The Examiner Seattle 9/2009

At Wilridge Winery, grape stomping lives o

Wilridge Winery in Madrona, like many smaller wineries, has volunteer days during which eager helpers can come take part in the processing of the grapes.  Yesterday I was on hand to get 2 1/2 tons of Viognier grapes from bin to tank.  What I didn't expect is that we would not be using a crusher, but instead a few of us took turns stomping the grapes with our bare feet.  In the photo, I am in the basket, which at this point is about half full of grapes in varying degrees of pulverization.  The square white bin in front of me holds a half ton of grapes, and the large metal tank beyond it was slowly being filled up with Viognier juice - which tasted deliciously sweet, by the way.

Stomping is obviously much slower than using a mechanical crusher, but for small batches like the Viognier it works just fine.  It turns out that the foot is ideal, in that body weight helps to break the berries apart, but the foot's natural contours don't result in excessive tearing or crushing of the skins, stems, or seeds. These parts contain the most tannins, so the idea is to release the juice, but be as gentle as possible, so that the juice does not come out tasting "seedy", or overly tannic.   This logic also holds true for the pressed juice - you have to keep tasting the juice from the presser, along with watching the flow volume, to determine when it's time to stop pressing.

Aside from stomping, I loaded grapes from bin to basket, pumped juice from bucket to tank, moved the basket to the press, cleared unpressed grapes from the top and sides of the press surface, shoveled the pressed remnants ("pomace") into the compost bin, and cleaning, lots of cleaning and sterilizing of equipment.  Winemaker Paul Beveridge says his job is "2% inspiration, 98% sanitation".

Wilridge Wine has been a local favorite of mine for some time now.  Paul specializes mostly in Italian varietals, but produces some delicious Rhone varietals as well.  For our brief but wonderful lunch break spent out on the warm, sunny porch, we enjoyed hearty homemade soup and crusty bread prepared by Paul's wife Berta.  At this time we sampled the refreshingly chilled 2008 Wilridge Pinot Grigio, crisp and delicious with flavors of lemon, minerality, and a hint of banana.  The 2005 Wilridge Syrah from Rattlesnake Hills was wonderfully deep, rich, and smooth, with blackberry, black cherry, and currant, along with hints of cinnamon.  Aaahh....

After finishing the day's work with an extended cleanup session, we were each rewarded with a bottle of our favorite Wilridge wine, along with a bottle of the 2009 "Shop Vac" blend, which is not a commercial product, but a "leftovers" red blend containing things like Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon - percentages indeterminate.  My favorite Wilridge wine?  It was hard to choose on the spot, since I love love love the Sangiovese, but it being such a warm and sunny afternoon, I had to inquire whether Paul had any of his wonderful, and I do mean wonderful, 2008 Rosé of Syrah available, which he did, and passed me a bottle with a smile. I first tasted this rosé at David LeClaire's Rosé Revival earlier this year, and was impressed - the Syrah flavors were clearly there: blackberry, black cherry, and black pepper that are typical of the varietal - dry, and as close to red wine as you can get in a rosé.

For more info: You can taste many of the Wilridge wines at The Tasting Room on Post Alley at Pike Place Market.  If you see one on a wine list - go for it - Paul's consistent quality winemaking has never disappointed me.  If you'd like to help out your favorite winery by volunteering, just ask them - usually they will be happy to take volunteers - no experience necessary!

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