Wine under the Pines: August 6, 2011

Remember when I said that if you are doing the wine tour with a friend, make sure one of you is really good at finding out times and events to make your experience better? Well this is a great example of that and why Jessi is the perfect planner for our quest.

She had found out on Kimmel’s website, I think, that they were having grape stomping the day that we were planning on being there! How freaking awesome would that be?! We could recreate one of the most iconic I Love Lucy moments ever! Our original plan was to dress in peasant tops and skirts complete with head scarves so we could really get into the part but we could not find the clothes necessary in time.

Well, the grape stomping turned out to be on of the offerings at the event that we discovered while we were at Arbor Day Farms.

Wine under the Pines is a fundraising event at Kimmel where they invite vineyards, wineries, and breweries from around Southeastern Nebraska to raise money for various organizations. This year all proceeds went to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief to help with all the flooding that they had been fighting in the area.

After our tasting, we ventured back outside where we paid our $10 donation and got a wristband, 4 tickets for tastings, and another glass. They were just finishing up the wine and food pairing demonstration when we got there so Jessi and I (Wendy and company came later) wandered around and got our first tastings. Mine was a beer from a local brewery (I know, I know, it was supposed to be a wine weekend… but I really wanted a beer) and Jessi got some wine. We settled ourselves down on a straw bale to await the grape stomping and the arrival of my sister.

Wendy found us right around the time that the grape stomping began. They had a large cattle tank set up on a platform and they had fastened thin cedar planks to the outside to make it look like a barrel. The organizers called for any kids who wanted to stomp to come up first, but none showed up so one by two, adults jumped in. Jessi and I primed our cameras and waited for a spot to open up so we could join in on the fun.

We also played photographers for this fun couple who later returned the favor for us. Wendy finally joined us as we were jumping in the tank so we passed off the cameras (one to her, one to the couple) and squished our way into Lucy-dom. The grapes were cool, sticky, and tended to explode when we stepped on them.

It. Was. AWESOME!

Jessi had to pull me out to give some of the other people a chance, but she promised that we could get back in later. She was such a trooper. She scratched the hell out of the top of her foot on one of the cedar planks but she made good on her promise. We did go in later… after a few more wine tastings.