Pressing grapes the old fashioned way

We went to Vufflens-le-Château, for a fall grape harvest festival to see a traditional pressing. This village is named for its magnificent castle.

The grapes were placed in a square wooden tub for the press, mixed around to bruise them. Then they were weighted down with 3 layers of wooden beams, and the press was cranked into place and then winched even tighter.

The juice came streaming out a pipe at the base into a barrel, which was sweet, cold, fresh and very good.

The workers, who were also thirsty, took a break when their boss came by with chilled bottles of wine for them. After all, they were hot because they were working hard, and what better way to rehydrate on a vineyard. Luckily, we too had glasses and tasted the first really good wine we have had here.

Here is a video we made of this event.