Maragas Winery holds third annual grape stomp

Hundreds gathered at the Maragas Winery in Culver on Saturday for the third annual Grape Stomp. The event is held to celebrate the beginning of the grape harvest.

Men and women, young and old got to jump in the large bins filed with grapes — after rinsing their feet of course — and show off their skills stomping the juice from the grapes.

At Saturday’s event, visitors got to taste the wine that came from last years stomp.

“We’re releasing last year’s stomped grapes. This year, its called Beat Red, because it’s a very red port-like wine,” said winery owner Doug Maragas. “So far, two out of the three years that we’ve done this have done very well in competition. So it’s pretty exciting — Central Oregonians must have pretty talented feet!”

The wine that came from the 2010 stomp earned a silver medal in the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle wine competition.