these feet were made for stompin'

And that's just what they did! About 2 weeks ago, right here in the lone star state, I had the distinct pleasure of crossing off an item on my bucket list: cut and stomp grapes for a wine harvest!

The Harvest and Grape Stomp was held at Delaney Vineyards in Grapevine. (You may remember I went there for my first official winery tasting for my birthday, back in September of last year.) I was so disappointed that I missed it last year, so I made certain that I was in attendence for the event this year and I'm so glad I did.

It was a toasty Saturday morning, but I was not deterred. Mindi, her mom and I set out to fill up our bucket with grapes right off the vine. We signed our waiver (lest we cut off a finger in our excitement), procured our equipment (cutters and bucket) and began the task of seasoned harvesters. It was pretty comical how excited we would get when we found a "big bunch" of grapes or found a row that hadn't already been picked over. We also took the liberty of tasting the "fruits of our labor" (pun absolutely intended) and ate several handfuls of grapes. They had teeny tiny seeds in them, but the more I ate, the more I actually liked the crunch of the seed.





We were starting to get the hang of things when Meagan joined the party with her nieces and little brother, Matt. The kids got their very own cutters and bucket and went to town on those vines.




Once we had completed our duty and filled up our bucket (and I felt like I was going to pass out from the heat), we dumped our contributions into the giant tubs, met up with Laurie Ann and headed inside the actual winery for what else, more photo opps.




After a quick stroll around inside, we headed back out into the blistering sun to stand in line for the main event, the real reason I had been dying to come, we were going to squish grapes with our bare foot. I couldn't wait! When it was our turn, we dipped our feet into a small tub of water and then cautiously stepped into the giant bin of grapes that was about one and half feet deep. I'm not sure what I expected, but my initial reaction to the slimy, mushy texture was not exactly positive. However, once I was over my initial shock, I embraced the unfamiliar feeling and stomped those grapes with absolute gusto.






Once we had our fill (and taken sufficient photographical evidence of said stomping), we climbed out of the steel tub and were enthusiastically hosed off by one of the winery staff members. After a quick peruse of the gift shop, we bid our adieus and I spent the rest of the day finding random purple spots on my arms, legs and neck.

While the event might not have been a scene out of A Walk in the Clouds, it was still a ton of fun and I got to experience something I have never done before. And I got one step further to accomplishing the items on my bucket list - check and check!