2004), $12.95
FRUIT WINE
Blackberry, $13.95
Cranberry-Apple, $10.95
Rhubarb, $10.95
INFORMATION: 546-0091 or simmonswinery.com.
But you still have to pick the grapes by hand. So owner David Simmons led me out to one of his fields and demonstrated the proper grape-picking technique: grab a grape bunch and then cut the vine with hand pruners just above the first grape.
This is a dicey job because the pruners are sharp and with all of the foliage, you can’t really see where your fingers are in relation to the blades. But I was able to fill a 5-gallon bucket without hurting myself or the grapes. I luckily only had to fill one bucket, most pickers fill buckets all day. Next step — crushing the grapes.
Even though I had already had my spirits crushed and knew that I wouldn’t use my feet, I walked up to the machine with bare feet and my pants rolled up. David laughed and generously put some grapes in a bucket and let me stomp around. It was actually good because it showed me just how inefficient it is to stomp grapes with your feet. Enough fooling around — we had 700 pounds of grapes to crush. One 5-gallon bucket at a time we carried grapes from a giant tub to the crusher. This machine was amazing. It removed the grapes from the stems and split them open to release the juice. The juice was sucked into a tank and the split grapes were spit out into a tub.
Because there is juice in the grape skin the split grapes were poured into a pressing machine which smooshes out all of the remaining juice.
David let me taste the grape juice, fresh out of the grapes. I thought it would be bitter, but it was really sweet.
When the grape juice tanks are full they are moved into a refrigerator to ferment and then made into wine.
Simmons
Simmons Winery, on East Road 450N, opened in 2000 and now boasts 12.5 acres and eight varieties of grapes. Grape varieties include Chardonel, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles, Cayuga White, Chambourcin, Marechal Foch, St. Vincent and Steuben. The winery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. through December. January through March the winery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Below is a list of some of the wines offered at Simmons.
Simmons wines
RED/DRY
Merlot (2004), $16.95
Cabernet Sauvignon, $19.95
Red/semi-dry
Marechal Foch (2005), $11.95
RED/SEMI-SWEET
St. Vincent (2004), $10.95
Autumn Rose (2004), $11.95
RED/SWEET
Autumn Sweet Red, $10.45
Indiana Ruby Red (2006), $19.95
WHITE/DRY
Chardonel (2004), $12.95
WHITE/SEMI-DRY
Seyval Blanc (2005), $12.95
Vignoles (2006), $12.95
WHITE/SEMI-SWEET
Riesling (2004), $12.95
WHITE/SWEET
Nortonburg White (2004), $10.95
Autumn Late Harvest (2004), $12.95
FRUIT WINE
Blackberry, $13.95
Cranberry-Apple, $10.95
Rhubarb, $10.95
INFORMATION: 546-0091 or simmonswinery.com.
